Reflecting on Truth #20

Q: Who is the Redeemer?

A: The only Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in whom God became man and bore the penalty for sin himself.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ. (1 Timothy 2:5)

Why does this matter?

Last week, we asked if there is any way to escape punishment and be brought back into God’s favor? And the answer is a glorious “YES!”. “To satisfy his justice, God himself, out of mere mercy, reconciles us to himself and delivers us from sin and from the punishment for sin, by a Redeemer.” But who is this Redeemer? The Bible tells us that it is Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who was God but became man and lived a human life like ours. He perfectly obeyed and trusted God, but died a death he did not deserve, bearing the penalty for sin himself. But he rose from the dead to bring us to God.

The Old Testament picture of redemption is one of God pulling His people out of bondage and slavery in Egypt, rescuing them. This is a picture of the greater redemption that Jesus accomplished, pulling God’s people out of bondage and slavery to sin, and rescuing them.

This was the way God graciously and mercifully provided - the only way. The Lord Jesus Christ is not a redeemer, among other redeemers. He is the Redeemer, the only Redeemer.

What does this mean for us?

It means that there is nothing else and no one else that we can turn to to escape punishment and be brought back into God’s favor. Only the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He purchased and ransomed us at the price of his own life, delivering us from the bondage and condemnation of sin. J.I. Packer explains: “As a perfect sacrifice for sin, Christ’s death was our redemption (i.e., our rescue by ransom: the paying of a price that freed us from the jeopardy of guilt, enslavement to sin, and expectation of wrath).”

May the Lord help us live lives that witness to the truth that Jesus Christ is the only way back to God.