Ephesians 1:7-11
We are a blessed people. In the previous verses Paul has been speaking of the incredible riches of grace that are ours in Jesus Christ, as His Church. We have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing. We have been chosen. We have been adopted. We have these things because it is from God’s pleasure and will that He would give them to us. Today I want us to see
He Redeemed Us (v7-8)
First, Jesus Christ is our Redeemer. Notice verse 7, “In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace”.
He is our Redeemer and we have redemption in Him. The Greek word for redemption is a word that literally means “to loose from”. It has the specific idea of paying a price to ransom a slave and set them free; to loosen the slave from their master by paying a price for the slave’s freedom.
This may be very foreign to us but not in the Roman Empire of Paul’s day. There were around 6 million slaves during Paul’s day and they were being bought and sold every day in the slave market. And if at that time you had a relative or a friend who was a slave, you could pay the price to ransom them if you could afford it and then set them free from slavery.
Illustration: I came across a story last week that helps illustrate the meaning of redemption. There was a pastor of a church in Boston whose name was A.J. Gordon. One day out in front of the church he met a young boy who was carrying a rusty cage. Inside the cage there were several birds fluttering around.
Gordon asked the boy, "Son, where did you get those birds?"
The boy replied, "I trapped them out in the field."
"What are you going to do with them?"
"I'm going to play with them, and then I guess I'll just feed them to an old cat we have at home."
When Gordon offered to buy them, the boy said, "Mister, you don't want ‘em, they're just little old wild birds and can't sing very well."
Gordon replied, "I'll give you $2 for the cage and the birds."
"Okay, it's a deal, but you're making a bad bargain."
The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. But, Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small rusty cage and let the birds go free.
The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ's coming to seek and to save the lost -- paying for them with His own precious blood. "That boy told me the birds were not songsters," said Gordon, "but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, 'Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!"
We were all held captive to sin, but Christ, with His own blood, has purchased our pardon and set us free from sin.
One of the key things to understand redemption is to understand our enslavement. The Bible says before we were saved we were slaves to sin. In John 8 Jesus said, “Anyone who sins is a slave to sin”. In Romans 6 Paul mentions at least 6 times that we were slaves to sin before we became Christians.
The Bible also says are slaves to Satan. In Ephesians 2:2 Paul says “in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ways of the ruler of the kingdom of the air…” This is a reference to Satan and Paul is saying that before we were saved we followed, we obeyed, we submitted to the ways of Satan. Notice also in that verse it says that we were also slaves to the world – we “followed the ways of this world”.
And no matter how much we think we are our own masters we are not. The Bible is clear that apart from Christ we are slaves to sin, to Satan and to this world.
A second key to understand redemption is to understand that we can’t free ourselves. We can’t get out of it by ourselves. No one is strong enough to break the chains their master binds them with; no one is rich enough to pay the Master off, no one is wise enough to escape. We are too weak, too poor, and too much of nothing to offer anything for our own release.
Which brings us to the last key to understanding redemption is that if we are going to be free someone else must free us. Someone else who is free, and, someone else who has enough to pay for our freedom, and, someone else who is willing to pay. Jesus is free from sin. He has enough to pay for our freedom and He was willing to pay the price. That’s why 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “You were bought with a price”.
The price He paid for us was His own blood. His blood is so valuable that it covered all the costs.
He Forgave Us (v7)
Then Paul says right afterwards, “the forgiveness of sins”. We have redemption – the forgiveness of sins. They are so closely related, but, distinct concepts. The blood of Jesus accomplished both. Forgiveness is the word “apheimi”, meaning “to send away”. “It indicated a legal repayment or cancellation of a debt or the granting of a pardon” (McArthur, 18).
As a born again Christian my sins are no longer associated with me because they have been sent away from me. Jesus Christ took them away from me when He died on the cross. I am not in my sin anymore and it is no longer near me. Forgiveness seems to have this “do not associate my sins with me anymore” kind of meaning.
There is a phrase in the OT that often times is said by the Israelites, “Far be it from me…”. Samuel said to King Saul, “Far be it from me to sin against the Lord and not pray for you”. When God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18, Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy it if there were any righteous people in it. He said “Far be it from you God to destroy the righteous along with the wicked.” Job said, “Far be it from God to do evil.”
