REDEMPTION – FULL & FREE

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 24, 2022 under 2022 |

Bethany Bible Church Sermon Message; July 17, 2022 from Ephesians 1:7-8

Theme: God has graciously provided us with redemption—full and free—through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Over the past few weeks, we’ve been gazing inside a treasure box. It’s an especially wonderful treasure box for us to gaze into; because it contains our own rich treasures through Jesus.

That treasure box is the apostle Paul’s New Testament letter to the Ephesians. The opening of this treasure box began with these words in Ephesians 1:3;

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ … (Ephesians 1:3).

And from then on—from verses 4-14 specifically, but really all the way to the end of Chapter 3—the apostle Paul describes to us ‘the spiritual blessings in heavenly places’ that are our present possessions through faith in Jesus. We don’t need to try to earn them. They are already ours by God’s grace; and through them, we have everything that we need to live a victorious life on earth and to prepare for a glorious eternity in heaven. This letter shows us how rich we are in Christ—right now—in spiritual blessings. All that we need to do is to rise up by faith, take hold of the spiritual treasures that are already ours, and live victoriously in them.

This morning, we begin to look specifically at the spiritual blessings God has given us through the ministry of Jesus Christ Himself. And the first blessing that we see can be summed up in the word “redemption”. Verses 7-8 tell us;

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence … (vv. 7-8).

As these two verses show us, God has graciously provided us with redemption—full and free—through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; that’s a word that you and I hear often in church settings—that word ‘redemption’. We often sing, “Redeemed! How I love to proclaim it!” We often call ourselves a ‘redeemed’ people. But I suspect that most of us who are believers don’t quite understand what it really means.

A believer living in the times in which Paul wrote this letter, however, would have understood perfectly what it meant. That’s because the word that Paul used—that’s here translated “redemption”—came from something that would have been very familiar to them. It comes from the the language of the slave market. One scholar of the ancient language of the Bible even went so far as to say that if anyone heard this word in the first century, they would have naturally thought of the purchase money paid to set a slave free.¹

Now; I believe that that’s something that would have really spoken to the heart of the apostle Paul. He himself had been a slave. He hadn’t been a slave, of course, in the sense that he had been brought into forced servitude to another human being, Rather, he recognized that he had been a slave to sin. He had been a hard-hearted unbeliever. He hated the message of the gospel, and hated all Christians, and sought—as much as he could—to have as many of them arrested as possible, dragged away to stand trial for their faith, and put to death. But he was set free from his slavery to sin by an encounter with the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. He became a transformed man. In 1 Timothy 1:12-16, he wrote about it and said;

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life (1 Timothy 1:12-16).

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was “exceedingly abundant” toward him—sufficient to save even him! And he was set free from his slavery to sin and death and was ‘redeemed’.

This is something that means a great deal to me also. I was a slave to sin too. I knew who God was and what He required of me. I even knew that Jesus was His Son. But I lived out my early years in rebellion against Him—pretending that He didn’t exist—pretending that I was free from His commands. Jesus once said that “whoever commits sin”—that is, as an ongoing practice of life—”is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). And that’s what I was—a slave to sin. As a result, I stacked up sin upon sin upon sin in my rebellion against Him—and I couldn’t stop. I felt horribly dirty inside because of my sins, and I knew that I would one day have to give an account for every one of them. I knew that I was destined for the lake of fire, and that I deserved to go there. It was as if I was addicted to piling up a debt of sin on a spiritual credit card that I could—in no way—ever pay off. I dreaded the day when the bill would finally come due; and I thought there was no hope. I could never change my ways, and I thought that there was no one who could rescue me from the destiny of eternal judgment. I was a hopeless, helpless slave to sin.

But one day, God graciously opened my heart; and I heard—with clarity—that what Jesus did on the cross was for sinners like me. I heard that He Himself paid the death penalty for all of my sins. All of them! Completely! And that if I would simply accept by faith what He did for me—just simply thank God for it and trust in it—then I would be declared completely ‘righteous’ in God’s sight. The ransom price for my freedom had already been paid in the shedding of His blood; and all that I had to do was accept it and receive it by prayer. And by God’s grace, I did. As a result, I was ransomed out of my slavery. Sin—and its terrible debt—no longer had mastery over me.

That’s what it means to be ‘redeemed’. And dear brothers and sisters in Christ—there’s no greater gift from God for sinners like you and me to receive than this gift! Redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ—full and free!

So; let’s look at these words in Ephesians 1:7-8, and rejoice together in what they tell us. Every single word of these two verses give us reason for joy!

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; It’s important that we especially notice the first two words of this passage. In verse 7, it begins with “In Him …” Paul wrote that “in Him we have redemption”. In whom? In Jesus Christ—the one who Paul spoke of in verse 6 when He said that the Father has made us “accepted in the Beloved”.

We must grab hold of this; because these first two words make clear to us not only who our Redeemer is, but also who are the only people that can receive redemption through Him. The ransom price for deliverance from sin is not applied to just anyone. It’s only applied to those who are “in Christ” by faith.

