Redemption: God’s Perfect Plan of Love
The Lord loves us abundantly. This love is evident in the price Jesus paid for our reconciliation with the Father.
Redemption: God’s Perfect Plan of Love
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Redemption: God’s Perfect Plan of Love
Did you know that God has been thinking of you since before time began? Do you comprehend the depth of His love for you? God bestowed upon humanity the most precious gift to ensure eternal communion with Him.
God’s plan of redemption encompasses you.
- John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: Love is…
- John 3:16a: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
The Story of Redemption: Genesis 2, 3
The plan of redemption, aimed at reconciling us with God, has been in motion since before the inception of time.
In a time long past, there existed a garden where God and Adam strolled in the cool of the day. God cherished His son Adam, and Adam reciprocated his father’s love.
Establishing a partnership…
Adam likely had countless inquiries about all that surrounded him. He named every creature, big and small, that roamed the garden.
Each day as the Lord and Adam walked and conversed, Adam inquired, and the Lord responded. Their communication and fellowship were constant. The Lord delighted in His communion with Adam.
One day, God decided to fashion a companion for Adam. He created woman from man, and Adam named her Eve.
In the garden, I envision God, Adam, and Eve engaging in daily communion. Eve, too, must have had myriad questions, driven by her inherent curiosity.
In the midst of this idyllic setting lurked a cunning and crafty serpent, envious of Adam and Eve’s relationship with the Lord. The serpent, subtler and more deceitful than any creature, sought to disrupt their bond (see Gen 3).
Perhaps one day, as Adam and Eve explored near the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the serpent seized the opportunity to deceive. Long story short, Eve succumbed to deception and offered Adam the forbidden fruit, leading to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
At the moment of disobedience, they acquired a sinful nature.
- The first mention of a blood sacrifice: God slew animals to clothe Adam and Eve, marking the inception of blood sacrifice.
What did Adam and Eve lose?
Imagine the atmosphere shifting at this juncture.
Their relationship with the Father was severed. Communion with the Father ceased. Glory departed. Protection vanished. Purpose and destiny were obscured. Dominion was relinquished.
What did they gain?
They entered into a sinful nature; sin entered the world through Adam’s disobedience, subjecting humanity to the law of sin and death.
- Romans 5:12: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…”
Part 2: How Is Mankind Redeemed?
God Had a Plan…
God foresaw the events and had a plan in place to redeem mankind from their transgression (Adam and Eve).
A reminder: Redemption is God’s perfect plan of love.
What is redemption?
- Redemption (Strong’s Concordance: Hebrew 1353): Redemption by relationship, kindred, redeem, redemption, right.
To redeem (Root word/Hebrew 1350 – Gaal): To defend the weak; to pay in full whatever is owed by someone else, regardless of the cost or sacrifice required; it is the willingness to pay the ultimate price for someone else’s freedom.
God had a plan for mankind from the outset (Ephesians 1:9-11, Galatians 4:4-5 TPT).
Examples of Redemption:
- Moses delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh’s hand.
- Leviticus 25:48-49 outlines the order in which the nearest relative can redeem a family member (Hebraically).
- Boaz served as the kinsman redeemer for Naomi, acting on her behalf as the closest relative (Ruth 4:4,6).
- God is the kinsman redeemer of Israel; He promises to defend and redeem them (Exodus 20:2).
Why does mankind need to be redeemed?
- To become the righteousness of God (Romans 5:9 TPT).
- To be forgiven by faith, by the sacred blood of Jesus, thus withholding God’s justice (Romans 3:25).
- To be united in Christ (Ephesians 2:13).
- God desired to restore/reconcile us back to Himself (Romans 5:10-11).
- To enter into the most holy of holies; God desires to dwell with us (Exodus 15:13).
What was the price paid for redemption?
There had to be a plan to return to the Father:
Jesus is the sole means to the Father; He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
- 1 Peter 1:19: “For you know that your lives were ransomed once and for all from the empty and futile way of life handed down from generation to generation. It was not a ransom payment of silver and gold, which eventually perishes, but the precious blood of Christ—who, like a spotless, unblemished lamb, was sacrificed for all!”
Why Jesus? It invariably leads back to love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
- John 10:10: “I came that you may have life and have it more abundantly.”
This brings us back to John 3:16… God so loved the world…
Before we were even conceived, God, in His love, gave Himself for a future that had yet to exist.
Jesus was the perfect sacrifice…
The sacrificial offerings of bulls, lambs, goats, and cattle were temporary; humanity required a superior sacrifice.
- Hebrews 9:23, 24: “It was necessary for all earthly symbols of heavenly realities to be purified with these earthly (animal) sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves required a superior sacrifice than these. For the Messiah did not enter an earthly tabernacle made by men, which was but an echo (a shadow) of the true sanctuary, but He entered into heaven itself to appear before the face/presence of God in our place.”
In essence, we could not pay the price for our own sin; there had to be someone without sin or blemish to become the sacrifice for us.
– Isaiah 53:5: “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; and by his stripes we are healed!”
Jesus, in His humility, descended from heaven to become like us. He agreed to be the final sacrifice, bearing the weight of all our sins—self-hatred, unforgiveness, fear, lying, fornication, bitterness, etc.—all the way to Calvary.
Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.
- John 10:10: “I came that you may
have life, and have it more abundantly.”
- Hebrews 9:22: “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.”
Just as in the garden, Adam and Eve had to be covered because of their sin. They were clothed with animal skins; God sacrificed animals to “cover” them.
Animals were regularly sacrificed to “cover” sin, but they provided only a temporary reprieve.
Closing Thoughts:
The Lord loves us abundantly. This love is evident in the price Jesus paid for our reconciliation with the Father. He sacrificed His only Son out of immense love for us.
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