WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.160 we're going to read together from our New Testament scripture reading which is 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:11.880 Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 to 14 and Lizzie is going to come and read for us. 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:17.059 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:22.160 Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places even as he chose us 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:26.440 in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:32.600 blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:37.840 sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will to the praise 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:43.719 of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. In him we have 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:48.159 redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:52.159 to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:57.879 insight making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose 00:00:57.879 --> 00:01:03.319 which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all 00:01:03.319 --> 00:01:09.799 things in him things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:14.840 inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:19.640 works all things according to the counsel of his will so that we who were 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:25.280 the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:30.040 when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:35.640 in him was sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our 00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:41.120 inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:47.599 Amen. Two weeks ago we started a series on the letter of Paul to the Ephesians and 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:54.039 so we're picking back up with that this morning. Paul writes this letter and in 00:01:54.039 --> 00:01:59.599 between 8060 and 62 he's a prisoner in the city of Rome writing back to a church 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:03.959 that he had planted a few years before that and he really loved the Ephesians 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:09.599 dearly and he wanted it he wanted this letter to be a letter that was meant for 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:15.039 all local churches to read so it's called it we call it a circular letter so 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:20.039 Paul really we know intended it to be copied and then sent around to all the 00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:24.399 churches near Ephesus and then beyond that and so when it says to the saints 00:02:24.399 --> 00:02:29.560 who are in Ephesus we said last time you can say to the saints by God's word who 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:33.159 are in are in Edinburgh so it's written to the local church and that means 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:38.680 because this is written by God to us it's to us today and it's a really 00:02:38.680 --> 00:02:42.879 important letter for us to study and think about part of the reason for that 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:49.159 is because we are in a season of transition still and will be for a while 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:54.799 we're in a new era here at St. Columbus after 22 years with Derek and Katrina 00:02:54.799 --> 00:02:59.919 and leading and right now it's a really important time to be asking the 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:04.519 fundamental question that Ephesians asked which is who is the church what's the 00:03:04.519 --> 00:03:09.519 church what does the church do who are we gonna be in the future that's exactly 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:13.080 what the book of Ephesians the letter that Paul's written here addresses and 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:20.320 in this very long sentence that Lizzie read for us verses 3 to 14 Paul talks 00:03:20.320 --> 00:03:24.960 about that and it is a long sentence so in the Greek text it's one sentence 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:29.600 there are multiple sentences here in your English Bible but in the Greek Paul 00:03:29.600 --> 00:03:33.840 just kept going and going and going it's one big long sentence and what this 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:38.760 long sentence does is Paul is trying to get you at the beginning of thinking 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:43.879 who is the church to take a God's eye perspective on it so he's trying to 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:49.439 sort of pull us out of ourselves and say stop just simply seeing the world from 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:54.319 your vantage point and see all that God is doing and up to in your life in the 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:57.759 life of the church and life of the world from his perspective and his 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:01.919 perspective starts from eternity from before time began we looked at that last 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:06.639 time all the way to right now in this moment so he's drawing you up and 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:10.279 every single week we will answer the question who is the church with a new 00:04:10.279 --> 00:04:15.679 answer and so we said he's already told us the church is blessed because we were 00:04:15.679 --> 00:04:21.000 chosen predestined in him from before the foundation of the world and then this 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:26.560 week the next answer he gives us is that we're blessed because we are redeemed 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:33.199 redeemed and forgiven so that's the focus verse just verses 7 to 8 and let's 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:38.719 ask what is redemption what's the meaning of it the meaning of redemption and 00:04:38.719 --> 00:04:43.039 what are the gifts the blessings that come from it so those two things the 00:04:43.039 --> 00:04:46.279 meaning of redemption we'll spend