"In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence." (Eph. 1:7-8).

        Redemption-- what an awesome, thrilling, comforting, heart-stirring word.
        The Hebrew word for "redeem" is "gaal" which means: to free, by avenging or repaying.   The Greek word is "lutroo" meaning: to loose by a price.
        Praise God, with Job we can say "I know that my Redeemer liveth," (19:25) , and God Himself will free me from every calamity and bondage, etc. "To wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." (2 Cor. 5:19).  HE IS OUR REDEEMER! It is the out-working of  His purpose, and He takes the full responsibility for our redemption. The forgiveness of our sins is but a part of the process. Forgive, the Greek word is "aphesis" and means: a letting go, and sending away. But we note that in Luke 6:37 where it  reads "Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven," the Greek word is "apoluo" and means: to loose. Thus, forgiving, and loosing, have a very close relationship. Loosed from our sins, having them SENT AWAY, as His blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
        This is not a casual, haphazard working-- for He is abounding toward us in wisdom and prudence. Prudence-- phronesis-- it speaks of understanding of mental action and activity. God has given GREAT THOUGHT to our redemption, and our ultimate good. We find it quite impressive that the man Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet, agonizing over the condition of his people Israel, is also the prophet whom God uses to give us one of the most encouraging promises, that GOD HAS THOUGHTS TOWARD US, which are positive, designed for our good. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." The Amplified, "To give you hope in your  final outcome." (Jer.29:11).
        To all those caught in the snare of  religious Babylon, God could well say it again in this day, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the thoughts." (Isaiah 55: 8-9). In His "wisdom and prudence" He works out our redemption, abounding toward us "According to the riches of His grace." If we know not the glorious riches of His grace, how dare we impute any of our thoughts to Him, as if we were qualified to speak the mind of Christ? It is to our shame that we have so distorted His visage, and marred His Gospel.
         All that He did, and does, IS FOR US, in our behalf. "He knoweth our frame;  He remembereth that we are dust" (Ps. 103:14), and in His tremendous love and mercy He reaches out to embrace us, lift us up, and bring us into His life and victory. Not that He would absolve us from suffering, and sharing the death of  His cross, but He purposes TO BE WITH US as we pass through all the processing, to be our strength, to be the Guarantee of the victory. HIS ARM is our security! We rest on His shoulder! He has become both "the Author and the Finisher of our faith. " (Heb. 12 :2) .
        "He gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."(1 Tim. 2:6).
        Not only is He the ransom-price, giving His own life, but we find that the Greek root for this word "ransom" holds in it the thought of: TO LOOSE. He is our LOOSER from the bondage of corruption, bringing us into the glorious freedom which rightfully belongs to the children of God.
        It is to be noted that the same word "ransom" has also been translated as "deliverer" in Acts 7:35, speaking of Moses whom God did send to be a ruler and a deliverer (a ransom). So now the question is asked: What price did Moses pay to Egypt, for them to let Israel go? NOTHING! What huge amount of treasure did Moses have to pour into Pharaoh's coffers to obtain freedom for his people? NOTHING! He did give his own life (in a manner of speaking to be poured out, LIVED OUT for Israel. But he also, in effect, saw to it that Israel received the ransom money so that they would have the resources necessary for their journey back to Canaan. He instructed the Israelites to borrow from their Egyptian neighbors all the gold and silver and goods they could get their hands on. (Which, incidentally, was also God's method of collecting their back wages, for those years the Israelites were slaves in the building programs of Egypt. Justice is ever in His hand!).
        In present day happenings, a child is kidnapped, and we pay the kidnapper ransom to let the child go free. But under God's principle of working, you give the resources to the one who has been in bondage, and then they have what they need to return home again. While the evil one, the kidnapper, the Pharaoh, receives nothing. Indeed, he is stripped even of that which he had. How very triumphant is the working of our God! He never paid one cent to the enemy to obtain Israel's release. He gave it all FOR, TO Israel, so that Israel would be supplied for the journey before them.
        When Jesus Christ became our Ransom, He did not pay Satan one cent, rather He stripped him of all his goods wherein he trusted, and He now gives out of His fullness to us, saying, "Now, with MY SUPPLY you shall return to your Father's house." WE RECEIVE THE RANSOM-- WE RECEIVE HIS LIFE and it enables us to live. The Father, through Jesus Christ, freely gives us all things, that we might be partakers of His glory and victory.
