Redeemer

A redeemer redeems.

According to Merriam Webster’s it means

…to buy back, free from distress or captivity.

…to help overcome something.

…to release from blame, change for the better.

…to remove the obligation of pay, exchange something of value.

… to offset the bad effect.

… to make worthwhile.

The Redeemer buys us back, frees us from ourselves, helps us overcome. He releases our blame, changes for the better, and removes any obligation we have to pay the debt back. He exchanges the invaluable for great value, offsets the bad effects of all our wrong, and makes us worthwhile.

There’s no better news than this.

Newell’s words capture my attention.

Redemption, therefore, can be understood in terms of a setting free, a releasing of what we essentially are. For Pelagius, the redemption that Christ brings is such a liberation, a freeing of the good that is in us, indeed at the very heart of life.

J. Philip Newell, Listening for the Hearbeat of God

Redemption is not the world’s way. Debts must be repaid. Value is something earned. Bad decisions come with bad effects. Yet the very name Redeemer turns this way of thinking and living upside down.

Let me ask you… what redeeming work are you needing? Are you all tied up trying to exact redemption in your own power?

Oh friends, me too. Today, if only for a moment, why don’t we leave the redeeming to the Redeemer and allow who we are to unfold. Let’s free the Holy Spirit good in us to move and be in a world desperate for redemption. Let’s show the world those who the Son sets free, are free indeed!

 

 

**Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash