Word Studies

Redemption

I. Understanding the Word:
A. In the Old Testament there are three Hebrew words that are sometimes translated redeem in their verb forms.
1. The word ga’al (gaw-al') means to redeem, deliver, avenge, or act as a kinsman”.
2. This word or variations of it, is used 90 times in the Old Testament.
3. When Jacob blessed Joseph’s children, he uses this word when he says, “The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil.”
4. The idea is that God has delivered him from all harm.
5. If an Israelite became boor and had to sell himself or his property, a near relative could redeem him (Leviticus 25:25, 48-49; Ruth 2:20)
B. Sometimes this word means “to avenge”.
1. 12 times in the Old Testament it is used in the sense of the “avenger of blood” (Numbers 35:12, 19, 21: Exodus 29:24, 27).
2. Tis person would be a near relative who would execute justice by executing the murder of the victim.
3. The word most often used to describe what God does (Exodus 6:6; 15:13; Psalm 77:15; 78:35).
4. Isaiah makes frequent use of the word, as in Isaiah 43:1.
But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. (Isaiah 43:1)
5. Sometimes the word is used of physical redemption as well as spiritual deliverance.
6. You will find such thoughts in Psalm 69:18 and Psalm 103: 2, 4.
C. A second word for redeem is padah (paw-daw').
1. It means that someone intervenes on behalf of another.
2. When Saul would have killed his son Jonathan, “the people rescued (redeemed) Jonathan, so that he did not ide” (1 Samuel 14:45).
3. According to Exodus 21:8 and Leviticus 19:20, slaves could be redeemed.
4. This would involve money.
5. It also involves “redemption money” (Numbers 3:44-51) to redeem the firstborn sons of Israelites, whom God claimed for Himself.
6. When the word is used to describe God, it means that He liberates human beings.
7. Sometimes He redeems individuals (Isaiah 29:22; 1 Kings 1:29: Psalm 21:5; 71:23), but most often He is described as redeeming Israel.
8. The word is used only once to describe being freed from sin (Psalm 130:8).
D. A third word that is used for redeem is kapar (kaw-far').
1. It means “to ransom, atone, expiate, propitiate.”
2. Kapar basically means a material transaction or ransom.
3. It is often translated as “atone, forgive, or pardon” (Deuteronomy 32:43; 2 Chronicles 30:18; Jeremiah 18:23).
4. Most often, it describes the sacrificial rites of the priests.
E. The word ge’ullah is the noun form of ga’al (gaw-al').
1. It is used to describe deliverance of things or people who had been sold for debt (Leviticus 25:24, 48).
2. The word pedut (ped-ooth') is the noun form of padah.
3. It means “ransom or redemption” (Pslam 111:9).
F. In the New Testament the word redemption comes from the Greek words lutrosis and apolutrosis.
1. The second word is simply a strengthened form of the first and simply means “a deliverance or a releasing”.
2. It always carries the idea of a price paid, a by a lutron (something to loosen with) (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10: 45).
3. One verb that is translated redeemed is exagorazo, (ex-ag-or-ad'-zo) which means “to buy”.

II. Reading the Word:
A. Leviticus 25:23-32 contains a description of redemption when God gives the commandments surrounding the sale of land and the year of Jubilee.
1. The key Hebrew root for the concept of redemption in this passage is ga’al.
2. 2 Samuel 7:22-23 describes the redeeming work of God in making a nation for Himself and delivering that nation from Israel, using the language deriving from the Hebrew root padah.
3. Deuteronomy 32:43 depicts the vengeance of God and atonement for His people.
4. Look for the Hebrew term kapar (kaw-far') {H3722 vs. 43 merciful}
B. As far as the New Testament goes, Titus 2:14 uses a Greek cognate of lutroo as He describes God redeeming Christians from every lawless deed.
1. When Paul describes our redemption through the blood of Christ in Ephesians 1:7-8, he uses the term apolutrosin.
2. Look for the word exagorazo (ex-ag-or-ad'-zo) in Paul’s discussion of Christ’s redemption in Galatians 3:13-14. {G1850 vs. 13 redeemed}