almost all of our time on that and then 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:49.879 lastly consider what are some of the gifts and the blessings that come from 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:54.879 that that help Paul help you today to say blessed be God to worship like he 00:04:54.879 --> 00:05:00.839 does here so the meaning of redemption in verse 7 we've got just a few a 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:10.679 clause in him in Jesus we have redemption through his blood and in every 00:05:10.679 --> 00:05:16.199 every single word that Paul writes right there there is something distinct and 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:20.519 what he's talking about the idea of redemption from the way that modern 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:25.719 Western people are conditioned to understand redemption so what Paul gives 00:05:25.719 --> 00:05:30.399 you there is different from the way we've received the idea of redemption in our 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:35.599 modern Western world this is a Greek word redemption that means that's the 00:05:35.599 --> 00:05:40.479 word apollutron in Greek and it means actually ransom so it can be translated 00:05:40.479 --> 00:05:46.039 either redemption or ransom and ransom ransom this first century idea of 00:05:46.039 --> 00:05:51.959 ransom means that you a person that needs ransom or redemption you are totally 00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:58.319 incapacitated you are completely imprisoned you have a debt that you can 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:04.120 never pay you are dead and you cannot make yourself alive and the idea of 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:11.079 ransom is that somebody has to come and pay every single debt that you owe so 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:15.399 that you might be released from your bondage so deep in the heart of the 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:21.399 idea of ancient ransom or redemption is an exchange and it's an exchange that 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:26.079 you are not involved in it's an exchange that takes place completely apart from 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:31.599 anything that you do now the reason that this strikes against the modern notion 00:06:31.599 --> 00:06:37.560 of redemption is because we have so many great stories so many great tales books 00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:42.399 TV film that are redemption stories redemption stories are probably the 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:48.120 most classic and popular genre of literature and film that are out there 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:54.639 and there if you read film critics literary buffs about redemption and 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:59.959 story in modern story redemption typically takes place in a couple of 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:04.639 ways there are redemption characters that have big redemption arcs Severus 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:11.839 Snape Ebenezer Scrooge Oscar Schindler Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader if you 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:17.639 don't know Boromir Katniss Everdeen Woody Toy Story hopefully there's 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:22.159 something I believe there's something there for everybody these are redemption 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:25.800 characters with redemption stories and big redemption arcs sometimes about 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:30.840 multiple films and books and when you look at redemption characters in our 00:07:30.840 --> 00:07:35.920 time there are basically two ways that redemption happens in most stories one 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:40.080 is that you are born into or find yourself in the midst of really hard 00:07:40.080 --> 00:07:45.640 circumstances so you know that you might be born in it as an orphan and you you 00:07:45.640 --> 00:07:51.120 overcome that that circumstance and you you seek your destiny and against all the 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:58.639 odds you finally you get there remember Bambi you remember Bambi Bambi that 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:03.879 little deer that fawn Bambi this is the book version by the way was meant to be 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:08.920 a great prince of the forest his father was but he never knew his dad and he was 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:14.439 so attached to his mother and he had she was all he had but the evil malevolent 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:20.920 force that enters into the woods is man and man hunts deer and man shoots kills 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:26.480 Bambi's mother and he's orphaned and all he has left in the world is his little 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:32.840 rabbit friend Thumper and against against every expectation Bambi grows up he 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:37.080 has a wife and there's a moment where his wife is surrounded by hunters and 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:42.560 Bambi could have never saved his mother when when he was too small but now he 00:08:42.560 --> 00:08:46.759 has that opportunity and he comes in and he saves his wife from the hunters and 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:52.840 he gets shot but he survives it and he overcomes and against all odds the 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:57.240 orphan Bambi becomes the great prince of the forest now that's a redemption story 00:08:57.240 --> 00:09:02.360 and it's a redemption from horrible circumstances or from a circumstance of 00:09:02.360 --> 00:09:07.799 deep loss or pain or overcoming the odds that's one type of redemption arc that 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:13.799 we find in modern story the other is the most the most common and that's 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:18.519 redeeming yourself after the midst of great failure after a great failure you 