KEY TEXT
Psalm 103:1-6 (NKJV)– 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
INTRODUCTION
- Illustration of God’s Redemptive Love
Lessons:
We were all like Gomer.
We were far from God.
We were playing the harlot with idols.
We were slaves to sin.
But Jesus came looking for us.
He paid the price of His own blood to secure our REDEMPTION.
Recap
Part 1
- God’s heart is redemptive in nature.
- God never quits on what He starts.
- He loves and saves to the uttermost no matter what the cost.
- We are called to be like Him, and hence our approach to life situation and to the problems we face must be REDEMPTIVE as well.
- Definition of REDEMPTION:
WHEN SOMETHING DEVIATES FROM ITS ORGINAL PLAN AND DESIGN, AND IS RECOVERED AND RESTORED, WE CALL IT REDEMPTION.
Title
“THE REDEMPTIVE HEART OF GOD (II)” – THE NATURE OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE WORK.
Outline:
- Explanation of the Key Text
- Who our Redeemer is
- How our Redeemer goes about with His redemptive work
(The nature of God’s redemptive work)
- The Gospel of Grace
MAIN POINTS
(I) EXPLANATION OF OUR KEY TEXT
Psalm 103:1-6 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
- A personal and universal celebration of God’s blessings, namely, HIS REDEEMING LOVE.
- His redeeming love comes upon the believers in the form of:
- Forgiveness
- Healing
- Deliverance/redemption
- Love
- Mercy
- Provision for His people
- To bless the Lord and remember His goodness
- A renewed sense of GRATITUDE AND HOPE.
(II) WHO OUR REDEEMER IS
Do you know who your Redeemer is?
Few declarations on who our Redeemer is.
My Redeemer lives (Job 19:25).
My Redeemer is the LORD, the King of Israel, the First and the Last (Isaiah 44:6).
My Redeemer is the God of the whole earth (Isaiah 54:5).
My Redeemer has the whole world in His hands (Isaiah 44:24).
My Redeemer is strong; The LORD of hosts is His name. (Jeremiah 50:34).
My Redeemer is my Father, the Eternal One (Isaiah 63:16).
My Redeemer is the Most High God and my Rock (Psalm 78:35).
My Redeemer displays His mercy and everlasting kindness towards me (Isaiah 54:8).
My Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel and He will help me (Isaiah 41:14).
My Redeemer is mighty, He will plead my case (Proverbs 23:11, Jeremiah 50:34).
My Redeemer teaches me to succeed and leads me in the path I should go (Isaiah 48:17).
My Redeemer turns things around in my favor and causes the unexpected to happen (Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 60:16).
(III) THE NATURE OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE WORK
How does God go about with His redemptive work?
#1 – God’s Redemptive Work is Motivated by a Constant, Unyielding Love that Knows No Limits
Jeremiah 31:1-4 (NKJV)– 1 “At the same time,” says the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.” 2 Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness Israel, when I went to give him rest.” 3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
- God’s enduring love for Israel
- assurance of RESTORATION and REBUILDING.
- His love is EVERLASTING
- His lovingkindness.
- Promises to REBUILD Israel and RETURN them to their land, implying a joyful
Returning to their land = Returning to where they originally belong = returning to their original design – definition of redemption.
Redemption has many subsets:
REDEMPTION
RECOVERING REGAINING RESTORING RELEASING REBUILDINGBEAUTIFYING HEALING RENEWING REVIVING RESURRECTING
Hosea 14:1-7 (NKJV) – 1 O Israel, return to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; 2 Take words with you, And return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. 3 Assyria shall not save us, We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’ For in You the fatherless finds mercy.” 4 “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; He shall grow like the lily, And lengthen his roots like Lebanon. 6 His branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, And his fragrance like Lebanon. 7 Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain And grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
- The call is for Israel to repent and return to God.
- promises FORGIVENESS, RESTORATION AND BLESSING for those who turn away from idolatry and foreign alliances, embracing God’s grace and mercy.
