Scripture

Luke 1:68-71

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant—As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—

Muse

He has accomplished redemption for His people. While reading these verses, I felt my focus was centering on “why” it was necessary for God, out of love, to send His Son as a sacrifice on our behalf. Why was it necessary for The Messiah’s blood to be spilled so that we could be made blameless—so that we could be redeemed? To understand this, I believe we must make two observations about God: He is just, and He is loving.

In Ezekiel 18, we are given a word from the Lord declaring that “the soul who sins will die.” God then goes on to tell us that His ways are just and that every man will be judged according to his own conduct. So the Bible is pretty clear that the just price to pay for sin is in fact death. Jumping forward to Jesus’s ministry, the people are told in his sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7) that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, one’s righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees. This statement had so much weight at the time because the Pharisees were considered the MOST righteous people! If anyone was blameless enough to enter heaven, it would surely be them, or so the people would have thought. In saying this, Jesus shows us that God requires we be righteous in His sight..

However, out of love for us, God took on flesh in the form of the Son, Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, who would live a sinless life and perish on a cross. He served as a single perfect sacrifice for all mankind for the rest of eternity, conquering death. This gift from the Father fulfilled the law and required no work or animal sacrifice (the prior requisite for atonement). The gift only required that one place their faith in The Son and follow Him. Now that this has been accomplished, through faith in the Messiah, we will one day stand before the Father and he will see us as blameless—a redeemed people justly saved by God’s loving sacrifice.

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Our World

As we approach Christmas, I would challenge us to go into the festivities with an understanding of both God’s sacrificial love for us as well as our identity as “redeemed creations.” In this season, it can be easy to lose sight of what it's all about and become wrapped up in worldly possessions. I know I can find myself caring more about what I'm getting from others, or how I can be served, than how I myself am giving and serving. I believe that if we truly muse on God’s love for us, as demonstrated by Jesus’ sacrifice, and comprehend how great the gift is that we have received, it will bring forth in us a staggering response. It will encourage us to serve each other in sacrificial love as the fruit of our gratitude for what the Lord has done for us. As we continue to grow in the knowledge of the redemption we have received through the Messiah and as we understand that we are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6), our lives will look more and more like Christ.

• “Redeemed” implies a return to a previous condition. What kind of state does God intend to return humanity to?
  
• Why must we hold God’s justice and love in tandem?
  
• Based on Jesus’ sacrifice, how are you encouraged to love someone sacrificially in the next week?
  

Prayer

Dear God, we praise your holy name! We thank you that while you are just and powerful, you still, out of your endless love, have mercy on us even though we don’t deserve it. Thank you, Jesus, for taking our place and sacrificing yourself for us. Father, we pray that you grow us in our understanding of your love and change our hearts towards your will. Give us courage to spread your gospel. We pray this in Jesus’ name,

Amen.