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:22.879 know it's the story of redemption because of something you've done that 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:28.159 you've made horribly wrong but you get a second chance and that's the story of 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:37.240 Woody in Toy Story Woody Woody is selfish ego maniacal and when when Buzz 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:41.159 Lightyear comes into the scene you know he takes away from Woody the one thing 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:44.959 Woody is always priced and that's the love of Andy and so Woody pushes Buzz 00:09:44.959 --> 00:09:51.199 out of a window and through guilt and shame and eventual repentance Woody 00:09:51.199 --> 00:09:56.399 rescues Buzz the man who tried to kill Buzz goes and realizes he has to rescue 00:09:56.399 --> 00:10:00.319 Buzz and Woody you know Buzz gets rescued but who is it that's redeemed 00:10:00.319 --> 00:10:04.519 it's Woody he's redeemed from his selfishness and he becomes friends with 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:08.839 Buzz and he gives Buzz a share in the leadership of all the toys now this is 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:14.320 the second type of redemption story it's when you've failed greatly in your life 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:19.200 you've really messed it up and you've been imprisoned or some other cost has 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:23.480 come into your life but you get a second chance and you redeem yourself Flannery 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:28.280 O'Connor the great southern fiction writer in the United States she wrote a 00:10:28.280 --> 00:10:32.960 little essay in the mid 20th century called thinking about books and she 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:38.519 really saw the problem of modern stories of redemption and she really nails it 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:42.799 here this is what she says she says the reader of today is indeed looking for 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:50.480 redemption aren't we all and rightly so but what she has forgotten is the cost 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:57.480 of redemption and she goes on she says the reader's sense of evil is lacking so 00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:03.159 lacking in the modern world so diluted that he has forgotten the true price of 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:08.799 restoration and redemption now there's a lot of great redemption stories and 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:15.120 maybe you have one in your life you've you've overcome stuff in your life that 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:19.839 put you against the odds of having any success or you came back from a great 00:11:19.839 --> 00:11:24.240 failure and you had a second chance and you seized it but let me say that the 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:29.519 only way that these stories actually find meaning and the only way that they 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:33.879 truly can give you a sense of fulfillment at last is if you see them in 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:38.360 the light of the great redemption story and these stories are mere shadows 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:42.360 little flickers and glimmers of something so much bigger so much better so much 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:46.799 greater something that's capital R redemption and that's what Paul and 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:52.199 God are talking to us about in this letter and we have to see in it the 00:11:52.199 --> 00:11:56.559 big differences between the way we often are taught to think of redemption and 00:11:56.559 --> 00:12:03.119 what redemption really means and here we have it Paul says first in Jesus in 00:12:03.119 --> 00:12:09.639 him we have redemption and when he says that to us he's he's pushing against 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:14.039 every sense of modernity where redemption means when you get a second 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:17.239 chance you better grab it when you get a second chance you better lift yourself 00:12:17.239 --> 00:12:22.759 up by your bootstraps and instead did you hear what Paul said he says in Jesus we 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:27.919 have redemption and that means Paul is saying that if you want real redemption 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:33.559 it's not something you can accomplish it's something that you have to receive 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:39.120 you see what he doesn't say we can achieve redemption he says in him we 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.519 have it in other words he's pointing to the fact that redemption if you're 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:47.759 really gonna have it it has to be given to you it has to be found in him outside 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:52.720 of you and be given as a gift to you you may you may have in your life so 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:58.160 far a pretty good redemption story very those are great overcoming a failure but 00:12:58.160 --> 00:13:03.680 you know let me just this is what you came for today remember Bambi still 00:13:03.680 --> 00:13:11.920 died and so did his wife and toy you know have you seen toy story too what he 00:13:11.920 --> 00:13:16.800 was still selfish he overcame his selfishness for a moment and then it came 00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:21.200 right back and you know you see the thing is is that the great problems that 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:26.840 we need redemption from we cannot redeem ourselves in him we have it we don't 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:30.640 achieve it you can't you can't get it yourself you have to find it from the 00:13:30.640 --> 00:13:37.080 outside this is actually embedded into the myth the myth of the Western 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:39.960 mindset from the time of the Enlightenment forward the Enlightenment