Verse for today – “In Him we have redemption through His blood… (Ephesians 1:7).”
The word redemption means to free from captivity by payment of a ransom. Christian, do you know that God redeemed you? Do you know that He loves you so much He paid the price to buy you back for Himself? Think about several other descriptions of this transaction from the Bible. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body (1 Cor. 6:19-20).” Dear Christian, you have been redeemed—purchased—you belong to God the Father! What price did He pay? “…you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-19).” Christian you were purchased with the very blood of Christ. This is why Jesus is sometimes called the Lamb of God. Because just a like a lamb was sacrificed in the Old Testament, Jesus came to give His life to pay the price for our sin. You were purchased with the most valuable thing in the universe, the very blood of Christ. You are so valuable to God! And now, if you are a GENUINE Christian (by this I mean not a Christian in name only, but someone with a God-transformed life) you BELONG to God.
What an encouragement! And this is only blessing # 5. Now we can sing with that old song writer, Fanny Crosby:
- Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
- Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
- Redeemed by His infinite mercy.
- His child and forever I am!