According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, redeem means “to buy back . . . release from blame . . . reform . . . atone for.” With such a specific meaning, redeem is not your typical, everyday kind of word.
Still, I have encountered this word often since childhood. I grew up in a Christian home and welcomed Jesus into my heart at about ten years of age. I sang about being redeemed, heard pastors teach about the redeeming work of Jesus, and knew I’d been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
But life is filled with ups and downs. I found myself struggling to hold on to my faith and didn’t recognize the deep significance of redemption in my everyday life.
Redeemed for life
Thirty years after giving my life to Christ, I turned down a dark path. My relationships with family and friends began to suffer. My children were confused and left to fend for themselves, and my husband voiced his concerns and attempted to hold me accountable. Yet I still turned away.
I could have blamed my behavior on untreated depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but I knew I had stepped out of God’s will. Hopeless and helpless, I yearned to restore my relationships with my loved ones and with my Savior. I knew my eternal salvation was secure, but I needed God’s redeeming power to save my life in this world.
One day as I lay sobbing in my room, God’s still, small voice brought me to my knees. He reminded me that Jesus had paid the ransom for my sin. With repentance, I could come into His presence unashamed because my sin and guilt had been nailed to the cross. I could rest in His peace.
Through that time in my life, God reminded me that He would never leave me. I discovered that Jesus could save me in many ways, even from self-destructive habits I could not defeat on my own. Only Jesus could bring me back to life. Only Jesus could redeem me again.
Promise of redemption
God’s plan to redeem us originated well before Jesus came into this world to save us. It existed when Adam and Eve heard God’s words to the serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He [Jesus] shall bruise your [Satan] head, and you [Satan] shall bruise His (Jesus) heel” (Genesis 3:15).
God had a plan to buy us back from the world. He took the blame for our sin and made atonement for us. Jesus may have been bruised at the Crucifixion, but He has crushed our enemy for us. We are redeemed!
From Genesis forward, the redemption story is evident throughout the Old Testament. The Hebrew word ga’al is translated as a form of redeemed 104 times, with about half of those occurrences in the Law (Genesis-Deuteronomy). Ga’al is defined as “avenged, revenged, or ransomed.” The word can also refer to a family member or other individual who plays the role of a kinsman-redeemer on behalf of one who cannot save themselves.
By the time Jeremiah served as the Lord’s prophet, the Israelites had witnessed God’s redeeming work for centuries. God brought them out of slavery in Egypt. He routinely rescued them from invading nations in the days of the judges. And they achieved victory after victory over their enemies under the leadership of King David.
But even during Solomon’s prosperous reign, God’s people began to turn away — until it was too late. Jeremiah proclaimed that God would carry out judgment against His people.
Jeremiah served in the days before and after the Southern Kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon. He is known as the weeping prophet because of his sorrow over the Israelites’ rebellion. Despite Jeremiah’s warnings, they continued to follow false gods and engage in immoral practices.
How could Jeremiah persevere in these circumstances? Because he also reinforced God’s promise of restoration and redemption.
“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’ For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he” (31:10, 11).
Later in Jeremiah, we find the new covenant that God established to write an unkeepable law in our hearts (vv. 31-40). Speaking to a primarily Jewish audience, the author of Hebrews restated this covenant in the New Testament:
But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin (10:15-18).
Now and for eternity
Jesus played the role of kinsman-redeemer for us (Mark 10:45). We cannot save ourselves; only He can. The new covenant looks forward to Christ’s second coming when He will reign on the earth and gather His chosen people together. It also represents how the Holy Spirit works in our hearts today, reminding us of His words and transforming us from the inside out. Being redeemed means we can enjoy eternal life in God’s presence because of Jesus’ sacrifice. It is significant to remember that God is our Redeemer. It is significant to know that Jesus saves us once and for all time. And it is significant to remember that He can also save us moment-by-moment. God redeemed us to live for Him in this world and with Him in the next.
Caroline S. Cooper has been published in such publications as Standard, Indian Life magazine, and Focus on the Family Online. She has also contributed to a number of book compilations and has self-published books. Caroline lives in Harrisonville, MO. Harrisonville, MO.