        As a wayward, prodigal son, men have wandered far from God (home), having turned every one to his own way. But now He begins to draw us, awaken in us a desire to return to Father's house. Return? I cannot, for I do not have the strength! Ah, He laid help upon one that is Mighty, (Ps. 89:19), and that MIGHTY ONE GAVE HIMSELF FOR US, yes, INTO US-- it is now "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27). He dwells within, living His life through us, so that we might come nigh unto God. "No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6). None can return without HIS HELP! But He gave Himself for ALL MEN, therefore all shall receive His help in due time." In (by) Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order," Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:22-23.
        Since it was GOD who subjected creation to the bondage of vanity, it is God who retains the full responsibility to make sure we all come home again. Yes, to even have an abundant entrance into "the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:11).
        HE is our Refuge, shelter, protection from-- and little do we know what all He has protected us from, allowing only that to touch us which He purposes to work into our good, all else He doth restrain. But He is not only our Refuge, protecting us from the negatives, He is also our STRENGTH FOR-- for all overcoming. It is not just a hiding in a corner waiting for the storm to blow over, HE AGGRESSIVELY LEADS US ONWARD. So while He protects us from that which would harm us, He also becomes our strength to "make progress on the dangerous heights of testing and trouble." (Ps. 18:33, Amp.). Furthermore, He is a VERY PRESENT HELP. Present, the Hebrew means: to be found. There is no use in having help if it cannot be found when you need it, but HE IS ALWAYS THERE, never to leave us, nor forsake us. HE IS IN OUR NOW!
        He has brought us to this time! When we thought we could never walk out one more day-- He walked it through us. When we knew not which way to turn, HE BECAME OUR WAY, guiding each step as we cried out for His mercy and grace. Yes, He has brought us to this place of knowing-- knowing that all things are under His control, knowing that we can "do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us." And KNOWING OUR FUTURE IS SECURE IN HIM. True, it may be obscure, for we know not what the morrow will bring forth, but we know that it is HIS TOMORROW, and therefore all is well. It is this confidence that we have gained through all our past experiences-- "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us,"-- and HE will continue to be our HELP until we are complete in Him, partakers of His fullness. Amen!
        "Who forgiveth (everyone) of all your iniquities." (Ps. 103:3, Amplified).
        Christendom is so prone to focus attention upon the sins of humanity. We know the cup of iniquity is running over. Often we wonder how much worse things can get. But the more important fact is not the amount of sin, but of GOD'S FORGIVENESS, and the fact that "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (Rom.5:20). "If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand. But there is forgiveness with Thee." (Ps. 130:3-4).
        "Who heals (each of) all your diseases." (Psalm 103:3, Amplified).
        In his translation Ferrar Fenton gives a beautiful rendering, "And all my depravities cured." Disease, or dis-ease has penetrated into every part of our being-- spirit, soul, and body. The depravity of man is very great for "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it." (Jer. 17:9). Praise God, this disease of heart can be cured, for our Redeemer is able to make whole again. He gives rest and peace, divine ease where there was so much dis-ease.
        "Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption." (Psalm 103:4, Amp.).
        "For this corruptible must put on incorruption." (1 Cor. 15:53). Truly it is cause for rejoicing to find wholeness, a restoration-- body, soul, and spirit. King James version gives redeemed "from destruction." The Hebrew word is "shachath" and means: a pit, a grave, destruction, corruption. It is a state from which man cannot deliver himself. "He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made." (Ps. 7:15). For, "all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every man to his own way." Digged our pit, fell into it, and found there is no man-made escape. But the Redeemer knows our need, and therefore He speaks-- "The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting  joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.  The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit." (Isa. 51:11, 14). Thank God for this tremendous hope-- redeeming our life from destruction.
        "As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit..." (Zech. 9:11).
        "For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death." (Psalm 102:19-20).
         How comforting was that word for Israel, after four hundred years of severe bondage in Egypt. "Their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob." (Exodus 2:23-24). It was a deep pit, a long trial, a severity of bondage we can hardly imagine-- but there was One who heard and saw it all, and was ready to redeem their life from destruction. He both looses us from the bondage, and then energizes us to be able to overcome every obstacle as we rise up to sit in the heavenlies with Him.
