KEY TEXT
Job 33:19-24 (NJKV) – 19 “Man is also chastened with pain on his kbed,
And with strong pain in many of his bones,
20 lSo that his life abhors mbread,
And his soul 4succulent food.
21 His flesh wastes away from sight,
And his bones stick out which once were not seen.
22 Yes, his soul draws near the Pit,
And his life to the executioners.
23 “If there is a messenger for him,
A mediator, one among a thousand,
To show man His uprightness,
24 Then He is gracious to him, and says,
‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit;
I have found 5a ransom’;
INTRODUCTION
- Digital age of instant information
- Recap
Three-part sermon – THE REDEMPTIVE HEART OF GOD
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 situations and to the problems we face must be redemptive as well.
- When something deviates from its original plan and design, and is recovered and restored, we call it redemption.
Part II
- It is important for us to understand the nature of God’s redemptive acts -how He goes about His redemptive work
-His redemptive work is motivated by a constant, unyielding love that knows no limits
-His redemptive work is supernatural but includes our cooperation like repentance, faith and patience
-His redemptive work includes discipline [rough handling, broken bones and detours] and in some cases judgment, when necessary
-His redemptive work not only restores us to our former state, but elevates us to a realm far greater than the beginning.
- Title
THE REDEMPTIVE HEART OF GOD (III) – THE ELEMENTS IN GOD’S REDEMPTIVE PROCESS.
The outline:
- Explanation of our Key Text
- The Key elements in God’s redemptive process
- The Ultimate Redemptive Sacrifice
MAIN POINTS
(I) EXPLANATION OF THE KEY TEXT
Elihu uses the concept of a “ransom” or “redemption” to describe a PROCESS where a person facing death is delivered from the pit (a place of darkness and decay) through DIVINE INTERVENTION.
The “ransom” is a figurative price paid to set the person free, highlighting the need for mercy and a mediator.
Redemption always involves a ransom or a sacrifice to buy us back from Satan, our slave master; to buy us back from our sin and folly.
Highlights God’s compassion and provision for those in suffering.
If a person has a messenger (potentially a wise person, a spiritual guide or even a spiritual messenger) who can show them God’s way, then God is gracious to them, saying, “Deliver him from going down the pit; I have found a ransom” (verse 24).
Application:
We are all like that sick man on his death bed
We had been chastened with a fatal disease called SIN.
Left to ourselves, we were all emaciated in our soul and spirit, heading to the pit of hell in death.
Unless God sent a messenger, a mediator and a wise man to show us the way.
The good news:
“I HAVE FOUND A RANSOM – Jesus Christ, My Son. He is my Messenger. He is your Mediator. He is your Wise Man to instruct you the way to Me. And Jesus took your place to be that emaciated, sin-sick man on the death bed called the CROSS, to pay for your sins so that He can redeem (buy us back) you from going down the pit.”
GOD THE FATHER FOUND THE RANSOM IN HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.
Question: How many of you are literally or figuratively in a pit today?
Jesus, our Redeemer is able to “deliver you from going down to the Pit…so that your flesh shall be young like a child’s; you shall return to the days of your youth; you shall pray to God and He will delight in you; You shall see His face with joy, For He restores to man His righteousness….He will redeem your soul from going down to the Pit, and your life shall see the light.” (Job 33:24-28)
(II) THE KEY ELEMENTS IN GOD’S REDEMPTIVE PROCESS
God’s redemptive acts is a process.
It is not immediate, though it is not impossible.
4 elements in the redemptive process of God
# 1 – TIME
God unfolds His redemptive work in the FULLNESS OF TIME.
God was and is always at work.
The specifics of His redemptive work take place in the fullness of time
Kairos (in Greek)- time.
Great Plan of Salvation
Galatians 4:4,5 (NKJV) – 4 But when the fullness of the time (kairos) had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
In the great plan of salvation, 4000 years went by before God sent His Son to carry out His redemptive provision.
