FREE!
THE
DOCTRINE OF REDEMPTION
“I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25).
Job was a man who was
acquainted with calamity. On a single
day, this man lost all of his wealth, his servants and his family. As if this were not enough, his body was then
stricken with a terrible disease which left him covered from head to foot with
boils. Overwhelmed by catastrophe after
successive catastrophe, he lost everything except a nagging wife.
Any normal man would have
fallen into the deepest depression, abandoning his faith in God. But not Job. He continued in his prayers to the Lord. What was the basis of Job’s stability? What was the source of his faithfulness? In the midst of his sufferings, he declares
what I think is at the root of his stability.
“And as for me, I know that my
Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall
see God.” (Job 19:25-26).
Job was able to look past his
circumstances to a Redeemer whom he realized would be his salvation. You are going to have problems. They may not be of the magnitude of those which
afflicted Job, but they will seem just as big to you. Perhaps you are already in the midst of
difficulties. You need a root of
stability, a foundation for your faith.
It is found in knowing your Redeemer.
REDEMPTION AND SLAVERY
What is redemption? It has been described as the deliverance from
the power of an alien dominion and the enjoyment of freedom that results. As such, it is closely associated with the
idea of ransom and substitution.
These concepts find their
roots in the Old Testament and the historical background of that day. Redemption presupposes SLAVERY. The institution of slavery was common
throughout the ancient world. Abraham
had come out of
Under most legal codes of
those days, a slave was merely a piece of property with little or no personal
rights. If you killed another man’s
slave, you might suffer the same punishment as if your had killed his cow.
The Mosaic Law provided for
the rights of slaves. One provision was
that all slaves were to be freed after six years (though this was not true of
women who had been sold into slavery, as they would have no means of supporting
themselves once they were set free).
“And if a man sells his daughter
as a female slave, she is not to go free as the male slaves do. 8 If she
is displeasing in the eyes of her master who designated her for himself, then
he shall let her be redeemed. He does
not have authority to sell her to a foreign people because of his unfaithfulness
to her.” (Exodus 21:7-8).
Perhaps one reason why a
female slave was not to be set free was because she would have no means of
supporting herself aside from prostitution.
However, verse 8 points out that she could be REDEEMED - that is, she could
be purchased back out of her slavery.
Now I want you to notice
something. The slave in such a case was
HELPLESS. He or she could do nothing to
affect the situation. A slave had no
means of taking himself or herself out of slavery. It is in this light that
“The Lord did not set His love on
you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for
you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath
which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand,
and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of
Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).
The entire nation of
This intervention did not
come because the Israelites were the most deserving. They were not. If I had been choosing a people, I might have
chosen the Hittites or the Babylonians.
Why did God choose the Jews? It
wasn’t because of THEIR faithfulness. It
was because of His own faithfulness. It was because of His love and because of His
promise. He had made a promise a long
time before there were any Jews. And God
always keeps His promises.
REDEMPTION AND THE
FIRSTBORN
Another example of the
principle of redemption in the Old Testament is seen in the redemption of the
firstborn of each Israelite. This
ceremony looked back to the Passover. It
began at a time when the Israelites had just been released from their slavery
in the
And it shall come about when the
Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to us and to our
fathers, and gives it to you, 12 that you shall devote to the Lord the first offspring
of every womb, and the first offspring of ever beast that you own; the males
belong to the Lord.
But every first offspring of a
donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you
shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall
redeem.
And it shall be when your son asks
you in time to come, saying, “What is this?” that you shall say to him, “With a
powerful hand the Lord brought us out of
“And it came about, when Pharaoh was
stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed every firstborn in the
On the night of the first
Passover, God killed all of the firstborn in every family throughout the
Now God states that the
firstborn of each family is His. While
they were under the sentence of death, He provided the means for their
release. They now belong to God. If they are to continue to live, then must be
purchased back into the realm of the living.
A purchase price must be set and that which is owed must be paid.
This is a picture of what
Christ has done for us. Because of our
sin, we were under the sentence of death.
