Sermon #1583[1]                                                                    Miscellaneous Sermons

            Title:                           “Redemption Through His Blood”

            Text:                           Ephesians 1:7

            Introduction:

My message and my subject for the hour is “Redemption Through His Blood!” What a glorious subject this is! Nothing is more needful and nothing is more delightful than “redemption through his blood.” You will find my text in Ephesians 1:7.

(Ephesians 1:7) "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."

Redemption presupposes a very grave situation. It presupposes captivity, bondage, and slavery. Were we not a fallen, captive, enslaved race, there would be no need for redemption. But God’s elect, like all other people, are all children of wrath by nature. We were born…

• In captivity to sin (Psa. 58:3).
• In bondage to Satan.
• Under the curse of the law.

Redemption is the complete deliverance of chosen sinners from that captivity, bondage, and curse into the glorious liberty of the sons of God – By the purchase of His blood and the power of His grace.

Redemption is the theme of the Bible. It is promised, prophesied, portrayed, and proclaimed throughout the pages of inspiration. Everything in the Old Testament pointed to it. Everything in the New Testament explains and declares it. Everything in heaven has reference to it.

• Redemption by price – The Paschal Lamb.
• Redemption by power – The Red Sea.
• Redemption by a Kinsman – Boaz.
• Redemption by a Substitute (Isa. 53).

Redemption is the dominant theme of my thoughts in prayer, meditation, and worship. Redemption is the dominant theme of my praise and thanksgiving. Redemption is the dominant these of my conversations with men. And redemption is the dominant theme of my preaching.

E’er since by faith I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds supply,

Redeeming love has been my theme

And shall be till I die!

If I did not preach redemption, I would not preach at all. I mean, if I did not preach redemption through his blood every time I stood to preach I would not pretend to be God’s preacher! (1 Cor. 2:2).

(1 Corinthians 2:2) "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."

Illustration: “Stay right here!”

“Redemption through his blood” is the one thing you must have. Without redemption you must perish. Someone must suffer for your sins. Someone must pay for your crimes — Either you or a Subsitute. But someone must pay. Your very conscience tells you that!

Proposition: I am here to tell you that redemption has been accomplished, purchased, and obtained for chosen sinners through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all who trust him have it.

Divisions: I want to show you six things plainly declared in this verse of Holy Scripture about “Redemption Through His Blood.”

1.    The Purchaser of redemption – “In Whom.”

2.    The objects of redemption – “We.”

3.    The fact of redemption – “We have.”

4.    The price of redemption – “His blood.”

5.    The result of redemption – “The forgiveness of sins.”

6.    The cause of redemption – “The riches of His grace.”

I. The Purchaser of redemption is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Notice those first words, “In Whom.” All the blessings of God’s free grace for time and eternity are in Christ, “In Whom we have redemption through his blood!”

A.    Christ is the Author of it.

B.    He was called and appointed to be our Redeemer in eternity in the Covenant of Grace, and freely agreed to it (Psa. 40).

C.    In the fullness of time he was sent to accomplish the redemption of a chosen multitude (Gal. 4:4-6).

D.    Jesus Christ, as our near Kinsman, had the right and the ability to redeem us (Heb. 2:9-16).

E.    “With his own blood he entered once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for us!” (Heb. 9:12).

1. Redemption is His – He did it! He obtained it! He owns it!
2. It resides in Him.
3. He is made of God unto us redemption by divine imputation (1 Cor. 1:30).

II. The objects of redemption are God’s elect, “we” who are actually redeemed!

NOTICE: Paul says, “In whom we have redemption through his blood.” Everywhere the Bible speaks about redemption, it speaks of it as an effectual work of Christ accomplished for a specific people (Rev. 5:9; Isa. 53:10-12; Gal. 3:13-14).

(Isaiah 53:10-12) "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (11) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (12) Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

(Galatians 3:13-14) "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

(Revelation 5:9) "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;"

Who are the “we” in this text? Who are those people redeemed by the blood of Christ? We are not left to guess and speculate about this. Just read the chapter. It tells us exactly who the “we” are who have “redemption through his blood.”