         "When we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2:5-6).
         The crowning of that more abundant life which we find in Christ is LIFE AN INCORRUPTIBLE BODY. What a redemption! Loosed from all the bondages change and decay, to share in Christ the glory of incorruptibility.
         "Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies." (Psalm 103:4).
         How precious-- He is not only kind to us, but loving, as well. The mercies of God are tenderly given-- "For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people: He will beautify the meek with salvation." (Psalm 149:4). Crowned with glory and honor, to be enriched with His gifts and graces. He takes that which was scarred, marred, with no form nor comeliness, and when He has finished His work of grace, every scar and mar has become a thing of beauty, transformed by love, and manifesting the splendor of  His creative hand. Raised to the dignity of His children, to walk in the liberty that rightfully belongs to the sons of God.
         "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle' s. " ( Psalm 103:5).
         Moffatt translates this, "He gives you all your heart's desire," The word "mouth" is actually the Hebrew word "adi" translated elsewhere as ornament or thing that is desired. While the Amplified says that He "satisfies your mouth (your necessity and desire at your personal age) with good; so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's (strong, overcoming, soaring." This is beautiful in its indication that whatever our desire is at whatever our personal age (one's desires do modify with changing ages), yet Christ can satisfy every desire of youth or adult, young or old, and He does it with GOOD. "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (Psalm 37:4). Wonderful-- first He gives us the right desires, and then He satisfies them with His GOOD!
         Praise God, What a Redeemer-- Who forgiveth-- Who healeth-- Who redeemeth- Who crowneth-- Who satisfies! In fullness, with great love, He has received from the Father, and now freely shares with us. Therefore He saith, "For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself." (John 5:26). This will surely rattle your cage, rock your boat, and stagger your imagination. The Father gave to the Son to have LIFE IN HIMSELF! Thus He was more than a channel of life from the Father, but He had the supply within Himself, "For IN HIM dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," (Col. 2:9), therefore He is "Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." (Eph. 3:20). It is "The fullness of Him that filleth all in all." (Eph. 1:23). The verses just pile up, exalting our Lord, our Redeemer. "God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand." (John 3:34-35).
        Now He is "redeeming our life from destruction." He said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10). It is not to be a measly portion, starvation rations that enable us to barely stay alive. He would loose us from the pit, from destruction. "Of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace." (John 1:16). It is difficult to comprehend the grace that He received from His Father-- but that grace meant FULLNESS for Him. Now He would share it with us. "The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." (John 17:22). Utterly awesome! To share in His glory-- "As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." (John 20:21).
       Herein is the qualifying factor-- The LIFE is in the Father, and the life is in the Son, and they are ONE. And when we are ONE IN HIM, as long as we remain ONE IN HIM, we share out of the same fullness. How beautifully Christ illustrated this, saying, "I am the Vine, ye are the branches... without ye can do nothing." (John 15:5). Paul learned this truth experientially and stated, "I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST which strengtheneth Me." (Phil. 4:13). Without Christ, do nothing, WITH HIM do all things-- for HE IS THE DOER THAT DWELLETH IN US. "And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power." (Col. 2:10). The Williams translation gives, "Through union with Him you too are filled with it." It is essential and cannot be emphasized enough-- it is only when we are IN UNION WITH HIM that we share in this superabounding fullness. IN the Father, IN the Son, IN His whole corporate body-- truly, unlimited blessings abide in Him.
        Herein is a marvelous thing-- the tremendous humility of God, and the extent to which He was willing to go to be one in/with us as we become one in Him. He "Made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:7-8). The cross was the bridge from the earthy to the heavenly, from the human to the divine. HE faced the cross from/on humanity's side, that He might bring us to the other side of the cross that leads into His more abundant life.
