[We have been working our way through these opening verses of the book of Colossians only to discover that there is a treasure trove of spiritual revelation in this portion of Scripture.  Paul was writing to a Church vexed with the false teachings of many unredeemed men and women who taught many false truths about our Lord and Savior. ] 

[Last week we noticed that we have been sanctified by God to live lives that are enlightened by His spiritual presence and are worthy of those who belong to His glorious kingdom.  There is no way for mortal people to walk worthy of our Lord apart from the New Birth and the empowering presence that the new birth provides for born again Christians.] 

[Today we will examine verse 14 of our text as we discover the redemption that our Lord has provided for us.  What an incredibly glorious thing our Lord has given us through our redemption.] 

A.     The Master of our Redemption [- In whom we have redemption . . .  – Without the Lord Jesus Christ there can be no redemption.] 

[Illustration- A little boy had made a little boat, all painted and fixed up beautifully. One day someone stole his boat, and he was distressed. In passing a pawnshop one day he saw his boat. Happily he ran in to the pawnbroker and said, "That is my little boat." "No," said the pawnbroker, "it is mine, for I bought it." "Yes," said the boy, "but it is mine, because I made it." "Well," said the pawnbroker, "if you will pay me two dollars, you can have it." ]

[That was a lot of money for a boy who did not have a penny. Anyway he resolved to have it; so he cut grass, did chores of all kinds, and soon had his money.]

[He ran down to the shop and said, "I want my boat." He paid the money and got his boat. He picked it up, and hugged and kissed it, and said, "You dear little boat, I love you. You are mine. You are twice mine. I made you, and now I have bought you."] 

Notice of our redemption,  

1. The Creator (Col 1.14-17; John 1.1-4,14) – [In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: ¹⁵ Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: ¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. – One cannot redeem what was not originally his.  All creation belonged to our eternal Lord Jesus Christ in that He, being God, created all things.  This is revealed in our text and is revealed in passages like,]

[John 1:1-4 ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² The same was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men. ]

[John 1:14 ¹⁴ And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.]

[Our text reveals that our Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who could be our redeemer because He was our creator and our original owner.  But when mankind sinned then our ownership was temporarily transferred to our adversary the devil in that we were “sold under sin” (Rom 7.14) and the penalty for sin is death (Rom 6.23)] 

[Paul carefully reminds us that all creation originally belonged to God and the Lord Jesus Christ and now can be redeemed by its original owner.] 

2. The Redeemer (vs 14; Gal 3.13-14; Rom 6.23; Acts 4.12) [- In whom we have redemption . . . -  Notice that our redemption is only through the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no other provision for redemption given in the Word of God and no one has proven another provision for redemption in all of mankind’s religious systems.  Paul clearly declares that our redemption is only through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Galatians records,]

[Galatians 3:13-14 ¹³ Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: ¹⁴ That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.]

[The curse of the law is death in hell.  Again the Bible records,]

[Romans 6:23 ²³ For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.]

[There is a steep price tag upon sin, all sin, and that price tag is death.  Someone must satisfy the required cost for our sins.  The Lord Jesus Christ paid that penalty for us upon Calvary’s Cross. Jesus became a curse for us so that we would not have to pay the penalty for our sins ourselves.  Hence, Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law.  The price we owed for our sins was Paid In Full by our Lord Jesus Christ.]

[Note here, and this is eternally important, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Master of our Redemption.  There is no other source for your redemption. 

[Acts 4:12 ¹² Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. ]

[The Lord Jesus Christ is your only hope for salvation and redemption.]

B.     The Means of our Redemption (1 Pet 1.18-19) - In whom we have redemption through his blood, . . . – We have already touched upon the means of our redemption lightly but now let us be clear about how our redemption was and is secured.]

[Illustration - Dr. A. J. Gordon was the preacher of a church in Boston many years ago. One day he met a little boy out in front of the church. The boy was carrying a rusty bird cage in his hands and several little birds were fluttering around on the bottom of the cage, as if they knew they were going to be destroyed.]

[Dr. Gordon said, “Son, where did you get those birds?” The boy answered, “I trapped them out in the field.” “What are you going to do with them?” the preacher asked. ]

[“I’m going to take them home and play with them and have some fun with them.” “What will you do with them when you get through playing with them?” Dr. Gordon asked. “Oh,” said the boy, “I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have around the house.”]

[Then Dr. Gordon asked the boy how much he would take for the birds and the boy answered, “Mister, you don’t want these birds. They’re just little old field birds and they can’t sing very well.” Dr. Gordon said, “I’ll give you two dollars for the cage and the birds.” “All right,” said the boy, “It’s a deal, but you’re making a bad bargain.”]

[The exchange was made and the boy went whistling down the street, happy because he had two dollars in his pocket. Dr. Gordon took the cage out behind his church and opened the door of the cage and the birds flew out and went soaring away into the blue, singing as they went.]