We were helpless to save ourselves.
God’s righteousness demanded that the debt of our sin must be paid if we
were to return to the land of the living. We were without hope apart from a
Redeemer. But God provided a substitute
to die in our place. Through the blood
of that innocent substitute, we were spared.
And now we belong to God. He has
paid the price of redemption for us.
REDEMPTION AND PROPERTY
RIGHTS
Leviticus 25:29-34 describes
the regulations concerning the redemption of any portion of property which had
been previously sold. It stipulates the
conditions under which a man who sold a piece of property was able to buy it
back.
“Likewise, if a man sells a
dwelling house in a walled city, then his redemption right remains valid until
a full year from its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year.
“But if it is not BOUGHT BACK for
him within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city
passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations; it does not
revert in the jubilee.” (Leviticus 25:29-30).
The phrase “bought back” in
verse 20 carries with it the idea of redemption. A price is paid for that which has been
forfeit so that it can be returned to its original state. The Law provided that any land which was sold
would revert back to its original owner on the year of Jubilee (this took place
once every 50 years). But there was an
exception clause. The exception dealt
with a house in the city. Such a house
had to be redeemed in order to stay within the family.
Once again, the object which
was to be purchased was absolutely helpless to affect the outcome of the
purchase. But that is not all. Notice also that the thing which was redeemed
became the property of the one who paid the redemption price. We have been similarly purchased. We are a “house in a city.” It is a house that God both built and which
He has now purchased.
Or do you not know that your body
is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that
you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify
God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
The story is told of a little
boy who built a toy sailboat. He loved
that sailboat. It held a special place
in his bedroom and he would imagine sailing on exciting adventures with his toy
boat. One day, he was down and the lake
and put the boat in the water when the wind changed and, much to his dismay,
his boat was swept away.
It was a few months later
when he was walking down the street and saw the same sailboat in the window of
a pawn shop. “That’s my boat!” he told
the pawn shop owner. “It may have been
your boat,” replied the owner, “but it’s mine now and it will cost you twenty
dollars.”
The little boy went home and
collected and saved until he had $20.00 and then he went back to the pawn shop
and purchased the boat. “Little
sailboat,” he said, “You are mine. I
made you and then I bought you back.
You’re twice mine.” The Lord is
our Maker. He not only made us, He also
bought us and paid for us. We are twice
His.
THE KINSMAN REDEEMER
Leviticus 25:47-49 presents
another aspect of redemption. It is the
Law of the Kinsman Redeemer. Picture the
situation. An Israelite living in the
And so, he becomes a
slave. How can he regain his
freedom? It can only be if the
redemption price is paid.
Now if the means of a stranger or
of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of your becomes so
poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with
you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, 48 then he
shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his
uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or one of
his blood relatives from his family may redeem him or if he prospers, he may
redeem himself. (Leviticus 25:47-49).
If we look very closely, we
can find four qualifications which were necessary for a Kinsman Redeemer to
accomplish this redemption. It was only
when a man possessed these four qualities that he was permitted to perform this
task.
1. He
must be a Kinsman.
The
passage is very specific that this redeemer must be related to the one whom he
is going to buy back out of slavery.
There must be some family connection.
2. He
must be Free Himself.
A
slave was unable to purchase another slave.
The most that a slave might be able to do would be to free himself from slavery.
Therefore, a Kinsman Redeemer must himself be free of the debt and of
the bondage which had fallen on the one who was to be redeemed.
3. He
must be Able to Pay the Ransom Price.
If
he did not have the necessary sum of money which was required to pay the
purchase price, then he would not be able to redeem his relative. Good intentions were not enough. He must have the wherewithal to accomplish
those intentions.
4. He
must be Willing to Pay the Price.
It
was not enough to have a kinsman who was able to accomplish the work of
redemption. He must also be willing to
make the sacrifice of paying the price.
I imagine that there were a number of slaves with rich uncles who just
didn’t want to spend the money to release their unfortunate relative from
slavery.
