Our Redeemer

by George Prasher, Manchester, England | Category: The Excellencies Of Christ | May 1990

There is a special sweetness to the Christian's heart about the thought of Christ as Redeemer:

My Redeemer! oh what beauties in that lovely Name appear!

None but Jesus in His glories shall the honoured title wear.

The Greek words translated "redeem" in Our Bibles have the thought of "buying out" (as when buying a slave with a view to freedom), and of releasing on payment of a ransom. They convey the idea of deliverance which could never be achieved apart from intervention by one willing and able to save.

A great Bible illustration of redemption is the deliverance of the nation of Israel from Egypt in the time of Moses. On the night of the Passover, a nation of slaves were released to freedom. The blood of a slain lamb on their doorposts had sheltered them from the destroying angel: and the impact of the death of the firstborn son in countless Egyptian homes made the tyrant Pharaoh urge the Hebrews to leave his land. Their mighty exodus from Egypt and through the Red Sea brought complete deliverance. They were redeemed by divine power, God destroyed the pursuing Egyptian army and set His people tree.

And we have known redemption, Lord,

From bondage worse than theirs by far;

Sin held us by a stronger cord,

Yet by Thy mercy free we are.

The words of the hymn writer turn our thoughts to the excellence of the One through whom we have been redeemed from Satan's power. He is described in Ephesians 1 as "the Beloved" in whom we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, through the riches of His grace (vv. 6,7). Yes, our Redeemer is none other than God's own beloved Son. Our redemption is through His blood, because the power of Satan and of sin could never have been broken if our Redeemer had not dealt with the problem of Sin. This could only be by His death for our sake.

Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, by His blood... (Rom. 324,25).

So Jesus bore in His own Person the judgement for sinners on the cross. He completely satisfied all God's claims against the sinner through His one sacrifice for sins for ever. He gave Himself a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:6).

As a result of this our faith in the Saviour brings us redemption and deliverance.

By weakness and defeat

He won the meed and crown;

Trod all our foes beneath His feet

By being trodden down.

There is a glorious ring of triumph in the words of Hebrews 9:12:

... through His own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.

Let us enjoy fully the assurance of these words - eternal redemption! This derives from the perfect sacrifice of our Redeemer at Calvary: He Himself is the Guarantor of our redemption, as He lives in the power of an endless life.

Some aspects of Christ's work as Redeemer are remarkably foreshadowed in the Old Testament. For instance, if through poverty an Israelite had to sell himself to a stranger, God's Law laid the responsibility of redeeming him upon a near kinsman, a close relation. That faintly illustrates the truth that in order to redeem us, the Lord Jesus had to become our kinsman. In a very special sense He did so, by partaking of flesh and blood and through His birth of the virgin; being found here in this world in fashion as a man.

Another requirement of the Law of Moses was that the firstling of an ass had to have its neck broken unless it was redeemed by the death of a lamb in its place. The ass was classified as an unclean animal. On countless occasions, therefore, in Israel's history, if the owner of an ass wanted its firstling to live, the life of a lamb had to be given in its place, so there was repeatedly enacted the giving of the clean for the unclean. As men obeyed this requirement of God's Law, they were expressing before Him one great truth of His redemptive purpose - that in due time the Holy One of God, the spotless Iamb, would yield His life to make possible the redemption of a race defiled by sin. How thankful we should feel for this! That gratitude should find expression in a willingness to respond to God's purpose in our redemption. Paul wrote about that great purpose for which Christ gave Himself a ransom in his letter to Titus:

Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works (2:14).

Holiness of life should be seen in every redeemed person. But more than that, disciples should be united together as a people for His pleasure, a people marked out by their zeal for good works.

God's purpose in our redemption does not stop there! Holiness in our Christian experience is an important result which should be seen. But we are also eagerly awaiting our adoption, the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:23). At present we may glorify God in our bodies, but they are subject to imperfection and disease; and how well we know the power of the law of sin in our members! These problems cause us to "groan within ourselves, waiting for... the redemption of our body". When will this take place? It will take place when the Lord Jesus returns for His Church. Paul wrote about this in his letter to the Philippians:

... we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself (3:20,21).

So our great Redeemer will bring this purpose to completion. At present we have to endure the problems of a mortal body and a sinful environment. These very problems may prove to be a means of our more fully glorifying God through overcoming faith. Our Redeemer also promises us the redemption of our body - to be conformed to His own glorious body! Wonderful Redeemer!

George Prasher, Manchester, England | May 1990
The Excellencies Of Christ