Redeem. What comes to mind when you hear that word? I asked my family abut that this last weekend. My dad reminded us of something that only the more seasoned of you might recall: Green Stamps! Wayhahayyy back when, in the time before cellular, even before faxes and pushbutton phones, certain stores would give out these stamps along with your purchase. They would get carefully saved by licking and sticking them in a book. When the book [or books] were full, they could be redeemed either through the mail or at a redemption center for cool stuff like a portable AM radio or a set of curlers. Wow!
Dictionary definitions for the word redeem include to buy, to buy back, to make up for.
Let’s try a different word. Ransom. What images come to mind? Our family could only think of negative and scary ones. Images involving kidnapping and slavery. Images of losing precious loved ones.Ransom. In the 1990’s Mel Gibson movie by that title, he is a father driven to go to any length to get his kidnapped son back. Ransom. Dictionary says the redemption of a prisoner, slave, or kidnapped person. It’s a noun. It’s a verb. Ransom. Redeem.
What I make is mine. What I create, I own. God created us. He lovingly designed us, breathed His life into us so that we could freely return His love. But, we freely chose to move away from Him, choosing a life of selfishness and following a sinister imposter who enslaved us.
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
When someone is kidnapped, stolen from the ones who loved them, a price, the ransom, is extorted from them. They are asked to pay for something that they originally owned! In the Old Testament, law allowed for a family member to redeem, or buy back, property that had been lost through debt in order to keep it in the family.
It wasn’t enough for God that we belonged to Him in the first place. When we strayed from Him, He loved us so much that He bought us back with a price so high, so horrible, so bloody, that it is hard to understand. The price was His Son. The price was willingly and freely paid with no guarantee of getting us back! The price was paid, knowing that some would actually choose to remain enslaved!
I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us— yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. He said, “Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me”; and so he became their Savior. In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63:7-9 NIV
Oh Father, You loved us first. You loved us best. You love us still. Even when we don’t love you back! How can You do that! Am I that important to You?
Amazing love,
How can it be
That You, my King, should die for me?
-Chris Tomlin