III. Preaching the Word:
A. Illustration:
1. You may never have heard of Nicholas Winton.
2. He died in 2015 at the age of 106.
3. In 1938, he decided to skip a vacation to Switzerland just to help a friend who had called him from Czechoslovakia.
4. When he arrived, he found that hundreds of Jewish children were destined to be transported to Nazi death camps.
5. Working quickly, he organized the rescue of 669 children.
6. He found homes for the children and arranged for their safe passage to Britain.
7. The world would not find out about his work until 40 years later in 1988.
8. It was then that the surviving children made their way to London to honor Winton at a surprise gathering.
9. As they stood and applauded, Winton cried.
10. A statue of Winton carrying one child and walking with another child stands today at the main railway station in Prague.
11. His rescue of the children is all about redemption.
B. Illustration:
1. Sergeant Dennis Weichel was a U.S. soldier who in March 2012 give his own life to save an Afghan girl.
2. Weichel, a Rhode Island National Guardsman, was riding along in a convoy in Laghman Province in eastern Afghanistan when some children were spotted on the road ahead.
3. The children were picking up shell casings lying on the road.
4. As many of us know, the casings are recycled for money in Afghanistan.
5. Weichel and other soldiers in the convoy got out of their vehicles to get them out of the way of the heavy trucks in the convoy.
6. The children were moved out of the way, but an Afghan girl darted back onto the road to pick up some more casings that lay underneath a passing MRAP, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle.
7. The huge armored trucks weigh 16 tons and are designed to protect the troops they carry from roadside bombs.
8. Weichel spotted the girl and quickly moved toward her to get her out of the way.
9. He succeeded, but not before he was run over by the heavily armored truck.
10. The girl was safe, but Weichel later die of his injuries.
11. He gave his life to save hers.
12. That’s redemption.
C. Illustration:
1. NBC News reported the following story on January 22, 2014:
2. An eight-year-old boy is credited with saving six people for the fire that ultimately claimed his life.
3. Lynette Adams of NBC station WHEC of Rochester, N.Y., reports:
a. A New York town Wednesday was grieving the death of an 8-year-pold boy who’s credited with saving the lives of six people in a roaring trailer fire, only to lose his own when he went back in to try to rescue his disabled uncle.
b. “I have cried so much, I’ve cried so much it just doesn’t seem real”: said Crystal Vrooman, the mom of Tyler Doohan, who died Monday morning after the trailer, where he was staying overnight, went up in flames.
c. “It’s just hard. I am never going to see him again.”
4. Tyler was a fourth-grader at East Rochester Elementary School, didn’t have class on Monday- a holiday- so he was sleeping over with several other people at his grandfather’s trailer.
5. The trailer caught fire about 4:45 a.m. probably because of an electrical problem, the Penfield Fire Company said.
6. Tyler went through the trailer and was able to wake six people – including two other kids, ages 4 and 6 – who all made it out alive.
7. But then Tyler went back in to try to help his uncle Steven Smith, who used a wheelchair because he’d lost part of a leg.
8 They didn’t make it out.
9. redemption is all about rescue.
10. Sometimes it’s costly.

