LOVE REDEEMS

Nehemiah 3:15-5:13; 1 Corinthians 7:25-40; Psalm 32:1-11; Proverbs 21:5-7

“‘At the meeting I said to them, ‘We are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?’ And they had nothing to say in their defense. Then I pressed further, ‘What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of charging interest. You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. And repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.’ They replied, ‘We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say.’”

“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
 For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.”

The tomb is open. The Body is gone. The anguish and pain of Friday’s loss and Saturday’s mourning have been magnificently transformed into joyous celebration! He lives! Christ is alive! The price for our sins has been paid, and our Lord has redeemed us. By His blood, He has brought us back into the family of God. With His stripes, we have been healed. We can be sure of our eternal redemption because Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!

Of the many things love does and is capable of doing, none can hold a candle to love’s work of redemption. Nothing, save love, would or even could take a wretched sinner bound up in frustration and failure and transform her into a new, spotlessly clean saint free to live in victory. Nothing, besides love, can get past the pain to forgive the injury. Nothing, other than love, is capable of seeing beyond the twisted emptiness of a tortured heart and mind, and only love can free the enslaved soul that cries for release within. Love redeems because love forgives; love redeems because love does not judge; and love redeems because love protects and surrounds others with victory. But mainly, love redeems because there is no debt or obligation associated with it. Everything love does is freely given without cost to us, because the price of our redemption has already been paid by the Great Redeemer Himself, Jesus Christ.

Love also redeems because it changes people. We are given new hearts and, sometimes, new visions, missions and/or goals to go with them. It is just not possible to truly experience love and not be transformed in some way. When we are loved, we cannot remain the same individuals we were before love entered our lives. Consider, for example, how “the two shall become one” as a result of marriage the way God intended it. Remember this: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, the new has come.” What love touches, love changes and so redeems. Love does not change by way of guilt, but because of opportunity. Love searches tirelessly for ways to build up and fulfill lives, and when the chance comes, love never hesitates. It transforms. Sometimes, the change love works is as dramatic as re-creation. Sometimes, it’s the equivalent of a minor adjustment. However it happens, nothing touched by love is ever quite the same. We are all at least left with at least a bit of those who love us to carry around. Those bits become a part of who we are. If a wife can so change a husband or a child a parent – and believe me, they can! – then the change to be wrought by the Holy Spirit’s touch on our lives really is awesome.

Most of us can only imagine what it might be like to live a guilt-free life. We do not appreciate our need to be redeemed, or to be set free from guilt’s prison. Probably, we do not recognize how thoroughly guilt has riddled our lives and undermined our self-image. We have become accustomed to living with guilt as an unavoidable burden, so we try manfully to just grin and bear it.

Oh, brothers and sisters, Christ desires so much more for us! There is a more excellent way to live, and today it is offered without condition or price. All we need do is accept the invitation of our Lord to literally live in love with Him, now and for eternity. He will graciously do to us and through us things we could never do on our own. He will redeem us from our very selves! No more need self-interest define the limits of our relationships. We have something far greater to share, something that actually allows us to grow outside ourselves! Because Christ lives, we have love. Because we have love, we can share ourselves and our Savior with others. We, too, have the ability and opportunity to redeem our brothers and sisters through the Holy Spirit’s power, Christ’s sacrifice and God’s grace.

Why is anyone still sitting around reading this? Go into the world and make all persons His disciples! We have been transformed by the power of His redeeming love and grace. And we, the redeemed ones, are God’s Plan A for bringing all His children Home. There’s a world of Good News today. The world could use it! Let us be quick to share.