Redemption

Chapter 5: Redemption (Part A)

God, in disclosing His revelations to man, didn’t reveal them all at once, mainly due to men’s inability to understand and properly handle them. Instead, the Bible sets forth a movement of God in which man has been brought up from the theological and spiritual infancy of the OT to the maturity of the New.

I. Redemptive History Interwoven Through Covenants

A. The main difference between the Old Testament and the New

1. When reading the OT, the reader should be aware that it provides “material” revelation for its commentary developed in the New.

   • Spiritual truths in the OT are enclosed in a cocoon of symbols, types and the laws (civil, dietary, ceremonial, but not moral since most it continues into the NT).

   • These are the shadows of the things to come in the NT but not the realities themselves. Hebrews 10:1 says, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.”

2. An effective way to study the redemptive history is to examine the five major covenants in the OT: Edenic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Siantic, and Davidic covenants.

   • Through them, God progressively foreshadowed the manner in which He will one day redeem sinners, but the information itself is shadowy.

   • For instance, in the first covenant laid out in Genesis 3:15, called the Edenic, the main framework of God’s redemptive plan is prefigured in metaphors:

     And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

     1. This is called the proto-gospel because it outlines metaphorically how Christ is going to defeat the devil (which is clearly explained in Hebrews 2:14-5 ).

     2. The devil will injure Christ through crucifixion, but Christ will destroy the devil through resurrection.

B. How should the NT, then, be understood?

The NT is spiritual revelation that contains the reality, substance and fulfillment of the revelations in the OT in general and the Old Covenant forms (which are redemptive in intent) in particular.

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming— not the realities themselves” (Heb. 10:1 NIV)

It is only when the OT covenants are examined through the reality of the New Covenant that we get a clear idea as to what they were foreshadowing.

II. Shadows of the Old Testament Pointing to the Reality of the Redemption in the New

A. Key redemptive shadows in the OT

1. What God provided for Adam and Eve as they were being expelled from the garden:

   The LORD GOD made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them (Gn. 3:21).

   God provided a better covering for their shame as well as better protection against the perils of living in an environment outside of the garden.

   • Redemptive meaning in shadow:

     It is going to take the shedding of blood to cover the shame of and the perils of sin.

   • It foreshadowed a key element in what it would cost to redeem sinners. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22b) “because the blood is the life” (Deut. 12:23a).

2. Abel’s sacrifice:

   Abel brought fat portions from some of the first born of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering (Gn. 4:4).

   • Redemptive meaning in shadow:

     It is going to take the shedding of the blood of the firstborn to redeem.

   • It foreshadowed a key qualification of the one who will be sacrificed to redeem the lost:

     [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (Col. 1:15).

3. Sacrifice of Isaac.

   God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering…’(Gn. 22:2a).

   • Redemptive meaning in shadow.

     1. It is going to take the shedding of the blood of the only son to redeem sinners.

     2. The redemptive sacrifice will involve a substitutionary death. “Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together” (Gn. 22:8).

   • It foreshadowed another key qualification of the one who will be sacrificed to redeem the lost:

     For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” Jn. 3:16).

4. Passover: What it took to avert God’s wrath.

   The blood [of a lamb “without defect”] will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt (Ex. 12:13).

   • Redemptive meaning in shadow.

     It is going take the shedding of the blood of a faultless one (the first and the only son) to be able to appease the wrath of God against sin.

   • It foreshadowed yet another key qualification of the one whose shed blood will redeem the lost: he must be sinless.

     We have [a high priest] who has been tempted in every way…—yet was without sin (Heb. 4:15)

B. The result of the OT shadows (i.e., sacrifices) in the Old Testament

1. Thousands upon thousands of animal sacrifices offered throughout the history of Israel were not sufficient to actually remove sins.

2. While it offered ritualistic forgiveness that would last for a year, the sin itself remained.

   Heb. 10:1a-4:

   For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

C. The reality of the NT

1. All the shadows of the OT pointed to Jesus Christ whose qualifications and future work were prefigured in the OT:

   • He is the first-born.
   • He is the one and only Son of God.
   • He is sinless.
   • He is our substitution.
   • He shed blood.