The great plan of redemption is one that is motivated by God’s UNYIELDING LOVE.
Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Let’s therefore learn to be:
SECURE IN GOD’S LOVE FOR US
He loves us no matter how much we have messed up and how bad things may have become.
HE LOVES US NOT MATTER HOW MUCH WE HAVE MESSED UP AND HOW BAD THINGS MAY HAVE BECOME.
GOD’S LOVE AND CARE FOR YOU IS SECURE BECAUSE IT DOES NOT DEPEND ON YOUR FAITHFULNESS BUT ON HIS.
Questions: Have you messed up badly? What are the suggestions in your mind by the devil? Renounce that and stand secure in the love of God for you.
#2 – God’s Redemptive Work is Supernatural, But Includes Our Cooperation
God reaches out to redeem us, but we must RESPOND and COOPERATE with Him in receiving His redemptive work in our lives.
How do we cooperate with Him?
REPENTANCE
God’s redemptive work seeks repentance because of His goodness
Romans 2:4 – Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
You repent because it is the goodness of the Lord that leads you into repentance. Not because of your own humility or decision. Repentance is a gift of God.
FAITH
We must have faith in what He can do for our lives to redeem us.
Psalm 27:13 – I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.
PATIENCE
Psalm 40:1-3 (NKJV) – 1 I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. 3 He has put a new song in my mouth— Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear and will trust in the LORD.
Psalm 40:1-3 (TPT) – I waited and waited and waited some more, patiently, knowing God would come through me. Then, at last, he bent down and listened to my cry. He stooped down to lift me out of danger from the desolate pit I was in, out of the muddy mess I had fallen into.
- embracing PATIENCE during seasons of waiting, focusing on trusting GOD’S TIMINGand recognizing the work while we wait.
- patience is a fruit of the Spirit, developed through faith and reliance on God.
- Patience is AN ACTIVE TRUST IN GOD’S PLAN, EVEN WHEN WE DON’T UNDERSTAND IT.
Illustration: A centipede
Patience:
- teaches us to wait
- teaches is to remember that God is still in charge.
- reminds us that God isn’t finished yet
- we cannot produce patience by ourselves
- is developed as we mature in our Christian faith
- is the fruit that grows as a natural result of our relationship with God.
- is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).
- is a fruit that God will grow.
- And He grows that fruit as we grow in Him.
The most important step we can take to develop patience is to GIVE GOD CONTROL OF OUR LIFE.
#3 – God’s Redemptive Work Includes Discipline and In Some Cases Judgment, When Necessary
God disciplines those whom He loves.
His discipline is loving correction, intended for our well-being and not for our destruction.
It comes from a redemptive heart, seeking to redeem us from our own folly.
The “judgment” here for Christian is different from that for an unbeliever.
When we Christians are “judged by the Lord, we are DISCIPLINED so that we may not be condemned along with the world” (1 Cor 11:32).
It is a redemptive judgment.
Hebrews 12:5-11 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “MY SON, DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD, NOR BE DISCOURAGED WHEN YOU ARE REBUKED BY HIM; 6 FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS, AND SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
God corrects us through His Word, through the work of His Spirit, through people around us, sometimes through situations He orchestrates, for our good.
Forms of God’s Discipline:
ROUGH HANDLING
Psalm 66:6-12 – He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot – come, let us rejoice in him. He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations – let not the rebellious rise up against him. Praise our God, all people, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water; but you brought us to a place of abundance.
In Psalm 66:6-12, the Psalmist praises God for letting so many bad things happen to him and the people of God.
God is seen as present in every one of the sufferings that are listed in these verses.
He “preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping” in the midst of affliction (verse 9).
He is the one behind the prison, the burdens, the oppression, all summed up as going “through the fire and water.”
But God allows them in order to refine us into something precious, great and beautiful (verse 10).