IV. Redeemers are in High Demand Ruth 4:13-17
A. There is a reason that the Bible is still the #1 bestselling book on the market, especially in a postmodern society.
1. The Bible is filled with every type genre imaginable.
2. The book of Ruth has all of the makings of a #1 bestseller that would also result in a blockbuster movie.
3. The story will have the reader crying, laughing, and sitting on the edge of his or her seat because there is suspense at every turn.
B. The plot of the story covers the life of Naomi.
1. She and her family leave their home in Bethlehem because of a famine.
2. They flee to Moab, but after a certain amount of time passes, her husband and two sons die, leaving her a widow with two widowed daughters-in-law.
3. When Naomi hears that the famine is over in Israel, she and her daughter-in-law Ruth, return to Bethlehem.
4. However, the coming harvest does not solve the issues the two now face in Israel.
5. They need a male who would provide an income.
6. During this period, that someone is called a kinsman-redeemer.
7. Boaz, the third character in this story, is that person.
8. In today’s text, the women in the village are celebrating because Naomi’s family now has a redeemer, not only in Boaz, but also in the child born to Boaz and Ruth.
C. As Matthew points out in his genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:5), Jesus comes from this fine lineage of redeemers.
1. He is in fact the greatest redeemer not only in His lineage but in all of history.
2. It is through His blood that He has bought and brought us, out of spiritual famine and emptiness, and given us a full relationship with God, just as Boaz did for Ruth and Naomi physically.
3. Jesus is the one who restores our lives and gives us nourishment in our old age.
4. He is renowned by both Jews and Gentiles because it is His redemption that has brought us together as one.
5. Reflect on your journey from a child of the world to a child of God.
6. Think back to when life was empty and think how God redeemed your and how He bought you into a spiritually full relationship with Him.

V. Best-Kept Secret Psalm 107:1-3
A. Do you like a good secret?
1. I am not talking about secrets that damage a person’s reputation, but a secret that is good news.
2. The part that we do not like about good secrets is that in its very nature we cannot tell another person.
3. However, many friends always say; “If two people know it, then it is not a secret”.
4. How many of us have failed to keep secrets?
5. For the most part it is hard to keep good news a secret.
6. Good news is meant to be shared, especially in our society where bad news is on every television channel and social media page.
B. Psalm 107 is written for the Israelites returning from their period of exile.
1. It is a wonderful psalm that extols the everlasting, covenant love that God has for His chosen people Israel.
2. The psalmist commands the exiles and all of God’s children to give thanks to Him because of His goodness and His “steadfast love” which “endures forever” (vs. 1).
3. In verse 2, the psalmist explicitly says it is the “redeemed of the Lord” who are supposed to raise their voices because they have witnessed first-hand God’s good ness and steadfast love.
4. They have been “redeemed from trouble” and brought back into the Promised Land from all four corners of the world.
5. Why not praise God for that and tell others about what He has done?
6. For the rest of Psalm 107, the psalmist provides a brief history of Israel and the troubles from which God has redeemed them.
C. As Christians, we have the greatest news ever, and it is not a secret.
1. We are commanded through Scripture to go and tell others about this news (Matthew 28:18-20)
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)
2. Israel was not a missional people, yet this text commands tells them to tell what God has done for them.
3. There is no magical script that one must recite when speaking to others about God.
4. The best way to evangelize is to begin with your story.
5. Tell the world where God has brought you from, how He did it, and that God can do it for them.
6. We need to read and understand Matthew 28:18-20, then pray that God will bring souls into our life today who need to hear the good news of Jesus.
7. Also read 2 Timothy 1:7 and pray that God will give us the courage to speak to those souls He beings into our life.

VI. A Baby’s Cry Galatians 4:1-7
A. What if you as a parent, were placed in a room with several other parents and an intercom?
1. Meanwhile, the monitor is placed in another room with your baby and several other babies.
2. If at any given time a baby cries, would you be able to know if it is your baby’s cry?
3. All parents would answer that question with a resounding yes because every baby has a very distinctive cry.
4. In the same manner, even the children of god have a distinctive cry.
B. In Galatians 4, Paul reminds the Galatians that they are no longer slaves serving under the Law of Moses or under the pleasures of this world, but they have become children of God.
1. Paul then continues to remind them that they became God’s children because Christ was sent into the world.
2. The reason why Christ came to the earth to be “born of woman” “under the Law” and then die was to redeem them and ultimately us (vs. 4).
C. His redemption allows God to adopt us and to make us His children.
1. However this adoption is more than in name only, but through the Holy Spirit He has changed our nature.
2. We are full-fledged sons and daughters of the Creator.
3. Now with a new nature and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we have a distinctive cry and an intimate relationship with God.
4. Paul says we are able to cry out, “Abba Father!” (vs. 6).
5. Abba is an Aramaic term that shows the intimacy between a child and his father.
6. It displays the type of relationship between a loving father and a dependent child.
7. Therefore, we have a distinctive way in handling the obstacles of life.
8.We know that if we cry to our Father, He hears us, will comfort us, and sustain us through our various trials and tribulations.
9. We have faith that, amidst the cries of the world, God hears and know our cries.
10. This is how we face each day and sleep in peace each night.
11. Read Mark 14:36 and Romans 8:12-16 and focus on how you need to respond to obstacles of life as a child of God with a distinctive cry.