It was a phrase of dissociation. Far be it from me meant you didn’t want your name associated with something negative. You don’t want others to think of you and then associate you with this thing. Don’t ever put my name in the same sentence with that!
Funny illustration: Have you ever heard someone say, “I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that!” What they mean is that they don’t want to be associated with that shirt. They could say, “Far be it from me to ever wear anything like that!”
Apheimi means to send away and the idea of forgiveness means that God has taken your sins away from you so that He no longer associates you with your sin. He doesn’t associate us with sin but instead now He associates us with Jesus Christ. When He sees us He sees Christ. When He thinks of us He thinks of Christ.
It is really tragic that Christians today would still hold their sins against themselves when God no longer does. And because of this we have all this talk about needing to “forgive ourselves”. “Oh, I know God has forgiven me but I can’t forgive myself.”
That seems so humble but it is actually arrogant and absurd. It is arrogant because the person making the statement views God’s pardon as less important than their own. As they play judge of themselves they see themselves as a judge than God in their lives. God’s court is a lower court, and, while His court has granted forgiveness, the higher court of self has not upheld His decision. The confusion is that the Bible never talks about us forgiving ourselves for our sins. Our sins are against God and God is the only one who can forgive sins.
Secondly, it is absurd because it holds on to what God has sent away. Forgiveness means to send away. Let me give you an illustration that God actually gave. In the OT, the greatest holy day in the whole year was the Day of Atonement. The high priest would take two unblemished goats for the sacrifice. One goat was killed and the blood was sprinkled on the altar. The other goat become what was called the “scape-goat”. That’s a familiar term for us today that means someone else took the fall for my offense. This is a biblical term and the basic meaning has remained all the way up til today in our language. The high priest in Israel would place his hands on the 2nd goat’s head and confess the sins of the nation of Israel. It was symbolic of the transfer of the offenses of Israel onto the goat who was going to take the fall for Israel’s sins. Then, this is key - the goat would be led way out into the wilderness so far that it could never return to Israel. The sins of all Israel on that goat were being “carried away”, or “sent away” on the scapegoat. How powerful a picture of God’s forgiveness!
Now keep in mind that the whole nation would be gathered around the tabernacle during this whole ritual. Not one Jew would be absent from this ceremony. Everyone watched and waited until the one who carried everyone’s sins away had in fact been sent away never to return. This was done so that everyone would know that God had indeed forgiven them and their sins were no longer associated with them.
Now imagine an Israelite standing there with his head down and beating himself up for his sins after this happens. It is the equivalent of running out and grabbing the scapegoat that has all the sins of Israel on it and taking it back home with you. It’s like saying, “I know God has sent these sins away, but, I just can’t let them go. I’m going to bring them home and live with them. I’m just too terrible to let them go.” Can yNow imagine standing there among the millions of Jews, watching out into the desert while the goat was walking into the sunset – carrying all their sins away. And then imagine a strange sight. One man is seen running after the goat
Forgiveness of our sin does not mean we will no longer commit sins. But all our sins were forgiven – past, present, and future. Jesus paid for them all on the cross at which point all our sins today were future anyway. There are no sins for a Christian that are able to cause him or her to lose their salvation. That is the equivalent of the goat coming back into the camp.
We need to seek forgiveness for our specific sins when we commit them but not so that we can “get salvation back”. It is for cleansing and usefulness and growth and enjoyment of our Christian life. Unconfessed sin is the root of so much stunted growth in Christian’s lives, so much worldly attitudes, so much self-deception and ongoing sinfulness.
Someone who says they can’t forgive themselves is looking at themselves and really not at Christ. Which, oddly, God looks at Christ’s righteousness credited to someone when they are saved, and, when someone is saved it is because they also are looking to Christ’s righteousness. How then did they turn from looking at Christ and now look at themselves?
Conclusion:
What’s your association? I’m not asking who do you associate with. I’m asking who does God associate you with? Does God associate you with sin? Or does He associate you with Christ? There’s no other association. So what is your association?
Do you know today if your sins are still held against you? Or do you know if they have been sent away forever so that never again will God see you in your sins? Do you have God’s forgiveness? God has made the most incredible plan in order to give you forgiveness the question is will you take it? Jesus Christ died for you, He poured out His blood for you and He took your sins on Himself to suffer and die for your sins – not His – your sins. If you will place your faith in Him today He will take your sins away – He will forgive you and save you and make you new in Himself and give you His life which is the eternal life.