Just as Joseph seemed to be HANDLING HIS BROTHERS ROUGHLY – but only as a way of breaking the ice over their hearts and saving them (Genesis 42) – so GOD’S SEEMING ROUGH HANDLING IS ALWAYS A GRACE.
In His infinite love and wisdom, God has allowed you to be ROUGH HANDLED BY LIFE OR PEOPLE because it is PROFITABLE FOR YOU.
BROKEN BONES
After being rebuked by Nathan for his sin of adultery and murder, David wrote Psalm 51 as his penitent prayer to God.
Psalm 51:8 (ESV)- Let the bones you have broken rejoice.
The image of a broken bones in this psalm is not necessarily literal.
It rather symbolizes a person’s emotional, spiritual, or even physical brokenness, or a time of intense pain and suffering.
So, Psalm 51:8 is a plea for a restoration and renewal, particularly after a period of pain and suffering, whether physical or spiritual.
The phrase signifies a desire for joy and wholeness to return after a time of brokenness.
God’s care comes in many forms.
HE CARES ENOUGH TO BREAK YOUR BONES IN ORDER TO RECAPTURE YOUR HEART.
Poem:
I wish your care was always easy,
Predictable, safe –
A cool drink
A soft pillow –
But you are too wise,
Too loving
Too committed to your work of
Transforming grace
So your gracious care comes to me
In uncomfortable forms:
The REDEEMING CARE of
Disappointments
The unexpected trial,
Suffering, loss,
These things don’t tell me you’re cold hearted,
Absent,
Uninvolved,
No, each is a sign of
Zealous grace,
REDEEMING LOVE.
I struggle to grasp how much you care,
So I struggle to rest in that
Care
You care enough to give me what I
NEED,
Not what I want.
You care enough to BREAK MY BONES
In order
TO RECAPTURE MY HEART
Nobody likes his bones to be broken.
But this is a very necessary loving disciplinary act, which is redemptive (it leads to restoration and a pure heart).
Illustration: Shepherd breaking the lamb’s leg
DETOURS
A detour is an unplanned, often unexpected, shift in the route we were taking to get where we were trying to go.
Few of us like to be stalled for any reason.
But detours are necessary if any improvement is going to be made on the paths we travel or if any wreck is going to be cleaned up or hazard avoided.
Detours are designed for our own good, regardless of how we view or feel about them.
They are a good thing that often feels bad.
Divinely designed detours in our lives are also POSITIVE INTERUPTIONS designed to divert us to a better path so that we might have the opportunity to reach our destination.
E.g. Joseph (Gen 37)
13 years of detour.
Before you can ever get to where God wants you to be, He has to do some TWISTS AND TURNS.
In life, as it is often on the road, detours exist because CONSTRUCTION IS TAKING PLACE.
When you are on a highway and there is a detour, it is usually because workers are trying to fix, build, correct or improve something.
SIMILARLY, GOD WILL TAKE US ON A DETOUR BECAUSE HE IS CONSTRUCTING SOMETHING IN OUR LIVES AS WELL.
Detours are anything but convenient.
They take you out of the way.
They are longer than you originally had planned to travel.
But they are NECESSARY.
GOD IS MORE INTERESTED IN YOUR DEVELOPMENT THAN YOUR ARRIVAL.
He cares more for your CHARACTER than you COMFORT, more for your PURITY than your PRODUCTIVITY.
Questions: How is God disciplining you now? Through rough handling, broken bones or detours?
Even His divine disciplinary dealings are expressed with mercy.
Isaiah 54:8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the LORD, your Redeemer.
#4 – God’s Redemptive Work Not Only Restores Us to Our Former State, But Elevates Us to a Realm Far Greater Than the Beginning.
JOSEPH
Genesis 41:51,52 51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.” 52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
Manasseh -From hurts to forgiveness and reconciliation
Ephraim -From prisoner to double fruitfulness
From PIT to a PRIME MINISTER
JOB
His suffering was nothing compared to the 140 years of double blessing he enjoyed.