VII. The Master Plan Ephesians 1:7-10
A. If you love American history like I do, then you probably have great memories of the NBC show “Quantum Leap”.
1. The premise of the show is basically that young Dr. Sam Beckett is sent back in modern history in order to change the outcome of historical or not-so-historical events.
2. How many of us have wished we could travel back in our own past and change the sequence of events for the better?
3. I have good news and bad news.
4. The bad news is that you cannot travel back in time, but the good news is that God’s perfect plan from the “foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4) does not need anyone to travel back in time to change the glorious future He has prepared for us.
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (Ephesians 1:4)
B. In Ephesians 1, Paul praises God because of His perfect plan.
1. Even after sending His Son, He does not have to send Him back in history to change it.
2. Paul praises God not only for acting in the past, but also for the redemptive plan that affects the present and future because of the blood of Jesus.
C. The present aspect of redemption includes the forgiveness of trespasses.
1. Paul has in mind here all of the offenses and sins that one has created up to the point of conversion, and then throughout a Christian’s life, he with confidence can have forgiveness of sins (vs. 7).
2. Furthermore, “according to the riches of His grace” God has “lavished” on believers “al wisdom and insight” (vs. 8).
3. God’s plan is not to leave you ignorant and helpless in this world.
D. What more could a Christian ask for?
1. Not only do we have gifts that result from redemption now, but also, we are working towards the redemption of all things in order to be united in Christ at the final consummation (vs. 9-10).
2. It is the future that caused God to create a perfect plan.
3. The church, which is a microcosm of Heaven, is working towards perfect unity that can only be found in Christ and be completed at the consummation of all things.
4. We have been redeemed for a brighter future.
5. Meditate and pray about the blessing of God’s plan - for the church, and your life.

VIII. Bought to Serve Titus 2:11-14
A. I heard that some of the church of Christ’s auditorium doors have two signs on them.
1. One sign reads “Enter to Worship”.
2. The other says “Depart to Serve”.
3. It seems that no one ever explained the signs to one young man or even talked to him about them.
4. Years later, he reports that after an in-depth study of Isaiah 6 he truly understood the meaning of those two signs.
B. Theology and worship are intertwined and should always lead to practical living.
1. Paul has this example in almost all of his letters in some form or fashion.
2. This is because of an in depth-study of what God has done for us through Christ - should lead us to live out our faith in this world, not only as an evangelistic tool, but because He has called us to do it.
C. In this lesson text, Paul starts off with a theological reminder that believers in Crete have been redeemed by ‘Christ and that redemption goes beyond saving man form sins.
1. Since we have been redeemed and are now able to stand before God without fear of wrath, we are a special people.
2. God has always had His special people and the church today is no different.
3. Redemption is how we are bought back to God and placed in His church.
4. Yet, we are still called to live in this world, and God has given us special instructions.
5. We are not live like the world, but “renounce all ungodliness and worldly pleasure” (vs. 12).
D. Being redeemed means we have ethical obligations in this life that guide our every move, but also we are to be “zealous for good works” (vs. 14).
1. We are not to do good works simply because they are expected from Christians, but because Christ redeemed us, and we ought to do good.
2. Being “zealous for good works” should be second nature to a Christian.
3. It is to be done without thinking about what self is going to get out of it.
4. God has called us to be a special people who are “zealous for good works.”
5. Take time to reflect on the good works that you have done this week and evaluate the motive behind them.
6. Furthermore, if you have had a hard time remembering them, you must evaluate to see if this is because good works are second nature, or if you missed some opportunities to do good works.

By Gary D. Murphy

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