in 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:45.440 large part began on the Royal Mile right outside and the Enlightenment was a 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:50.320 time of introducing modernity and modernity is a time where we as humans 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:55.240 believe we can progress we can achieve we can reach utopia and one of the 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:59.080 fundamental heartbeats of that movement was what does it look like for us to 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:05.560 redeem our city redeem our nation redeem our society redeem in all sorts of 00:14:05.560 --> 00:14:09.760 ways and people have in modernity have said well you know if we're really 00:14:09.760 --> 00:14:13.940 redeeming society we need a classless society if we're really gonna redeem 00:14:13.940 --> 00:14:17.700 society we need bigger government if we're really gonna redeem society we 00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:21.040 need smaller government if we're really gonna redeem society we need we need 00:14:21.040 --> 00:14:27.360 better access to therapy we need better education systems and what we have after 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:31.160 that entire movement is the same exact problems that were identified from the 00:14:31.160 --> 00:14:36.280 beginning and the true story is contra every modern sensibility you can't 00:14:36.280 --> 00:14:41.320 redeem yourself you can't redeem the city you can't redeem society the same 00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:45.720 problems will always come back redemption has to come from outside now 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:48.759 the second thing Paul says here that's a different that's different from our 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:54.160 modern mindset in him we have redemption the word redemption 00:14:54.160 --> 00:15:00.720 apollutron this Greek word which means ransom remember it means to be purchased 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:09.040 or to be exchanged for this is my last literary slash film reference of the day 00:15:09.040 --> 00:15:14.120 redemption in the Bible is much less like Bambi and much more like the story 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:20.679 of Jean Valjean Jean Valjean from Les Miserables and if you've seen it you'll 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:25.039 know if you haven't you'll get this remember Jean Valjean prisoner number 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:32.759 24601 he was imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread for his family 17 years 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:40.200 hard labor and he was released in France and he became homeless and he's on 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:44.800 the streets he's in parole and he's invited one night into the home of a 00:15:44.800 --> 00:15:50.200 bishop in France and the bishop feeds him a hot meal for the first time in 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:53.520 years he gives him a bed to sleep in and in the middle of the night with the 00:15:53.520 --> 00:16:00.200 Jean Valjean do he steals all the silver from the home and he runs and you know 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:05.480 he he stole to give food to his family in the beginning but he really became a 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:10.440 thief in prison and after that he still is a thief and he steals and the 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:15.000 police catch him and they bring him back to the bishop and they say you know 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.440 here he is the thief he's on parole he's done this before he's gonna get life in 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:26.480 prison for this in 18th century France and the bishop says to the police this 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:33.440 man did not steal my silver today I gifted to him and then he turns to Jean 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:38.120 Valjean and says with this silver with this gift I have redeemed you I've 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:43.480 ransomed you I've bought you back and that's ransom that's redemption that's 00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:49.840 the biblical idea it's more like you're standing in a prison cell and the guard 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:55.160 comes and releases you and says go and be free and be transformed and you say 00:16:55.159 --> 00:17:03.199 why and the guard says because somebody else has given enough to pay your debt 00:17:03.199 --> 00:17:08.399 and set you free it's being redeemed by a debt that somebody else has paid for 00:17:08.399 --> 00:17:13.399 paid for your debt has put something in the place has paid for you so that you 00:17:13.399 --> 00:17:19.759 could go free that's redemption and so thirdly Paul says in him something you 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:24.799 can't do we have redemption and exchange that has to take place where you don't do 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:28.879 anything your debt gets paid for from outside of you and then finally through 00:17:28.879 --> 00:17:33.799 his blood so what we learn is how costly this is this is what Flannery O'Connor 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:39.680 was talking about the costliness of real redemption this is lost in many modern 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:43.559 stories of redemption and what Paul tells to really make sense of this is he 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:48.919 says the cost of redemption is his blood the blood of Jesus Christ and then he 00:17:48.919 --> 00:17:54.039 adds one little line at the end of that he says the forgiveness of our trespasses 00:17:54.039 --> 00:18:01.480 so he ties the spilt blood of Jesus to forgiveness and when he does that what 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:07.960 what you learn what you can see here is that to be ransomed to be redeemed 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:15.319 means to be forgiven and how that takes place the primary idea is that when you 