         How vividly this is illustrated in Israel, and Jesus referred to it in His conversation with Nicodemus, stating, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." (John 3:14). So we turn to Numbers 21:8, and learn that because of their often complaining, speaking against God, and against Moses, therefore God sent fiery serpents among them, that bit the people, and many died. When the people acknowledged their guilt, asked Moses to pray for them, "The Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live."
        Utterly amazing! The very thing that brought them death, placed on a pole (cross) would be the means of their receiving life. The serpent of brass meant judgment upon their iniquity, and a repentance-- beginning, not with great manifestations of God's glory, but with a clear understanding of the horridness of their sin, and then of GOD'S MERCY coming to them via the serpent on the cross. Likewise, it was the Son of man on the cross-- a man that was "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." (Heb. 4:15). There was an identification of Jesus Christ with our low estate, our humanity, a part of the outworking of "redeeming our life from destruction." He went to the bottom of the pit, into hell, that He might become the WAY, TRUTH, AND LIFE out of our destruction. It is truly an awesome thing that God can take the thing that bites us, causing pain/death, and make it to be the means of our receiving life.
        Samson went with his father and mother to Timnath, and a young lion roared against him: The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he rent (killed) the lion. Some time later he passed by that way, turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, found a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. So he put forth a riddle to some young men, "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness." but the young men could not expound the riddle. Nor can the carnal mind to this day be able to tell how God can take the very trial that bedevils us, and cause it to become the means of victory and blessing. A roaring lion would strike terror in us, much less would it ever enter into our mind that there would come a day when we'd find honey in the situation.
         We are reminded of the occasion when God spoke to Abraham, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever." (Gen. 13:14-15). The word that the Spirit has quickened is-- "look from the place where thou art..." You feel you are deep in the pit, look up from there! You say the valley is too wide, just look up! God begins where we are at, and He causes the eater, the thing that would devour us, to become a place of enrichment, where we can feed and be blessed. It is the miracle of His converting-- He says, "ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. (John 16:20). The very thing that bit you, becomes your life enhancer!
        However a note of caution-- As time went by Israel began to worship the brasen serpent-- they put their eyes on the symbol, rather than on the Redeemer. Thank God, there came a day when Hezekiah "Brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan (literally, a piece of brass)." He named it for what it was, a piece of brass which had (has) become an icon. The sin was not in the brasen serpent, but in the people who gave undue attention to it. How prone we are to deify the "man of God that ministered unto us, rather than remembering "Without Me ye (he) could do nothing." The crucifix hanging on the wall can be a reminder that Jesus Christ died for us-- He is our Redeemer! Or it can become an icon that takes the place of the reality of in working of His cross, as "The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Gal, 6:14).
        "Zion shall be redeemed (freed) with judgment, and her converts with righteousness." (Isa. 1:27). You are crying for redemption? But are you willing for HIS JUDGMENTS-- i.e. the process by which your bondages will be removed? What an in working of grace unto total victory. Oh, may Christ ever become the Center and Circumfernce of our life, He is our Redeemer!

                                                     Who redeemeth thy life from destruction, Who lifteth thee out of the pit,
                                                     Who turneth thy dark night to dawning, in heavenlies makes thee to sit.

                                                     The serpent that bit thee is vanquished, God's mercy is given to thee.
                                                     To share in His life more abundant-- hell gives way to His victory.

                                                     The curse that devoured is broken, the bee that did sting is now sweet.
                                                     The trial o'erflows with His honey, and richness that's far more than meet.

                                                     Redeeming thy life from destruction, thank God for forgiveness of sin,
                                                     He works in thee a transformation, a righteousness that's genuine.

                                                     No more to be "prisoners in waiting," full well He heareth thy groan,
                                                     And crowns thee with His loving-kindness-- and grace in measures unknown.
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(1)Prinzing, Ray and Doris "Letters of Truth"  Boise, Idaho 83705, P.O. Box 5822

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