LESSON NINE – CHRIST’S REDEMPTION

Heb. 9:12 — Not through the blood of goats and calves but through His own blood, entered once for all into the Holy of Holies, obtaining an eternal redemption.

Eph. 1:7 — In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses, according to the riches of His grace.

GOD’S WAY OF REDEMPTION BEING THROUGH DEATH

According to the Bible, God’s righteousness requires that all sins be judged. The only way that sin can be judged righteously is by the way of death. Hebrews 9:22 says that “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” In order for God to judge and then to forgive our sins, there must be the shedding of blood; that is, there is the need of death. Any way of redemption that does not involve death cannot meet the righteous requirement of God; it comes short of God’s standard.

CHRIST AS THE PASSOVER LAMB

The best picture of this work of redemption is seen in Christ’s becoming the Passover Lamb of God. In the Old Testament the children of Israel were in Egypt, a land of bondage and slavery (Exo. 1:8-14). In order to force the king of Egypt to release His people Israel, God intended to pass through the land and destroy the firstborn of every household.

He ordered the children of Israel to kill a lamb and put the blood on the doorposts of their houses. In the night the messenger of God passed through the land and executed judgment on the land. In all the houses that did not have the blood on their doorposts, the firstborn was killed; but those who hid under the covering of the blood were saved and delivered.…The Bible says that He is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

DYING ON THE  CROSS TO BEAR GOD’S JUDGMENT ON SIN

When He was crucified on the cross, He was rejected by God. Because of this He cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). He was the sinless Son of God, yet He was forsaken by God. He was judged by God not for His own sins but for the sins of all mankind (1 John 2:2).

CHRIST’S BLOOD SPEAKING FOR MAN AND GIVING MAN PEACE

The Bible says that the blood of Christ speaks for us (Heb. 12:24) like an attorney in a law court speaking for the defendant. Through this blood God is at peace (Rom. 5:9) because His righteous requirement is satisfied. When God is at peace, our conscience also is at peace.

If you see how the redemption of Christ has fully satisfied God, you will be at peace with God. By the redemption of Christ, God has forgiven man’s sins (Eph. 1:7). When God forgives man’s sins, He forgets man’s sins (Heb. 8:12). His forgiving is  His forgetting. God can do everything, but He cannot remember the sins of those who have believed in the redemption of Christ. Those who believe in Christ’s redemption are cleansed, justified, purified, absolved, unspotted, and untainted before God. (Christ’s Redemption and Salvation, pp. 6-11)

References: Christ’s Redemption and Salvation; CWWN, vol. 27, “The Normal Christian Faith,” ch. 10; CWWL, 1983, vol. 1, “The Five Great Mysteries in the Bible,” chs. 2, 3

HOW WONDERFUL REDEMPTION IS

Praise of the Lord— His Redemption – 116

• How wonderful redemption is,
  My gracious Lord, in Thee!
  Not seen, nor heard, nor e’er conceived
  What Thou hast done for me!
  Thou art divine, mysterious,
  Beyond my grandest phrase!
  Redemption is so marvelous,
  Beyond all pow’r to praise!

• For us Thou on the Cross wast pierced,
  And blood and water streamed;
  That life divine be giv’n to us,
  That we may be redeemed.
  Thy precious blood has made us clean,
  That we accepted be;
  Regenerated by Thy life,
  We now are one with Thee.

• Thou art the grain divine that died
  The many grains to bear,
  Which, blent and formed, Thy Body are,
  And all Thy nature share.
  We are the increase of Thyself,
  And Thou our content art;
  Through us Thou livest and dost move
  And manifested art.

• Since we’re Thy Body, Thou may come
  And settle down in us;
  In us Thou may obtain Thy home
  And we become Thy trust.
  Thy heart to satisfy and please,
  We are Thy counterpart,
  Now in one Body with Thyself,
  Enjoying all Thou art.

• While in remembrance now we meet
  And here the symbols see,
  For Thy redemption great and full
  We’re filled with praise to Thee.
  Since we are made Thy Body, Lord,
  Thy dwelling place and bride,
  We would give thanks and worship Thee
  And in Thy praise abide.