Turn your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1.
We finished a kind of year-long series in the Book of Acts last week,
and next week Ruben is going to start preaching through the Book of Ruth for us over September and October,
and Andrew Quay is going to preach Genesis 4 to 11 in the evening,
so you'll hear from me a little bit less.
I'm going to preach some one-offs over the next while.
We've found, haven't we, in the Book of Acts looking at long chapters.
We've done that, and we're going to go from one extreme to the other.
I want us to look at one verse this morning.
We're going to squeeze the juice out of the orange and look at one verse.
It's Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7.
In him we have redemption. That's the word.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace.
In lots of ways I want to look at one word, redemption.
What is your problem?
What's your problem? Said the cyclist to the driver.
What's your problem? Said the woman on the tube to the man sitting opposite him.
What's your problem? Said the parent to the child.
What's your problem? Said one football player to another.
It's a great question, isn't it? What is your problem?
What is your problem? What is your greatest need?
That's the first point. There's six points this morning.
There possibly might be seven, but I haven't decided yet.
But there's six points and they should be appearing on the screen before me one at a time.
What is your greatest need? The need for redemption.
There's lots of answers people gave, don't they?
Sometimes we go to the doctor and we say to the doctor, I've got a pain here.
Here is the problem.
And he examines our wrist maybe and he looks at our wrist and he says, no, that's actually just a symptom.
Your problem isn't there. Your problem is there or your problem is there.
Your presenting symptom shows a deeper problem.
The problem is really here.
And I think when we come to God, we can often be like that.
When we come to God, you might think you know exactly what you need this morning.
But when we put ourselves into the hands of God, we discover there is something different.
There is something deeper.
There is something far more radical that God intends.
And when he implies in this verse, the Apostle Paul, when he writes about the need for redemption,
that the deepest need of your heart and my heart is tied to this little word that is often used, sins.
It's the word transgressions in the verse.
In him we have redemption.
Through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, the forgiveness of our transgressions.
The word transgression is rebellion.
It is deliberately breaking God's law.
It is a do not touch the wet paint and putting your hands on the wet paint.
Do not step on the grass deliberately, consciously going onto the grass.
Transgression is deliberate breaking of God's law.
It is going over the border of what God says is acceptable and unacceptable,
of what is legitimate and illegitimate.
It speaks of our disobedience to God's will and to God's law.
And so this redemption produces two things.
Can you see it?
The Apostle speaks, doesn't he, of forgiveness.
That's the thing that we're probably most familiar with this morning if we've been in church.
That when someone transgresses God's law, trespasses God's will and commandments,
they are guilty in the eyes of God of transgression, of rebellion.
They bear, in relation to God, a burden of guilt.
Sometimes we feel that.
Sometimes we don't.
Often, most often, people are not burdened by guilt.
And so guilt is not so much something that you feel, but something that you have, something that you bear.
When you disobey God's law, when you trespass his commandment, when you trespass his will,
you are guilty.
I am guilty.
In the sight and presence of God.
There are lots of people in London today, lots of my friends, they have no sense of guilt.
That doesn't mean they're not guilty.
It doesn't mean that they're not sinners.
It does not mean that they do not need forgiveness.
It's simply that they're unaware of their burden of guilt.
They think, maybe you think, that your greatest need is something different.
Maybe it's happiness.
Maybe it's relationship.
Maybe it's prosperity.
Money.
But here the apostle is diagnosing your greatest problem and mine.
The deepest need of the human heart.
For which the greatest blessing of the Christian faith is the answer.
And that is forgiveness.
From God.
Forgiveness from God.
You might not have realised that.
I've come into church this morning unaware of that.
That your greatest need is for forgiveness.
And Paul says that in Jesus Christ,
in the good news, in the gospel,
not only do we have forgiveness because we bear the burden of our guilt,
and one day that will be apparent to us.
One day we will hear the judgment of God on your life and on my life.
We will hear guilty before God.
And we'll have no plea.
We'll have no excuse to make.
But there's another factor in this kind of need of redemption.
And it's not just the need of the burden of our guilt being lifted
by the proclamation of God's forgiveness in Christ.
The other need is that we are not only guilty as sinners,
but we are slaves to sin.
We're slaves of sin.
That's what the word kind of redemption contains, doesn't it?
It's got this picture within it of slavery.
Of being slaves to the very thing that's made us guilty.
And that's contained within this whole thought,
this whole concept of redemption.