2. Why did God then do this?

   To redeem us from the penalty of sin through the payment of the ransom and the satisfaction of the righteous requirement.

Discussion:

Our heavenly Father “embodies” many wonderful divine attributes such as love, holiness, mercy, etc. Upon realizing the reason behind the progressive nature of God’s revelation given to us, what is revealed about God’s character?

III. God’s Redemptive Plan “Clearly” Foreshadowed through Hosea

While God’s redemptive work was laid out in shadowy forms in the OT, its actual entailment was clearly demonstrated in the book of Hosea when it is read in light of the clarity of the NT, particularly the epistles. Hosea, then, clarifies in a very graphic way what Christ’s redemption actually accomplished.

A. The redemptive narrative of Hosea (the 8th century BC prophet)

1. First, God had Hosea marry an immoral woman named Gomer.

   When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, ‘Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD’ (Hos. 1:2).

2. At some point during their marriage, Gomer, after committing adultery, left Hosea to be with her lover, who then used her as a prostitute (2:12).

   Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace. She said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink’ (2:5).

3. God then told Hosea to bring her back home so that she could be with him again; but first, he had to pay her lover “ransom money” in order to secure her freedom.

   The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley (Hos. 3:1-2).

B. Redemptive ideas clearly presented in Hosea

1. What God had Hosea do in order to rescue his wayward wife from her pimp shows that redemption will come at a cost to be paid by the one doing the redeeming.

   For Hosea, no doubt an esteemed prophet, the cost of redeeming his wife was two-folded:

   • Suffering utter humiliation (before the townspeople)

   • Having to pay the ransom money:

     15 shekels of silver (about $200) that was owed to the pimp

2. What did this mean to the Israelites?

   Although at that moment, God considered the rebellious Israel “not my people” (Lo-Ammi) and “not loved” (Lo-Ruhamah), one day He will restore them so that they will be His people and be loved by Him again.

   He said, “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God’” (2:23).

3. Later, in Paul’s epistle to the church in Rome (a mixture of Gentiles and Jews), this promise, apparently given to Israel (i.e., the natural children of Abraham), is applied to the Church (a.k.a., the “true Israel” or true offspring of Abraham).

   Rom. 9:24-6 (NASB):

   Even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” 26 and, “In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

   • In Hosea, it appears (in shadows) as if God was only concerned about the nation of Israel, that is, the natural children of Israel.

   • That’s because no one knew whom Gomer was representing.

     1. Before her husband redeemed her, she was representing the Gentile sinners.

     2. After Hosea redeemed Gomer, she was representing all the redeemed in Christ, that is, the Church made up of both the Jews and Gentiles.

C. What this meant

1. Hosea’s act of redeeming Gomer foreshadowed what God was ultimately going to do in order to “buy back” (redeem) sinners from their spiritual pimp who was enslaving them.

2. However, this act of redemption was going to cost Him something: the life of His own Son.

3. In this way, the meaning of redemption in the NT becomes Christological:

   Deliverance from sin through the incarnation, sufferings, and death of Christ

Discussion:

Do you think that Hosea was really able to sympathize with how God felt in his relationship with Israel? How so? What can you learn about God from the story of Hosea?

IV. Transference of the Debts Owed by Sinners to the Sinless Christ

What were spiritual predicaments that sinners faced, and how and in what sense did the sinless Christ take their place?

A. Spiritual predicaments facing sinners

The devil held certain power and rights over sinners that God, as the One who set everything in the world in motion in accordance to His character and laws, would not disregard.

1. First, the devil, like a prosecuting attorney, held “the written code with regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us” (Col. 1:14).

2. Subsequently, the devil rightfully claimed that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

3. In this way, the devil held “the power of death” over sinners “who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb. 2:14-5).

B. The intention of Jesus in his incarnation

It is often said that Jesus came to die on the cross because of his love for the world (Jn. 3:16).

1. While that is true, several Scriptures put the purpose of His coming quite differently.

   • For instance, apostle John says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 Jn. 3:8b).

   • The Hebrews writer states, Jesus “shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil …(Heb. 2:14).