Eternal Purpose
Ephesians 1:9,10 (NKJV) – 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times (kairos) He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
Kairos is Greek word for:
- “set, proper, opportune time or season”.
- Time when things are ripe.”
God works at the opportune time.
E.g. Job (James 5:7-11)
Joseph (Ps 105:19)
God works according to times and seasons (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Therefore, when it seems like nothing is happening, we must believe that God is still at work.
The God who works in the light also works in the shadows.
His sovereign power and redeeming care are not always clear but we ought not think that He is absent, distant, inactive or uncaring.
The assumption that we can’t see evidence of His presence or care does not mean He is not present and at work.
E.g. The Book of Esther
Application: You may not always see God’s hand, but you can rest assured that your Lord never ceases working for your good and His glory.
Even though His name might not appear to be plastered all over your story, He is with you, in you and for you – and that is the reason to rest in His care and trust in His redemptive power.
The Day of Visitation
Scriptures talk about the “day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12).
A woman in the church at Thyatira, the Lord said, “I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent” (Revelation 2:21).
The city of Jerusalem – the Lord Jesus wept over it because the people failed to recognize their “time of visitation” (Luke 19:41-44).
God gives people time, while He is at work drawing them.
He visits them at opportune times and in different ways drawing them to Himself.
Recognize what God is doing and flow with that.
The concept of PROVIDENCE.
What is providence?
Providence is the hand of God in the glove of history.
“Providence” means “pro” which is “before”.
The word “vidence” is from the word “video” which means “to see”.
When God in His Providence sees our needs, beforehand even before we see it, He already engineers circumstances to meet those needs.
1 Timothy 6:15 reminds us that God is the ruler over all and brings everything to pass in His perfect timing. We read, “…which He will bring about in His own time – He who is the blessed and only Sovereign [the absolute Ruler], the King of those who reign as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords.” (Amp)
God’s sovereignty means that He is the absolute ruler, controller, and sustainer of His creation.
He is the One who has the final say.
Your boss does not have the last say.
Your spouse does not have the last say.
Your parent does not have the last say.
Your health does not have the last say.
Even you do not have the last say.
God created this world and all that is within it – and He rules over all.
No detours can circumvent God’s sovereign plan.
He knows how to orchestrate all events, good and bad, to return to His original design and plan.
# 2-SACRIFICE
Great Plan of Salvation
Redemption is possible because of a redemption price that has been paid.
The Lord Jesus gave Himself as a ransom or redemption price for all.
1 Timothy 2:5,6 (NKJV) – 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
The sacrifice is given as an atonement for the wrong doing, or for the cancellation of the debt.
The atonement then made redemption possible.
Old Testament Understanding
In the Old Testament, all types of ritual sacrifices (e.g. burnt offerings) are explained in terms of “atonement” (kapar).
The annual Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), as described in detail in Leviticus 16, was pointing to Christ’s redemptive work.
Spiritual sacrifices – such as intercession, worship, also serve as a ransom, a redemption price for deliverance, as in the Old Testament.
E.g. Job
Job 9:32,33 32 “For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together. 33 Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both.
Job 16:21 Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor!
E.g. Moses
Psalm 106:23 Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.
Delivering Christ’s Provision
We are His agents to deliver what He has provided to people for them to personally experience His redemption.
As agents in His redemptive process, we must also be willing to sacrifice.
This ‘sacrifice’ could be in terms of praying/interceding, in giving financially, going to difficult places, giving up comforts, etc.
Part of this process of delivering Christ’s provision of salvation, is to offer up intercession on their behalf.
Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross is also called as a work of intercession (Isaiah 53:12).
Spiritual sacrifices, such as intercession, is a key element in God’s redemptive process.
He redeems because He finds a ransom, a sacrifice, an intercessor.
This does not mean we are paying the price for their redemption. There is only one complete sacrifice, which is what Christ has already paid.