The whole idea of redemption, it's a Bible word in many ways.
It's pictured for us in the Bible supremely by the people of Israel
that were slaves in Egypt, hundreds of years after Joseph.
And throughout the whole of the Bible,
that is the picture of human beings enslaved.
It's the picture of life without Jesus Christ,
of being enslaved to the sin that we're guilty of.
You might have believed the delusion that human beings,
we are free.
You might think, no, no, no, no.
We are free.
I am free.
I am free to choose whatever I want.
And yet, whenever we're willing to look at humanity
and to look at our lives,
we will discover our humanity and we are in chains,
in bondage,
a slave to our sin.
You'll know that in your experience.
We discover that far from being able to change,
our pattern of life is we are in bondage.
Here's a man who's got furious temper.
Furious temper that gets out of control.
He sees the damage that it causes.
He sees the heartbreak it brings to other people.
And he recognises that.
And so he says to himself,
I will change.
And for a time he can.
But what's the real story?
The real story is that ultimately,
he finds that the chains of his temper
still bind him.
And so every so often,
maybe a little bit more rarely,
but every so often,
it breaks out again.
Or it shows itself in other forms.
Well, we can apply that to every sin.
That we are in bondage to.
And that is why we need redemption.
We do not just need forgiveness.
We are like someone when they've committed some crime
against the law of the land.
They're not only declared by the judge to be guilty,
but we're locked up.
We're put inside.
And it's no good going to that prisoner
when they're locked up inside
and saying,
I've got good news from you.
You've been delivered from your guilt.
Your guilt has been removed.
What would the prisoner say?
The prisoner would say,
I want to be free.
I want to be set loose.
I want to be released.
And there's a spiritual parallel for that,
obviously, isn't there?
And so number one,
the need of redemption.
Number two,
the nature of redemption.
The word simply means
being set free
by the paying of a price.
Being set free by the paying of a price.
Let me explain it to you.
Its background is in the ancient world
as well as in the Bible.
And so when two countries go to war,
when two armies go to war
and one army is victorious over the other army,
they conquer the other army,
they would take some of the best of the soldiers.
They would take some of the cream of the conquered army.
And the defeated army,
the best of the defeated army,
would be taken away.
And they would be made slaves in a foreign land.
And then what would happen was
there would be negotiations
between the defeated party and the victors.
And the defeated party might agree
to buy back some of those
who'd been taken into slavery
in this foreign land.
It mattered greatly to the people of their country.
Those soldiers that had been taken captive,
they were valuable.
And so a ransom price is agreed.
And that ransom price is paid.
And the captives would be released
and be brought back.
In the Old Testament,
the great picture is
that picture of Israel in Egypt.
Of God's redemption of a people
in the land of Egypt.
The Exodus.
And the people at the start of Exodus,
just hundreds of years after Joseph,
they are in bondage to Pharaoh.
They are in a situation, aren't they,
of utter helplessness.
And they cry out to God
and God comes down.
And clearly only God can do it.
God comes down
and releases
the people of Israel.
He says,
I am the Lord your God
who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
They couldn't save themselves.
God puts out his strong arm
and his mighty hand
and it is costly to God
to redeem them.
There's a lamb,
a perfect lamb,
a spotless lamb
who was slain
and he is the ransom price
to which his people were delivered.
And God sets a pattern,
doesn't he, in Exodus?
A pattern from which
his people have learned
all through the ages
that he was the redeemer.
You cannot save yourself.
You cannot redeem yourself.
That's what it says.
But that God
delivered his people
at a ransom price.
The Apostle Peter says
to the church there,
he says,
you have been redeemed
and not with ordinary wealth,
not with silver and gold,
but by the precious blood
of Jesus Christ.
a lamb without blemish
and without spot.
And that is the nature
of redemption.
It is deliverance.
It is freedom.
It is forgiveness.
Paul ties the two together,
doesn't he,
in Ephesians chapter 1
and verse 7.
In him we have redemption
through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins.
But redemption
is more than forgiveness.
The two
are not completely matching.
They complement each other.
They don't exhaust each other.
We've got to put them
alongside each other.
There is redemption,
deliverance from bondage,
and all that it involves,
and forgiveness,
freedom from guilt,
and reconciliation to God.
The need for redemption,
the nature of redemption.
Thirdly, let's look at
the source of redemption.
Where does this redemption
come from?
What is your problem?
What is your deepest need?
