"THE PRICE OF REDEMPTION!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte



1 PETER 1:13-19


Peter said we have been redeemed. The word "redeem" has a variety of meanings. It means to rescue or deliver from peril or ruin or evil. It means to salvage, recover or reclaim something. It means to pay a purchase price. That price may be a ransom paid to free someone being held captive, or it might be the satisfaction of some legal penalty. The Biblical meaning of "redeem" or "redemption" involves all three of those concepts: Biblical redemption is rescue from evil and death, it is the salvaging of lost souls, and it is the price paid to satisfy God's demand for the punishment of sin. I want to share a touching story to illustrate the message today. You will see redemption in the narrative. A little girl named Sally was only eight years old when she heard her parents talking about her little brother, Georgi. He was very sick and they had done everything they could afford to save his life. Only a very expensive surgery could help him now, and that was out of the financial question. She heard her father say it with a whispered desperation, "Only a miracle can save him now." As God looked at the condition of mankind, He determined that only a miracle could save them: a miracle of redemption. As Georgi was in need, so were, or are, all of us.
  1. EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE REDEEMED:
    1. We need to be redeemed:
      1. From Satan, the enemy. He is the deceiver, the tempter, the accuser, the antagonist and the adversary of our souls.
      2. From sin's power, dominion, control and bondage.
      3. From sin's penalty which is damnation under the wrath of God.
      4. From the curse and condemnation of the Law.
      5. From overwhelming distress, anxiety and tribulation.
      6. From futility, emptiness and a sense of hopelessness..
      7. From fear of and the power of death.
    2. This is a universal need. 
      1. Rich and poor alike need redemption.
      2. Educated and ignorant alike need redemption.
      3. Male and female alike need redemption.
      4. The young and old alike need redemption.
      5. Every ethnic group and every culture alike needs redemption.
    3. Without redemption:
      1. We live our lives in bondage, captive to sin and Satan.
      2. We spend our days in a futile effort to achieve peace within and peace with God.
      3. We face a Christless eternity separated from God forever.
    4. We all have needs but unfortunately we often focus on the earthly, temporal needs.
      1. Dr. Abraham Maslow developed a theory in which he listed the hierarchy of human needs. He lists:
        1. Physiological needs: food, water, air, shelter, sexual relationships
        2. Safety needs: security, routine, familiarity and stability.
        3. Social needs: love, affection, belonging and acceptance.
        4. Egoistic needs: self-esteem, success, independence, prestige, reputation and recognition.
        5. Need for self-actualization: fulfillment of one's potential as a human being.
      2. Sadly, he fails to mention man's spiritual need: for forgiveness of sin and, reconciliation to God through the act of redemption.
When she heard of her brother's desperate condition and his dire need, Sally went to her bedroom and pulled her piggybank from its hiding place in the closet. She shook all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times. The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes. Tying the coins up in a cold-weather-kerchief, she slipped out of the apartment and made her way to the corner drug store. She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her attention, but he was too busy talking to another man to be bothered by an eight-year-old. Sally twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. She cleared her throat. No good. Finally she took a quarter from its hiding place and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!" And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. "I'm talking to my brother." "Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Sally answered. "He's sick and I want to buy a miracle." "I beg your pardon," said the pharmacist. "My Daddy says only a miracle can save him now, so how much does a miracle cost?" "We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I can't help you." "But, I have the money to pay for it. Please tell me how much it costs." Though her heart was right, she just didn't really have enough money to secure the help her brother needed. She was, in her own resource, on a hopeless quest. We are in the same boat with regard to redemption.
  1. NONE OF US CAN REDEEM OURSELVES:
    1. The Psalmist made a pointed assertion, saying, 
      1. "No man can by any means redeem his brother, Or give to God a ransom for him -- For the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever - That he should live on eternally; That he should not undergo decay." Psalms 49:7-9. He is right. 
      2. The Living Bible renders it this way: "They trust in their wealth and boast about how rich they are, yet not one of them, though rich as kings, can ransom his own brother from the penalty of sin! For God's forgiveness does not come that way. For a soul is far too precious to be ransomed by mere earthly wealth. There is not enough of it in all the earth to buy eternal life for just one soul, to keep it out of hell." Psalms 49:6-8.
    2. It would be beyond the realm of man's ability to redeem any soul: their own, or that of another. We could never redeem ourselves
      1. By works or effort.
      2. By good intentions or resolve.
      3. By pledges or promises.
      4. By rituals or religion.
      5. By zeal or earnestness
      6. By sorrow or remorse.
      7. By sincerity or guilelessness.
    3. To try would be like
      1. My grandchildren paying the national debt with their allowances.
      2. Paying for a new Cadillac with Monopoly money.
      3. Paying our bills with a cancelled check.
    4. How true the hymn that says, "Could my tears forever flow, could my zeal no languor know, these for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and thou alone. In my hand no price I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling." (Augustus M. Toplady).
Sally wanted to buy a miracle but she had no clue how much one cost. She pleaded her case and the pharmacist's brother stooped down and asked, "What kind of a miracle does your brother need?" "I don't know," Sally answered. A tear started down her cheek. "I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my folks can't pay for it. So I have my money." "How much do you have?" asked the man. "A dollar and eleven cents," Sally answered proudly. "And it's all the money I have in the world." "Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents, the exact price of a miracle to save a little brother." He took her money, grasped her hand and said, "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents." That man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, renowned surgeon. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn't long until Georgi was home again and doing well. Georgi's parents didn't have the resources, Sally didn't have the resources, but somebody did! It was Dr. Armstrong. He stepped into make up the difference. We were faced with a need we could not satisfy. We couldn't redeem ourselves, but Someone could. God sent His son to make up the difference.
  1. JESUS CHRIST CAME TO BE OUR REDEEMER:
    1. Paul said: "do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
    2. Peter put it like this: "And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." 1 Peter 1:17-19.
    3. There are 3 tenses to our redemption"
      1. Past tense: what He did on the Cross.
      2. Present tense: what He is doing in the lives of those who receive Him.
      3. Future Tense: what He will do when He comes again.
    4. When a policeman rescues you from a criminal, he has become your redeemer. When a paramedic has saved your life in time of trauma, he or she has become your redeemer. When someone saves your bacon by paying a bill you couldn't pay, that person has become your redeemer. When someone pulls your chestnuts out of the fire by doing something you forgot to do, or couldn't get done, that individual has become your redeemer. Jesus Christ has defeated Satan, has conquered death, has made atonement for sin, has given us the Holy Spirit to enable us - He has become our Redeemer.
The kind doctor, when he performed the crucial surgery, became Georgi's redeemer. Georgi's ecstatic parents were happily talking about the event. "That surgery," his mother whispered. "It's like a miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?" Sally smiled to herself. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost: one dollar and eleven cents, plus the faith of a little child. How much did the miracle of redemption cost? The life of Jesus Christ on the cross. It was not that God had to be bought off; it was that the just demand of Law be fulfilled: The soul that sins shall die. It wasn't that God was being harsh! On the contrary, it was that the glorious desire of mercy be fulfilled: that a substitute be allowed. Jesus' death was that fulfillment and that substitute. In Him we are redeemed, and the benefit of that comes to us through childlike faith. By faith we trust His Word, by faith we claim His Work, by faith we submit to His Lordship, by faith we turn from sin, by faith we are buried with Him in baptism, by faith we receive His gift of eternal life, and by faith we live for Him until He calls us home. Will you come today to receive His gift?  The gift paid for in his redemptive act on the cross.
Author Unknown

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