We're thankful for another time
of worship, another time to gather together, and by your providence
you brought us here. Lord, we pray that you would
reveal yourself to us through the scripture, that the Holy
Spirit would illuminate, and that we might learn more and
more about thee, Lord. We pray you'd be glorified and
magnified today in the preaching, and in the singing, and in our
fellowship too, Lord. May we give you all the glory
and honor and praise. In Jesus' name, amen. Open your Bibles, if you would,
to 1 Corinthians 1. We'll be continuing our Christ
is series, and today we'll be looking at Christ is our redemption.
Christ is our redemption. 1 Corinthians, I'd like to read
the context of the verse. We'll start in verse 18, and
we'll go all the way down to verse 30, and it'll just be the
first part of, actually, the one section of verse 30 that
we'll look at. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it
is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching. to save them that believe. For
the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block,
and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jew and Gentile, so that's the elect of God, that's the
body of Christ, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than man, and the weakness
of God is stronger than man. For ye see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. But God hath called the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. And base things of the world and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring
to naught things that are. that no flesh should glory in
his presence, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,
that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. So today is our continuation
of the Christ is series, and I'd like us to look at how Christ
is our redemption. Christ is our redemption. Look
at verse 30, but of Him, and we'll take the first part of
the verse and add the last, but of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
and then look at the last, who of God is made unto us redemption. We know He's made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, but I like to look at how He's
made unto us redemption. He's made unto us redemption.
Now in this verse we have precious, precious doctrine. And it all
centers around Christ Jesus our Lord. It all centers around Him.
Precious truth that Jesus Christ is made of God unto His people. Those who in the scripture are
called the elect. That He has made unto us redemption. He's made unto us redemption.
Now the definition in the Greek for the word redemption is a
deliverance. A deliverance. A releasing affected
by payment of a ransom. A releasing affected by the payment
of a ransom. Liberation secured by the payment
of a ransom. And a ransom. So it's a freeing
of those who are in bondage. It's a freeing of those who are
held captive. And He is our liberation. He's
our freedom. And we looked at that one time
before. Christ is our freedom. Now, I want us to consider this
fact that we never in our natural state sought redemption. In our natural state, we never
sought redemption, although it was the one thing we needed. And we never saw it. We never
saw it. We need to be redeemed. Because
in our fallen state of sin, we're dead in trespasses and sins.
And think of this, we were blind to redemption in Christ. We were
absolutely blind in our natural state to the redemption that
is in Christ. We were blind to the law and
justice of God. Did you ever consider the law
and justice of God before the Lord revealed Christ to you?
I didn't. I didn't even know anything about
it, to be honest with you, except the Ten Commandments were called
the law. That's the only thing I knew. But I didn't know that
God had a strict justice that must be upheld, and a holy law
that must be fulfilled. I had no clue. No clue at all. God teaches his people this.
And we were blind. We were even blind to the things
of God. We thought we knew who God was. But we had no clue who He was.
We were blind to the things of God. We were blind to the God
of the Scriptures, and we were blind to the Scriptures. We had
no idea. Now think of this, and this will
bless your soul. Everything that you know now,
you've been taught of God. He's taught you all the things
you know about Christ. So we can't boast in that either,
can we? We give Him all the glory for everything. And it's absolutely
wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. We who
believe on Christ have been shown that we could never ransom ourselves.
That we could never pay the redemption price that God required for our
souls. We could never pay the redemption
price for one of our sins, let alone all the sins that we commit
in our lives. We've been shown that, haven't
we? We've been shown who we are and what we are. But praise be
to God, The Lord Jesus Christ has been made unto we who believe
redemption. Christ is our redemption. Now
what does that mean that he is our redemption? John Calvin had
a wonderful answer to this. He said he teaches us that he,
Christ, is given to us for redemption by which he means that through
his goodness we are delivered at once from all bondage to sin. delivered at once from all bondage
to sin. Remember the definition, too.