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:18.639 are ransomed when you were exchanged when somebody else pays your debt and 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:24.520 you're released being released is a metaphor for being forgiven in other 00:18:24.520 --> 00:18:28.120 words the most central problem that the Bible is talking about in the idea of 00:18:28.120 --> 00:18:34.160 redemption is that we are guilty people it's guilt it's not it's not just 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:38.000 picking yourself up from your circumstances it's not just overcoming 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:43.360 a bad being born into a really hard situation it's something much deeper 00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:47.880 much greater much more difficult to deal with much more costly of a price and 00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:52.280 it's the problem of guilt that's what he's talking about it's that somebody 00:18:52.280 --> 00:18:57.720 else has paid the price so that when you go free it is as if it is it is truly 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:01.880 the case that your guilt has been washed away you're forgiven that's what 00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:07.560 what he means here now think about this Jean Valjean you know who who 00:19:07.560 --> 00:19:13.480 forgiveness is not free forgiveness is never free where's the cost well the 00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:18.039 bishop is never gonna get a silver back he the bishop has to let it go he has 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:22.720 to eat the cost of that it's an example let me give you another example to help 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:27.120 you see this I heard this from someone else recently this is a this is a crime 00:19:27.120 --> 00:19:31.799 we've all committed it's a crime I've come I've committed in ministry here at 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:37.519 St. Columbus once or twice you book to meet up with somebody for lunch for 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:42.240 coffee and you're going about your business and all of a sudden you get 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:47.839 that text message are you still coming and you realize that you never took the 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:51.000 time to put it into your diary you know you said yeah we'll meet for coffee we'll 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:54.640 meet on Thursday at 2 o'clock and that person has left their house they've 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:58.720 traveled into the city 30 minutes 40 minutes they've set for 20 minutes at 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:03.599 the coffee shop and you never showed up and they say are you still coming and 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:07.839 what do you say you say I'm so sorry you know I'm so sorry I'm such a fool I 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:11.480 didn't write it down I just I thought I would remember and I didn't remember 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:17.000 we've all we've all done this the person you say I'm sorry the person says I 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:23.400 forgive you what does it mean for them to forgive you truly it means does it 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:28.200 mean that there was no cost no they've lost an hour and a half of their lives 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:32.640 they'll never get it back you know you not only is there a cost of time there's 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:37.400 a cost in the relationship you've actually burdened them you've diminished 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:44.240 the trust that they once maybe had in your responsibility right and but here's 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:48.800 true forgiveness true forgiveness is when they say I forgive you and they 00:20:48.800 --> 00:20:54.200 really do forget about it so that they don't walk around and say yeah you know 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:57.960 I forgive you and then they go and say the the minister sometimes he doesn't 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:03.840 show up for meetings you know he's not responsible and you know which may be 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:10.199 true but the true forgiveness true forgiveness is when you actually forget 00:21:10.199 --> 00:21:15.919 and you say I'm not gonna go around and diminish your character for this it's 00:21:15.919 --> 00:21:19.959 gonna be between me and you and it's gone forever I see you the same way I saw 00:21:19.959 --> 00:21:25.399 you before I love you that's real forgiveness that's redemption when 00:21:25.399 --> 00:21:29.000 you're when the price of your debt has been paid to such an extent that you 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:34.079 can be forgiven like that now listen forgiveness is costly and it is and at 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:38.799 the same time it is true release from all of your debts the doubt of guilt let 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:43.880 me move to the final point and our conclusion which is to say but before 00:21:43.880 --> 00:21:54.440 that let me say guilt is serious it's real guilt we are told here our guilt is 00:21:54.440 --> 00:22:00.840 human beings required the death of the Son of God the blood of Jesus and I just 00:22:00.840 --> 00:22:04.720 want to ask have you really seen this have you really wrestled with this have 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:08.559 you really been willing in your life even as a father of Jesus to look at the 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:14.000 cross and understand the crux of the cross the cruciality of the cross the 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:19.400 fact that it is about your guilt that your guilt requires for the sake of 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:25.200 forgiveness the blood of the Son of God to be spilled and that means that in our 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:33.040 lives in every horizontal relationship we have