Jessica Davis Ministry

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The Gospel Message- Redemption

Jesus's tomb opened

Welcome to part three in this Gospel Message series! If you missed them, here’s part one and part two. Otherwise, let’s review the five general areas that cover the good news of Jesus Christ:

  1. Creation
  2. Fall
  3. Redemption
  4. Restoration
  5. Yourself

Today, we will learn about Redemption. Please follow along in your Bible and take notes. When ready, let’s pray:

Dear Jesus, thank You for being so fully present with us by faith through Your Holy Spirit. Even though we may not know nor fully understand the foundations of the Gospel, please help us to see Your heart in these teachings. You are welcome to minister to our hearts and minds right now, showing us what it means to be redeemed, completely and eternally. Thank You, Jesus, for Your redemption! In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Scripture Teaching

Here we go! We will be navigating through these five areas on Redemption:

What is Redemption?

>>> Psalm 130 reads:

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is mercy,
And with Him is abundant redemption.

Abundant redemption is with the Lord, Amen! In the New Testament, the Greek word used for redemption is exagorazō and is ‘a strengthened form of agorazō, “to buy out”, especially of purchasing a slave with a view to his freedom’ (Vine et al., 1996; G1805). Another Greek word for redemption is lutroō, which means ransom (G3084). So while both words describe payment of some sort, ‘exagorazō does not signify the actual “redemption”, but the price paid with a view to it, lutroō signifies the actual “deliverance”, the setting at liberty’ (Vine et al., 1996). In other words, true redemption consists of both payment and deliverance.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew words for redemption is pādāh and gā’al, where both indicate the same concepts in the Greek: payment and deliverance (H6299, H6304, H1350). The interesting thing about both the Greek and Hebrew words is that they also use the words divide, deliver, and rescue to describe redemption (H6304, G1805). Here are some examples that use the words redeem, divide, deliver, ransom, and rescue in Scripture:

With these examples, we gain an understanding that there is the need for redemption. There is the need because we live in a fallen world where there is both spiritual and physical captivity, which requires both payment and deliverance from. This leads to the question: why is there captivity to begin with?

Why is There Captivity?

>>> Genesis 3 states that God gave Adam and Eve one command to follow:

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Adam and Eve were told to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). Sadly, they did eat from this forbidden tree and sinned against God’s command (Genesis 3:1-6). Scripture states that sin is lawlessness and the result of sin/lawlessness is death (1 John 3:4; Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:27).

Not only did Adam and Eve’s sin lead to death, but it also led:

Since the Fall of mankind, the need for redemption arose. The most notable loss mentioned in Scripture is eternal life. Just like abundant redemption is with God, so also eternal life is with God (Psalm 130:7; 1 John 1:2; John 17:3). And without eternal life, mankind is headed toward eternal death and in great need of redemption. But who is qualified to redeem us?

What Are the Qualifications of a Redeemer?

>>> Isaiah 43 declares:

1 But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.

In the book of Exodus, God delivers the Israelites out of Egypt in order to set them apart as His chosen people. During this time, God gifts them with a covenant (promise) that requires them to obey the Law of Moses in order to receive God’s many blessings. Under the Law of Moses, sin needed to be atoned for; atonement was made through either blood, water, water mixed with ashes, and/or fire. For example, metal items were burned with fire, while clothing, people, and wood items were washed with water that either had ashes or no ashes mixed in it (Numbers 31:21-24; Leviticus 16:23-28; Exodus 19:10-11; Leviticus 15; Numbers 19). Blood was also used for atonement and purification, being sprinkled on people, items used in service to the tabernacle/temple, and on the Ark of the Covenant (Leviticus 16:16-27; Exodus 24:4-8). In other words, God wanted to dwell with His people and this could only happen when sin was atoned for, and especially, atoned for in a way that was acceptable to God (Psalm 5:4; Genesis 4:3-7; Acts 10:35).

Additionally, bloodlines and property could be redeemed through a qualified kinsmen-redeemer; this individual was the closest relative to the person needing to be redeemed (Deuteronomy 25:5-10; Leviticus 25:25-28, 47-55; Jeremiah 32:6-9; Genesis 38:8-10). So redemption can occur for people, property, and even for the atonement of sin. However, Scripture states that the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins, for they and all of creation had been corrupted since the Fall of man and were insufficient to provide complete and perfect redemption (Hebrews 10:1, 4; Romans 8:21). Rather, these sacrifices were a shadow of the complete and perfect redemption that God would provide through His once-for-all sacrifice; a sacrifice without any corruption that could truly cleanse us from all sin and allow us to dwell with God forever and for always, Amen (Hebrews 10:1; 5; Colossians 1:19-20; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7).