It is a liberation, a deliverance. And he goes on to say from all
the misery that flows from sin, if it is asked in what way Christ
is given to us for redemption, I answer because he made himself
a ransom. He's a ransom for his people.
He's the payment that sets us free. He is made of God, redemption
for us. And God has ordained this. And
God has appointed this. And it flows from all eternity,
beloved. And it is marvelous. It's absolutely
marvelous. In the fullness of time, God
raised Christ up. Christ became a man. He was sent
to be the author and the securer of our salvation. The finisher
of redemption for His people. And thus He is our Redeemer.
Now why did Christ come into the world? Well, Christ came
into the world to redeem us, to purchase our eternal souls.
Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. He came to save His people from
their sins. And Zacharias' song tells us
of the incarnate God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Redeemer.
Look at Zacharias' song here. Luke chapter 1, verses 67 to
75. And his father, Zacharias, was
filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel, look at this, for he hath visited
and redeemed his people. God himself has visited and redeemed
his people. And think of this, just as the
Lord delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, right, it was He
who did that, God Himself has redeemed us by the shedding of
His precious blood and delivered us from the bondage of sin. We
who are under the blood of Christ are safe, redeemed, blood-bought
saints. And look, and hath raised up
a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David.
This speaks of Christ. as He spake by the mouth of His
holy prophets, which have been since the world began. They all
testified of Christ. They all testified of Him, that
we should be saved from our enemies, from the hand of all that hate
us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember
His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham.
that He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the
hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear and holiness
and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. But
I love that one verse there, in verse 68, Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His people. God
Himself. God Himself has redeemed His
people. Christ Jesus, God incarnate in the flesh, has redeemed His
people. Now the justice of God had a
rightful claim upon all of us, didn't it? It did. It had a rightful claim upon
us, just as it does for all the sons and daughters of Adam. When
we came into this world, the justice of God had a rightful
claim upon us, because we're born sinners, and we're sinners
by nature and by choice. But Christ has bought us out
of the hands of divine justice by the shedding of His own precious
blood. He's purchased us Let us never forget that He purchased
us by laying down His life. A ransom for us. God Himself
did this. God Himself has visited His people
and God Himself has redeemed His people. The Lord Jesus Christ. Emmanuel. God with us. Turn if you would to Matthew
20 verse 28 and then put your finger in Ephesians chapter 5. Matthew 20 verse 28. Why did
the Son of Man come? Not to be ministered unto, but
to minister. Matthew 20 verse 28. Even as
the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but what? But
to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. He is the
redemption price, the shedding of his precious blood. Then turn,
if you would, to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5 Christ
alone is the only sacrifice that God will accept for the sins
of his people in Christ The sacrifice of Christ is a sweet-smelling
savor to God as our sacrifice Look at Ephesians chapter 5 verses
1 & 2 Be therefore followers of God
as dear children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved
us and hath given Himself for us, the sinless one. Given Himself
for sinners. He's given Himself for us. As an offering and a sacrifice
to God. It's God who must be satisfied,
right? It's Him who must be satisfied. And God is only satisfied with
the sacrifice of Christ. That's why you hear us continuously
say, it's grace and grace and grace alone. You don't mix any
works with the grace of God. It's all His work. It's all what
He's done. Because only He is a sweet smell
and savor to God. Only He. And a sacrifice to God
for a sweet smell and savior. He was both priest and sacrifice,
beloved. Both priest and sacrifice. Giving
His blood is a sacrifice to redeem us, to purchase us. To purchase
us. And we are redeemed, delivered,
Delivered from bondage by Christ dying for us, by Him shedding
His precious blood. And we know the life of the flesh
is in the blood. And He gave His life for us,
laying down His life, offering Himself up as a sacrifice for
our sins. For our sins. Why? To fully satisfy the demands
of God's justice. And beloved, He did it. He did
it. He's our redemption. Now man
can in no way satisfy or redeem himself. We can never make satisfaction
for our sins, can we? If someone thinks they can, they're
deluded. We can never make satisfaction
for our sins before God by any works. All our works are tainted by
sin. All. But praise be to God, the
perfect, sinless man, the man Christ Jesus died upon Calvary's
cross for the sins of His people. And He alone, He alone, He alone
atoned for our sins. There's no mixture. There's no
mixture and praise be to God. He alone atone for our sins. And it is in it is in and through
Christ that we are now have reconciliation with God. We are reconciled to
God. We have peace with God in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ, the covenant of redemption, which
was planned and purposed from all eternity, the everlasting
covenant. Christ is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, isn't he? Scripture declares
that. And all those whom the Father hath given Christ in eternity,
and that is a number that no man can number. We may be small
here, but the elect of God is a number that no man can number. Imagine that. They were all redeemed. Every
single one of God's blood-bought saints were redeemed by the Son
who paid the ransom price for our deliverance. And He did it
all by Himself. And we know it's finished because
what did He cry? It is finished. That's good news. I don't think
I've ever heard any better news than that. That's wonderful. Absolutely. Think of this. He
paid the ransom price for us to deliver us from the penalty
and from the condemnation of our own sins. And he did it by shedding his
own blood and by giving up his own life. He willingly gave up
his life. How many of us would give up
our lives for someone? For someone who was shaken or
fisted. I don't think any of us will.
Yet. Oh, remember He loved us before
we loved Him. And He's loved us with an everlasting
love. And the believer cries, I have
found a ransom. I found a ransom. And it's Christ. And Christ alone. He's the ransom
for all of God's left. He has delivered us from sin,
from Satan, and from the law of God. It's Him. It's Him. You talk to religious folks,
I was talking to some religious folks this week, and boy, by
the sounds of what they say, they have their own power to
overcome things. No, we overcome in Christ, in
Christ alone. And we know what we are, we know
how we struggle. I found a ransom. Christ, my
substitute, who suffered on my behalf at Calvary's tree. He's become our redeemer, our
ransom, our savior. Now this redemption was a needed
redemption too. Let us never forget. It's a needed
redemption. He came to supply all our needs.
All our spiritual needs are found in Christ. We were in bondage,
He set us free. He set us free. We needed to
be saved from our sins. He saved us from our sins. He
has redeemed us from all our sins. We needed to be clothed
in the perfect righteousness in order to stand before God.
He wove that coat of righteousness in his life and in his death.
And then it's imputed to us. My. We were prisoners to God's law
and justice. We were. We were prisoners to
God's law and justice. Shut up in the prison house of
sin. Christ alone comes to this earth,
buys our freedom from the bondage of sin, from the prison house
of sin, pays our ransom, and we're set free. My, what a Savior. What a Redeemer. Think on this. One commentator brought this
out. We always hear about distinguishing grace, right? One commentator
brought this out. It's distinguishing redemption.
Because all that we need, we all need this redemption, but
it's denied to some and granted to some. It's even distinguishing. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
10. And we know this because who did Christ die for? He didn't
die for everyone. He died for his sheep, though,
didn't he? And he's the one who said that. He's the one who. People when you when you tell
people that the Christ didn't die for everyone, but he died
for a sheep, they get all upset. That's not fair. If we got what
was fair, we'd all go to hell. Look what it says here in John
10, verses 14 and 15. He proclaimed who he laid his
life down for. I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and a knowing of mine. Look at verse 15. As the Father
knoweth me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. He had already told the Pharisees,
you're not my sheep. He laid down His life for the
sheep, beloved, for the sheep, for His people, for all those
whom were given to Him by the Father in eternity. Now turn, if you would, to Psalm
130. Let us consider some forms of bondage from which the Lord
Jesus Christ redeems His people from, delivers His people from. Look at Psalm 130 and then Actually,
put your finger in Revelation chapter 1, too. I'm sorry, I'm
going to have you jumping around a little bit here. Psalm 130
in Revelation chapter 1. He redeems us from the bondage
of all our iniquities. All of them. He's redeemed us from all our
sins, therefore He redeems us from the bondage of all our iniquities.
Look at Psalm 130, verses 7 and 8. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
There's where our hope is to be. There's where the bride's
hope is to be, is in Christ. For with the Lord there is mercy.
