Redemption and Reconciliation

What is redemption?


REDEMPTION: Deliverance upon payment of ransom; rescue.


Ephesians 1:7- In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.
Colossians 1:13-14- For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Romans 3:23-24- for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.


In comparison to the holiness and righteousness of God, we are nothing but filthy rags.. YET Christ sees us as His creation and loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us! This is where redemption starts.. at the cross, where Jesus shed His pure blood as the ransom for our sins. So now that He has payed the price, we are redeemed. He looks at us and sees his own righteousness! This means we can have straight access to God! No more sacrifices..


So what does it mean to be redeemed?


Once you have been redeemed, you are FREE.


Galatians 5:1- It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
1 Peter 2:16- Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves.
Romans 6:20-22- When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefiit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.


This is one of the most wonderful things about being a Christian. FREEDOM. To people who do not know much about the Word of God or being a Christian, that statement is probably confusing. Many people think that being a Christian is just a bunch of rules and regulations. Ironic.. It's the opposite. It is freedom from our sin and freedom from death! Those who are not in the Word or do not have the holy spirit living in them will not understand this. They are so caught up in their sins, that they don't even understand the concept of freedom from it. They do not realize that they are slaves of sin. God is the one who opens our eyes to how awful we really are. He does this by showing us His glory. There really is no comparison. This freedom is the freedom to have unbroken prayer to God. It is the freedom to serve God. It is the freedom from the law of the Old Testament. Can you imagine making a sacrifice every time you sinned? That would be miserable! BUT let me tell you what freedom is not..... It is not the freedom to say "Ok God. thanks from saving me from hell but I'd like to live however I want. See ya in heaven. Peace." That is so not what God has saved us for and is completely missing the point of freedom. When God saves us and we start to taste of God's goodness, it transforms us. He empowers us with His spirit and we become a bond servant to Christ. A bond servant is a servent who is not required to be in submission to his master but does it anyways just because he wants to. Paul called himself a bond servant of Christ and that he was! He preached the Word of God to thousands and got heavily persecuted, yet still chose to serve the Lord because of his deep love of the Lord. It is NOT easy to be a christian so I don't want to sell anyone a false gospel saying it's just like a joyride. In fact, it would be easier to sit back in your comfort zone and drown in your sin. But there is just something about being right with God that gives you a joy and peace that passes all understanding. It makes sense though because glorifying God is what he made us to do. He literally crafted us from the dust with His own hands to glorify Him and bring praise to His name.


Reconciliation: an element of salvation that refers to the results of atonement. The end of the estrangement, caused by sin, between God and humanity. Being in agreement.


Colossians 1:22- But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.


2 Corinthians 5:17-21- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.


Romans 5:11- Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.


God has not only reconciled us to himself, but he has also given us the ministry of reconciliation. It is now our job to minister to other and reconcile other to Him. We are to be ambassadors of Christ. We are to be a picture of Christ. We are to represent Him in EVERYTHING we do. That means in every single thing we give our time to, we should represent Christ. That can range anywhere from work, school, activities, sports, entertainment, or more. Giving our all is very important, but representing Christ goes so much further than that! It is having your mind so focused on Jesus and the kingdom of God, that in everything you do you are finding a way to make an impact. Entertainment is probably a little different when it comes to that matter though. You can't really say "I watched that movie with my full 100% attention so therefore I glorified Christ".. Sorry doesn't work that way in this field. When it comes to entertainment, it is the question of what do I use for entertainment? It is key for us to remember that we have the holy spirit in us and whatever we are putting in front of us, we are letting enter our minds. The holy spirit does not dwell where sin is! If we have a separation between our spirit and our mind, we cannot be an ambassador for Christ. Our entertainment shouldn't be feeding out flesh. It should be feeding our spirit. This can be hard sometimes, but I have found that when I'm seeking God and in the Word, then that's what my desires are for! The more you build your relationship with God, the more you enjoy the christian life and get your satisfaction in Christ. I would like to end with this quote I heard in a podcast from Donna Gaines..


"God is most glorified in me, when I am most satisfied in Him."