self to other people self 00:22:33.040 --> 00:22:36.840 centeredness to our family members to our friends to the people we know in our 00:22:36.840 --> 00:22:40.720 neighborhoods every single time we are self-centered when we were meant to be 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:44.680 selfless that there is a vertical sin that takes place not only towards 00:22:44.680 --> 00:22:49.799 somebody else but to God and every single time we are self-centered we 00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:55.480 revolve the world around our kingdom that is a capital crime before the Lord 00:22:55.480 --> 00:23:00.360 we have made a kingdom for ourselves that we do not deserve in the midst of 00:23:00.360 --> 00:23:06.120 God's world and it requires do you see how serious it is how the necessity of 00:23:06.120 --> 00:23:11.840 the cross screams at us and says our guilt requires the blood of the Son of 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:17.720 God to be spilled because God is holy he can't he doesn't just forgive sin willy 00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:24.959 nilly and because God is love he desires so much to pay the price and so in the 00:23:24.959 --> 00:23:30.039 cross we have redemption why because God's justice and his love and his mercy 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:36.279 all meet they all kiss in that moment and redemption pours forth into the world 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:43.839 forgiveness is so difficult it costs so much and until you see that you don't 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:48.960 really understand Christianity until you see the reality the crux of the cross 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:56.079 the real cost of it you've yet to have your life transformed to see the pain 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:59.960 of the cross and the love of the cross and the justice of the cross for your 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:06.039 redemption modern people we as modern people and maybe today you're 00:24:06.039 --> 00:24:11.279 coming exploring the claims of faith as a modern person in the secular West and 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:17.279 you might say I don't know that I really feel like I'm in a person in need of 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:21.480 redemption you know I don't have a hard circumstances story I don't have a great 00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:26.480 failure story and I don't yet see I don't know that I believe that I have a 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:31.920 vertical dimension to my action that my selfishness is actually sinning or 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:37.200 committing an offense against the living God the only thing I can say about it 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:41.519 because of time is this we all face a choice and this is the choice either 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:51.120 either either God exists there really is divine law there really is such a thing 00:24:51.120 --> 00:24:55.920 is right and wrong and that you can transgress it or God doesn't exist and 00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:01.080 there is no meaning in this world either God exists and there really is divine 00:25:01.079 --> 00:25:04.199 law and there really is right and wrong and there really is a moral order and 00:25:04.199 --> 00:25:10.480 you can transgress it or there is no meaning the moral right and wrong is 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:14.199 nothing but subjectivism it's nothing but feelings it's nothing but a 00:25:14.199 --> 00:25:18.000 construct it's one or two it's the only options Friedrich Nietzsche the great 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:22.319 atheist philosopher of the 19th century he saw that he admitted it Bertrand 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:27.199 Russell he saw it great thinkers of our time that did not believe in God 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:33.319 admitted it they knew either God exists divine law is real or there is no meaning 00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:37.080 in this world and that's the choice you have to face either Jesus Christ had to 00:25:37.080 --> 00:25:41.080 die on the cross for their forgiveness or sins or there or there is no meaning 00:25:41.080 --> 00:25:47.640 it's that big it's that serious it's that it's that real it's that necessary the 00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:52.519 cost of our sins is the price of redemption is the blood of Jesus now 00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:56.759 lastly let me bring this home by saying that means that when you when you see 00:25:56.759 --> 00:26:01.559 this when you grasp this there are blessings that come into your life 00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:05.759 their gifts and let me just point out four of them real quick and we'll be 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:12.000 done let me say first this is so anti-modern this idea this so it doesn't 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.720 matter if you're from a Western tradition or an Eastern tradition this 00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:21.680 morning what's so anti-modern about this is there's a total relief in the need 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:26.480 to redeem yourself so every single culture that we come from gives you 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:30.920 ways gives you opportunities to redeem yourself to become a better person to 00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:33.960 pick yourself up and whether it's Western whether it's Eastern whatever 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:37.839 culture it may be American Scottish German it doesn't matter what what the 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:42.559 gospel comes and offers you today is an opportunity to have total relief from 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:50.480 the need to redeem yourself we have redemption in Jesus Christ if you come 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:56.120 today saying I have a redemption story you know I have