Jesus, Our Redeemer

Redeem (def) - gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment. Paul wrote the following to the Christians who lived in Ephesus. Ephesians 1:⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He lavished on us. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of His blood bought our freedom from the penalty of our sin. Jesus redeemed us, and all who come to Him in faith receive this redemption that is offered by God. In 10 days, we will celebrate and remember Jesus defeating death, hell, and the grave to redeem us from our sins. The Law of Moses was a curse and fell far short of making man right with God because man will always fail. So God sent Jesus to pay the price once for all, and we received the redemption He died to give. Hebrews 9: ¹¹ But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; ¹² and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption.

The resurrection of Jesus is something we should celebrate every day and every moment of our lives. We Americans tend to make "holidays" of things we think should be remembered, but we then forget the rest of the time in between, and one day or weekend of remembrance and celebration waters down the truth and power of the resurrection in our minds. If we are living and following Jesus in the current resurrection power offered through His redemption, we will have it fresh on our mind, and that will do more to drive our daily life and faith walk than just having an Easter weekend, and I won't even get into the candy and bunny things we have added to it for children. We even do a response thing at Easter where one person says, "He is risen," and another answers, "He is risen indeed."

I am a born-again believer, and the Holy Spirit reminds me of His resurrection power and the power I need to live my life every day. I don't get excited and put all my energy into just one weekend, but since I live in His redemption every day, that reality keeps it fresh in my life. My life responds to it through personal worship. John 4: ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵ The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things. Messiah is here. Right now, I am living in the power of His resurrection and living my life in response to His redemption, and that should excite me every moment of my life.

I don't put off worshipping Jesus and remember every day that He gives me the power to walk my faith walk, and His Word confirms what God wants to do in my life. Every moment, every breath, every experience is "granted" by God, and I must never assume too much by forgetting this life is powered by Jesus. Jesus is our redeemer, so never put off realizing in the present just how much He did to redeem us. When we do that, we begin to celebrate throughout the day the freedom Jesus has given me through His sacrifice, so every day is Easter. Every day is a chance with the breath Jesus has given me to celebrate His resurrection and my redemption. When we do that enough, it begins to be a moment-by-moment lifestyle that immediately affects my faith walk. No Easter bunnies, just Jesus.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren