Redemption & Forgiveness of Sins

Good morning, we're now going to read God's Word, the Bible.

And there are going to be two passages this morning.

The first one is Colossians chapter 2, and verses 13 to 15.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

And the next one will be Romans 3, 9 to 26.

The ESV has helpfully labeled the section Alive in Christ.

And we're just going to be reading the last few verses of that, 13 to 15.

Chapter 2, Colossians.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

God made alive with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame

by triumphing over them in him.

And then we turn to Romans, chapter 3, verses 9 to 26.

Romans 3:9–26

What then?

Are we Jews any better off?

No, not at all.

For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.

As it is written, none is righteous.

No, not one.

No one understands.

No one seeks for God.

All have turned aside.

Together they have become worthless.

No one does good.

Not even one.

Their throat is an open grave.

They use their tongues to deceive.

The venom of asps is under their lips.

Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood.

In their paths are ruin and misery,

and the way of peace they have not known.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Now we know that whatever the law says,

it speaks to those who are under the law,

so that every mouth may be stopped

and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

For by works of the law,

no human being will be justified in his sight,

since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God

has been manifested apart from the law,

although the law and the prophets bear witness to it,

the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ

for all who believe.

There is no distinction,

but all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

and are justified by his grace as a gift

through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood

to be received by faith.

This was to show God's righteousness

because in his divine forbearance,

he had passed over former sins.

It was to show his righteousness at the present time

so that he might be just

and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Why don't we pray as we come to God's word?

Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven,

we only see in part

and we can twist and suppress the truth

by our intellect

or by our moral efforts.

We cannot reach into the heavens

and see you as you really are.

And so I pray that through your word,

your holy word,

give us a true and a clearer sight

of who you are this morning,

that we might stand in awe of you

and then truly seeing ourselves in your great light.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

It's not easy for God to forgive you.

Let me repeat that.

It's not easy for God to forgive you or me for that matter.

Now I'm hoping your mind is a bit curious,

trying to work out what I mean by such a statement

and whether it is true,

because it seems to fly in the face

of the Christian idea of a forgiving God.

So let me, with such a statement,

let me clarify what I don't mean.

I don't mean a whole bunch of things,

so let's clarify that.

I don't mean that God is like us

when we often keep a record of wrongs,

when we'd rather cut people out of our lives

rather than pursuing the painful path to peace.

I'm not saying he's like us when we do those things.

I don't mean that what you must do

in order for God to forgive is difficult.

All religions talk about a fresh start,

a washing of past wrongs,

and some of the requirements are just really difficult.

It's daily meditation.

It's daily prayers.

It's a pilgrimage.

It's all the Christian idea of like a monastery,

like becoming a nun,

giving up the pleasures of life

and strict treatment of the body and the mind,

and still, after doing all this,

not being 100% sure that God has forgiven you.

So I don't mean what you must do to be forgiven

makes it difficult for God to forgive.

Or perhaps you think it is easy for God to forgive.

Simply go to the confessional,

say the right words of repentance,

have a priest come to you on your deathbed

to give you the last rites,

and it's just easy.

It's all gone.

Just do the right ritual and it's gone.

All your sin is gone.

Some people have that view of Christianity.

Or perhaps you have a view of God

as if he doesn't want us to talk about our sin.

It's just so negative.

Surely God wants us to focus on a positive thing,

positive relationship.

Or maybe you have a view of God

that is like a harsh and critical father figure,

like too many earthly fathers,

as if God is ruthless,

quick to anger and slow to forgive.

When I say it's not easy for God to forgive you,

that is not because he is harsh or reluctant.

It's not easy for God to forgive you and me

because he's good.

And because our sin,

as we looked at last week,

is so awful.

Now to get a feel for this,

the Lord gives us the prophet Hosea.

It helps us feel the problem.

And the prophet Hosea's wife,

Goma,

whose affection and loyalty

should have been only for her husband,

instead she goes off

and she pursues other lovers,

thinking in these lovers

she's going to get the protection

and the abundant life.

Is it easy for Hosea to forgive his wife?

No, not at all.

There is a justice problem.

God's law says such treatment deserves,

such unfaithfulness deserves death.

There's a justice problem.

There's a relational problem.

A right jealousy produces anger.

And there's a heart problem.

Goma doesn't even want to come back.

She wants her lovers.

She's captivated by them.

Her heart is gripped by them.

There's a heart problem.

What a heart-wrenching picture

of our problem with the Lord.

And it's even worse than that.

Because we were made by the Lord.

We belong to him.

We owe all our affection and loyalty to him.

He deserves all our trust

to come to him as the source of all life.

And yet, as we saw last week,

we try to play God.

We try and control our own lives.

And we shake the fist at God's rule.

And we commit spiritual adultery.

Our heart goes to all other places

to find life except the source of life.

And that heart problem produces evil words and behaviour.

How can God, who is holy, easily forgive?

There's a justice problem

where a person sins,

a person deserves to die.

There's a relational problem.

God's jealousy for his own honour,

his jealousy for our total affection

is right and it produces anger, wrath.

And there's a heart problem.

We are held captive.

We're enslaved,

convinced that life is found

apart from intimacy with God.

For Hosea to get Goma back,

it came at great cost to him

to redeem her.

And our only hope is redemption.

We need a redeemer.

And we're going to look at that,

what redemption means today.

It is a beautiful concept.

So if you're overwhelmed by the weight

of what I just said,

please hang in there.

And redemption is wonderful.

Just two comments

before we dive into what redemption means.

I'm leaning heavily on a theologian

called Leon Morris

and he's got this book and a chapter

that goes into much more detail

than I can do in a single sermon.

So if you would like a copy of that chapter,

get in touch with me.

I'd love to share it with you.

I'd also recommend using the sermon outline

with all the Bible passages.

Redemption comes up so much in Scripture.

Why not use those to go and do your own study

and devotion and prayer,

either privately or with your family?

So what is redemption?

We need to buy back this word from our culture

because our culture uses redemption

in a very different way to what the Bible means.

So for example,

you might remember a couple of years ago,

the Aussie cricketers,

Steve Smith,

captain of Australia

and vice captain David Warner,

they got caught for ball tampering.

Do you remember this?

And they were banned from cricket

and their reputation was just shot.

But once they returned to test cricket,

the media completely changed their tone

about these two men.

Their cheating was wiped from the record.

Their reputation as worthy representatives of Australia

was restored.

How?

By performing well,

by hitting a century,

by performing.

They redeemed themselves,

commentators were saying,

the media were saying.

Or the classic movie,

Shawshank Redemption.

If you haven't seen it by now,

oh, I don't know,

you don't have to watch it,

but if you haven't seen it,

spoiler alert,

I'm about to ruin the movie,

but I blame you.

How does an innocent man

restore his freedom

after getting a life sentence

for something he didn't do?

He must make it happen.

He's got to escape

and win back his freedom.

He did it.

Scripture knows nothing,

nothing of being able to redeem yourself.

You can't.

The other surprising thing about redemption,

it was a common word in biblical times.

It was,

any Greek speaker

would know the word.

It wasn't,

it wasn't

in the religious sphere,

although the Old Testament

talks about redemption a lot,

but every Greek person

would understand it.

And it had two primary settings,

prisoners of war

and slaves.

It means more than being delivered,

it's more precise

a meaning than that.

So picture a prisoner of war,

especially if they're nobility.

They were worth a great deal

to their family and society back home.

So the captors

would send a message

saying,

here's the ransom price

if you want this prisoner back.

And they would,

if they wanted them back,

they would send the money over

and that person would be restored

to their home

and to their position in society.

Or picture a slave.

If someone wealthy enough

wanted to,

out of the generosity,

or whether the slave

saved up enough money

over years,

then they could pay

to the temple

of the gods,

whatever the gods were,

and they would

buy their freedom.

So for example,

there's an inscription,

we know this

because we have inscriptions

from back in that time period.

Here's one of them.

It recorded the date

and then it said,

for freedom,

a female slave

whose name is Nicaea

by race,

a Roman,

with a price

of three

minae of silver

and half a minna.

For freedom.

Redemption is about

someone who is a slave

or in captivity

being set free

by payment of a cost,

a price.

Which begs the question for us,

who or what

are we held captive by

that we need freeing from?

Now, I think to

feel the weight of this,

I want to compare it

to other narratives

out there

in our public community.

marketplace,

a public square.

Lots of people

offer a diagnosis

of the main problem

of our society,

of humanity,

of Western culture.

Let me just give

two examples.

There's more than this,

but one is

systemic racism.

That's the primary

problem in our society.

Seeing racism

not as just this odd,

awful occurrence,

and it is awful,

but seeing it

as built into

the fabric

of Western culture.

That's one narrative

at the moment.

So that's the main problem.

Another popular narrative

at the moment

is the ever-increasing

and even unstoppable

destruction

caused by climate change.

That's the great

evil of our times.

Now,

there's many more

voices out there.

There's only one voice

who dares to say

that the most serious

problem

isn't actually

outside of us.

It's inside

each one of us.

It's in our very nature.

Jesus said,

everyone who practices

sin

is a slave

to sin.

Amen.

Amen.

The problem

isn't that

we make mistakes

every so often.

The problem

isn't outside of us.

The problem

is inside of us.

Like Goma,

we haven't only

committed spiritual

idolatry,

but by doing so,

our hearts

have now,

we've given our hearts

over to someone

who controls

our heart.

We are held captive

by sin

and its consequences.

And we heard it

in our readings today.

We heard it in Romans

Romans 3:9

chapter 3,

verse 9,

which says that

both Jews

and Greeks

are under sin.

That's an interesting

preposition,

under sin.

Not just we commit sins,

but we're under it.

Meaning we're under

the power

of sin.

It controls

our hearts.

Or in Colossians 2,

before knowing Christ,

we are dead

in our trespasses

and in the uncircumcision

of our flesh.

That's a Jewish way

of saying

there's something

rotten inside

that needs to be cut out.

The problem

is in here.

Again,

leaning on Leon Morris,

he helps us grasp

the point.

He says this,

we who belong

to God

because he created us

have gotten

into the power

of a strong

enemy

from which

we cannot

break free.

If I can say it

reverently,

God,

if he wants us

back,

must pay

the price.

So because

we are captives

inside our

very nature,

that's why

keeping God's

laws,

it can never

work.

It can never

set us free

because that's

just external

change.

It's not

internal.

Romans 3,

19 to 20

is the climax

of the argument

of the first

three chapters.

All people,

religious or

otherwise,

are in danger

of the anger,

the wrath of God

because no one

lives up to

what they know

to be true

about God.

Romans 3,

19,

by works of

the law,

no human

being will

be justified,

declared good

in his sight

since through

the law

comes knowledge

of sin.

God's law

is good.

It reveals

God's character.

God's law

teaches us

what is good

and what's evil.

There's nothing

wrong with the law

but it has

no power

to free us

on the inside.

Knowing God's law

only highlights

the gap

between how

holy he is

and my character.

It gives me

knowledge of sin.

He doesn't

free me

from sin.

And I find

Colossians 2,

23

startling.

So all

these religious

rules

rules.

Picture a monk

again

in a monastery

who struggles

with lustful

thoughts.

A monk

in a monastery

struggles

with lustful

thoughts

and they

are depriving

themselves

of sleep,

they're depriving

themselves

of food

so that they

can pray,

so that

they can

memorise

and study

scripture.

And Colossians 2

Colossians 2:23

verse 23

says all

these rules,

this kind

of way

of religion,

these have

indeed an

appearance of

wisdom in

promoting self-made

religion and

asceticism and

severity of the

body, but they

are of no value

in stopping

the indulgence

of the flesh

because all

that rule

keeping doesn't

get to the

lustful heart.

It's of no

value.

We need a

redeemer.

God must act

contrary to

what we deserve.

He must take

the initiative

to set us

free.

The silence

after Romans

3, 19

and 20,

that every

mouth will

be stopped

before the

judgment seat

of God.

The silence

is broken

into in

verse 21,

but now,

but now,

God has

acted.

God's

righteousness

comes in.

Jumping

to verse

23,

all have

sinned and

fall short

of the

glory of

God and

are justified

by his

grace as

a gift.

How?

Through the

redemption

that is in

Christ Jesus.

Now,

here the

price paid,

whom God

put forward

as propitiation

by his

blood to be

received by

faith.

God the

father put

forward his

son for

our

redemption.

And the

son gave

himself

willingly

for our

redemption.

He stated

his

willingness

very clearly

in Mark

10, 45.

Even the

son of man

came not

to be

served,

but to

serve,

and to

give his

life as

a ransom

for many.

It's not

easy for

God to

forgive you.

It came

at a

great price.

His

son,

his

blood.

There's

no such

thing as

cheap

forgiveness.