become become something 00:26:56.119 --> 00:26:59.679 out of the midst of hard circumstances and failure can you see can you say 00:26:59.679 --> 00:27:05.439 today can you see today how temporary those redemption stories are that you 00:27:05.439 --> 00:27:09.199 can't you can't redeem yourself from death you can't redeem yourself from the 00:27:09.199 --> 00:27:13.479 great problems you have Woody was still selfish and Bambi still died and all of 00:27:13.479 --> 00:27:17.599 this is temporary you need redemption that's so much greater so much bigger 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:22.359 than that and if you're coming today as a follower of Jesus I just want to ask 00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:29.919 one more time are you are you are you transformed by the redemption that's 00:27:29.919 --> 00:27:33.919 purchased in the cross of Jesus Christ in your life and I know that that a lot 00:27:33.919 --> 00:27:38.479 of us we do believe this we do believe this intellectually we believe it and 00:27:38.479 --> 00:27:43.079 we in our hearts we believe it but we might find ourselves right now in a 00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:47.879 season where our life is just not transformed by it and one of the ways 00:27:47.879 --> 00:27:51.079 to break through that and to become a person who does what Paul does here and 00:27:51.079 --> 00:27:56.439 says blessed be God in worships is to look once more look every day at the 00:27:56.439 --> 00:28:01.079 cross are you looking at the cross are you seeing the cost of redemption and 00:28:01.079 --> 00:28:05.359 the love that's been poured forth at the cross you'll if you if you can see it if 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:09.480 you'll look at it if you'll make it the object of your focus every day you'll 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:14.159 break through you'll break through a season where you're lacking transformation 00:28:14.159 --> 00:28:20.199 in your life the second thing afford that the benefits the gifts that were 00:28:20.200 --> 00:28:24.759 told about here when you if you're a follower of Jesus this morning when you 00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:31.400 see the truth of redemption there is a beauty in it that means that you have 00:28:31.400 --> 00:28:35.759 not only been known and loved predestined and chosen from before the 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:41.319 foundation of the world but that you've also been redeemed from before you were 00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:47.000 ever a twinkle in your parents eye so in Ephesians 1 we're told that God from 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:53.319 maternity past for ordained predestined and shows his church from before time 00:28:53.319 --> 00:28:58.400 ever existed you read 1 Peter 1 very similar to Ephesians it says that the 00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:03.119 death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was foreknown and planned from before 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:07.920 the foundation of the world to and here in our text it says that God has done 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:12.519 this with all wisdom with all insight which are words of craftsmanship and 00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:17.079 that means that if you come today as a follower of Jesus Christ do you know 00:29:17.079 --> 00:29:24.279 that God redeemed you from before you were ever even a thought in any human 00:29:24.279 --> 00:29:29.759 mind when did he do it he did it in the middle of history and so when Jesus 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:34.039 Christ came to the cross in the middle of human history Hebrews tells us it was 00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:38.559 the joy set before him that he endured the cross what is that joy we're told 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:43.919 he was thinking of every single one of us in the middle of human history when 00:29:43.919 --> 00:29:47.319 he went to the cross to redeem us you were redeemed not only from maternity 00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:51.919 past but in the middle of history and also now in your present life it's that 00:29:51.919 --> 00:29:57.240 big it's that old it's got that much that much craftsmanship that much 00:29:57.240 --> 00:30:02.559 architecture to all that God's been up to in the middle of history I love the way 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:07.679 one writer puts it he says the God who hung the stars the God who hung the 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:12.680 stars was hung upon the cross with you in his heart that's how far back 00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:17.600 redemption goes third that means worth being told here that redemption has 00:30:17.600 --> 00:30:23.640 been accomplished we have it it's over with and so Paul uses the language that 00:30:23.640 --> 00:30:30.039 he has lavished this gift of grace upon you and so let me just say that because 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:34.880 redemption has been accomplished the language of Paul is that he actually 00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:41.360 today wants to God want God wants to pour redemption over you he is not a God 00:30:41.360 --> 00:30:46.080 that is withholding he wants to he's just he's desiring so much to give this to 00:30:46.080 --> 00:30:51.600 you to lavish you with his grace like treasure he just wants to bathe you in 00:30:51.600 --> 00:31:00.600 it he wants to give it to you now if you're on Twitter X if you are in the 00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:05.119 midst of the modern business world if you are studying in the university if 00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:08.799 you're if you're a student right now in the midst of school or in primary school 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:13.439 you will know that sometimes in the modern world when you make a mistake 00:31:13.439 --> 00:31:19.039 there is no forgiveness that when you make a big mistake and you come on 00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:22.439 Twitter and people find out about it that you're never gonna be forgiven 00:31:22.439 --> 00:31:28.439 