And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. Revelation 5:9
An old northern preacher received an invitation from a Christian who lived in a poor region of the southern United States. The Christian was hoping that the preacher could be persuaded to hold a series of Gospel meetings in that region. When the preacher arrived, he found the poor people in that region very willing to listen to him, and very open to listening to the Gospel. Feeling the leading of the Holy Spirit, he not only conducted a series of Gospel meetings but also moved to the area to live among the poor people. Responding to his devotion to them, the people came in large numbers to his meetings, and he had the joy of seeing many people trust Christ. They often told him how surprised they were that he would come so far to help people who did not know him. His response was that he wanted to be like the Lord Jesus who came even further to help people who did not even want to know Him. Our text reminds us that the Lord Jesus came, not to one region only, but to seek and save the whole world.
One of our favourite hymns begins with ‘Redeemed how I love to proclaim it; Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb’. The Lord Jesus is the Lamb Who wast slain. Like lambs slain on ancient Jewish altars, the Lamb of God was slain that His blood might redeem sinners. Old Testament lambs were very limited in their application. At the Passover, the blood of the slain lamb applied to only a family, or kindred, as our text puts if. On the Day of Atonement, the blood of the slain lamb applied only to the nation of Israel. Other offerings applied to other groups. But there was no offering in the Old Testament that applied to the outsiders, the Gentiles. Had we been living back then, we would have been without means of redemption. We would not even have known about the possibility of redemption. But the New Testament reveals a Lamb Who not only provided blood for redemption but also provided a Gospel whereby we would hear about that redemption.
Before He returned to glory after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus delivered His great commission to His disciples. That commission was to provide the means whereby the Gospel would spread beyond the bounds of Israel and reach the uttermost parts of the earth. The disciples and those early converts initially took the Gospel to the Jews. But the message could not be confined to one nation. Quickly it spread throughout the known world and continues to be spread today. The faithful preaching of faithful heralds of the Cross, and the faithful witness of faithful Christians continues to reach to members of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
The Lord Jesus never intended that the redemption provided by His blood to be limited to one small area of the world. How limited is the redemption provided by His blood in the area of the world that you and I occupy? -Jim MacIntosh