“O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption.”Psalm 130:7
In Psalm 130, the psalmist cries out to God from the depths of despair and turmoil. He pleads for the Lord to listen to him while he wrestles with the fact that if the account of his sin was measured against the righteousness of God, he would most definitely fall short.
But oh, how the psalmist turns to praise God for His forgiveness! His soul waits on the Lord, and he exclaims that with God, there is hope. Freedom. Forgiveness. Unfailing love. Abundant redemption.
Warren Wiersbe defines redemption as “setting someone free by paying a price.” Wikipedia (a less reliable source, but still noteworthy nonetheless) defines redemption as “to purchase, buy back; deliverance from sin and freedom from captivity.”
Redemption is a common theme throughout Scripture. In the Old Testament, we see:
- Isaac was rescued at the last minute by the angel of the Lord, and the ram caught in the bushes became the sacrifice instead.
- Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, only to later become second in command of the entire kingdom and save his family from famine.
- The Israelites were miraculously rescued from their captivity in Egypt and saw the power of God split the sea in two to allow them a way of escape.
- Ruth lost her husband and moved to a foreign land, but God provided Boaz as her kinsman redeemer and caretaker. She is even included in the line of Jesus!
- Job, though considered a righteous man, was afflicted with unbearable loss, betrayal, physical pain, bad advice, sorrow, and the like. Yet he still reflected on the goodness of His Savior: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth” (Job 19:25).
And some examples in the New Testament:
- The prodigal son returned home to his father after he squandered his inheritance. His father threw a feast and celebrated that the lost had been found.
- The woman caught in adultery was freed from death when Jesus intervened.
- Barabbas, a “notorious criminal” and murderer, was spared prison and execution, only to have our perfect and sinless Savior put to death instead.
- Saul, on his way to persecute Christians, met the Lord on the road to Damascus, and that encounter changed the trajectory of his entire life’s purpose.
In His righteousness, God doesn’t overlook sin. There is a price to be paid, and the book of Romans tells us that the wages of sin is death. The price of sin had to be paid in full in order for us to be restored back to a holy God.
Before the world began, God had a plan to rescue us from our sin. Jesus is our Redeemer. He bought us back. We are no longer in captivity! We are rescued, restored, and redeemed.
While God allows certain circumstances that we may not understand, He is in control of all things, sovereign on His throne. We can trust that God has our best in mind, working all things together for our good and His glory. God does not waste a single moment.
On the cross, the debt of our sin was satisfied. Paid in full. The power of sin has been defeated. When Christ returns, He will extinguish the presence of sin once and for all. Our Redeemer lives, and in the end, He will reign victorious!