Sermon 4/26/20

SERMON: “REDEEMED”

April 26, 2020

1 Peter 1:17-21

17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

The Epistle readings for the Easter lectionary all come from the first epistle of Peter. We will study this portion of God’s Word for six straight weeks. Last week we looked at the Power of the Resurrection to bring us unto salvation. Today we study the theology of redemption. The concept of redemption is simply to buy back something or someone. My maternal grandmother would buy me US series EE savings bonds as gifts. When the bonds reached maturity or I needed money, I would take them to the bank to redeem them. The government would buy them back at face value plus the interest that had accumulated. In theological terms, it is our Lord Jesus Christ who has bought us back from sin, death and the devil, so we may be His own, to live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting, innocence, righteousness and blessedness.

The first question is, from what has Christ redeemed you? Peter says it is from the empty way of life. This is another way of saying, a sinful life. The Bible teaches that there are two types of sin, original and actual. Original sin is the total corruption of our whole human nature which we have inherited from Adam through our parents. Usually an inheritance is a good thing. We might inherit money, property or the family keepsakes, but the inheritance from Adam is his sinful nature. The sinful nature is handed down from one generation to the next. Therefore all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. God created the heavens and the earth and all was good, very good. Sin destroyed the good life in the Garden of Eden and now we have an empty way of life.

Some sinners embrace this empty way of life. They live in melancholy, misery, sadness, unhappiness, sorrow and woe. The end result is depression. Like the writer of Ecclesiastes many say, “meaningless, meaningless utterly meaningless.” Or they take the view of Epicurean philosophy which says, “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Epicurus taught pleasure was the highest good. A modern time equivalent is found in gang members. A study was done among gang members of why they join a gang and why they live on a dangerous edge. The study revealed that many felt they would not see their thirtieth birthday so they lived as if today was the last day of their life.

Other sinners try to fill the emptiness. Some try to fill their lives with work. Work produces money. Money buys possessions. The final step in the process is the bumper sticker which states, “He who has the most toys wins.” Back to Ecclesiastes where we hear in 2:18-19, “I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.” Fallen mankind tries to fill the emptiness with substances such as drugs and alcohol. These substances provide only temporary relief. Over time, the substances have the opposite result. My seminary class on Chemical Dependency showed the horrid depths to which people descended when using these substances. The sinner may falsely assume that they can work their way out of the emptiness. There have been many religious organizations and theological leaders who propose that man can earn or win God’s favor. Ephesians 2:8-9 remind us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.” The list of how mankind tries to fill the emptiness can go on and on but the reality is that without Jesus Christ nothing will fill the void.

The second question is, “With what has Christ redeemed you?” We start with the negative. It was not with silver or gold. What are you worth? How much will it take to buy you back? Jesus asks this in Matthew 16:26, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” The Jewish leadership put a price of thirty silver coins on Jesus. At current silver prices, the cost of thirty silver one ounce coins is $600. Would that be enough to redeem all mankind? No, the cost would be Jesus precious blood. Precious, not precious metals, but it is the one and only Son of God. Blood is the cleansing agent as Hebrews 9:22 says, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” So, the blood of countless animals was shed in the Old Testament for the sins of the people. Yet the sacrifices of those animals could not redeem mankind. It is not by the blood of bulls and calves that God has redeemed us. “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7c). It is the Lamb of God purifying us. St. John speaks of Jesus in John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” This is the imagery from God’s great redemptive act in the Old Testament called the Passover. “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment’ (Exodus 6:6).” God directed the people to take the blood of an unblemished lamb and paint the doorframes of their homes. When the last plague came over all of Egypt, the angel of death would Passover that house because of the blood. A physical lamb without blemished was sacrificed. It was the blood of the Lamb of God that would redeem all mankind. Hebrews 9:14 declares, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” It was with mighty and outstretched arms that God redeemed us. The Roman soldiers laid Jesus on the cross and drove the spikes through His hands and feet. They lifted Him up and the weight of His body pulled on the nails. The real weight was the sins of the world. He suffered the punishment we deserved. Galatians 3:13 states, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.’” God the heavenly Father accepted that blood bought gift of redemption by raising Jesus from the dead. We sing with boldness the great Easter hymn in the words of Job,

“I Know That My Redeemer Lives!”