Instead, as co-laborers and agent in God’s redemptive process we are doing our part, sacrificing, in order for people to experience and receive what has been provided for them (Colossians 1:24,25).
They are saved, not because of our sacrifice, but only because of what Jesus did for them.
We are only co-laborers with God in His redemptive process of reaching hurting people that He seeks to redeem.
We unite with Christ’s finished work of sacrifice by following in his footsteps.
Question: Who in your family or life do you want to see God redeem from hell? Yoke with Christ’s sacrifice – to intercede for their souls.
# 3 – FORGIVENESS
The next key element in God’s redemptive process is extending forgiveness.
We must bring assurance of God’s forgiveness into people’s lives – this is letting them know that they have been washed, justified and sanctified in Christ (1 Corinthians 6:11) and God holds nothing against them.
At the same time, we must release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.
There is something powerful in the release of forgiveness.
E.g. Stephen
The redemptive process of God includes receiving people into a community that see people as redeemed.
E.g. The man in the Corinthian Church
2 Corinthians 2:6-11 (NKJV)- 6 This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, 7 so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices
E.g. Philemon
Philemon 1:12,16,17 – 12 I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.
If we are to be a community that wants to see the God in His redemptive process in this world, we must know the power of forgiveness.
Yet many of us are trapped in UNFORGIVENESS, BITTERNESS, RESENTMENT, REGRET AND LANGUISHING OVER THE LOSS OF THE PAST.
Unforgiveness hinder us from experiencing the redemptive acts of God.
Far too many people are failing to reach their destination because they are still feeling loaded down by the pain of the past.
The weight of yesterday continues to weigh them down today, keeping them from moving freely into tomorrow.
Nothing will hinder the redemptive process of God like this thing called unforgiveness.
E.g. Joseph
If anyone had a right to be angry, bitter and hold a grudge, it was Joseph.
But Joseph chose another path.
He chose a different perspective – a perspective that embraces the redemptive heart of God.
He says, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).
The word “meant” means:
- “to mean”
- even though what the person said or did created a negative reality, that was not their intention.
- They hadn’t meant to cause harm.
Joseph’s brother meant anything but well. T
They meant to cause him harm.
Actually they meant evil.
But God
BUT GOD MEANT
Genesis 50:20 shows what God can do with something meant to harm you.
He can not only protect you in it, but He can also PROMOTE you because of it.
The exact thing Joseph’s brothers had meant to cause him harm was the exact thing God used to promote him to his destiny.
God’s redemptive work not only restores us to our former state, but elevates us to a realm far greater than the beginning.
Why we cannot forgive others?
- We are unforgiving because we fail to embrace the redemptive heart of God like Joseph did.
- We are also unforgiving because of the SIN OF FORGETFULNESS.
We can all fail to remember the magnificence of the love and mercy that has been showered down on us – the magnificence of His redeeming love.
We can all forget that we never could have earned or deserved the best things in our lives; they are only ours by means of grace.
Here’s the problem: to the degree that you forget the grace that you have been given, to that same degree it is easier for you not to extend grace to others.
To the extent that you forget how much you’ve been forgiven, to that same extent it is easier for you not to forgive the people in your life.
If you fail to carry around with you a heart of gratitude for the love you’ve been so freely given, it is easy for you not to love others as you should.
No one gives grace better than a person who is deeply persuaded that he needs it himself and that it has been graciously supplied by a God of tender mercy.
He gives what we never could have earned, why, then do we turn and refuse to give until others have measured up to whatever standard we hold them to?
The call to forgive immediately exposes our need for forgiveness.
The call to give grace reveals how much we need grace.
The call to forgive is at the very same time a call to remember and to be thankful.
When you remember how far you fall short, you are tenderhearted towards others who fall short, and you want for them the same grace that is your only hope.
Question: Could it be that you cannot forgive others because you fail to embrace the redemptive heart of God to people who meant to cause you harm?
Are you failing to see that God meant to redeem that evil for your elevation?