Where is your deepest need met?
Where does deliverance
from sins bondage
and forgiveness
from its guilt come from?
Paul answers it,
doesn't he,
in the first two words.
Can you say it?
Verse 7.
In him.
In Christ,
we have redemption.
And that's the source of it.
Doesn't come from
any other source.
Deliverance from sins bondage
and forgiveness
from sins guilt
come from being
in Christ.
It does not come
from any other source.
It doesn't come
from the psychologist
or the counsellor.
No
true
guilt
has ever been lifted
by the psychologist.
There's such a thing
as false guilt
and the psychologist
can certainly help
with that.
The counsellor
can certainly help
with that.
But the guilt
of sin
that comes from being
under the judgment
of a holy God
can only be lifted
in Jesus Christ.
It's the only place.
Paul says
it's in him.
You go to him.
It's because
as Ephesians 1
is teaching
every blessing
of the Christian gospel
has been given to us
in Christ.
You'll not find it
anywhere else.
It's the exclusive
nature of the Christian gospel.
The exclusive
nature of the Christian message.
You don't find it
in any other religion.
You don't find it
in any other source.
You don't find it
in any other
kind of life coach
or self-help source.
It is in Christ.
That's where you need
to go this morning.
God has
in his
marvellous
wisdom
and grace
arranged
to deal
with his people's bondage
and to deliver us
from guilt
in Christ.
Christ.
And so the great
and vital thing
for you this morning
for every man
and woman
and boy and girl
who is alive
is to be
in Christ.
That's the great need.
To be united
to him.
As a branch
is to
the vine
as a branch
is to the tree
as a limb
is connected
to the body
so that
from Christ
we might receive
redemption.
The forgiveness
of sins.
It's why
saving faith
is
so vital
isn't it?
It's not
faith
that saves us
but it is
faith
that connects us
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is by
saving faith
this morning
by you
reaching out
by you
entrusting
by you
resting
by you
relying
on the Lord
Jesus Christ
and being
united
to him
you receive
redemption
that is in
Jesus Christ.
The need
for redemption
the nature
of redemption
the source
of redemption
the ground
of redemption.
How can God
do this?
On what
ground
does God
redeem
those who are
in bondage
to sin
and under
sin's guilt
and sin's judgment?
Well the answer
is in verse 7
again
it's at the end
of the verse
isn't it?
It is
in accordance
to the riches
of his grace.
According
to the riches
of his grace
which he lavished
on us
he poured
upon us
with all wisdom
and with all
understanding.
Here is the
why.
This is the
basis on which
God can redeem
you and I.
God does not
redeem by saying
you do this
and I will
provide that.
God
he doesn't say
to us this
morning
you achieve
this level
and I will
let you in.
You get the
grades
and we'll
give you
access to the
course.
That's not
what he does.
He says
I will bring
you redemption
I will bring
you forgiveness
and he does it
by free
unmerited
grace.
it is a gift
of God.
We can
neither
attain it
as a prize
nor can we
earn it as a
wage.
We are given
it as a gift
and in his
lavish grace
undeserved
kindness
this is what
God has done
for us
in Jesus
Christ.
It's
illustrated
isn't it
in the book
of Exodus
again that
supreme
picture of
redemption
the people
of Israel
they are
in Egypt
and the
people of
Israel
could not
get out
of the
land
of Egypt.
The people
of Israel
could not
free themselves
they are
enslaved
until God
comes down
and frees
them.
And God
does something
wonderfully
unique
doesn't he?
It is his
work of
redemption
to achieve
their deliverance.
And that's
why Christians
we are obsessed
with amazing
grace.
Amazing
grace.
And it is
by grace
alone
by faith
alone
in Jesus
Christ
alone
that we
are redeemed
from the
bondage
and the
guilt
and the
power of
sin.
Number five
the means
of redemption.
The means
of redemption
so the
need of it
the need
of redemption
lies doesn't
it in our
sin
and our
rebellion
and that's
produced
our guilt
and it's
put us
in bondage
that's the
need.
The nature
of it is
deliverance
upon the
payment of
a ransom
price.
The source
of redemption
while it's
all in
God
the ground
of our
redemption
is his
undeserved
kindness
and the
means
you notice
what is the
means by
which we're
saved?
It's in the
middle of
verse 7
we have
redemption
through his
blood.
