CHAPTER 8
REDEMPTION
Years ago, in a far-off land, a number of beautiful birds were for sale. From the large cage where they were kept they tried to escape, but they could not. One day along came a distinguished-looking man. He asked how much the birds cost. Then to everyone's astonishment he said he wished to buy them all. But the people were more amazed when, having paid the price, he opened the cage door and let them all fly away. (He said, I was once in prison!')
That is redemption. Redemption means 'to set free by paying a price'. The man paid the price. The birds were rightly his. Then he set them free.
The Lord Jesus came from Heaven to Earth to redeem His people (those God had chosen). They were prisoners to sin and Satan. He came to set them free. The children's hymn explains it very beautifully:
There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gates
Of Heaven, and let us in.
The Lord Jesus redeemed His people by dying for them. By His death He paid the price. Have you noticed what a large part of the gospels is taken up with the story of the death of the Lord Jesus? He came to tell men about God; He came to teach; He came to set a good example. But especially He came to die.
Many children cannot understand why God could not forgive His people their sins without His dear Son having to die such a cruel death on the cross. We remember a minister years ago speaking on the text: 'In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins' (Ephesians 1:7). He spoke of when he was a boy. One day he was carrying a long plank when someone shouted, 'George!' He quickly turned round, and the plank smashed through a window. Immediately he ran to his father and said, 'Do please forgive me. I'm sorry!'
'Of course I'll forgive you,' said his father, 'but someone will have to pay for the window!'
God does not forgive without His holiness, His justice being satisfied. But how was God's justice satisfied when Jesus died? You may ask, 'What can the Lord Jesus dying on the cross have to do with sin being forgiven, or taken away?'
There is an old story of two boys who were close friends. As they grew older they went different ways, and then for years did not see each other at all. One day they met again—in strange circumstances. One was the judge. The other was the criminal in the dock. The case was heard and the criminal was clearly guilty. What could the judge do? Could he say it did not matter because it was his friend? No true judge would do that. So an interesting thing took place. The judge pronounced the criminal guilty. He stated the heavy fine that he had to pay (and the poor man had no money to pay it). Then the judge left his seat, went and stood by his old friend, the criminal, and said, 'I'll pay the fine for you.' So the judge himself paid the fine, and the criminal went free.
Sin must be punished. But the Lord Jesus so dearly loved His people that He paid their debt, He bore their punishment, He died in their place (a substitute).
He saw how wicked men had been,
He knew that God must punish sin,
So, for His people, Jesus said
He'd bear the punishment instead.
That is redemption—the only way of salvation, the only way to Heaven.
So we think of the wonderful love of the Lord Jesus in dying for His people. We think of the awful sorrows He endured when He was nailed to the cross. We think of His greater sorrows, feeling the weight of His people's sins and His Father's anger. And we know that in shedding His precious blood, He for ever took His people's sins away. He died that they might live.
Suggested Bible readings
The different accounts of the death of the Lord Jesus: Matthew 26 and 27; Mark 14 and 15; Luke 22 and 23; John 18 and 19.
Read also Isaiah 53 and almost anywhere in the Epistle to the Hebrews.