Redemption: The Story of God’s Love and Christmas
Recently, I preached at my church, Blue Ridge Christian Union Church in Shelbyville, Indiana on the theme of God’s love. Redemption is the message of Christmas. When we think of Christmas we often think of the cute little baby in a lowly manger who brought hope and peace to the world. These things are true but I contend that the primary reason for Christmas starts with the letter R, Redemption. To redeem something is to purchase it at a price. Just as a shopper uses a redemption code to purchase a product, God used the blood of his own Son to purchase his chosen people. As the old hymn goes, “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.” My primary passage was Colossians 1:13-14. Here the love of God overflows with an unlikely tie to Christmas. Paul writes, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Delivered
The first key word in this passage is delivered. Paul was certainly drawing from Old Testament stories such as the Exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the Red Sea to relate to God’s people. The Jews were a resilient people with an almighty God. To deliver means to rescue, to liberate, to set free. This is what God does for us when he saves us. He rescues us from the “domain of darkness,” the realm of Satan, the broken system of this world, and the domination of sin. As Ephesians 2 says, apart from Christ we are children under God’s wrath, slaves to our passions and swallowed up in sin. This is a very bleak picture, a dark fate. And this is exactly what God has delivered us from! This brings me to the second key term.
Transferred
I have a bank account with Old National Bank. With ease, I can transfer funds from my checking to my savings account. God transferred us from the evil snare of this world and brought us into the kingdom of Christ. This brings to mind the story of my friends Robbie and Erica Gray. Recently they adopted a young boy named Pete from India. They rescued him from a life of potential poverty and suffering bringing hope, healing and prosperity. Pete was brought into a better situation and given a life of possibility and provision. God the Father has transferred us into the glorious, heavenly kingdom his Son, Jesus Christ. It’s interesting to note that this is the “kingdom of his beloved Son.” God the Father has lavished his love upon his Son by giving him his beloved children. This is the divine transfer which gives the Father joy and the Son honor. This brings me to the last key term.
Redemption
Finally, the last key term is that beautiful word, Redemption. Not only has the Father delivered us from Satan and transferred us into Christ’s kingdom, he has redeemed us at a price. The story of Christmas is colored red. Redemption is permeated with crimson stains. And the meaning of this redemption is given at the end of the verse, “the forgiveness of sins.” Christmas began in a grimy feeding trough made for animals and journeyed to a blood-stained cross, an empty tomb and an unlikely ascension. The reason for it all was this: forgiveness of sins. If we repent of our sin and believe in Christ we will be saved and forgiven (Rom. 10:9-10). We celebrate Christmas because we have received the greatest gift ever given: Christ himself. You can be saved! You can be forgiven! You can enter into the kingdom of God. Repent, believe and receive the greatest gift this Christmas, forgiveness through Christ alone. This truly is the story of Christmas, redemption through Christ.
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