you're only going to be canceled and let me say that unlike human beings unlike 00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:33.440 the people of modernity unlike the modern West the God of the Bible comes to 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:39.039 redeem you and forget about your sins forever and to do it really to do it 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:44.160 truly you know the modern world will never forget the things of your past 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:50.279 but God actually does God dismisses your sin from his mind as far as the East is 00:31:50.279 --> 00:31:54.960 from the West he will never remember the sins you really can be redeemed you 00:31:54.960 --> 00:32:00.240 really can be guilt-free you really can be forgiven and then lastly the last one 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:03.799 is Paul is teaching us here about the church who is the church the church of 00:32:03.799 --> 00:32:10.680 the redeemed we sang Psalm 107 a moment ago let the redeemed of the Lord say 00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:15.920 that we are redeemed what is the church who are we so if you're a follower of 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:21.799 Jesus say who are you and Paul is saying to us today that you are the redeemed the 00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:25.599 family of God the family of God the church is the people that have been 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:33.279 redeemed saved are you saved are you redeemed and if you are then you are the 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:37.639 church you're you're of the church you're in the church you're part of the church 00:32:37.639 --> 00:32:44.039 there's a wonderful hymn 1866 by Anglican minister S.J. Stone the church is one 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:50.039 foundation the church is one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord he bought her 00:32:50.039 --> 00:32:57.079 by his blood he bought her by his blood he bought her for her life he died now 00:32:57.079 --> 00:33:08.079 that means do you see that the church is the biggest longest running institution 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:16.279 and body and all of human history it began in Genesis 3 15 and it's still 00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:21.359 going and it's gonna go all the way into everlasting life every single empire 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:25.680 every single nation every single kingdom every single government are just small 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:31.359 little things the church is the biggest institution the longest lasting 00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:37.240 institution in all of human history and it will never go away and it was the 00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:42.799 church on the cross that Jesus lifted up his eyes and was able to endure because 00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:48.680 of joy for her love for her now Jesus loved the church so much that he wants 00:33:48.680 --> 00:33:52.879 to redeem her he wanted to and he did and that's that's me that's you that's 00:33:52.879 --> 00:34:00.079 the bride of Christ and so let me just ask do you love the church do you love 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:03.919 the church like Jesus loves the church the church is the family of the redeemed 00:34:03.919 --> 00:34:10.599 and so you know you can't just come and say I go to church you can't just come 00:34:10.599 --> 00:34:15.559 and say I come to church here and there I'm a part of the church are do you do 00:34:15.559 --> 00:34:19.960 you know you are the church the church the family of the redeemed and in that 00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:25.279 the invitation of redemption is that the one who died for his bride to the 00:34:25.279 --> 00:34:30.360 uttermost where she was the joy in front of his face he says now step into that 00:34:30.360 --> 00:34:37.400 love the church as much as Jesus Christ loves the church there are a lot of 00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:42.559 great stories of redemption every single modern story of redemption wants to be 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:47.360 this story it never will be but they will all find meaning if they find their 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:53.559 meaning in this story Jesus Christ the Redeemer he he is somebody worth living 00:34:53.559 --> 00:34:59.960 for his church is something worth living for living in and living for Jesus 00:34:59.960 --> 00:35:07.880 Christ is the Redeemer that we all need today let's pray Father we ask that you 00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:13.639 will teach us the meaning of redemption and we thank you that you purchased us 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:23.559 by your blood we thank you Lord Jesus that you exchanged us in your death that 00:35:23.559 --> 00:35:27.679 we might have freedom we thank you Lord for the great exchange so Lord we just 00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:32.879 asked now that you would cast away our our boredom with the gospel we asked that 00:35:32.879 --> 00:35:36.919 you would cast away our the scales that are over our eyes when it comes to the 00:35:36.919 --> 00:35:42.559 cross and its meaning and its power we asked Lord that we would cut through that 00:35:42.559 --> 00:35:47.719 we would be diagonalized that we would see the beauty and the power of the blood 00:35:47.719 --> 00:35:52.000 of Jesus spilled for us we thank you for redemption redemption read we thank you 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:56.199 for our exodus story I just asked today I believe today that there is somebody 00:35:56.199 --> 00:36:01.839 there are several here who need to find the truth of redemption for the first 00:36:01.839 --> 00:36:07.599 time so I pray and ask for that Lord I pray also Lord for all of us who may be 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:12.399 struggling to actually be redeemed in our lives to live transformed lives 00:36:12.399 --> 00:36:17.239 because of redemption so wake us up and shake us up we ask and we pray this in 00:36:17.239 --> 00:36:31.119 Christ's name amen