Time is running out to get prepped for Christmas. I basically just started my shopping this past week. Once Thanksgiving rolls around, you think you have some time, but the time goes quickly, and before you know it, you are up against it to get prepped for the big celebration. How many of you are last-minute Christmas shopping people? Who hasn’t started shopping? How many of you will be shopping on Christmas Eve? How many of you will be wrapping into the wee hours of the morning on Christmas day? I’ve been known to be a last-minute Christmas shopper a time or two myself.
Switching gears…What goes through your mind when you hear the word, “redemption?” Do you think of how when something goes wrong, how when you blow it by saying or doing something that creates a problem or imposes some-kind-of pain, you seek to do something to make it right? You try to do something to redeem yourself? That’s the expression we use. We do something to redeem ourselves.
That’s how we think of the word “redemption” today, but that’s not the understanding of the word, “redemption,” that the Bible uses. You see, when it comes to being an enemy of God, to blowing it with God, we can’t redeem ourselves. There is nothing we can do to save face, to erase our wrongs, or to make our relationship with God right. Since we cannot redeem ourselves, we need a Redeemer. Tell your neighbor, “You need a Redeemer.” I have good news for you this morning. God’s reach is a redemptive reach. Through Christ, God offers to be your Redeemer. Merry Christmas! What a gift!
Where do we see redemption in the Christmas story?
Well, in Luke 2, there was a prophetess named Anna. She was a widow who never left the temple. She worshiped night and day and fasted and prayed. Joseph and Mary brought baby Jesus to the temple for a dedication or purification ceremony. She approached them and Luke 2:38 says this: She gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
She recognized Jesus as the Redeemer. Two more verses set the stage for our time together. They come from Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
I’m going to give you the four points of this message up front, but don’t put your headphones in after this and zone out on me. Are you ready?
- It was a planned It wasn’t a last-minute decision.
- God positioned Himself for it.
- God purchased redemption for us at a high price.
- Through redemption we are promoted to the status, “Children of God.”
Look again at Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
When the time had fully come…God had been planning Christmas Day long before Christmas Eve. This wasn’t a last-minute gift that God decided to give to the world. In fact, when sin became a problem, it was then that the plan of Redemption was set into motion. It goes back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned and God promised that through the seed of a woman, through the offspring of a woman, through a baby, He would crush Satan, destroying the works of the devil in the lives of those He created. God would deal with sin by sending a Redeemer to buy us back from the curse and clutches of sin and Satan. Did you know you needed to be bought back? Did you know you were born as a slave to sin? Did you know you were born with a need to be rescued?
Galatians 4:4 says, “When the time had fully come.” There was a designated time for God to enact His plan. God had been working throughout human history to show and prepare people for their need for a Redeemer. He had given Moses the law to help people see that they were incapable of keeping the law. They needed help for that problem. They couldn’t measure up to the law. The law was put in place to teach them that. He wanted them to understand who He was and who they were. He wanted them to see His perfection, His holiness, and He wanted them to understand that sin had separated humanity from our Creator. He wanted them to reach for Him, yes, but He was reaching for them by covering them through the religious sacrificial system until the time of Christ.
Our Redeemer had a plan before we ever had a problem. He knew how things would play out when He created Adam and Eve with free will. They chose their way over God’s way. They chose their fleshly desires over God’s heart for them. They trusted their instincts instead of God’s command not to eat of the one tree in the Garden that God designated was off limits. They disobeyed God, but in God’s infinite wisdom, He had a plan to take care of His people’s need for redemption.
Revelation 13:8 says that Jesus is the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world. The sacrificial system that called for the sacrifice of lambs and goats and other creatures could never be an adequate substitute for the sins of humanity. True redemption would have to come another way. When Adam and Eve sinned, I guarantee you God not only saw their need for redemption, but He saw yours. He saw every sin that would be committed in the future. Those He created and would create would be born into slavery, born into sin, born with a will that was bent on doing things the wrong way. He knew what we needed before we were ever born, and He planned, before the foundation of the world, to be the One to take care of our sin problem.
Look at Romans 5:6-8 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own LOVE for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ came at the right time, and He died at the right time. He gave His life for all of us and none of us deserved what He did for us.
Not only was the Reach of Redemption a planned reach, but Jesus positioned Himself uniquely to be the ransom to purchase humanity from the clutches of sin and Satan. We talked about the Incarnation two weeks ago. That means God became man. Jesus willingly stepped out of the halls of Heaven and into the flesh of humanity. Divinity took on humanity. He assumed the position of being human. He subjected Himself to the human experience, to every temptation, to the pains and trials of life. But Jesus was totally different from us in one way…He never sinned. He never told a lie. He never asserted His will over God the Father’s plan. He never violated one intention of the law. He lived a perfect life. It was His sinless perfection that positioned Him to pay the penalty we could never pay. We could never save face. We could never redeem ourselves from our actions. We could never make ourselves righteous. The law condemned us. We are all guilty of violating God’s law, but there was One who fulfilled the law perfectly. We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, Romans 3:23, but Merry Christmas because God our Sinless Savior positioned Himself to make us right with God.