A.    All who were blessed in verse 3.

B.    All who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world in verse 4.

C.    All who were “predestinated unto the adoption of children” in verse 5.

D.    All who are “accepted in the Beloved” in verse 6.

E.    All who are forgiven of all sin in verse 7.

F.     All who have obtained the inheritance of grace in verse 11.

G.    All who have faith in Christ in verse 13.

H.    All who are sealed in grace by the Spirit of God and have the earnest of the inheritance in verse 14.

Universal redemption is universal non-sense! We preach an effectual Savior who has obtained and in whom we have an effectual redemption.

III. Thirdly, Paul shows us the fact of redemption — “In whom we have redemption through his blood!”

Redemption is the present, everlasting possession of every believer. It is not something we hope to have. It is something we have right now! Being redeemed, I am right now and forever..

A.    Freed from Sin (1 John 3:5; Rom. 6:18).

(Romans 6:18) "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."

(1 John 3:5) "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin."

B.    Freed from Satan (Rom. 6).

C.    Freed from the Law (Rom. 7:1-4; Rom. 8:1).

(Romans 7:1-4) "Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? (2) For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. (3) So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. (4) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God."

(Romans 8:1) "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

D.    A Possessor of Everlasting Life!

IV. Here is the price of our redemption – “His blood!” – “In whom we have redemption through his blood!” Let’s talk about his blood for a minute.

A.      His blood represents his life sacrificed for us – “The life of the flesh is in the blood.”

B.      His blood is a man’s blood – Man sinned. Man must suffer!

C.      His blood is God’s blood (Acts 20:28).

(Acts 20:28) "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

1. Infinite in merit!
2. Omnipotent in power!
3. Omnipresent in efficacy!

D.      His blood is enough!

Payment God cannot twice demand,

First at my bleeding Surety’s hand,

And then again at mine.

E.      His blood is covenant blood (Heb. 13:20).

(Hebrews 13:20) "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant."

F.       His blood is eternal blood (Rev. 13:8; 1 Pet. 1:18-20).

(1 Peter 1:18-20) "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (20) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,"

(Revelation 13:8) "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

G.      His blood is sprinkled blood (Heb. 9:12-14).

(Hebrews 9:12-14) "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (13) For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: (14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

1. In heaven!
2. In your conscience!

H.      His blood is assuring blood (Heb. 10:19-22).

(Hebrews 10:19-22) "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (20) By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (21) And having an high priest over the house of God; (22) Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

The price of our redemption was his blood! “Ye are bought with a price…!”

V. The result of redemption is “the forgiveness of sins.”

Wherever there is redemption through his blood there is the forgiveness of sins. You cannot have one without the other.

A.      Forgiveness was purchased for us by the blood of Christ.

B.      Forgiveness is given to us upon the merit of his blood.

C.     Forgiveness is ours in exactly the same sense that it is Christ’s. He was released from the load and from the charge of sin when he had fully paid the debt of sin, and so are we.

1.    God has forgiven us of all past sins.

2.    He has forgiven us of all present sins.

3.    He has forgiven us of all future sins.

·      He has removed them from us (Psa. 103:12).

(Psalms 103:12) "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."

·      He casts them into the depths of the sea.

·      He blotted them out (Isa. 43:25).

(Isaiah 43:25) "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."

·      He will not impute them to us (Rom. 4:8).

(Romans 4:8) "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

·      He has purged them away!

·      He will not remember them against us forever!

·      He will never deal with us any the less graciously because of our sins.

VI. The cause of redemption is “the riches of his grace.” — “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”

A.    Grace planned it.

B.    Grace provided it.

C.   Grace performed it.

D.   Grace applies it.

E.    Grace will complete it – Resurrection!

F.    Grace will have the praise of it.

Application: I call upon you to trust the Lord Jesus Christ our great Redeemer.

I press upon you and myself, my brothers and sisters, the claims of his blood (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

(1 Corinthians 6:19-20) "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

‘Twas not to make Jehovah’s love

Towards the sinner flame,

That Jesus from His throne above

A suffering Man became.

‘Twas not the death that He endured,

Nor all the pangs He bore

That God’s eternal love procured,

For God was love before.

He loved the world of His elect

With love surpassing thought;

Nor will His mercy e’er neglect

The souls so dearly bought!

The warm affections of His breast

Towards His chosen burn,

And in His love He’ll ever rest,

Nor from His oath return.”

Amen.

Don Fortner

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