Job 42:10 – And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Job 42:12 Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.
Job 42:16 – After this Job lived one hundred and forty years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations.
Job 42:17 -So Job died, old and full of days.
THE PRODIGAL SON
What the father did for the prodigal son when he returned home was something he had never done before for either of his sons. We infer this from the way the older son reacted in Luke 15:29.
THE GREAT PLAN OF REDEMPTION
We are not only brought into God’s family, but made heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, something the first man Adam did not experience.
(IV) THE GOSPEL OF GRACE
None of us can escape the redemptive works of God through discipline.
All of us sooner or later will be rough handled by life or people; broken by life or people and being detoured by the twist and turns in life.
It is hard to be disciplined by God because while we are in it, it seems as if God is “angry” with us.
Good news:
CHRIST’S SACRIFICE SATISFIED THE FATHER’S ANGER SO THAT, AS HIS CHILD, YOU WILL RECEIVE HIS DISCIPLINE BUT NEED NOT FEAR HIS WRATH.
It is the bottom line of your acceptance with God. It is the foundational reason why GRACE is your only hope.
JESUS FULLY AND COMPLETELY SATISIFED THE FATHER’S ANGER SO THAT YOU AND I WILL NEVER EVER AGAIN FACE THE PENALTY FOR OUR SIN.
You do not have to live in fear of God’s anger.
On your very worst, most rebellious and most faithless day, you can run into the holy presence of your Heavenly Father and He will not turn you away.
Your acceptance has not been, nor will it ever be, based on your PERFORMANCE.
You have not been welcomed into an eternal relationship with God because you have kept the law, but because Jesus did.
If you obey God for a thousand years, you will not have earned more of His acceptance than you were granted the very first moment you believed.
Here’s how radical the gospel of grace really is – you do not have to be something before God because Jesus accomplished everything on your behalf.
Since you are God’s child and He loves you dearly, He disciplines you.
But in the face of His loving discipline, a very important distinction needs to be made.
His discipline is NOT PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR SIN, because all of your punishment has been borne by your Savior, Jesus.
Rather than being PUNITIVE, His father discipline is TRANSFORMATIVE.
It is designed to change your heart. It is one of the tools God uses to propel and ultimately to complete His agenda of grace.
His discipline is not teaching you what to do to earn your place as one of His children; His careful, loving discipline actually proves that you are one of His children (Hebrews 12:7-11).
So, God’s discipline is an INSTRUMENT OF HIS GRACE.
It is a continuation of His redemptive work of personal heart-and-life transformation.
GOD’S DISCIPLINE IS NOT HIM TURNING HIS ANGRY BACK ON US.
IT IS GOD TURNING HIS FACE OF GRACE TOWARDS US ONCE AGAIN AND HE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THIS UNTIL HIS GRACE HAS FINISHED ITS WORK.
TILL HE COMES, WE ARE STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
So, for now we should repent, have faith in His redemptive power and be patient.
Now we know that the discipline of God is not punitive but transformative, not fatal but redemptive, we can now see clearer the redeeming love of God which should furnish us more than 10,000 reasons to bless our God.
God is redeeming our life – bringing us back to His original design and better still, elevating us to a realm far greater than the beginning
Romans 8:17- And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him that we may also be GLORIFIED WITH HIM.
CONCLUSION
What is it that you want God to redeem in your life?
God’s redemptive work is motivated by a constant, unyielding love that knows no limits Be assured of His love for you. He loves you still even in your mess.
God’s redemptive work is supernatural, but includes our cooperation. Cooperate with God to see His power release, restore, heal by repenting, believing and waiting with patience.
God’s redemptive work includes discipline and in some cases judgment, when necessary. If there are things you need to correct, do so. Yield to God’s correction. Don’t resist it. Fear not his discipline. It is not fatal or punitive but transformative.
God’s redemptive work not only restores us to our former state but elevates us to a realm far greater than the beginning. Expect greater glory.
