We are Redeemed for Redemptive Living Part 1
Introduction
We are back to our series called, Be Courageous—Living as God’s People in God’s World. We are exploring the questions, Who are we? and What are we here for? So far we have learned that God’s people are created in God’s image. We are called to care for God’s creation. We are called to walk, to live in God’s way. We also learned that God’s people know the story they are part of, and that story is God’s story. Our next stop in God’s story is the Exodus. From the Exodus story we will learn that we, God’s people, are redeemed for redemptive living. Redeemed, redemptive, redemption. What do these words mean? INTERACTION
When we think of the word redeemed, we usually think about our personal salvation. We tend to think of redemption only in individual and spiritual terms. Our sins are forgiven and we are going to heaven. And although all this is true, is that all there is to redemption? Is it only spiritual? Is it only personal? Is God interested only in our souls, in our spiritual lives? Think about your own life. Since you have been redeemed in Jesus Christ, what has happened? What has changed in your life? Your whole life has been transformed and are being transformed. The way you think, the way you speak, the way you act. Your social interactions, your relationships have changed. The way you work and do business have changed. The way you look at the world and life has changed. So it seems that there is more to being redeemed, to redemption, than it just being a spiritual, personal salvation.
Is redemption only about individual, redeemed persons? What about the church? Redeemed persons are members of the body of Christ. They are members of the family of God, God’s people. The church is a community of redeemed people. It is a redeemed community. But for what purpose does this redeemed community exist?
This morning and next Sunday we will explore the following questions. What does it mean for us to say we are redeemed? For what have we been redeemed? What is our response to God’s redemption? What does it mean to live redemptively in the world? How should we, who are redeemed, live redemptively?
1. What does it mean for us to say we are redeemed?
The Exodus tells the story of one of God’s great acts of redemption. God redeemed the whole nation of Israel out of Egypt. The Exodus story is very important, not just for Israel, but also for us. The exodus is a model of God’s redemption. It helps us to understand what biblical redemption means. We should interpret the cross of Christ in light of the exodus. The exodus is a key to help us to understand what happened on the cross, and what was achieved on the cross. The Bible links Jesus’ last supper with the Passover, which is the celebration of God’s great act of redemption. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was slaughtered on the Passover. The cross is the fulfillment of the exodus. The cross is the new exodus. As God redeemed Israel, so God redeemed us, to be his people.
The Hebrew words for redeem, redeemer, and redemption mean to save or remove something or someone from a dangerous situation. It means to buy something, someone back, and set it free, to give it a new status. In Israel somebody was a redeemer when they acted in defense of a family member who had been wronged or was facing some danger or threat. To redeem someone means to help a family member out of debt or slavery. It was the duty of that person to buy back land to keep it in the family, or to pay off the debt so that enslaved family members could be freed. They are bought back, set free, and so restored to their previous state. So the word for redeemer is sometimes translated as “kinsman-redeemer” or “family guardian”.
So when God promised that He would redeem his people (Ex 6:6), it means that the Lord, Yahweh, is taking on a special, significant role in his relationship with Israel. It means God is committed to his people as a family member. He accepts and takes on a kinship, a family, relationship with all the obligations and responsibilities that go with that. God is prepared to do whatever it takes, to pay whatever it costs, in order to protect, defend and liberate his people. God became Israel’s champion, protector, liberator, avenger and defender.
But what did God do as Redeemer? From what did He redeem Israel? The scale and scope of the exodus redemption teach us what redemption means, and what it means to live redemptively as God’s people in response to God’s redemption. As a model of God’s redemption, the exodus teaches us that God delivers from whatever enslaves. Israel’s slavery involved the whole of life. They experienced political, economic, social and spiritual slavery.
1.1 Political
Israel was an immigrant, ethnic minority in a large imperial state. They came as refugees. They were welcomed (Deut 23:7-8). But then the government and policies changed. The welcome turned into political hatred, unfounded fears, exploitation, and discrimination. Is this not what is happening today, here and across the world? Ethnic minorities, religious or other groups suffer suspicion, xenophobia, systematic oppression, unfair actions, abuse, or injustices.
God’s redeeming work brought political enslavement to an end. He enabled Israel to become a free people, God’s people under God’s rule. Slavery under political oppression prevented the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. So to liberate Israel God confronted the state power of an empire. Thus, redemption happened and operated on the political stage.
