Saturday, October 1, 2011

October 2, 2011

"that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." Ephesians 1:8-10

Redemption is one of the great terms of endearment that is associcated with salvation. What it means is that He Sought Us! It was God's idea to send Jesus to redeem us. As sinners, we didn't even know we needed salvation but Jesus came to redeem us.

Not only did He Sought Us but He Bought Us. As the sinless Lamb, Jesus was the Only One Who could redeem us by shedding His blood to atone for our sins.

He Sought Us and He Bought Us, but also HE BROUGHT US.

Let's look at verses 8-10.

What Jesus brought us was:


Grace

By His grace He “chose”  us . That literally means God “ picked us out Himself”. That is what grace means.

Furthermore, He “lavished” His goodness and mercy on us. He gave us “forgiveness”  and “adopted” us as His children.

As His children He gave us “wisdom & understanding” of His will. You could say “He let us in on it”.

The blessings of God’s grace were especially evident in John Newton’s life. He was raised in a Christian home for several years until his parents died. Orphaned and living with relatives he was mistreated, abused, and ridiculed. Unable to bear the abuse he, though still a boy, fled and joined the Royal Navy. From there his life went downhill as he became a drunkard and a brawler. Deserting the Royal Navy he joined up with a slave trader. His life continued to disintegrate and spiral out of control.

One day he stole the ships whisky and got so inebriated he fell overboard. He was so close to drowning that one of his shipmates literally harpooned him and brought him back on board. Consequently he had a huge scar in his side for the rest of his life. Finally, one day during a storm he began to reflect upon some Bible verses his parents had taught him before they died. He reached out to Jesus and his life was redeemed; he was forgiven. But God’s grace didn’t end with his salvation. John Newton the philandering, wandering, brawling man drastically changed as he experienced victory over the power of sin. He became, as scripture says, “a new creation in Christ.” When the grace of God entered his life and he matured in Christ, he enjoyed a marriage that was an example to all. When we yield to Christ and experience God’s grace, we begin to enjoy the restoration of what our life should have been like. God’s grace changes us for the better.

Redemption means that Jesus brought us God's grace. In addition to His grace, He brought us:

Great Purpose
 
The prupose He brought us is to be “holy”  and “blameless” Holy refers to the spiritual and moral purity He can give us through the blood of Jesus. Blameless means that every thought and action is guided by love for God and for others.

God redeemed us through Christ to be agents of redemption in the grand eternal purpose of ushering in the Kingdom of God and the Lordship of Christ! - To Bring Everyone Together Under Lordship Of Christ.

CONCLUSION:

In 1927, in West Africa, a blood specimen was taken from a native man named Asibi, who was sick with yellow fever. A vaccine was made from the original strain of virus obtained from this man. In fact, all the vaccine manufactured since 1927 by the Rockefeller Foundation and health agencies, derives from the

original strain of virus obtained from this one man. Carried down to the present day from one laboratory to another, through repeated cultures and by enormous multiplication, it has offered immunity to yellow fever to millions of people in many countries. Through the creative imagination of science, the blood of this one man in the West Africa has been made available to serve the whole human race.

It was almost 1:00 in the morning when the phone rang. Dr. Leo Winters, the highly acclaimed Chicago surgeon, was abruptly awakened. There had been an accident and his skill hands were needed for immediate surgery. The quickest route happened to be through a rather tough area, but with time being a critical factor, it was worth the risk. At one of the stoplights his door was yanked open by a man with a gray hat and a dirty flannel shirt. “I got to have your car!” the man screamed, pulling him from his seat. Winters tried to explain the gravity of the situation but the man would not listen. When the doctor was finally able to get a taxi to the hospital over an hour had elapsed and it was to late as the patient had passed away 30 minutes earlier. The nurse told him that the father of the victim had gone to the chapel wondering why the doctor never came. Dr. Winters walked hurriedly to get to the chapel and when he entered he saw the father… he was wearing a gray hat and dirty flannel shirt. Tragically, he had pushed from his life the one who could save his son.

God sent Jesus to bring redemption - His grace and His great purpose. Will you receive it - or will you push it away?