The word

propitiation,

we don't have

time to go

into it fully,

but it

gives a

sense of

why a

price must

be paid,

because

propitiation

is about

taking away

the judgment

and the

anger that

our sin

deserved.

It's taken

away.

But don't

try to

work out

who God

paid.

That's

pushing the

picture of

redemption

too far.

The early

church fathers

came up

with these

narratives of

God paying

Satan.

It just

doesn't work.

That's not

in Scripture.

That's not

the point

of who

God paid.

We need

more

pictures of

understanding

salvation than

redemption.

That's why we

have other

words like

justification

and

reconciliation

and atonement.

We need

other words.

So don't

try and work

out who

God pays.

The important

thing is a

price had to

be paid,

and he

paid it.

His payment

not only

covers all

those after

Christ died,

it also

covers all

those who

trusted in

God's

promises before

Christ died

on the cross.

It covers

all who

belong to

God in

all of

history.

And like

the inscriptions

of the

slaves whose

price was

paid for

freedom,

all those

who receive

God's

redemption as

a gift are

actually set

free.

Free now

from the

penalty of

sin, free

now from

sin's control

over us,

and when

Christ returns,

free from

sin's presence

and all its

consequences once

and for all.

So Christian

in the room

or listening

in, when

your guilt

and shame

piles up,

when sin

says you

can't let

me go,

you have

to give

in, look

to the

cross and

see the

inscription for

freedom.

You are

free.

no price

left to

pay, no

anger of

God at

you, you

do not

have to

listen to

sin.

For

freedom.

I think

the hymn,

I can't

remember which

one it is,

it says,

when Satan

tempts me to

despair and

tells me of

the guilt

within,

upward I

look and

see him

there who

made an

end to

all my

sin.

And this

freedom,

this

redemption,

scripture speaks

of as

full and

forever.

The

consequences

of sin,

the corruption

of our

bodies,

even the

corruption of

the whole

world.

Jesus'

blood

redeems

it all.

Redemption

is a

big concept.

It's not

just the

removal of

sin, but

it's actually

the restoration

of us

back to

God and

the

restoration

of our

bodies and

all things.

And it

is forever.

Hebrews 9,

12 says

that by

Christ's

blood,

he is

secured

and eternal

redemption.

It's

forever.

Like a

prisoner of

war, our

souls and

bodies have

returned home

to God

forever.

Forever.

Forever.

Forever.

Forever.

Forever.

Forever.

So do

you see

the heart

of God,

your

redeemer?

The kind

of God

he is.

It's not

easy for

God to

forgive you

or me.

It's not.

You and

I deserve

nothing but

his wrath

and justice.

To be

left in

the embrace

of our

lovers,

reaping the

misery and

death of

sin's hold

on us,

nothing in

us can

prompt God

to act to

save us.

As

Morris said,

if God

wants us

back, he

must pay

the price

and he

did.

Your

freedom,

your

restoration

came at

great cost.

The blood

of his

only son.

So how

should we

respond to

such a

God who

would pay

such a

price?

We need

to see

God as

he is.

He isn't

reluctant to

forgive.

He's not

reluctant.

He isn't

critical and

harsh.

He wants

you back.

He isn't

simply okay

with you

going through

the motions

saying you're

sorry,

acting as if

unfaithfulness

doesn't matter.

It does

matter.

It mattered

so much

that his

son had

to die.

But he

takes no

pleasure in

you trying to

redeem yourself

by your

own

performance.

He

wants us

back.

He is

our

redeemer.

He is

paid the

price to

bring us

home.

So how

do we

respond?

We should

respond in

awe.

What a

God.

God.

God.

He is

worshiping

God.

We should

respond in

faith,

receiving his

grace as

a gift.

Gratitude

and living in

the freedom

of belonging

to Christ,

body and

soul.

If we

see God

for who

he is,

then the mark of a Christian life, whatever we're going through,

in sorrow or good times, whatever is happening,

the mark of a Christian is expressed by singing.

Because how else do you respond to awe, to how good God has been to us?

Singing is the best way to do it.

That's the mark of not only the Christian life,

it's going to be the mark of the heavenly life.

We join the eternal choir of heaven that's pictured in Revelation 5.

And they sang a new song.

Worthy are you, for you were slain.

And by your blood you ransomed people for God,

from every tribe and language and people and nation.

And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God.

And they shall reign on the earth.

Worthy are you.

You sampai you.

Samun