Need Number 4: Understanding Redemption

Summary: Understanding redemption is critical for every child of God. When the Lord Jesus suffered and died for mankind he restored back to mankind the rights which were taken away from mankind when man sinned against God and fell in the Garden of Eden as described in the third chapter of the bible Book of Genesis. The fall of man had consequences resulting from sin and consequences resulting from the judgement that followed. It is important to understand the differences between the two. The disobedience or sin of Adam and Eve resulted in death- the spirit of man became separated from God When God appeared on the scene He pronounced judgement upon Satan and upon mankind. The result of that judgement to mankind manifests in three main areas a) enmity with Satan resulting in mental oppression from the Devil b) physical pain, disease and suffering and c) poverty, lack, barrenness and toil. The Lord Jesus died to redeem us from death that resulted from sin and suffered to redeem us from pain, suffering and the poverty that had resulted from judgement. He also defeated and disarmed satan on the cross.

 

Covered in this section: (all scriptures are quoted from the New King James Version NKJV unless otherwise stated.)

N4.1 Understanding the origins of sin and the redemption from sin.

N4.2 Understanding the consequences of judgement and our redemption from the consequences of judgement.

N4.3 Understanding redemption from disease and sickness.

N4.4 Understanding redemption from poverty, lack, toil and barren-ness.

 

N4.1 Understanding the origins of sin and the redemption from sin.

Let’s start by looking at the scriptures. As stated before the big bang theory does not help us understand the fundamental principles we need to grasp here. Genesis 3:1-9 1“Now the serpent was more cunning than any other beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘you shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You shall not surely die, 5 for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”. 6 So the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

 

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you? 10 So he said, “I have heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

 

12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” 14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman And between your seed and her Seed He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise his heel” 16 To the woman He said: I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it. All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return”. Romans 5:12 says “Therefore as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all have sinned”. Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. The sin of Adam and Eve resulted in spiritual death. Mankind could no longer have fellowship or communion with God. The result of this is eternal separation from God. This would result in perishing in hell for all eternity.

 

In Matthew 20:28 the Lord Jesus said “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” In Mark 10:45 He said the same. The Lord Jesus Christ was the ransom price paid so that we could be set free from the bondage resulting from sin. His resurrection meant we can be resurrected from spiritual death. In 1 Corinthians 15:3 the apostle Paul says” For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures”. Romans 5:18 then says “Therefore as through one man’s offense judgement came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification for life”.

 While in Adam all mankind were condemned in Christ we receive justification. Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Ephesians 1:7 says “In Him (Jesus Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.” John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in (trusts in, relies on, clings to) Him should not perish (come to destruction) but have eternal (everlasting) life (AMP). In Christ the rights of mankind which were sold out in the sin of Adam are bought back and reclaimed. Jesus paid the stipulated payment required to bring back the rights of mankind. He bought us back from eternal damnation and eternal separation from God. He bought us back from bondage of every kind that the enemy want to subject mankind.

 

N4.2 Understanding the consequences of judgement and our redemption from the consequences of judgement. Following the sin and fall of man, God appeared on the scene and pronounced judgement on mankind. The judgement resulted in firstly a declaration of war between mankind and Satan (Genesis 3:15). These results in mental oppression by Satan of various forms including depression, anxiety, negative relationships, hate, substance dependency and misuse including alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs. Secondly the judgement resulted in all forms of physical pain, disease and suffering including the pain of childbirth (Genesis 3:16) Finally the judgement resulted in poverty and lack, barrenness and toil (Genesis 3:17-19).

 

The sin of Adam and Eve resulted in judgement from God upon mankind, the result was a package of negative things including sin, disease and sickness of every kind, lack and poverty, selfishness, mental turmoil and distress, fear, anxiety and depression, bondage to substance and substance misuse, hate and negative relationships to name a few- Jesus Christ the Son of God was manifested to reverse this package in its entirety. 1 John 3:8 says “[But] he who commits sin [who practices evildoing] is of the devil [takes his character from the evil one], for the devil has sinned (violated the law) from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [had done] (AMP).

 On the cross not only did the Lord Jesus pay the purchase price to buy us back, to buy back our rights which had been taken over by Satan when Adam sinned, He also defeated and disarmed Satan on the cross and publicly. Colossians 2:15 says “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (the cross)”. 

Hebrews 2:14 and 15 says “Inasmuch as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He himself (Jesus Christ) likewise shared (partook) in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

 

The Lord Jesus partook of flesh and blood, He became human like us and when He died on the cross he destroyed the power of Satan over our lives so that we no longer live our lives in bondage to fear of death. We overcome every form of oppression by Satan including, rage, and hate, negative relationships, anxiety, and depression, dependency on substances like tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs. In the Name of Jesus you are given the authority to say to Satan “Let me go”, “you have no rights over me anymore”, Jesus paid by His own blood the price for my freedom from fear and from every bondage you want to subject my life. Please note that the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us from sin and reversed every negative statement of judgement that resulted from it. Not only that, but He also defeated, disarmed and destroyed the orchestrator of sin and judgement that is Satan.

