Saturday, July 28, 2012

What Does Heaven Cost? 1 Peter 1:15-16

If you could sum up the death of Jesus in one word what would it be? Many would have different ideas, martyr, tragic, loss.

"Redeemed by the precious blood of Christ." 1 Peter 1:19. NIV.

REDEMPTION
Redemption is a word that describes Jesus' death.  Not his redemption but ours, for Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many.

To redeem something is to pay the debt, if you gave a valuable to a creditor as security against a loan you redeem it when you pay off the loan and therefore you get the valued idem back.  Jesus gave his life on our behalf to pay the debt to justice.

OUR NEED
We need redemption because of sin. St. James says, "He who knows what is right to do and fails to do it for him it is sin." By that standard we all have sin.  God loves us and doesn't want to condemn us but being holy he must judge sin.

JESUS THE REDEEMER
The redemption provided by Jesus is not a gesture of good-will; it is payment against the requirement demanded by justice for our sin.  It was payment unto death and it was doled out in the blood of Jesus.  The death of Jesus bought us back from judgment; it should have been us who hung on the cross for our sins but Jesus took our place and he died the death we should have died. The full wrath of God's judgment went on him instead of us.

The blood of Jesus is precious to angels and saints not just because it is the blood by which we are given salvation as a free gift, but because it is the blood of God's own dear son.  Heaven had no greater treasure; Jesus is the Prince of Peace who bought peace between God and man with his blood.  It should be precious to every one of us for whom it was shed; because it was shed it cost me nothing to go to heaven but it cost Jesus everything for me to go to heaven.

OUR PART
This redemption is very unusual in that if you give something as a security that you will pay off a debt the idem doesn't refuse to come with you when you pay off the debt, but God gives us a choice, we may reject Jesus we may say no to salvation and remain unredeemed.

To learn more about what the Bible teaches about how to go to heaven follow this link: Click here.

(c)Adron Dozat
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Adron

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