Beautifully Broken by the Redemptive Love of God

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:22-23

What is redemption anyway?

I have sinned and fallen short of the grace of God (Romans 3:23), and the price for my sin is death (Romans 6:23). However, I am still living and breathing. That is the power of redemption. God bought me back from death. He paid the price for my sin and saved me from my punishment.

The dictionary defines redemption as: 1. The action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. 2. The action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.

What does it mean to be beautifully broken by God’s redemptive love?

“That chocolate cake was to die for!” This is something we might say when we experience something so good, we cannot imagine there being anything better. Well, God said that about us! “Laurie is worthy of my love, and I will die for her.” You are so loved by God. He died for you on purpose, too! Jesus gave His life in our place because He knew there was no other way for us to be saved, and we are worth it.

God wrote this love story in the Old Testament. Christ’s death and resurrection was the prequel to the end series God reveals to us in the Book of Revelation. We just have to wait with hope until Christ’s triumphant return to see it in living color.

In the Old Testament, God established a system of animal sacrifices to bring about atonement (to cover over someone’s death) for our sins. The shedding of blood represents life. The priest would then sprinkle the blood in the temples as a way to represent cleansing. This process is called purification and is meant to compel sinners to become people of God and show His love to one another. However, the blood of bulls and goats can’t take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4) But that is ok, because the Old Testament foretold about a new system to come, a better system.

A New System

We get to watch the trailer for the upcoming prequel of the new system of redemption to come, in the book of Isaiah. (Read Isaiah 53 here.) We hear about a Savior to come who will be born as a human, serve others, and then die for us.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

So, back to our original question, what is redemption? Redemption is the new system, foretold in the Old Testament, to bring about a way out of death for us, sinners, so we can then spend eternity in heaven with Christ, our Lord. Let me summarize:

Old Testament:  Animal sacrifice, blood shed to be used as a cleansing agent to purify the mess left behind from the effects of sin.

New Testament:  Jesus is the sacrifice, often referred to as the Lamb of God. His blood, His life, shed on the cross to clean up the mess left behind from our sins. Making us able to live in peace with God.

For an excellent visual about redemption watch this short film by The Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com/blog/animal-sacrifice-really/

How to participate in God’s redemptive story.

Now that we understand how Jesus dying on the cross, shedding His blood to cleanse us from our sins, making us pure, is His redemptive love for us, what do we do about it?

We are beautifully broken by our sins, which carry a penalty that has been paid in advance by the sacrifice on the cross by Jesus Christ. God’s redemptive love is an ongoing story where we are the main character in a relationship with the Author. We have chapters and verses to write ourselves. We have backstories, our past. We have plot twists, our deviation from God’s plan. And we have a comeback story, one where God’s redemptive love saves us.

We can keep the story moving along by staying in a healthy relationship with Christ. Part of this relationship involves confessing and repenting of our sins, asking for forgiveness, and accepting the mercy given to us in Christ.

The difference between forgiveness and redemption:

Forgiveness – is God showing us grace (a gift we do nothing to earn) and mercy (forgiveness shown toward someone whom it within one’s power to punish) for the offenses we commit against Him.

Redemption – Saving us from our sin and paying the penalty of our sin for us.

3 Ways We Can Benefit from God’s Redemptive Love

1. Don’t waste the sacrifice. What a price He paid! How crazy it would be if we didn’t use this expensive gift given to us. Can you imagine being given a dream vacation, a fancy car, or a million dollars, and not using it? Of course not! For one thing, the person who gave you such a gift would be hurt. And what a waste of someone else’s sacrifice on our behalf. When we engage in the act of repentance (to experience sorrow for and seek to change wrong behavior) and receiving forgiveness (God’s grace and mercy), we are not wasting the sacrificial gift given to us.
2. Allow it to change you. God’s love is so powerful; if you are experiencing it at all, you cannot not be changed. It is the power that moves a person from a state of sin and fear to a place of peace and hope.
3. Share the love with others. We are heading to heaven because someone once shared the story of God’s redeeming love with us. How joyful it will be for us to get to pay it forward and do the same for others.

Heavenly Father, thank you for setting me free from sin and allowing me to serve you as my Master. I accept, with thanksgiving, the gift freely given to me. I look forward to spending eternity with you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.