Outside of Christ there's no mercy. But in Christ there's
mercy for the believer. And with him is plenteous redemption.
Not just redemption, but plenteous redemption. And look at this
next marvelous verse. And he shall redeem Israel from
all his iniquities. He shall redeem his people from
all their iniquities. And he did that. And it's wonderful. And then turn to Revelation chapter
1. How did he do that? How does he accomplish this?
Look at Revelation chapter 1 verses 4 and 5. He's redeemed us from the bondage
of all our iniquities. And here is how he did it. Revelation
chapter 1 verses 4 and 5. John to the seven churches which
are in Asia. Grace be to you and peace from
him which is and which was and which is to come. There's the
eternality of God. and from the seven spirits which
are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of
the kings of the earth unto him that what loved us and what washed
us from our sins in his own blood. That's how that's how he's taken
us and released us from the bondage of our all our iniquities. Oh,
He washed us from our sins in His own blood. Shedding of His
own precious blood to pay for all my sin. And if you're a believer,
for all your sin, mine. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. He's redeemed us from the guilt
of sin, which causes bondage. The guilt of sin can weigh a
man down. But He's redeemed us from the
guilt of sin, which causes bondage. And the fear of death, look at
Hebrews chapter 2 verses 14 and 15. For as much then, as the
children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise
took part of the same, and that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver
them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. Oh beloved, He's redeemed us
from the guilt of sin. He has made righteousness for
us. He's our justification. And this
is a discharge from the guilt of our sin. It is Christ alone
and in Christ alone that we have forgiveness of all our sins.
And the accepting of us is righteous. God accepts us as righteous in
Christ, clothed in his righteousness and deliver them. who through
fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. For the believer, death is but
a stepping stone. It's a promotion. We don't fear
it like we once did. It's but a passing through. My. Passing through to glory. And
it's He who takes us through that. Turn if you would to John
chapter 8 verse 34. He has redeemed us from the power
of sin which kept us in bondage. Because whosoever committed sin
is the servant of sin. And he has redeemed us from the
power of sin which kept us in bondage. Now the power of sin
at one time had dominion over us. We were slaves to it. Now we still sin, don't we? We
sin more than we want to. But it doesn't have the power
it once held over us. Look at John 8, verse 34. Jesus answered them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant
of sin. The servant of sin. And although
we still sin again as the redeemed, sin does not have the power over
us. Think of this. Now we seek the
Lord in repentance when we never did before. When we never did
before. Now we mourn over our sin when
we never did before. We never did before. What a change
has been wrought in the believer by the Holy Spirit of God. We
who are born again, now we struggle with sin. One time we drank it
like water. Now we struggle. Now we battle. Every single day. Even when we're sleeping, we're
sinning, aren't we? My goodness, it's a constant battle. But praise
be to God, now we are aware of our sin and we repent over our
sin. We mourn over our sin. When one
time we never did, it never even bothered us. That's a change
that's wrought by the Holy Spirit of God and only Him. Now we desire
to serve our Lord and glorify Him in our lives. We have been
translated from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto
God. Turn, if you would, to Titus
2, verse 4. And now we desire to serve our
Lord and to glorify Him in our lives. Now think of that. Did you seek to glorify God before
you were born again? No. Not at all. Now we seek to glorify Him. Now
we want to serve Him. Now we're thankful to be called
the people of God. Titus chapter 2, verse 14. Who gave Himself for us, that
he might redeem us, look at this again, from all iniquity. All
our sin. Not just our past ones, not just
our present ones, but also our future ones. Marvelous. Absolutely
marvelous. And purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works. Zealous of good works. A particular people, zealous
of peculiar people, zealous of good works. I always get that
word mixed up. Zealous of good works. They're zealous. They
desire to serve the Lord. They desire to serve him. Not
to gain merit and favor. But out of debt. Oh, what a redeemer. What he's
done for me. And we have been redeemed from
the guilt and punishment of sin and the power and dominion of
sin, which we once loved. And now we hate it. We hate it. And this is a work of God. This
is a work of God, because only the man who's born again, only
the woman who's born again hates sin. It's incredible. It's incredible what God has
done for his people. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter 3. Another bondage that the Lord
has delivered us from. is the curse of the law. The
curse of the law. Look at Galatians 3, verses 10-14.
