Jun.18.2008
7:11 pm
by admin
he himself has redeemed us
Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you. . . with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows. . . . He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin. . . (Psalm 130: 4-8) (NLT)
“He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin.“ How much does the heavenly Father love you? Here is the plain and simple answer: He Himself has taken the punishment for my sin and your sin - every kind and manner of sin — upon Himself. That’s the measure of His love for you and for me. The question is: will we believe this wonderful truth, repent, and turn to Him? Let it be so, for God’s love has been measured, and it was found to be unfailing.
God took our sin punishment upon himself in the form of Jesus Christ, the full and complete essence of God born in a fully human capacity, and who was subject to all the weaknesses and temptations common to humankind. Jesus was both human and God - hence referenced as both the “Son of Man,” and the “Son of God.” Although fully human, Jesus did not sin. He lived a life of perfect love, humility, purity, and righteousness. In the face of sarcasm, criticism, and hostility, He tenderly healed, comforted, and taught the neediest, the weakest, and even the most exasperating of persons. When the time came, Jesus suffered greatly and died as a substitute for all who earnestly confess their sins and desire to be reconciled to God.
God’s plan - that “He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin,” was foreshadowed in the book of Genesis, when God spoke to Abraham and asked him to do something awful and totally out of character with everything we would think God to represent: he asked Abraham to kill his only son, a son Abraham had waited many years to have, and the very son that God had promised to give to Abraham. Now God was asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on an altar as a substitute for sin. This is how the story goes:
So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”
”Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
”We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
”God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. (Genesis 22)(NLT)
“God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” is an amazing, courageous, and prophetic statement, no matter how you interpret it. According to some scholars, Abraham believed that God would literally provide a lamb as a substitute for Isaac. Others say that Abraham made an allegorical statement to comfort the boy. The apostle Paul wrote that Abraham did not hesitate during the process because ultimately, he believed that even if Isaac died on the altar, God was able to raise Isaac from the dead in order to fulfill His earlier promise to Abraham of a nation of descendants through Isaac.
No matter how Abraham’s statement is interpreted, it remains an important foreshadowing of God’s own plan to redeem the world from sin, for with the birth of Jesus Christ, God himself provided a sheep for the burnt offering:
9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham
“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”
12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”
13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Do you know how loved you are, by your Creator? This is how loved you are:
25 “I-yes, I alone-will blot out your sins for my own sake
and will never think of them again. (Isaiah 43:25) (NLT)
22 I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” (Isaiah 44:22)(NKJV)
or this translation:
22 I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” (Isaiah 44:22)(NLT)
These are not the words, and this was not the action, of an impersonal, distant, condescending, ambiguous, or capricious being. No, He knew our sins and weaknesses; He knew we were not able to redeem ourselves; He nevertheless valued us and longed for an unbroken relationship with us. The Only True God wants to be with you - now - every day - and for eternity. He wants to be with us, and while we were still in sin, blind and deaf to His voice, He Himself redeemed us. That, my Friend, is the true and only measure of unfailing love.
Filed in encourage |