To be “in Christ” means to be in a spiritual relationship with Him by faith—having turned away from all other false sources of redemption. No one can be redeemed by becoming more pious. No one can be saved by trying to improve their life. No one can buy their own redemption by doing good deeds. No one can obtain freedom from slavery to sin and death in any other way than by placing their complete trust in what Jesus did on the cross as the only Redeemer. His death on the cross is the only thing that can serve as the ransom price for our freedom.

So, it’s very important that you make sure that you are “in Christ” by faith. Have you admitted to God that you are a sinner who has no hope of ever delivering yourself from the guilt of sin? Have you admitted that you are guilty before God and deserve eternal judgment? Have you declared that your only hope for freedom is that Jesus died on the cross for you and purchased your ransom at the price of His own blood? And have you thanked God that Jesus died for you, and placed your faith in His cross for your redemption?

If so, then you can rejoice in the things that these verses tell you. They apply to you.

* * * * * * * * * *

First, notice …

1. WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US IN CHRIST.

Paul wrote, “In Him”, that is, in Christ, “we have redemption”. In the original language, the word that Paul has used is based on the regular word for ‘redemption’; but in this case, it also has added to it the Greek word “from”. This intensifies the word so that it means “to be loosed from” or “to be redeemed from”. It describes the idea to us that God has completely redeemed us far away from the guilt of our sin, so that our sin can no longer condemn us and that we no longer have to be under its bondage. God the Father has purchased our complete and total freedom in Jesus Christ.

When I first believed on Jesus as my Savior, I wasn’t sure I was completely saved. It seemed like something that was just too good to be true; and for a while, I had doubts about it all. But I soon learned that my redemption in Christ is a complete redemption. I was completely removed from the guilt of my sin, and completely set free to live for Him. I was now “justified”; which means, “declared 100% righteous in God’s sight. Jesus is my complete “propitiation”—which means that His atoning death satisfies God’s just anger for my sin—completely taking my condemnation away. As that other great sinner Paul once put it in Romans 3:23-25;

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith … (Romans 3:23-25a).

It was a life-transforming day for me when I realized that my redemption was complete in Jesus. I was not only not going to go to the lake of fire; but I now absolutely was going to be in heavenly glory—and that I was as sure for heaven as if I was already there.

And what’s more, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; as the original language of Paul’s words have it, this freedom is already our present possession. In Jesus, we ‘have’ redemption! Not ‘may have’ it possibly; and not ‘will have’ it one day; but ‘have’ it all right now!

So; that’s the first great thing we see in these two verses. In Christ, we have redemption.

* * * * * * * * * *

The second thing to notice is …

2. HOW GOD HAS PROVIDED IT FOR US.

It’s not by making ourselves worthy of it; because we never could. It wasn’t by earning it, because we could never do enough to pay off the debt of our sin and ransom ourselves out of slavery. Instead, God has provided redemption for us in Christ “through His blood”.

The phrase “through His blood” is a kind of figure of speech. Jesus shed His blood for us on the cross; but it’s meant to be a picture of the giving of His whole life for us. He is the sinless Son of God who became one of us—being conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit. He had no sin of His own, and lived a life of perfect obedience to God the Father. And the shedding of His blood for us means that He died in our place as our sinless Substitute.

God the Father sent His own beloved, sinless, perfect Son into the world to do that very thing for us—to shed His blood on our behalf. And so that means that the price paid for our redemption is the highest price that could ever be paid to set a slave free. What a sobering thought that is! Just think of how precious we are to the Father that He would give His own Son to redeem us! Just think of how much Jesus Himself loves us to have paid that price for us willingly! And just think of how the realization of all of this ought to affect the way we live out the rest of our days on earth!

The apostle Peter put it this way in 1 Peter 1:17-19;

And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1:17-19).

So; that’s another thing that we find in these verses: the extraordinarily precious price that was paid for our redemption—the blood of Jesus, the sinless Son of God!

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; these verses go on, thirdly, to tell us …

3. WHAT IT MEANS TO US PERSONALLY.

And what redemption means to us personally is, as Paul goes on to say, “the forgiveness of sins”. When Paul says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins …”, he’s showing us that our redemption from our slavery to sin also means the complete forgiveness of all our sins. Past, present, and future.

The word that Paul uses for “sins” in this passage isn’t the usual word for sin. In this case, it means “trespasses” or “transgressions”. That describes those times when we have crossed over God’s moral boundaries, have disobeyed His commandments, and have stepped our toes over His ‘no trespassing’ zones. It involves the deliberate, intentional committing of sins against God’s known laws and commandments. When we sin in that way, we have sinned with a defiance of heart—with a high hand—knowing good and well what we have done. As a sinner, who was under the bondage of sin, I did that countless times—day after day. The guilt of it all was overwhelming to me.

But now, my complete redemption in Christ means that His blood has paid the full debt for every one of my transgressions. God no longer holds them against me. I am completely forgiven for every transgression I ever committed, and every transgression I may ever commit in the future. Completely forgiven, now and forever.