Or could it be you are committing sin of forgetfulness – you have forgotten how much you have been forgiven by God?
#4 – RESTORATION
Redemption in terms of salvation is instant; restoration is a life-long process.
Redemption is God choosing us; restoration is us continually choosing God.
Redemption isn’t something to be earned; it’s something to which you surrender.
Restoration is found as we stop trying to do things for God in order to earn his favor.
Rather we do things for God out of a surrendered heart to God.
Restoration itself is a process where God begins to take things back to their original state and elevates things to even higher levels.
(III) THE ULTIMATE REDEMPTIVE SACRIFICE
One of the most difficult processes for us to accept is SACRIFICE AND FORGIVENESS.
“If you are God’s child, you are a gallery of His glorious grace. The walls of your heart have been festooned with the gorgeous artwork of redemption: wisdom for the foolishness of sin; power for the weakness of sin and deliverance for the guilt of sin and deliverance from the bondage of sin. Grace means that beautiful things are being done for you and happening within you. Yet, for many believers, the artwork is there, but the lights are out in the gallery of your heart. You as believers simply don’t see or fully understand the stunning beauty of what they have been given in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because they don’t see or understand that grace, they neither celebrate it nor live in the light of its majesty. So, they give way to weakness when power is at their disposal. They give way to foolishness when they have been personally connected to the One who is wisdom. They hide in guilt when they have been fully forgiven. They surrender to addiction when they have been given freeing grace. Their hearts have been decorated with the artwork of grace, but the lights are out in the gallery. How sad! What about you? Are the lights on and has that radically changed the way you live?”
A story: John Griffith, the Bridge Operator
A Cargo Ship Crashing Into Baltimore’s Bridge
No one even looked his way.
No one even cast a glance at the giant gear box that housed the mangled remains of his hopes and his dreams.
In anguish he pounded the glass in the control room. He cried out “What’s the matter with you people? Don’t you know? Don’t you care? Don’t you know I’ve sacrificed my son for you? What’s wrong with you?”
No one answered. No one heard.
This is but a faint glimpse of what the Father did in sacrificing his Son to atone for the sins of the world, to bridge the gap between us and everlasting life.
Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son died?
And how must He feel when we speed along through life without giving even a single thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ?
Unlike the Memphis Express, God in His great love and according to His sovereign will and purpose, determined to sacrifice his Son so that we might live.
Not only so, but the consummate love of Christ is demonstrated in that He was not accidentally caught as was John’s son. Rather, He willingly sacrificed His life for the sins of mankind.
Well, the story of course doesn’t end there.
Three days later, Jesus arose from the grave. Jesus overcame death and the grave through His resurrection.
Moreover, like Jesus, we too shall rise and those who believe, we will live forever with our resurrected Lord in Paradise Restored.
The problem we fail to sacrifice, even our rights in order to forgive others is always because we forget the forgiving grace and redeeming love God has given us.
The degree you forget is the degree you will not forgive.
The degree you are blinded to the grace, is the degree you continue to be stuck in your pit and detours of life.
CONCLUSION
To any one going down any pit; to any one who is messed up; to any one is in darkness; to any one who is sick today; to anyone who is suffering or in trouble, we need an angel, a mediator, a wise man to declare to us what is right for him and to extend divine mercy and grace to us and to deliver us from going down from the pit.
God the Father declares to us this morning:
I HAVE FOUND A RANSOM. IT IS JESUS CHRIST MY ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD.
We all have deviated and detoured from the original design of God.
Only Jesus with His ransom paid on the cross can recover and restore us back to our original design and not only that but elevate us to a higher glory.
But we need to be willing to SURRENDER TO THE PROCESS of this redemptive work.
Let time takes its full course
Sacrifice by interceding for souls to be redeemed
Forgive others first
Surrender ourselves to the restorative process of God
Believe God wants not only to restore us to our former state but elevate us to a realm far greater than the beginning.
Our latter days will be greater than our former days.
