In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1:7
Redeemed and forgiven! That’s us! As we gather to remember the Lord today, we do so because we are redeemed. Once in sin’s slave-market with no possibility of release, we now find ourselves delivered from those shackles, the tremendous debt cancelled, and no condemnation facing us anymore. We who offended a holy God in so many ways and for so long now find ourselves forgiven. The love of God is great enough to envelop us in His abounding grace and plan of salvation. So we are in peace today, redeemed and forgiven, and pausing to remember the infinite cost to God to grant us this position.
What did God pay to redeem us? How much did our delivery cost Him? How can we be sure that enough was paid? Our text reminds us that it was through His blood that we are redeemed. Was that enough? We all had a tremendous load of sins; can Christ’s blood satisfy the debt for them all? Let us consider the One whose blood was shed, the One who made the payment. We find it difficult to understand the holiness of God, because we are sinners. But as God, Jesus was holy, spotless, undefined. Unlike our blood, His was sinless, and it drained from a body that was unmarked and unstained by sin. There was no limit to the power and worth of the blood that He shed. God can, and did, accept that blood as the total payment for all sin. We consider Isaiah 53 where we read that God would look on the travail of His soul and be satisfied. There is enough value in His blood to forever satisfy God.
If the blood of God’s Son was enough to redeem us, what is enough to forgive us? The riches of His grace! How precious! God can forgive us because unmerited favour flows our way from His Son. We through His poverty have become rich.
How deeply humbling is it today to bow in His presence to remember what it cost God to redeem and forgive us. -Jim MacIntosh