In him
we have
redemption
through his
blood.
so remember
the very
meaning of
the word
the very
meaning of
the word
of redemption
throughout the
Old Testament
as well as
in the world
in which
Paul lived
was the
freeing
of someone
or something
by the
payment of
a price.
Pawn shops
isn't it?
So cash
converters
you ever
got a
cash
converters?
There's not
many nods
but take
your goods
cash
converters
it's on
Xbridge
Road
and you
go in
and you
hand over
your
Xbox
or your
Playstation
and
cash
converters
gives you
money
for it.
But the
great thing
about cash
converters
is when
you've got
enough money
you can
go and
you can
buy it
back.
When
you've got
enough money
when payday
comes you
can go
back and
you can
buy it
back.
You can
go in
and redeem
it.
And the
way that
you
redeem
the
item
is by
paying
the
price.
Sometimes
people did
that didn't
they in
old days
with quite
expensive
things and
so there
was a
considerable
price to
be paid.
The whole
idea of
redemption
there's this
concept of
the payment
of a
price.
God has
paid the
ultimate
price
hasn't he
in the
blood of
his
son
Jesus
Christ.
That is
the price
of
redemption.
If you
are trusting
in Jesus
Christ
if you
have put
your
faith
in the
Lord
Jesus
if you
are
connected
to him
savingly
you've
been
ransomed
!
redeemed
by the
precious
blood
of Jesus
Christ.
lots
and lots
of people
have
difficulty
with
this
and they
will say
I don't
understand
why
God
demands
this kind
of ransom.
You might
say when
people do
something
nasty to
me or
when people
do something
to me
that offends
me and
they need
my forgiveness
I simply
say out of
my kindness
and out of
my benevolence
I forgive
you and
let's forget
about it.
Why can't
God be as
magnanimous
as I am?
Why can't
God be as
kind as I
am?
Why does
God demand
that a price
be paid?
Why does
God demand
a ransom?
It's barbaric.
The answer
to this
we could spend
all day
talking about
this but
the answer
is that
I am
merely
a private
individual
against whom
you may
have offended
or sinned.
I'm a
fellow sinner
and the
arrangement
that comes
between you
and I
affects
no one
but ourselves
and so I
may say
to you
I forgive
you and
there's
nothing
there's
no more
to that
and you
might say
the same
to me
but when
we sin
against God
let me ask
that you
get this
really
clear
when you
sin against
God
you do
not sin
against
God
as though
he were
a person
like you
a private
individual
like ourselves
it's a
verse
little phrase
in Psalm
50 verse
21
and the
psalmist
says this
where God
says this
he says
you thought
that I was
one like
yourself
you thought
that I was
one like
yourself
in many
ways
that is
the great
sin
of the
Christian
church
in the
UK
and that
we think
that God
is just
a bit
of a
glorified
version
of
ourselves
a bit
bigger
a bit
better
maybe not
better
but a bit
bigger
you thought
that I was
one like
yourself
but God
is the
sovereign
Lord
of the
universe
and in
his being
and in
his nature
he is
perfectly
holy
different
other
and
perfectly
righteous
utterly
holy
and an
offense
against
God
and his
law
is an
offense
against
the
character
and the
holiness
of God
and it
is an
offense
against
the
moral
structure
of the
universe
it's
difficult
to illustrate
this
you get
a shadow
of it
a faint
shadow
and this
is not
a perfect
illustration
but you
think of
a judge
in
court
there's
somebody
brought
before
the
court
who
has
committed
a
terrible
and
horrific
crime
he's
hearing
a
terrible
case
this
judge
but it
is
summing up
he says
listen
it is
August
it's
holiday
time
the
sun
is
shining
let's
just
forget
about
you
can
go
free
and I
forgive
you
what
has
just
happened
what
would
happen
there
would
be
up
there
would
be
up
someone
was
raped
and
battered
a
woman
and
the
judge
says
just
go
free
he
cannot
do
that
can
he
because
the
offense
is
not
merely
an
offense
against
him
as
an
individual
it
is
an
offense
against
the
legal
structure
of
the
land
you
get
a
measure
of
that
but
you
multiply
that
by
infinity
and
grasp
what it
means
for
God
in
his
holiness
to
associate
with
sin
to
associate
with
sin
unless
it
has
been
dealt
with
grasp
the
problem
that
God
faces
grasp
God's
most
profound
dilemma
how
can
he
be
as
the
apostle
Paul
puts it
in other
places
just
and
the
justifier
how
can
he
be
the
acquitter
of
those
who
put
their
trust
in
his
son
how
does
he
do
that
he
does
it
by
himself
he
gives
the
ultimate
price
by
paying
the
full
price
of
our
redemption
by
the
blood
of
his
son
his
only
son
he
does
it
by
pouring
out
his
judgment
on
his
son
in
order
that
you
and I
might
be
redeemed
by
that
blood
that's
the
means
of
redemption
!