2. What entail the devil’s work and his power?

   As the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4), he exacts the penalty of sin from sinners as well as exercises the power of sin over them, and in so doing enslaving them.

3. So then, what resulted after Jesus destroyed the devil’s work? In short, freedom!

   Jesus says: “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

   Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn. 8:34).

   • Free from what? The Hebrew writer declares, “Free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb. 2:15).

   • This freedom refers to no longer having to pay for the penalty of sin by eternally being separated from God in hell.

4. The parable of the strong man clearly captures the intent of Jesus.

   Matt. 12:29: “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.”

   • The strong man is the devil.

   • The strongman’s possessions refer to sinners under slavery to the devil.

   • The plunderer is Jesus.

   • Tying up the strong man refers to crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, which “destroy[ed the devil] who holds the power of death” (Heb. 2:15).

5. With respect to the power of sin that still lives in us (Gal. 5:17; Rom. 7:17), Christ continues to work through the Holy Spirit to free the believers from their daily struggles with “sin living in them.”

C. The cost of redemption

How was Christ’s death and resurrection able to release sinners from the power of death that the devil held over them?

1. One component to redemption is buying a slave out of bondage in order to set him free (Ex. 6:6, 15:13). 1 Cor. 6:19b-20a clearly captures this concept: “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”

2. Recall that Hosea couldn’t bring his wayward wife back home unless he had paid her pimp what she owed; likewise, Christ couldn’t rescue sinners unless he paid the devil what they owed him, that is, death.

3. The idea here is paying the ransom demanded by the devil in order to win the release of sinners from the enemy; in turn, Jesus became that ransom for us.

   Before discussing this matter, it is important to note how Christ became responsible for the spiritual debt owed to the devil.

D. How the sinless Jesus managed to redeem sinners

1. First, Jesus, while being “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Heb. 4:15); therefore, the devil did not hold the power of death over Jesus.

2. Subsequently, Jesus was able to CO-sign onto the rap sheet, that is, “the written code …that was against us and that stood opposed to us” (Col. 1:14).

   • With respect to CO-signing a loan, if the borrower declares insolvency, then, the CO-signer is liable for the unpaid loan.

   • In a similar vein, “God made [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us (1 Cor. 5:21).

     This means that Jesus took our sins, and while doing so, he assumed the penalty of those sins; it was now his responsibility to pay.

   • In this way, Christ was able to bear “our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pet 2:24a); that is, he became the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (Jn. 1:29).

V. What the Shed of Blood of Christ Accomplished

The two main ways to understand what really went on when Christ died on the cross:

• First: Paying the ransom owed to the devil

• Second: Meeting the righteous requirement of God.

A. The ransom paid

1. The idea of ransom mainly derives from three passages:

   1 Tim. 2:5-6:

   For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

   Heb. 9:15:

   For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

   Mk. 10:45:

   For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

2. The ransom theory posits the following:

   • “Through sin mankind had made itself subject to the devil; the mark of this subjection was death. God in his grace wished to free men, but he was unable to because the devil’s claim was just.”6

   • “Consequently, to neutralize Satan’s claim a ransom had to be paid in the form of a valuable person over whom Satan had no right—a sinless man.

     Thus the devil was tricked when Christ was crucified, because the Son of God was sinless; now God can with justice save whomsoever he please.”7

3. However, this view should not be understood as if the devil forced God’s hand because only when Jesus voluntarily took upon himself the sins of the world, was the devil then able to slay him. Jesus says,

   The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (Jn. 10:17-8).

Discussion:

It is important to note that the devil did not force Jesus’ hand to meet his ransom demand; rather, Jesus willingly offered himself a ransom for all people.

Imagine that you are having a terrible week, month, or year—you feel unimportant and not valued. Does the fact that Jesus chose to be your ransom to dislodge you from the devil’s grip make a difference? Should it make a difference? What is Christ saying about you by switching places with you?

Homework 6

Read over the material covered in the last class and the additional Bible reading (if any). If you have any questions, please note them here and ask me later.

1. In what way did Hosea and Gomer relationship in the OT foreshadow the redemptive work of Christ in the New?

2. What does redemption mean? What’s involved? Explain how this was true with respect to Hosea regarding Gomer? How was this true with respect to God?