Maybe you find yourself in a predicament where you need four new tires on your car. I’m facing that one myself. (I hope you didn’t get me anything yet for Christmas, Babe, because tires are officially on my list. Young people, that’s called “adulting.” You’re welcome.) Well, if you are in a tire predicament, there might be someone who could afford to help you out of that. Someone might be able to pay for the tires or loan you the money for the tires until you could pay them back. Maybe you are in a predicament where you need someone to watch your dog while you go on a Christmas cruise for a week. You might find a neighbor nice enough to help you out or someone who needs some extra money that you can pay to dog sit.
But there is NO ONE but Jesus who can make you right with God. Not the grandparent you love with all your heart. Not the boss that is super sweet and kind to you. Not the best friend you have known since kindergarten. Only Jesus can be your Redeemer and bail you out of your sin problem.
I don’t know if you caught it earlier, but it was the love of God that caused Jesus to position Himself, to place Himself in our predicament. He not only took on the human experience, but on the cross, He took on our sin. Jesus assumed our problem as His own. Y’all, that is redemption. Is anyone getting help this morning? As a human, Jesus met the requirements of God on our behalf. He knew no sin, but became sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God, II Corinthians 5:21. When we give our lives to the Redeemer, He covers us before God. God no longer sees us as sinners, but He sees us as righteous.
Not only did God have a plan for redemption, and not only did Jesus position Himself so that He could be the One to redeem us, but you guys, He purchased our redemption with His very blood.
If someone buys you tires, they are out some money. If someone takes care of your dog, they exert a bit of energy on your behalf. But if someone gives their blood for you, they have given their life. Redemption cost Jesus His life! I Peter 1:18-19-18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
There is that “lamb language” again. Those who heard these words spoken would understand these were the words of sacrifice. They were used to sacrificing lambs as an atonement for sin. What was a lamb when compared to the death of the Son of God on the cross for us? This was a costly sacrifice. Jesus gave His all.
Let me show it to you in one more place. Ephesians 1 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us.
The Bible tells us there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood, Hebrews 9:22, and no blood but the blood of our spotless Savior would qualify to pay redemption’s cost. The redemption of humanity from the slavery of sin, from the domain of Satan’s darkness, had a high price tag. That is the biblical definition of redemption. It involves a purchase at a high cost. It is about far more than saving face; it is about saving our souls.
Once you become a Christian, the righteousness of Jesus becomes a gift to you. You get to wear it on the inside. God never looks again at you and sees your sin. He only sees the righteousness of Christ. In addition to that, you gain a freedom from condemnation, shame, from the failures in your past and even the failures in your future. You get emancipated from evil, from darkness, from despair, from eternity in Hell. That is part of the biblical understanding of redemption.
That word was used in reference to the purchasing of a slave’s freedom. A slave was considered “redeemed” when the price was paid for his freedom. This is the whole story of God’s chosen people, Israel. Look at Exodus 6:6-7 6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will FREE you from being slaves to them, and I will REDEEM you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. (Hold on to this last verse, this idea that we will be God’s own people.)
Redemption is the language of sacrifice, yes, but it is also the language of freedom! Notice what verse 7 says here, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.” You can’t live free without redemption! When Jesus becomes your Savior, you are freed to become who God intended you to be! That cannot happen when you are chained to your sinful nature. One last time, look at our text from Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the time had fully come, Get sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
Redemption promotes us from slaves to sin and Satan to sons and daughters of God. I could preach for weeks on what it means to be adopted by God, how wonderful it is to be part of God’s family, how it makes us an heir with Jesus Christ, on how it elevates us, gives us authority, and radically transforms our life. Just know this: Jesus became what He despised the most (sin) so that you could become part of His family.
There is no greater privilege, honor, or joy than to say you are a child of God! When God told the Israelites He was going to free them from slavery in Egypt, what else did He say to them? He wasn’t just going to emancipate them, but He said He would adopt them as His own. Here is Exodus 6:7 again. “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.” God adopted Israel when He freed them from slavery in Egypt. God adopts us when He frees us from sin.
Praise the Lord for adoption! If we were freed but freed to then be left to our own devices, we would soon be in trouble again, in bondage again. We would be defenseless and captured again, but that is not the case. When our Redeemer liberates us, He takes us as His own. He reorients us in the love and power of God and with our new identity in Christ, sin and Satan no longer have any dominion over us.
Maybe you came today expecting more of a “Christmassy” message. I don’t know how much more Christmassy you could get than by learning about the entire reason for Christmas. We needed a Redeemer. We couldn’t redeem ourselves. When Heaven invaded earth that first Christmas, it was a planned reach. God, through Jesus, intentionally positioned Himself to be the Reacher. He purchased redemption for us at the cost of His life’s blood, and because of Redemption’s Reach, we can be promoted to the status of “Children of God.”
If you were hoping for a story about the manger today, picture this. Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, planned from eternity to pay your ransom. He positioned Himself, at just the right time, to put Himself in our place.
That first Christmas, the Redeemer, a helpless baby, was placed in a manger, a common place, a dirty place, a place where animals came to feed, He laid there in that filthy environment, foreshadowing all the filth He would take on to earn Him the title, Redeemer. He laid in a filthy manger as a baby. He took on filth of the world on the cross that we might go free. That is redemption.
This Christmas, let the colors of Christmas, red and green, symbolize redemption. The color red, the color of blood, when you look at it, remember the price that was paid for our redemption. The color green, the color of life and living things, when you look at it, remember that you don’t have to be spiritually dead in your trespasses and sins, but you can be made alive in Christ who has come to redeem you.
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