The best decision that a person can ever make is to obey the gospel of Christ.  Doing so makes a person a child of God and puts him in the best location possible, that is, in Christ.  If you have not obeyed the gospel, our prayer is that you do so before it is too late.  If you have already become a child of God, I hope that you realize how blessed you are now that you are a Christian.  

Ephesians 1:3 (ESV)
³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Every spiritual blessing that is available to man is found in Christ.  This week I want us to consider some of these great blessings that we, by the grace of God, have and can enjoy.

The first blessing I want to consider is redemption.

Ephesians 1:7 (ESV)
⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

Redemption is a great word.  We usually use the word from the standpoint of being atoned for something, and it is always used in a positive way in which the story ends well.  Whether it is a troubled youth who uses bad judgment and gets his life in a mess, but then recovers and redeems himself; or the story of someone whose reputation is ruined by lies and falsehoods, but in the end, he is found not guilty, redemption is always a beautiful story.

The biblical words for redemption contain this element of atonement, but the basic meaning behind them is the act of being bought, and it is always being bought by someone else.  In other words, spiritually speaking, man never redeems himself, but is mercifully redeemed by God.

There are three Greek words for redemption.  One of them is agorazō, meaning, “to purchase” (Strong), and obviously carries the idea of something being bought.  It does not say much about what the buyer plans to do with whatever it is that is purchased, but it does imply ownership by the one who does the buying.  As Christians, we should not forget that while redemption is a wonderful blessing, it also points to the responsibility of being the purchased possession of God (1 Corinthians 6:20).

The next word is exagorazō and means, “to ransom or rescue from loss” (Strong).  The word “ex” added to “agaorazo” means, “to buy out” (Vine).  We were lost in sin and under the cruel captivity of the devil, but Jesus came along and bought us out of that bondage (Galatians 3:13).

The third word translated redemption is apolytrōsis and emphasizes the deliverance on account of the price being paid, in this case, that price is the blood of Christ.  When we put these words together, we see just how blessed we are in Christ.  We have not just been bought, we have been rescued at a very high price.  For us to be redeemed, Jesus had to be willing to die a cruel death on the cross.  Now in Christ, we can reap many spiritual blessings because Jesus was willing to do so.    In our next blog, we will begin to see the results of Jesus being willing to pay such a high price.  But, tonight, as you wind down, do not forget to thank God for your redemption.    

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.