So what was this sacrifice without corruption? What sacrifice could meet all the requirements for complete redemption, both the payment and the deliverance?

Our Qualified Redeemer

>>> Galatians 3 reads:

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

God’s gift of redemption, under the Law of Moses, was only a shadow of His abundant redemption to come (Hebrews 10:1). For God Himself prepared a perfect sacrifice to fulfill the requirements of redemption, completely and eternally, for all of His creation (Hebrews 10:5-6; Romans 8:20-22; Luke 1:26-38). Who was this perfect sacrifice? Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Jesus Himself met all the qualifications to be our Eternal Redeemer because:

To review, the world’s Eternal Redeemer would need to be a willing sacrifice, a flesh-and-blood relative to Adam, and sinless, having fulfilled all the Messiah prophecies in the Old Testament and able to pay the wages of sin with His own death. So who is qualified to redeem all of creation? Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God. For as by one man’s disobedience [Adam’s] many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience [Jesus’s] many will be made righteous, Amen (Romans 5:19; 1 Corinthians 15:45, brackets included).

>>> Let’s review part one of this series- Creation:

  • Who is God? He is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1).
  • How did God create mankind? He created mankind with eternity in our hearts, which means that each person will exist forever as he or she stands (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
  • How did God not create mankind? He did not create mankind with eternal life in our hearts because eternal life is a choice (John 3:16; John 17:3).
  • What is the difference between eternity and eternal life? Eternity means that each person is created to exist forever as he or she stands; a person can either stand with God (eternal life) or separate from God (eternal death) (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Eternal life is the choice that each person has as to whether he or she wants to know the one true God and His Son, Jesus Christ, Amen (John 3:16; John 17:3).

>>> Let’s review part two of this series- the Fall:

  • What was the choice God gave man? God gave man the choice to obey Him or not; to love Him or not (Genesis 2:15-17; 1 John 5:3).
  • Who was the enemy in the garden? Satan, who is the serpent of old (Genesis 3:4-5; Revelation 12:9).
  • What was the sin that occurred in the garden? Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6-7).
  • What was the curse that came upon all of man and creation? Sin and death (Romans 5:12).

>>> Let’s review part three of this series- Redemption:

  • What is redemption? The Hebrew words for redemption is pādāh and gā’al, and in the Greek, exagorazó and lutroō; these words indicate that redemption is the process of both payment and deliverance (H6299, H1350; G1805; G3084).
  • When did the need for redemption arise? When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and sinned against God’s command, committing lawlessness and receiving the sentence of death (Genesis 3:1-6; 1 John 3:4; Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:27).
  • What are the qualifications of a redeemer? The redeemer would need to be willing, sinless, a flesh-and-blood relative to Adam, the fulfillment of all the Messiah prophecies in the Old Testament, and able to pay the wages of sin with His own death (Luke 22:41-42; John 1:29; Luke 3:23-38; Philippians 2:8.
  • Who is qualified to redeem all of creation? Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Galatians 3:13).

Prayer & Encouragement

A prayer to confess and receive Jesus Christ as your Redeemer (please say this prayer out loud):

Father, thank You for Your Son, Jesus Christ! Thank You that I have an answer for my sin and insurmountable debt, which is eternal life in Him. Jesus, I thank You for Your willingness and obedience to take my place. I confess that You are my Lord and Savior, and that You have paid the wages for all my sins by Your death upon the cross. I am truly sorry for those sins. Please forgive me and bless me with a new heart and spirit, so that I may receive You. I thank You for Your abundant redemption which has delivered me from death into eternal life, and I thank You that You have loved me so much that You would do all of this for me and more! I love You, Jesus! In Your Name I pray, Amen.

Dear reader: if you have just said the above prayer, let me be the first to welcome you into the Body of Christ! All of heaven celebrates with you in this moment (Luke 15:7). I encourage you to write down today’s date in remembrance of this special occasion, and to pray for God to lead you to a true church family in your area. As a new believer, it is important to be around other believers so that they may encourage and teach you more of the many wonderful things of God! Again, welcome and congratulations! I thank God for you!

To conclude today’s teaching on The Gospel Message- Redemption, please take this time now to write down anything you have learned or maybe what God has put on your heart to remember. It is my hope and prayer that you continue on with the fourth teaching ‘The Gospel Message- Restoration’, where you will learn about God’s future plans for mankind. So stay tuned for that teaching!

Citations:

  • Vine, W., Unger, M., & White, W. (1996). Vine’s complete Expository dictionary of old and new testament words: With topical index. T. Nelson. 

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