Ephesians 1:7 Redeemed

n Him we have redemption through His blood … Ephesians 1:7

Having considered in verses 3 through 6 of Ephesians 1, the great and eternal plan of the Father, purposed before the foundation of the world for us – that we should be holy and without blame before Him, adopted and accepted in the Beloved – we now begin to consider how God’s eternal purpose is carried out through the person of the Son. In verses 7 through 12, we will take up the matter of the work of God’s Son, which is also toward the end of the praise of God’s glory. Having had the grand plan laid out before our eyes, and seeing what is our highly favored position in Christ, verse 7, in a sense, brings us back to the reality that we are yet on earth, still human, still mortal, and still sinful.

How can it be that we may ever attain to the exalted place which is described in Ephesians 1:3-6? Isaiah 59:1-2 summarizes the reality of our condition so well: Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you. In order for us to arrive to our predestined position, something must be done with the problem of our sins which separate us from God. So God in His eternal wisdom and foreknowledge designed a way whereby men could and would be reconciled to Him. That way is Christ – in Him we have redemption. Christ came to seek and save that which was lost – to literally and completely save His people from their sins – to reconcile God and man. And what Christ did on the cross at Calvary accomplished such redemption, as 2 Corinthians 5:19 tells us that God was, in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. The work of Christ is the means that God uses to accomplish all that He had predestined to do in and through His people.

Redemption is required because mankind is sold into the slavery of sin. The whole world lies guilty before God in bondage to sin and under the yoke of Satan. On the cross, Christ accomplished the work that He said He would accomplish, by giving His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), and thus purchasing us out of slavery. Today, if you are in Christ, you have been bought with a price (I Cor 6:20), and that price was His own blood (Acts 20:28, Rom 3:24-25, Eph 2:13, Heb 9:12-22, 1 Pet 1:18, 1 Jn 1:7, Rev 1:5).

Look up the word blood in a concordance in order that you might get an appreciation for the importance of blood to our faith. As you think about blood, what comes to mind? How is blood offensive to us? Why is blood so pervasive in Scripture, yet so disregarded by many in the church? Is there really any other way to understand Christ’s redemption of His people than a ransom of blood?

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Judges 5 Song of Victory

Gaining victory, triumphing over, or conquering some problem or difficulty, is a great motivating factor in life.  Once a conquest has been made, the human heart is aroused to rejoice in the victory achieved. This is the experience described in the present passage of Scripture. The great judge of Israel, Deborah, and the commander of the armed forces, Barak, had just led the Israelites in an impossible victory over the mighty army of the Canaanites. For eighteen long years, the Canaanites had held the Israelites in the bondage of slavery and brutal oppression. But God had raised up Deborah and Barak to break the back of the enemy and set the Israelites free from the cruel oppression. A great victory had been achieved over a far, far superior force. At some point after the battle, probably soon after, Deborah composed a song of victory to celebrate the great triumph.

The song of Deborah is a rousing declaration of praise to God. The hearts of Deborah and Barak break forth spontaneously in an emotional outburst of praise and thanksgiving to God for the victory. It was God who had stirred the courage within the Israelites to stand against such a formidable enemy. And it was God who used nature to burst forth in a thunderstorm, a downpour of rain that swelled the banks of the river and engulfed the enemy with its 900 chariots. It was God who had caused chaos and confusion among the enemy troops and stricken them with panic, causing them to flee from the pursuing Israelite soldiers. Praise and thanksgiving were to be lifted up to God; only He was deserving; and the people’s hearts were filled with praise, in particular, the hearts of Deborah and Barak.

May you be filled with praise as you study Judges 5.

Psalm 16 Song of the Risen

My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. Psalm 16:9-10

Psalm 16 is a song of confidence expressing a deep trust in the Lord in both life and death. The Psalmist possesses a security as he rejoices to know that his future is safe, and that the Lord will not allow His beloved to “see decay” (a metaphor for suffering eternal abandonment from God’s presence).

The quotation from Psalm 16 by Peter in Acts 2:25-28 and Paul in Acts 13:35 makes this Psalm particularly cherished to Christians, as it speaks of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Psalmist’s assertion and confidence in his own resurrection is not unlike that of Paul’s in Romans 8:5-11, wherein he speaks of a future resurrection in terms of absolute certainty (8:5). While it is one thing for Paul to write this after witnessing the resurrection of Christ, it is even more striking that David sings it in Psalm 16 long before the advent of Christ. It was similarly Job’s confession, long before Christ, in Job 19:25-27, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

This was however, not always Job’s state of mind. Just read Job chapter 17 and you will see his lack of peace, as Job considers his own death and corruption in the grave. Contrast this to how his heart burned in his faith-filled statement only two chapters later in 19:25. It is his faith in the resurrection that makes the Christian a hopeful creature. True faith in the resurrection instills a confidence not only in death, but in life as well. Faith in the truth of the resurrection leads to genuine optimism in the life of the Christian, even in the most adverse of circumstances. As Paul wrote, “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18). The beloved apostle John writes, “it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 Jn 3:2-3).

It is important to realize that the Christian hope in the resurrection is not a vain hope, neither in its source nor in its product. The source of the Christian’s hope is based on the veracity of the risen Savior. If He did not rise, then we will not rise; if He did not rise, then we remain in our sins; if He did not rise, then our faith is in vain, and we are of all men most pitiable (1 Cor 15:13-19). But it is equally true that our faith in the resurrection is not vain in its product – that is, because He did rise and conquer sin and death, it will produces in us the fruits of joy, peace, patience, and a hopeful and pure life in Christ.