We are a blessed people. In the previous verses Paul has been speaking of the incredible riches of grace that are ours in Jesus Christ, as His Church. We have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing. We have been chosen. We have been adopted. We have these things because it is from God’s pleasure and will that He would give them to us. Today I want us to see
He Redeemed Us (v7-8)
First, Jesus Christ is our Redeemer. Notice verse 7, “In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace”.
He is our Redeemer and we have redemption in Him. The Greek word for redemption is a word that literally means “to loose from”. It has the specific idea of paying a price to ransom a slave and set them free; to loosen the slave from their master by paying a price for the slave’s freedom.
This may be very foreign to us but not in the Roman Empire of Paul’s day. There were around 6 million slaves during Paul’s day and they were being bought and sold every day in the slave market. And if at that time you had a relative or a friend who was a slave, you could pay the price to ransom them if you could afford it and then set them free from slavery.
Illustration: I came across a story last week that helps illustrate the meaning of redemption. There was a pastor of a church in Boston whose name was A.J. Gordon. One day out in front of the church he met a young boy who was carrying a rusty cage. Inside the cage there were several birds fluttering around.
Gordon asked the boy, "Son, where did you get those birds?"
The boy replied, "I trapped them out in the field."
"What are you going to do with them?"
"I'm going to play with them, and then I guess I'll just feed them to an old cat we have at home."
When Gordon offered to buy them, the boy said, "Mister, you don't want ‘em, they're just little old wild birds and can't sing very well."
Gordon replied, "I'll give you $2 for the cage and the birds."
"Okay, it's a deal, but you're making a bad bargain."
The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. But, Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small rusty cage and let the birds go free.
The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ's coming to seek and to save the lost -- paying for them with His own precious blood. "That boy told me the birds were not songsters," said Gordon, "but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, 'Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!"
We were all held captive to sin, but Christ, with His own blood, has purchased our pardon and set us free from sin.
One of the key things to understand redemption is to understand our enslavement. The Bible says before we were saved we were slaves to sin. In John 8 Jesus said, “Anyone who sins is a slave to sin”. In Romans 6 Paul mentions at least 6 times that we were slaves to sin before we became Christians.
The Bible also says are slaves to Satan. In Ephesians 2:2 Paul says “in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ways of the ruler of the kingdom of the air…” This is a reference to Satan and Paul is saying that before we were saved we followed, we obeyed, we submitted to the ways of Satan. Notice also in that verse it says that we were also slaves to the world – we “followed the ways of this world”.
And no matter how much we think we are our own masters we are not. The Bible is clear that apart from Christ we are slaves to sin, to Satan and to this world.
A second key to understand redemption is to understand that we can’t free ourselves. We can’t get out of it by ourselves. No one is strong enough to break the chains their master binds them with; no one is rich enough to pay the Master off, no one is wise enough to escape. We are too weak, too poor, and too much of nothing to offer anything for our own release.
Which brings us to the last key to understanding redemption is that if we are going to be free someone else must free us. Someone else who is free, and, someone else who has enough to pay for our freedom, and, someone else who is willing to pay. Jesus is free from sin. He has enough to pay for our freedom and He was willing to pay the price. That’s why 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “You were bought with a price”.
The price He paid for us was His own blood. His blood is so valuable that it covered all the costs.
He Forgave Us (v7)
Then Paul says right afterwards, “the forgiveness of sins”. We have redemption – the forgiveness of sins. They are so closely related, but, distinct concepts. The blood of Jesus accomplished both. Forgiveness is the word “apheimi”, meaning “to send away”. “It indicated a legal repayment or cancellation of a debt or the granting of a pardon” (McArthur, 18).
As a born again Christian my sins are no longer associated with me because they have been sent away from me. Jesus Christ took them away from me when He died on the cross. I am not in my sin anymore and it is no longer near me. Forgiveness seems to have this “do not associate my sins with me anymore” kind of meaning.
There is a phrase in the OT that often times is said by the Israelites, “Far be it from me…”. Samuel said to King Saul, “Far be it from me to sin against the Lord and not pray for you”. When God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18, Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy it if there were any righteous people in it. He said “Far be it from you God to destroy the righteous along with the wicked.” Job said, “Far be it from God to do evil.”
It was a phrase of dissociation. Far be it from me meant you didn’t want your name associated with something negative. You don’t want others to think of you and then associate you with this thing. Don’t ever put my name in the same sentence with that!