 

N4.3 Understanding redemption from disease and sickness. The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us from the judgement of pain disease and sickness. In Matthew 8:16-17 the word of God says “When the evening had come, they brought to Him (Lord Jesus Christ) many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses’”. The scripture in the Book of the prophet Isaiah referred to was Isaiah 53:1-6 which reads: 1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant. And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him striken, smitten by God and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded foe our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

This chapter in Isaiah refers to the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ and how He redeemed us from sin as well as from anxiety, depression and mental illness as well as from physical disease. In verse 5 He was bruised for our iniquities, the beating (chastisement) that was needful to bring us peace, mental and physical well being was upon Him and by His stripes, the scourging stripes on His back, we are healed. Notice this healing is in present tense not in past tense. In verse 4 again surely He bore or carried our griefs and carried our anxiety, depression and every other form of mental illness (sorrows). He Lord Jesus before He was taken to the cross was scourged. Matthew 27:26-35 says referring to Governor Pontius Pilate “Then he released Barabbas to them; and when He had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. 28 And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying ‘Hail, King of the Jews’. 30 Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. 32 Now when they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. 33 And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. 35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it may be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots”. From this passage of scripture, we notice that The Lord Jesus suffered pain, anguish, humiliation, mockings, was spat on- every kind of abuse imaginable. He was made to carry a heavy cross, He was made to drink sour wine mixed with gall nothing could taste worse that that. Every negative thing He suffered was for the purpose of redeeming us from that so that we can experience the opposite.

 

A big mistake of religious people is to feel pity for the plight the Lord Jesus was in during His passion- they forget He was the Son of God suffering for us for our redemption- what He was going through is what we were in, what we were going through- He chose to suffer it to get us out of it. When you are drowning in the middle of a sea or river you do not pity people risking their lives to rescue you, after they have rescued you- you appreciate them. He suffered pain to redeem us from disease and sickness so that we can live a life of health and well-being, He was humiliated so that we may be lifted up and honoured, He was made to drink the bitter and sour so that we can drink the sweet and savoury.

 

1 Peter 2:24 says “Who Himself (Lord Jesus Christ) bore our sins on His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness- by whose stripes you were healed.” Psalms 103:2-3 says “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not His benefits; who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases. In Exodus 15:26 the word says “And said if you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” In Hebrew the term used here was Jehovah –rapha which means “The Lord Who Heals”. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Jehovah-rapha because He redeemed us from disease and sickness for by His stripes we are healed and made whole.

 

N4.4 Understanding redemption from poverty, lack, toil and barren-ness.

Following the fall of man, one of the judgements which God pronounced on mankind was poverty and lack, barren-ness and toil. Lets recap what it says Genesis 3:17-19 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it. All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return”. You see here that the ground was cursed to bring forth thorns and briars, in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life, in sweat of your face you shall eat bread. The Lord Jesus redeemed you from the curse of poverty, lack and sweat and toil.

 

In Matthew 27:29 above, the Roman soldiers put a crown of thorns upon His head, the purpose for this was to break the curse of barren-ness and poverty upon your life. In 2 Corinthians 8:9 the word of God says “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” The Lord Jesus became poor for our sake and experienced poverty or mean circumstances. For example He was born in most lowly place, in a stable, most humble circumstances because there was no room for Him in places of dignity, comfort and honour. In Luke 2:1-7 the word of God says “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Yes there was no room for the Son of the Most High God who owns the heaven and earth and everything in them to be delivered. The reason was to redeem mankind- He took our place in poverty, humility and lack so that we may have room and have dignity, comfort and honour.

 

In Matthew 8:19-20 the word of God says “Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go’. And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Put simply the Lord of Lords, had no accommodation. He could have afforded to hire the best hotels of His time every night but HE CHOSE TO BEAR OUR HOMELESSNESS. The word of God further says in Galatians 3:13-14 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’) 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” The curse of the law spoke negative things to those who disobeyed the law. The curse brought every negative situation imaginable from poverty to disease, slavery and bondage, fear and anxiety but the Lord Jesus became a curse for us and redeemed us from the curse of the law so that we may experience the blessings of Abraham and also that we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit through faith.

Lets look at these two aspects separately. Lets look at the blessing of Abraham.

 

 In Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the Lord had said to Abram, ‘Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ means we can enjoy work and derive satisfaction from it rather than it being a chore. We can claim back health in our bodies as well as healing from disease because of the suffering of the Lord Jesus who carried our griefs, sorrows and pains. The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us from sin and from the consequences of judgement. We need to claim redemption by faith – believing the sacrifice of the Christ.

Copyright: Planet Ministries