[Those birds were legally purchased from that boy, who legally owned them.  Consider that those birds were once free, but the boy managed to trap them and cage them.  Then they were purchased by Dr. Gordon.  Once they were purchased, or redeemed, Dr. Gordon released them and set them free.  They were redeemed to be set free.  Just as our Lord redeems us to set us free.]

[Dr. Gordon paid two dollars for those birds, many years ago.  What did our Lord pay to redeem us?]

[1 Peter 1:18-19 ¹⁸ Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; ¹⁹ But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: ]

We were Redeemed,

1.      Not With Riches (1 Pet 1.18; Matt 6.19-21) [- Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation . . . – The possessions of life, the treasures of our world, the money of our day will never suffice to redeem us from the penalty for our sins.  In God’s eternal economy our world’s treasures hold no value.  Notice that our text refers to worldly treasures as corruptible things.  Jesus once said,] 

[Matthew 6:19-21 ¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: ²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: ²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ]

[Think of it, the streets of heaven are made of one of our world’s most valued assets, gold.  The things we think mean the most in this life mean the least to Almighty God.  No matter how much you have your worldly riches will not redeem you with God.] 

2.      Not With Religion (1 Pet 1.18) [– Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; - This refers to our traditions or worldly religious systems.  Many have devised religious systems that they claimed would make them worthy and acceptable with God.  However the worthless imaginations of mankind will never provide the needed redemption we all need.  We are not in a position to dictate to God what is fitting and acceptable.  Instead God has revealed to us what is needed for our redemption, and then God provided that redemption for us.] 

[Notice carefully that we are not redeemed by the vain (worthless) conversation received by tradition from your fathers.  This means that it does not matter what your great grandmother said would work if what she said was not based upon God’s revelation and the redemption declared by God through the Lord Jesus Christ.] 

[Hence, ] 

·        [Your Mormon baptism will not redeem you.]

·        [Your Jehovah’s Witness works will not redeem you.]

·        [Your Catholic communion will not redeem you.]

·        [Your Baptist church membership will not redeem you.] 

[Religious good works will never redeem you from the curse of the law.] 

3.      But With Great Resolve (1 Pet 1.19; Isa 53.4-5; Gal 1.4) [- But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  - There is only one thing that can redeem all who will be redeemed and that is the precious blood of Christ.  This precious blood reveals,] 

·        [The great suffering our Lord endured for our redemption.] 

[Isaiah 53:4-5 ⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. ]

·        [The great deliverance provided by our Lord for our redemption] 

[Galatians 1:4 ⁴ Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:]

[The only thing that could purchase our redemption for us was the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He has redeemed us by His blood and now that the penalty for our sins has been paid in full we are set free from the curse of the law.  We are free indeed.]

[What kind of resolve was involved in our redemption?  The kind of resolve that shed great drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22.44). The kind of resolve that endured the beating and scourging of Roman cruelty.  The kind of resolve the carried a cross up mount Calvary.  The kind of resolved the endure the torment of the cross.  And the kind of resolve that said “It is finished.”]  

C.     The Magnificence of our Redemption [- In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: -To have the forgiveness of sins is a powerful thing in our Christian lives.  Through what our Lord did for us we are completely set free for the curse of the law.  Our sins are forgiven, washed away, cast as far as the east is from the west, because our Lord has paid the penalty for all of our sins.  Our forgiveness is just one of the reasons why our Lord redeemed us.  The Bible also reveals that we are redeemed,] 

1.      For His Glory (Gal 4.4-7) [– Do you fully understand the glory of what God has done for you through your redemption?  The Bible states,] 

[Galatians 4:4-7 ⁴ But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, ⁵ To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. ⁶ And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. ⁷ Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.]

[Through your redemption, through what the Lord Jesus Christ did for you, you are now an adopted child of God.  So much so that God has sent the Holy Spirit into you to confirm in your heart that you really are a child of God.  So much so that Galatians declares that you are now a joint heir of God through Christ.]

[Through the redemption provide for you by our Lord Jesus Christ you have been promised eternal life beginning at the moment of your salvation.  Those who persecute you are not attacking just any old person; they are attacking a royal heir to the throne of God.  They may not think of yourself that way, but that is the fact of the Word of God, and one day they will answer to the Lord God Almighty for the way they treated you.]

[Hence, you should change the way you think of yourself.  You are not just anybody in this world any more.  You are royalty and you ought to act like royalty.] 

2.      For Good Works (Titus 2.14) [- Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. – The redemption that our Lord has provided for us ought to transform or change the way we live our life.  Once you realize just how much the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you, you ought to take the liberty He has given you and use it for His honor and good.  Our Lord Jesus Christ did not redeem you so that you could just be imprisoned in our worlds sin and misery.  He redeemed you to set you free to live moral lives of purity for all eternity.  The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed you from all iniquity.  Now live your life in purity and glory.]

CrossRoads Baptist Church, February 14, 2010