Funny illustration: Have you ever heard someone say, “I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that!” What they mean is that they don’t want to be associated with that shirt. They could say, “Far be it from me to ever wear anything like that!”
Apheimi means to send away and the idea of forgiveness means that God has taken your sins away from you so that He no longer associates you with your sin. He doesn’t associate us with sin but instead now He associates us with Jesus Christ. When He sees us He sees Christ. When He thinks of us He thinks of Christ.
It is really tragic that Christians today would still hold their sins against themselves when God no longer does. And because of this we have all this talk about needing to “forgive ourselves”. “Oh, I know God has forgiven me but I can’t forgive myself.”
That seems so humble but it is actually arrogant and absurd. It is arrogant because the person making the statement views God’s pardon as less important than their own. As they play judge of themselves they see themselves as a judge than God in their lives. God’s court is a lower court, and, while His court has granted forgiveness, the higher court of self has not upheld His decision. The confusion is that the Bible never talks about us forgiving ourselves for our sins. Our sins are against God and God is the only one who can forgive sins.
Secondly, it is absurd because it holds on to what God has sent away. Forgiveness means to send away. Let me give you an illustration that God actually gave. In the OT, the greatest holy day in the whole year was the Day of Atonement. The high priest would take two unblemished goats for the sacrifice. One goat was killed and the blood was sprinkled on the altar. The other goat become what was called the “scape-goat”. That’s a familiar term for us today that means someone else took the fall for my offense. This is a biblical term and the basic meaning has remained all the way up til today in our language. The high priest in Israel would place his hands on the 2nd goat’s head and confess the sins of the nation of Israel. It was symbolic of the transfer of the offenses of Israel onto the goat who was going to take the fall for Israel’s sins. Then, this is key - the goat would be led way out into the wilderness so far that it could never return to Israel. The sins of all Israel on that goat were being “carried away”, or “sent away” on the scapegoat. How powerful a picture of God’s forgiveness!
Now keep in mind that the whole nation would be gathered around the tabernacle during this whole ritual. Not one Jew would be absent from this ceremony. Everyone watched and waited until the one who carried everyone’s sins away had in fact been sent away never to return. This was done so that everyone would know that God had indeed forgiven them and their sins were no longer associated with them.
Now imagine an Israelite standing there with his head down and beating himself up for his sins after this happens. It is the equivalent of running out and grabbing the scapegoat that has all the sins of Israel on it and taking it back home with you. It’s like saying, “I know God has sent these sins away, but, I just can’t let them go. I’m going to bring them home and live with them. I’m just too terrible to let them go.” Can yNow imagine standing there among the millions of Jews, watching out into the desert while the goat was walking into the sunset – carrying all their sins away. And then imagine a strange sight. One man is seen running after the goat
Forgiveness of our sin does not mean we will no longer commit sins. But all our sins were forgiven – past, present, and future. Jesus paid for them all on the cross at which point all our sins today were future anyway. There are no sins for a Christian that are able to cause him or her to lose their salvation. That is the equivalent of the goat coming back into the camp.
We need to seek forgiveness for our specific sins when we commit them but not so that we can “get salvation back”. It is for cleansing and usefulness and growth and enjoyment of our Christian life. Unconfessed sin is the root of so much stunted growth in Christian’s lives, so much worldly attitudes, so much self-deception and ongoing sinfulness.
Someone who says they can’t forgive themselves is looking at themselves and really not at Christ. Which, oddly, God looks at Christ’s righteousness credited to someone when they are saved, and, when someone is saved it is because they also are looking to Christ’s righteousness. How then did they turn from looking at Christ and now look at themselves?
Conclusion:
What’s your association? I’m not asking who do you associate with. I’m asking who does God associate you with? Does God associate you with sin? Or does He associate you with Christ? There’s no other association. So what is your association?
Do you know today if your sins are still held against you? Or do you know if they have been sent away forever so that never again will God see you in your sins? Do you have God’s forgiveness? God has made the most incredible plan in order to give you forgiveness the question is will you take it? Jesus Christ died for you, He poured out His blood for you and He took your sins on Himself to suffer and die for your sins – not His – your sins. If you will place your faith in Him today He will take your sins away – He will forgive you and save you and make you new in Himself and give you His life which is the eternal life.
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