Paul: His Life and His Teachings Redemptive Sharing
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No.46 Paul: His Life and Teachings - Redemptive Sharing
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Our initial understanding of what is redemption is Jesus taking our place in judgment, and gave us His glory. The Law cannot offer redemption. So, what God did is to send His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin. He who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. (Rom. 8:3,4 NAU). The Law is not weak in itself, it was rather weakened by our weak flesh. To illustrate, our immigration Law for instance. The problem is not the Law but those who executes the Law. We heard a lot of times that we don’t need another Law; we just have to implement the existing ones. The Law however could not change human nature. If no Law could change human nature, the answer therefore is not coming up with new Law but sending someone who could change human nature. The best illustration perhaps comes from our excuses as to what the ideal human condition should be to live perfect lives. It already happened and it will happen again, but our fallen natures will make us keep falling. What is more ideal than the Garden of Eden? Yet still humanity failed; and in the Millennial Reign, it will fall again.
What Jesus did is shared in our fleshly humanity so we could overcome sin using what we have. We got it but we are still weak and we could not use it. Our need for redemption points to the reality that there are certain things that we cannot do for ourselves, although we really need them. There are some things that we need others to do for us. Redemption is one of them. So, when we ask Jesus to redeem us, we are telling Him that this is not something that we can do by and for ourselves. It is a humbling experience and is contrary to the self-help culture that insists on doing things by ourselves independent of others. Redemption is Jesus condemning sin in the flesh or in the sinful nature. Notice that Jesus did not condemn the sinful human nature – we were born with it. Rather, He condemned the sin that operates in our human nature. This goes with the saying, “Hate the sin but love the sinner.” Thus, redemption involves Jesus fulfilling things for us because we cannot do it ourselves.
Redemption carries the idea of being set free (especially from prison) or setting one lose, and opening things up for that who was set free. Incidentally, the word use for setting one lose, is the same idea as destroying say, a wall or a foundation. This means that when we were redeemed, the foundation or wall of sin in our lives that caged us in was totally destroyed by Jesus. When we are used with the presence of sin, it carries the idea of God breaking sin like a fetter. Redemption also carries the idea of paying the needed “ransom” to set one free from bondage. Ransom is like a vicarious gift whose value covers the fault needs to be paid. This is not just “debt cancellation.” This is debt payment. In the OT, there are payments that cannot be accepted, such that the perpetrator needs to be dealt with, mostly in terms of execution by stoning. When Jesus redeemed us, He took upon Himself the debt, and He issued the payment with His life. When Jesus died, it as if, we were the ones who died. Our rebellion against God is only punishable by our death. So Jesus needs to die on our behalf. We were redeemed from the clutches of death by Jesus by taking upon Himself the death that is for us.
Redemption involves family responsibility. Remember the kinsman-redeemer in Ruth. He has to be a close relative so that the property must stay in the family (cf. Ruth 2:20). Now, we will understand why the blood of bulls and goats cannot redeem us from our sins (cf. Heb.10:4). They are not family. Therefore, for Jesus to be able to redeem us, first, He needs to be a part of the human family. Thus, the incarnation. He became man, that is, He became part of our family, the closest at that. Why closest? Our original purpose is to be the family of God. Jesus is still the closest to the Father, and the closest to man. He is the Only Perfect Mediator between God and man (cf. 1 Timothy 2:5). What this tells us is this – when God made us His family, He also committed Himself to redeem us should we need redemption. God is our closest Kin. We are closer to God than we think. Sin is what separates us from God. But no one can separate us from the love of God. Praise be to God!