In The Master's Service

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REDEMPTION

I fear that most of God's children fail to grasp the full meaning of redemption, if any of us do. No doubt most of us seldom if ever truly endeavor to THANK, PRAISE and adore His good name for having redeemed us from under the law of sin and death. The word death means SEPARATION. The reader might ask: "Why do we need redemption?" "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12. Because of the transgression of Adam, Rom. 5:9, all mankind are born sinners, and under the law of sin and death. Adam was with God until he transgressed His law, and because of the transgression he fell from the presence of God, and so all the descendants of Adam are separated from Him by nature. And unless God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit had entered into a plan whereby man could be redeemed from the curse of this awful law that separated him from God, there could have been no hope that poor mortal man would ever live with God in heaven. But God, being all wise and knowing beforehand what would take place, made plans to take care of His children, and this plan was an agreement that the Son would at a set time be born of a woman, live upon the earth for a certain time, and then shed His blood for the sins of this people whom the Father gave Him in the covenant of grace that was entered into before the world began.

He also purposed that His Spirit should enter into the hearts of men and women, boys and girls, quickening them from a death in sin to a life in Christ, making known to them what His Son had done for them when He came into the world and shed His precious blood on the tree of the cross. "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" Luke 24:26. Yes, He should have done this, inasmuch as He agreed to do so before the world began. He did this because of the great love He had for His people, for they were none other than His bride, nor was there any way to redeem her but by His sacrifice. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. Gal. 5:13.

Then we read this expression in I Peter 1:18, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold..." And the next verse tells us that we were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.

Oh, how we are humbled down when we are blessed to feel that we can share in this redeeming blood! There can be no other way for us to live with God in heaven. "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. 9:12. This was done forever. The word for US means everyone that has or ever will be born into the family of God, for everyone whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life, for everyone included in the covenant of grace entered into between the Father and the Son before the world began. All of these will be quickened in due time by the Spirit, and this Spirit will take up its abode in their hearts, causing them to feel poor and needy, and in need of God's grace. These are the kind of people Christ had under consideration in His wonderful sermon on the mount, Matthew 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters. We notice that in the very beginning of the 5th chapter He gave us the marks of those who were born again, who were called BLESSED. He here enables His children to draw comfort from
the sweet assurance that they are His, and are therefore numbered with the BLESSED, with those whom Christ redeemed.

In conclusion we will notice Psalms 111:9. "He sent redemption unto His people; He hath
commanded His covenant forever: holy and reverend is His name." Redemption is not sent to all the world anymore than He prayed for all the world, and He said He did not, (St. John 17:9) but to His people who are in every nation, kindred and tongue in all the world. He commanded, and we know that His commandments stand fast. He cannot be brought in question by any mortal on earth. He is the ONLY one who has ever been entitled to the term REVEREND, and that was because He brought redemption unto His people. If there is any man who can redeem one sinner from a death in sin to a life in Christ he would be entitled to be called Reverend, but there IS NO Saviour but CHRIST.