You know; some people think that that’s a dangerous thing to say. They’re afraid that if you go around telling people that they can be completely forgiven in Christ, then they might think that they have a ‘blank check’ to sin in the future—since it’s already forgiven. But that misses the point. If you’ve been completely set free from a horrible slave master, wouldn’t you be grateful? Would you actually want to use your new freedom to go back and put yourself under bondage to a horrible slave-master again? Like Paul puts it in Romans 6:15-18;

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:15-18).

It’s a truly marvelous thing that God has done for us. He has not done things in the way we would expect. He doesn’t promise to forgive our sins if we will fight sin and prove ourselves worthy of it. No! Instead, He first forgives all of our sins in Christ—past, present and future—and then calls us to live like people who have already been given the victory over sin.

That’s what it means to “have” redemption. It means that we have already been forgiven. And so now, whenever we trespass over God’s moral ‘no trespassing zones’, we come to Him and say, “Father in heaven, I have sinned. And I am sorry. Thank You that You have already redeemed me by the precious blood of Jesus. Thank you that You have already forgiven my sin. I have not behaved like what You have made me to be. I have gone back and behaved like a slave to sin again. Help me to rise up, dust myself off, and go on to live like someone who has been redeemed from sin.” And as you do that faithfully and repeatedly, you find that—after a while—you’re going back to your old slave master less and less.

Dear brothers and sisters; what a great way that is to live! Completely forgiven—now and forever! That’s another thing that God has given us in our redemption in Christ!

* * * * * * * * * *

A fourth thing that we see in this passage concerning our redemption—which is to say, our complete forgiveness—is …

4. HOW GREAT THE MEASURE OF IT IS.

Paul goes on to say that it is “according to the riches of His grace”. And notice that this doesn’t say that He redeems us and forgives us ‘from out of the riches of His grace’, but rather—as if very specifically says—’according to the riches of His grace’.

Think of it this way: If you were a person in need, and a person with limitless wealth came by and gave you a gift from ‘out of’ his or her riches, what you received may be a small or it may be a large. But it would only be a portion; and the meeting of your need would be limited by the portion of their wealth that they chose to give you. They only gave to you from ‘out of’ their riches; and they might say, “I’m sorry; but that’s all I’m going to give you right now.” But if that same wealthy person came and met your need ‘according to’ their riches, then what you received wouldn’t be limited by any portion at all. The meeting of your need be as limitless as that person’s rich treasure of unlimited wealth would be. They could say, “All that I have is yours. You are now as wealthy as me.”

Now; God’s commandments have set the boundaries for us. And we have crossed them time and again. But when He redeems us by the blood of Jesus, there’s now absolutely no limit to the degree to which He can fully forgive us and fully pour out His grace to us. It is all “according to the riches of His grace” … which is as unlimited as our Father Himself. All of His grace is ours. As Paul put it in Romans 5:20;

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more (Romans 5:20).

We can never sin so much that God cannot already completely forgive us and make us clean through the blood of His Son, and pour out all the rich treasures of His glory and purity and holiness upon us. That’s what it means to be redeemed!

* * * * * * * * * *

And let’s consider one more thing that this passage tells us about our redemption in Christ; and that’s …

5. WHY WE CAN REST CONFIDENTLY IN IT.

Paul tells us that, in Christ, we have redemption by His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace “which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence …”

If I may say this without seeming irreverent; we don’t ever have to fear that God will over-do it, and will somehow make a mistake in having excessively redeemed us, or in having forgiven our sins too much, or in recklessly wasting His grace upon us. He knows completely all our failures. He is fully aware of our faults. He knows how we will stumble and fall in the future. We can be absolutely confident that He does all that He does for us in Christ with perfect wisdom and complete understanding. He will never make a mistake in redeeming us or forgiving us.

Do you know one of the reasons why He redeems us through the blood of Jesus? It’s to put His own wisdom on display before the hosts of heaven. The Bible tells us that the angelic beings look with great interest upon our salvation. They are looking at how He has redeemed us, and are learning from it what a wondrous and gracious and wise God our heavenly Father is. Paul tells us, in Ephesians 3:10-12, that He pours out all His rich grace upon us

… to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him (Ephesians 3:10-12).

The angels of heaven will, one day, look upon the full completion of our redemption, will see the immeasurable glory that God has poured out upon us through Jesus His Son, and will fall before Him in worship and say, “Oh, Creator God! What wisdom You display! How glorious is Your eternal plan and purpose—that You would redeem such sinners as these through the blood of Your own Son, wash them clean, and pour out all the riches of Your grace upon them in order to bring them to such glory! Praise be to You for Your great manifold wisdom!”

We can be perfectly confident in God’s redeeming grace toward us. It is all to the eternal praise of His wisdom and prudence.

* * * * * * * * * *

What a rich spiritual blessing it is that this ‘treasure box’—otherwise known to us as the Book of Ephesians—opens up to us! What a glorious treasure God has given us in Christ!

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence … (vv. 7-8).

So then, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s praise Him for it! And more; let’s also live like the redeemed people that we are!

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¹Adolf Deissmann, Lionel R.M. Strachan, trans., Light from the Ancient East: The New Testament Illustrated by Recently Discovered Texts of the Graeco-Roman World (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1965), p. 327.

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