For as many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse, and that means everyone, for
it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. And we
know from Scripture, if you break one law, you broke them all. That's pretty clear there. But that no man is justified
by the law. Now there's still religious folks
out there trying to be justified by the law, but the scripture
says right there, but that no man is justified by the law in
the sight of God. It is evident, for the just shall
live by faith. They will live trusting in Christ,
resting in Christ alone. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us, he's purchased us, he's delivered us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith. So in the verses preceding
verse 13, Paul shows the law to be a cursing law. And we saw
that. A cursing law. because of its
perfection. And it's a curse in law because
of its perfection and our imperfection. See, we can't even fill one thing
of the law. Therefore, it condemns us, doesn't
it? It condemns us, but Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law. No man can be justified by the
law of works And in this verse, in verse 13, he shows us how
we are justified. How we are justified and redeemed
from the curse of the law. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Praise his mighty
name. He did it all. He redeemed us. He purchased
us. Christ was made a curse for us,
dying as our substitute on Calvary's tree. Turn one chapter over to
Galatians chapter 4, we see Christ redeems his people who were under
the law. And we were all under the law.
Look at verse 1 to 7. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be
lord of all. But he's under tutors and governors
until the time appointed to the Father. And this is speaking
of the believer before he's saved. He's a prince and an heir and
don't even know it. And he's subject to the same
loss as everyone else. but is under tutors and governors
until the time appointed of the father. Even so, we, when we
were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world,
but when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his
son, made of a woman, made under the law. Why did Christ come?
To redeem them that were under the law, that's his people, because
we are just like everyone else, every other son of Adam, and
every other daughter of Adam, right? We are sinners. And so
he comes to redeem his elect, to redeem his people from their
sins. And we know from John chapter
10, he didn't come die for everyone, he died for a sheep though, right?
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God
has sent forth his spirit of his son into your hearts, crying,
Abba Father, we cry out to God. We all have the same father,
we who are born again. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. Note in Galatians 4, verses 4
and 5, but when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. When the time appointed by the
Father came, When that time was fulfilled, He sent the Lord Jesus
Christ into this world. The Word of God, the second person
of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in the
flesh, the Messiah. He was made of a woman. By the Holy Spirit in the virgin's
womb, He was made flesh and He identified with us in every respect. He was hungry. He was thirsty. He felt sorrow. And yet, He was sinless. He was perfect. Made under the
law. under the civil and judicial
law as a Jew, under the ceremonial law as a son of Abraham, and
under the moral law as the surety of his people. Why? To redeem his people. By meeting and obeying the law
in every jot and tittle. by going to the cross and suffering
the penalty for our sins. And if you're a believer, let's
bring it right home for my sins. Suffering the penalty of our
sins, which were laid upon Him. Christ purchased. He bought our
freedom. He purchased our freedom. He
redeemed us from the curse of the law. And He satisfied fully
the justice of God that we might receive the power and privilege
to be the sons of God. And Christ alone is our redemption. If Jesus Christ is made of God
unto you, redemption, then praise God for this. Praise His name. Give Him glory. Give Him all
the glory and take great comfort, too, in this precious truth.
Take great comfort that you could never redeem yourself, but Christ
has redeemed us. And live with our hearts fixed
upon Him, who is our redemption, who is our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, the Lord Jesus Christ. Gracious
Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for this time that we could spend
in Your Word. We pray that we would remember this precious truth
through the week, and that we would have it be brought to our
minds, and that we would just think upon it, and meditate upon
it, and chew on it, and that it would be a blessing to our
soul. Glory to you, Lord Jesus, for the great redemption which
you have wrought by the shedding of your own precious blood for
your people. In your name we pray. Amen.