Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Tonight’s Study, Session 30: The Redeemer

Introduction: Without a Redeemer willing and able to pay the high price necessary to liberate us from the power of sin, the story of our lives in this world would be nothing but a story of hopelessness. But because of Christ’s redemptive love, we look forward with hope to a day when the world itself will be completely liberated from the power of sin and death. Until then we can express our faith in Christ by echoing the words of Scripture: “ For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25-26).

The key Scriptures where the concept of a Redeemer is found are Psalm 49:7–8; Matthew 20:28; 1 Peter 1:18–19; and Revelation 5:9.

Christ Reveals His Name In Scripture

Psalm 49:7-8 – None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him— For the redemption of their souls is costly, And it shall cease forever—

Matthew 20:28 – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

1 Peter 1:18-19 – knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Revelation 5:9 – And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

Understanding The Name

Redemption involves winning back, buying back, or repurchasing. The most dramatic example of this in the Old Testament was the exodus of God’s people from Egypt. The former slaves praised Yahweh for acting as their Redeemer (Exodus 15:13). Subsequently, the prophets often linked redemption with the freedom from political oppression.

But redemption also came into play within Israel itself because land, firstborn males, slaves, and people, objects, and animals consecrated to God all had to be redeemed by means of some kind of payment. In certain instances, such as when land had been sold to pay a debt (Leviticus 25:25-28) or a person had sold himself into slavery, the person’s closest relative, called the “kinsman redeemer,” had the right to step in and pay off the debt so that the land could be returned or the person could be freed.

God is often called “Redeemer” (Ga’al, ga-AL) in the Old Testament. Though the New Testament never directly refers to Jesus as the Redeemer, it makes clear that He offered Himself as a ransom or as a redeemer when He died on the cross. Rather than liberating His people from political oppression, as many expected the Messiah to do, Jesus came to free His people from the demonic powers to which sin had enslaved them. His blood was the purchase price, offered not to Satan but to the Father as the ultimate expression of His love. By giving His life for them and us, Jesus didn’t make light of our guilt but lifted us, as one commentator has said, “out of disobedience into His own obedience,” therefore freeing us from the bondage of sin and remaking us in His image.

In the New Testament, redemption was very costly. Redemption cost Jesus, our Redeemer, everything: 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”) (Galatians 3:13). Jesus became a curse so that He could redeem us from the curse of the law. He called all of our sin His own. Though he never committed any sin whatsoever, He was made sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

2 Corinthians 5:21 – For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Although our sins separated us from God, the Father, in His love and mercy, sanctioned the ultimate rescue mission by sending His son to be our Redeemer.

What Does Having Jesus as Our Redeemer Mean to Us?

• We have life and life more abundantly. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
• We are justified by His blood and saved from God’s wrath through Him. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him (Romans 5:9).
• We are forgiven and cleansed from our sins. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, (Ephesians 1:7-8).
• We are released from guilt and condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).
• We are restored to fellowship with God. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:5-9).
• We are set free from evil forces and powers of darkness in the world. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, (Colossians 1:13).
• We are rescued from the terrors of the coming judgment. and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10). For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Conclusion: What a wonderful peace and assurance we have as believers in Jesus, knowing that we have been redeemed! He has paid for our sins in full and has redeemed us from the slave market of sin. God the Father demanded a sacrifice that would buyback people for Himself. Jesus as the Redeemer satisfied the Father’s demand. Our complete redemption will be experienced in the future. Right now, we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory as we “wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including new bodies He has promised us” (Romans 8:23). In the eternal state, we will enjoy every glorious aspect of the spiritual inheritance God has promised to His people. Oh, what a Redeemer we have in Jesus! May we always remember and rejoice in the deliverance and freedom He supplies.

Next Week, Session 31: Priest, Prophet