Week Twenty, 2024
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation (Romans 5:8-11).
Christians understand the concept of salvation. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. But what does it mean to be redeemed? That is the deeper question. The concept of being delivered from bondage begins in the Old Testament. It is described in Exodus 6:6-7
Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
Redemption literally means having been saved or delivered from sin and its consequences. In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were delivered from the bondage of the Egyptians by the Lord God through Moses, the mediator. They were delivered by faith, as they didn’t do a thing to earn it. They were delivered for restoration, worship and a relationship with God. He delivered and they worshiped.
Fast forward to the New Testament. Again, God delivered again through a mediator who bore the sin of all, His Son Jesus the Christ. Again, we were delivered by faith and did nothing to earn it. We too were delivered for restoration, worship, and a relationship with God.
A redeemer is someone entrusted with securing one’s release from oppression, harm, evil, enslavement, or some other binding obligation. A redeemer restores the lost rights and freedoms of another by avenging any wrongs and paying whatever price is required to set that person free. The role of “Redeemer” is uniquely assigned to Jesus Christ, who rescues believers “from the dominion of darkness” and delivers them into God’s kingdom of light.
Is He your redeemer?
SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
“Be conformed to the image of His Son.” Romans 8:29
There was an anti-smoking commercial decades ago where a father and son were sitting at the base of a tree. The father lit up a cigarette and the son mimicked him using a small stick. Girls across the country see the popularity of Taylor Swift and want to emulate her. Boys see the moves and technique of Tom Brady and practice to become like him. All these are efforts to be like what someone does.
Instead, they, and we, should strive to be like what someone is, their character. We have a model of one Who demonstrates all the positive character traits we should want. That one is Jesus Christ. And when we trust in Him, we automatically get all the positive attributes we need. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Look in the mirror. Who do you see? Who do others see? Rich Jensen
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Counterculture: a subculture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, often in opposition to mainstream cultural mores. In a society and culture moving further and further from the values in which it was founded, how then should we live?
A Countercultural Standard For Living:
• Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
• Do not conform to what the world/age says is ok.
• Be transformed by the renewing of your mind so you can discern God’s perfect will.
• Do not think of yourself more highly than you should.
• Think sensibly.
• Be a functional part of the body of Christ.
How, then, will you live? For Christianity is naturally countercultural. What, then, will you follow? Mainstream society and the direction its world is pulling and leading? Or the counter… a world led by Biblical values, with decisions and choices made through prayer and supplication? Marty Stubblefield
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WORDS OF WISDOM FROM EDGAR APONTE:
• King Jesus has power to forgive sins because He is God and Lord.
• Forgiveness of sin is your biggest need, and only Jesus can give it to you. You need to come to Him in faith!
• Do not harden your heart. Stop resisting God and honor Jesus!
• In faith and love, bring others before Jesus. Pray for the lost and tell them about Jesus.
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Pontius Pilate: Joseph, I really don’t understand. You are one of the richest men in the region, and you spent a small fortune on a new tomb for you and your family and now you want to give it to this man Jesus.
Joseph: It’s just for the weekend.
QUOTES YOU CAN USE
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. You can show a person the truth, but you can’t make him think.
Experience is the hardest lesson you can have. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward. Oscar Wilde.
Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal and if they are equal, they are not free. Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The razor blade is sharp, but it can’t cut a tree. The axe is strong, but it can’t cut your hair. Everyone is important according to their unique purpose. Never look down on anyone unless you are admiring their shoes.
We witness other people’s storm from the shelter of our own perspectives. Let’s be mindful that we don’t ask the cold rain of judgment to their already soaked spirits.
Worship is no longer worship when it reflects the culture around us more than the Christ than is within us. A.W. Tozer
Death is not the end of life. It is only the gateway to eternity. Billy Graham
Orphanage babies don’t cry. There is no point in crying because they know no one will come for them. They just shut down. It is the loudest silence you can ever imagine.
Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, rather it is about learning to dance in the rain.
People don’t need to decide their futures. They decide their habits and their habits decide their futures. F.M. Alexander
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Napoleon Bonaparte
A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one’s own ignorance. Niccolo Machiaveli
Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude. Anne Frank
If Adam and Eve had been Cajuns, they would have eaten the snake instead of the apple and saved all of us a lot of trouble.
Have we reached the ultimate stage of absurdity when some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, while other people are not held responsible for what they themselves are doing today? Thomas Sowell
It is far better to be alone than to be in bad company. George Washington
We are guilty of focusing on the small things in life while we ignore the big things. Jomo Cousins.
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