Now
what's
the
outcome
of it?
This
is
the
last
point
in
fact
let
me
give
you
the
seventh
point
we're
not
too
bad
on
time
alright
the
means
of
redemption
the
outcome
of
redemption
let
me
give
you
the
seventh
point
it's
the
assurance
of
redemption
the
wonder
of what
I'm
talking
about
this
morning
is
this
isn't
something
that
we
hope
we
might
have
this
isn't
something
that we
can
say
well
at
the
end
of
life
I
hope
this
will
be
we
can
say
it
here
and
now
in
him
do you
see
the
tenses
we
have
redemption
in
him
we
have
redemption
there's
an
absolute
certainty
isn't
there
what's
the
outcome
of it
this
last
point
the
outcome
is
this
that
in
him
we
have
deliverance
from
sins
bondage
we
have
forgiveness
of
sins
from
sins
guilt
in
other
words
this
we
are
free
we
are
free
in
the
deepest
most
glorious
sense
possible
and that
is the
freedom
that
we
desperately
need
but I
want to
finish by
pointing out
to you that
when the
new
testament
speaks about
redemption
and we
are free
we are
also
slaves
we are
free and yet
we're also
slaves when
we've been
redeemed
you are
redeemed
says the
apostle
do you
not know
that you
have been
redeemed
and you
are not
your own
you've been
bought with a
price
and so the
result of the
outcome of
redemption is
this it is
freedom and
slavery
freedom from
sin and all
its punishments
and all that it
does to us
but slavery
to Jesus
Christ
and the
glorious
paradox of
living as a
Christian of
living the
redeemed
people is
this we
are free
slaves and
in the
service of
Jesus Christ
there is
perfect
freedom and
so we live in
a culture
which is
desperate to
be free
desperate to
find freedom
and the
truth is
this it is
to be found
in nowhere
else this
morning in
this universe
than in
glad
bondage to
Jesus Christ
that's where
freedom is
found
freedom is
found in
being enslaved
to Jesus
in glad
bondage to
Jesus Christ
who has
bought us
at such a
price
and so our
children who
are here this
morning who
go back to
school this
week and
our teenagers
who go back to
school this
week I want to
say to you
this I want to
say to you
remember who
you are
when you leave
the house on
Tuesday or
Wednesday morning
remember who
you are
you have been
redeemed
you are not
your own
you belong to
Jesus Christ
you are free
free to serve
him
we have
people leaving
us going for
a year out
starting out as
students let me
speak to you
and I want to
say this to
you remember
that in the
service of
Jesus Christ
there is
perfect freedom
you'll be free
from your
parents
but in the
service of
Jesus Christ
is perfect
freedom that is
where you'll find
freedom
you'll find
freedom in
giving yourself
to serving
Jesus Christ
and his
people
and for all
of us who've
trusted in
Jesus Christ
for all of us
who've been
redeemed do you
realise what's
happened to
you
do you not
know that
you've been
redeemed
you are not
your own
you are
forgiven
you are
free
and so
live like
it
what about
under the
preaching of
God's word
this morning
you have
realised that
you are not
savingly attached
to the Lord
Jesus Christ
your faith is
not in him
you're not
resting in him
you're not
relying on him
and you are
not redeemed
what is your
problem
what is your
problem
it is this
your greatest
problem
is that
you're not
forgiven
and you're
in bondage
to sin
and you've
not been
redeemed
why stay
like that
why stay
like that
this morning
why not
come in
humility
to the
one person
who can
deal with
your greatest
problem
the Lord
Jesus Christ
who offers
you full
forgiveness
and freedom
from your
guilt
and you
can cry
to him
from where
you are
you don't
need to
do anything
you can
admit to
your guilt
you can
be honest
before him
and you
can ask him
to forgive
you
and you
can rejoice
that Jesus
Christ has
come into
this world
to save
sinners
like we
heard in
our
assurance
of pardon
and he
will redeem
you
let's
rest in
him
and rely
on him
let's pray
together
let's종
Thank you.