1.2 Economic
Israel was exploited as slaves for the economic benefit of others (Ex 1:11-14). God heard their outcry and intervened. The goal of God’s redemption was to give them their own land and their own economic system. God’s law outlawed any such oppression within Israel and their own economic systems. They were to live redemptively in the economic areas of life in response to God’s redemption. Redemption was economic in content.
1.3 Social
When economic exploitation as a tool of control and oppression did not work, Pharaoh tried to subvert the Israelite society from within their own ranks. He told the Hebrew midwives to kill the baby boys when they were born. And when that did not work, he initiated state-sponsored genocide — the government ordered the extermination of all Hebrew male babies (Ex 1:22). This was a vicious invasion of normal family life. It was the violent denial of fundamental human rights. We don’t have to look far to see Exodus 1 thriving in our modern world.
So when God redeemed his people from this hell of suffering, he founded a new society. God built into his law, the founding documents of this society, the limitation on government power, respect for human life and basic rights, and passion for social justice. (Ex 21-23; Lev 25; Deut 10:12-22; 15; 21-15; 28) Redemption was social transformation.
1.4 Spiritual
In the Exodus story there is an interesting word play that is lost in English. Hebrew uses the same word for service, worship, slavery, and slave. Israel was enslaved. (Ex 1:14; 2:23; 6:5) God’s specific request through Moses was that his people be allowed to go and worship their own God. (Ex 3:18; 4:22-23; 5:1-2,8,17; 8:1,20,27-28; 9:1; 10:3,4,7,8,9,11,24-26; 12:31) Israel’s slavery was a hindrance to their worship of the God of their fathers. So a massive power encounter ensued between Yahweh and Pharaoh.
This power encounter had the following purposes. God acted with power so that Israel will know that He is the Lord. He is Yahweh. (Ex 6:7-8; 10:2) God acted with power so that Pharaoh and Egypt will know He is the Lord. (Ex 7:5,17; 8:10,22-24; 9:14-16) God acted with power so that the whole world will know the Lord’s Name (Ex 9:14-16). God acted so that they will all know that the earth is the Lord’s (Ex 9:29).
God’s victory was God’s judgment on all the gods of Egypt (Ex 12:12). It was God’s judgment on all the idols of the world that enslaves people. God reigns. God rules. God is in control. Not the rulers and leaders and kings of this world. The Lord reigns for ever and ever (Ex 15:18).
The problem was not that Israel were slaves. The problem was that they were slaves to the wrong master. Now they were redeemed, and transferred as slaves into the service of the living God. God redeemed them into a covenant relationship with himself. God redeemed Israel for the purpose of serving the Redeemer’s interests and purposes in the world. Thus, redemption has a clear spiritual intent and results. In the same way we are redeemed, not just from our sins, but to be slaves to our King and Lord Jesus Christ. We are redeemed to serve his interests, his purposes, his kingdom in the world.
Conclusion — Holistic Redemption & The Cross
So redemption is not only spiritual. Redemption is not only social or political or economic. God’s redemption involves and encompasses the whole of life. Redemption is comprehensive, holistic. All of life is redeemed. All of life is made new and free for God, to serve his mission and his glory. When God redeemed Israel, he didn’t just say to Pharaoh, “Let my people go!” He also said to the Israelites—and he says to us—“Let go of what enslaves you, and follow me to freedom.”
The cross of Christ is the fulfillment of the exodus. The cross is the new exodus. Jesus is the Redeemer, the Champion, who will do whatever it takes to rescue his people. It took his own life. The cross is God’s greatest act of redemption. Jesus Christ paid the cost to redeem, to deliver, to set free the whole creation from the bondage of sin and evil. The cross of Jesus Christ is God’s victory over whatever opposes his rule. It’s God’s victory over all that enslaves and oppresses his creation. Through the cross and the resurrection Jesus Christ leads his people out of the darkness into the light and freedom of God, into God’s kingdom.
The ultimate exodus, the Cross of Christ, opens our eyes to the things that enslave us, and it sets us on the path of our own exodus. The cross of Christ calls us to die to self, to take up our own cross, to be crucified with Christ. The cross calls us to leave the old self and the world behind. It calls us to exit, to go out from our old life, and to join Jesus Christ in the ultimate, the new exodus. It calls us to go out from the old life of bondage, enslavement, and to go into the new life of freedom as a child of God, and as God’s people. And to live as God’s people, now, in this world. We are redeemed for redemptive living. NEXT WEEK