We are Redeemed for Redemptive Living Part 2
Introduction
Ex 1-15
Col 1:13-22; 2:13-15
Last week we learned that God’s people are a redeemed people. God freed us from the slavery of evil and sin. We saw that redemption involves the whole of life. All areas of life have been freed from all forms of slavery. All of life are now under God’s rule. Even though we are still in this world, we are no longer citizens of this world. We are fellow citizens with God’s people, members of his household (Eph 2:19). Our citizenship is now in heaven (Phil 3:20). We are aliens and strangers, foreigners and exiles, in this world (1 Pet 2:11). But for what purpose has God redeemed us? If all of life have been redeemed, how should we then live as a redeemed people?
2. For what have we been redeemed?
We have been redeemed for redemptive living in the world. The exodus is also our model for redemptive living. God redeemed Israel with a clear purpose. Israel should be his people. They entered into a special covenant relationship with God. They were called to to worship God only. They were called to walk in the ways of the Lord. And as God’s holy people they should serve God as a holy priesthood in the midst of the nations. God redeemed Israel for his glory. They knew God as Yahweh, the great I AM. They were to make him known to the nations. They were to glorify his Name. God redeemed Israel for his mission to save the world, and to bless the nations. And from Israel came Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, the Savior of the world, the Hope of nations.
Last week we have seen that the cross is the fulfillment of the exodus. The cross is the new, the ultimate 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 price 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 people. Through the cross and the resurrection Jesus Christ leads his people out of the darkness into the light and the freedom of God, into God’s kingdom.
Colossians 1:13-14,19-22 — “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. … And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation …” 2:13-15 — When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Yes, our sins are forgiven. Our debt is paid. We have new life. We have hope for the future. We look forward to the final redemption and the complete liberation of ourselves and all of creation. Then we will live forever in the new creation with our Redeemer and Lord. But like Israel we have been redeemed for a purpose. We have been redeemed to live as God’s people, as kingdom people, now and here in this world. We are a people who have been redeemed for redemptive living in this world. How should we live redemptively?
3. How should we live redemptively?
We are called to rejoice. We are called to praise and worship God as the Redeemer. We should sing songs of rejoicing. When Israel crossed the Red Sea they rejoiced by singing the song of Moses (see Ex 15:1-21). And in the heavens they sing the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb. Rev 15:3-4 — “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” The Moses’ song celebrated God’s redemption of Israel from Egypt. The Song of the Lamb celebrates the ultimate redemption of God’s people from the power of Satan.
We are called to celebrate God’s redemptive acts and God’s reign. We do so during our Sunday worship services, the Lord’s Supper, baptisms, child dedications, prayer meetings, Bible studies. We celebrate whenever we meet to worship, pray, have fellowship and learn from God’s Word. These are opportunities to celebrate, rejoice, to tell and retell the story of God, his love and his redemption. God’s people is a people who know the story they are part of. That is why God gave Israel all those festivals and He commanded them to worship, to celebrate and remember. That is why every year we celebrate Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Resurrection Sunday, Pentecost. So that we can retell, remember, and rejoice in God’s great redemption of us.
But this rejoicing must not only happen in the church. It should become a habit of our personal lives. It should be part of our everyday living as God’s people. We have experienced our exodus, our redemption. Our response is to live lives of praise. To live good, holy lives (1 Pet 2:9-12), lives of redemption so that other can be redeemed and glorify God.
We are called to imitate God. We must reflect God’s love, forgiveness, justice, salvation, hope, and kingdom. We must be reflectors and messengers of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. That is redemptive living. It involves costly compassion, commitment to justice, caring generosity, and action that will make redemption real in this world. Remember, redemption is not just spiritual. It’s not just the forgiveness of sin and a ticket to heaven. From the exodus we have seen that redemption involves the whole of life. Our mission as God’s redeemed people is to reflect our Redeemer, and his redeeming grace, in how we live, and in how we treat others. This then is redemptive living —
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:36).
Love each other as I have loved you (John 15:12).
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Eph. 4:32).
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you (Rom. 15:7).
See that you also excel in this grace of giving … For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich (2 Cor. 8:7 – 9). Deut 26:12 — give your tithes to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other. (Zech 7:10)
When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God. (Lev 19:33-34; see also Ex 23:9; Deut 15:15)
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another. If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you? (1 John 3:16 – 17).
Where there is political injustice, economic exploitation, where there is a downward spiral of poverty, where there is social oppression and spiritual bondage, we, who have experienced God’s compassion and justice cannot be silent and passive.
As God’s people we are “both a sign and a promise of God’s coming liberation. We are the presence of God’s liberating kingdom in a broken world. We are the place where liberation can be found, offering a home for exiled people. We are to welcome the broken people to a community of broken people. We are the community among whom liberation is a present reality – the jubilee people who live with new economic and social relationships. We are the light of the world, a city on a hill.” (Wright) Through our redemptive living we must erect signposts of God’s kingdom in this world.
But know this. If we are to proclaim and demonstrate the reign of God in Christ, if we are to proclaim that Jesus is the Lord in a world that crowns self and greed as kings and gods, then we will be in direct conflict with the world and the evil one. We will be challenging the darkness of the world with the light and good news of Jesus Christ and his kingdom. By what authority and with what power can we do so? Only through the cross of Christ. (Wright)
Only in the cross is there forgiveness, justification and cleansing for guilty sinners.
Only in the cross stands the defeat of evil powers.
Only in the cross is there release from the fear of death and its ultimate destruction altogether.
Only in the cross are even the deepest of enemies reconciled.
Only in the cross will we finally witness the healing of all creation.
The cross of Jesus Christ is good news for all of life. It brings redemption to every area of life. Evil and sin have everywhere permeated, weaved itself into all aspects of life. But the gospel is big enough to redeem all that sin and evil have touched. There is no other power, no other resource, no other name, through which we can offer the whole gospel to the whole person and the whole world, than Jesus Christ crucified and risen. (Wright)
Do we trust this power? Why are we fearful? Why are we hesitant? Why are we avoiding to do what we must do? Why are we silent? Why are we passive? If we truly believe that we have the greatest power available, then let’s go out into the world and live redemptively. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1:16). It is the same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead (Eph 1:19-20). Let’s be courageous. Let’s take seriously the fact that we are God’s people. We were slaves. God set us free. We are now free to live for God, free to live for our fellow human bings.