Redemption

Listen to this Ministry Message Moment

When I was a kid I used to collect empty soda and beer cans because growing up in Iowa we got five cents for every can recycled. One time, I received over $85 from the redemption center from collecting hundreds of cans that filled up nearly five four-foot tall garbage bags. I rescued cans from the bottom of garbage bins and along ditches beside the road where people carelessly discarded them, unaware of their intrinsic value. Is it any wonder I later became a pastor, practicing redemption from such a young age?

Not that I did the redeeming, that is Jesus department as Ephesians 1:7 says “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Yet, like Christ, I saw value in what the world considered refuse. The word redemption means to “regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment.” Through the payment of Christ’s life we regain our lost possession of an unhindered relationship with God.

The saddest part of our unredeemed condition is we don’t even know what we have lost and that we are lost. We live in ignorance that we once possessed a glorious connection to the God of the universe. It’s only through the Holy Spirit that we become aware of our true condition. John 16:13 proclaims, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” The Holy Spirit shows us that we are not worthless debris to be thrown away, but instead a priced possession to be redeemed. Christ’s primary purpose is revealed in Luke 19:10 which says, “ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

(Prayer): Thank you Holy Spirit for revealing the truth. Thank you Jesus for loving us, for coming after us, for giving your life for us and paying the price so we could regain possession of our eternal relationship with God the Father. Amen.