In Thee we have redemption through Thy blood, the forgiveness of
'There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,' was the real meaning of every sacrifice. The bruised One has triumphed, the dying One has won the sinner's victory. 'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.' For He could only redeem the accursed one by taking the curse upon Himself. He could only save the sinner by taking the sin upon Himself.
12. Thou art the Redeemer
In Thee we have redemption through Thy blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of Thy grace. Thou hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood: and we know that our Redeemer liveth. Thou hast bought us back from the enemy; Thou hast found a ransom for us, and leadest us out of prison. Thou art made unto us redemption (1 Cor. 1:30); Thou hast obtained eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12). The redemption of the soul, the redemption of the body, the redemption of the purchased possession,—all this is Thine, the work of Thy love and power; and we are 'sealed unto the day of redemption.'
This redemption was completed on the cross; there the price was paid and the ransom found. The burial and resurrection added nothing to the redeeming work; they were but the evidence and seal of its completeness. In suffering, the just for the unjust, Christ did it all. The cross was our redemption. The cross was our justification. In that cross we have power, and life, and blessing. Christ crucified is the power of God; and to the cross we turn for strength in the day of weakness; we glory in it, for by it the world is crucified to us, and we unto the world. Redemption and power are associated together, as truly as redemption and deliverance; and it is at the cross of Christ that we find these. By His stripes we are healed. By His death we live. By His blood we are redeemed; as it is written, we are 'justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus' (Rom. 3:24). The apostle speaks of the day of redemption as a day still future (Eph. 4:30). And so it is. For not till resurrection is redemption really completed.
Yet we may say there are two days of redemption; the first, that which began it,—on the cross; the second, that which is to finish it,— at the resurrection,—when He comes to raise the dead, and change the living saints. To the first of these faith looks back trustingly; to the second, hope looks forward joyfully. The ransom, in virtue of which we are redeemed, was paid upon the cross; the redemption, which is the completion of the end for which the ransom was given, still awaits resurrection. For redemption in its full sense means the actual accomplishment of the thing contemplated,—the full deliverance of the objects for whom the ransom was paid down. Redemption from Egypt or Babylon refers to the actual recovery of the bondsmen, and redemption from the power of the grave to the actual resurrection. 'I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes' (Hos. 13:14).
Our connection with this redemption is, like the whole of our connection with the person or work of the Christ of God, a very simple one. It is that expressed in these words: 'He that believeth is not condemned' (John 3:18). 'He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life' (John 5:24). 'By His knowledge (i.e. by the knowledge of Himself) shall my righteous Servant justify many' (Isa. 53:11). 'He that believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God' (1 John 5:1).
The Christ of God is our Redeemer, and it is by believing that we get possession of His redemption for ourselves.
Concerning this redemption the Holy Spirit has fully spoken; and we know that His testimony is true, for it is the testimony of God that cannot lie. In receiving this divine testimony, we become connected with the redemption and the Redeemer. Not by waiting, or working, or buying, or deserving, do we get this whole redemption and this whole Redeemer, but simply by believing. 'He that believeth,'—this is