Each
of these qualifications was fulfilled in the person of Jesus.
God
sent Him into the world’s slave market to purchase men from their bondage to
sin.
a. He was
a Kinsman.
This
is why it was necessary for God to become flesh - to be born and to grow up and
to walk this earth as a man.
It
was because only a man could die for other men to buy them back from the
bondage of sin and death.
Since then the children share in
flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through
death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the
devil; 15 and might deliver those who through fear of death
were subject to slavery all their lives. (Hebrews 2:14-15).
God
could not die, for He is eternal life and the source of all life.
It
was only by being born as a man and taking on human flesh and becoming a man
that He could experience death for us.
b. He was
Free Himself.
Jesus
was the only man since Adam who has ever been free from sin. From the first sin in the Garden of Eden to
this day, all men are under this bondage.
This
is important. Another man could not die
for my sins since he would have to pay the penalty for his own sins. Only someone who is free from sin could be a
substitute for the sins of another.
For we do not have a high priest
who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all
things as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus
lived His entire life on earth without committing a single sin. This qualifies Him as the only free man.
c. He was
Able to Pay the Ransom Price.
Even
if there had been a man who had been without sin, his death would not have had
the infinite merit to pay for the sins of the whole world. At best, the sacrifice of a single finite man
could atone for the sins on only a single man.
But
the death of Jesus was not the death of a mere man. It was also the death of an infinite
being. It was the death of God in the
flesh. God experienced death. He died in our place. Only the death of such a One could have been
sufficient to save the world.
d. He was
Willing to Pay the Ransom Price.
Have this attitude in yourselves which
was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not
regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but
emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the
likeness of men.
And being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death
on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8).
This
is one of the most profound passages in the Bible. Just think, a member
of the Godhead emptied Himself of His glory in order to take on the form of a
man and become a man. And that is not
all. He went on to suffer and to die on
a cross for us. This is redemption.
THE RESULTS OF REDEMPTION
The result of redemption is
that we are free. Redemption, by its
very nature, is a very liberating doctrine.
We don’t need to ever feel guilty again.
And we don’t need to play the “holier than thou” game. God doesn't grade on the curve. He has already graded on the cross.
A second result of redemption
is that it signifies that we are a people of great value. We have a price tag affixed to us and God
paid the highest possible price for us.
Knowing that you were not
redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of
life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood,
as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1:18-19).
But you are a chosen race, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you
may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the
people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1
Peter 2:9-10).
Johnny Lingo was a handsome
bachelor in a village where the custom was that a man would pay a dowry to the
father in order to be granted permission to marry the daughter. The average dowry price for a maiden was
three cows, although an exceptionally beautiful girl might go for as high as
five cows.
One day, Johnny Lingo went to
the father of Sarita to negotiate a dowry. Tongues immediately began to wag, for it was
well-known that Sarita was not very pretty. In fact, she was considered to be rather
plain.
On the other hand, Johnny
Lingo was known for being such a sharp negotiator that some speculated that he
might be able to obtain Sarita for as low as one
cow. However, Johnny Lingo did nothing
of the sort. He marched up to Sarita's father and offered eight cows for her hand in
marriage.
Eight cows! It was unheard of! No one had ever paid such a high price for a
bride. And for such a plain woman as Sarita! But after
the wedding, a strange thing happened. Sarita began to take on a noble bearing. Her head was held high. Her eyes sparkled. She beamed with an inner glow. And in the years that followed, she became renown as the most beautiful woman in all the village. People would come from afar to see her as her
radiant grace became almost legendary.
One day, Johnny Lingo was
asked why he had paid such a exorbitant price for a
wife. He replied, “I loved Sarita and wanted to express the high value of our
marriage. Her self esteem has been
greatly elevated as she realizes that her dowry price was higher than any other
woman in the village.” Then with a grin,
he added, “But the other reason I had was that I wanted to marry an eight-cow
wife.”
God paid the highest possible
price for you. Not merely in cows, but
in His only begotten Son. And that makes
you a prized possession of inestimable value.