Short Summaries of

Sermons on Ephesians

by Rev. Ralph Allan Smith

Redemption Through His Blood

(Eph. 1:7)

There are four important Biblical words that define the nature of Christ's work on the cross. First, the work of Christ is spoken of in the Bible as a sacrifice (1 Cor. 5:7; Eph. 5:2; Heb. 7:27; 9:26; 10:1-12). Sacrifices presupposes the idea of punishment for sin. A second word used of the work of Christ is reconciliation (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-20; Col. 1:20-22; Heb. 2:17) which refers to the fact that Christ's saving work removes the enmity between God and man, restoring their relationship. Third, the Bible speaks of Christ's saving work by the word propitiation (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). Propitiation presupposes wrath. Christ's death on the cross for our sins takes away God's wrath from us. The fourth important word, redemption, is the word used in Ephesians 1:7.

The Redemption Paradigm

Redemption presupposes the condition of slavery and refers to the ransom that must be paid to free the slave. It is one of the most familiar concepts in the Bible, more emphasized than either reconciliation or propitiation. Although both of these concepts are clearly involved in the old covenant sacrificial system, they are not expounded by both historical events and judicial laws as is redemption. The entire book of Exodus gives us an historical picture of redemption. The law of Moses includes numerous laws relating to slavery and redemption whose ultimate purpose was clearly to teach the nature of salvation, not merely to give social guidance.

The word "redeem" is not used in the Bible until Jacob blesses Joseph's sons (Gen. 48:16), but the idea is present from the beginning. When Adam rebelled against God, he made himself and the entire race the slaves of Satan. The promise of salvation, therefore, was first given in the form of judgment on the devil (Gen. 3:15). Man's voluntary slavery to sin and Satan means that one of the fundamental aspects of salvation is deliverance from slavery. It is this aspect of salvation that is first emphasized in Genesis.

When we read the story of Abraham being oppressed by Pharaoh in Egypt (Gen. 12:10ff.), we are supposed to think of it in terms of the paradigm established in the promise of salvation: the seed of the serpent is at war with the seed of the woman. The Satanic king attempts to lord it over God's child, but God redeems His son from slavery. The exodus pattern, seen clearly in Genesis 12 for the first time, is repeated throughout the book of Genesis (cf. esp. Gen. 20, 26, 29-31). The basic elements of the exodus theme reflect the situation of the children of Adam in general. Just as man by his sin has become a slave to Satan, so the people of God because of their sins, or, sometimes just because they are sinners, are made the slaves of Satanic rulers. Just as man cries out to God for salvation from sin and God delivers him from the devil, so also the people of God cry out to God for redemption from slavery to the Satanic ruler and He frees them from bondage. When God redeems us from Satan, He sets us free from sin so that we can serve Him. This is what He did for Israel when He redeemed her from Egypt.

Paul is employing the language of the redemption theme in Colosians 1:13 when he writes: "Who hath delivered us from the authority of darkness, and hath transported us into the kingdom of his dear Son." He specifically ties this to redemption in the next verse (Col. 1:14). Christ has redeemed us from Satan's kingdom and authority. We now belong to a new kingdom and a new world, just like Israel belonged to a new kingdom when they were taken out of Egypt. Our Canaan is Christ Himself, for redemption means that we are "in Him." Although in one sense the whole world becomes the new land of Canaan, since it has all been cleansed by the death of Christ, in another sense, Christ Himself is the "realm" of His people.

Ransom

Delivery from slavery costs money. Indeed, an Israelite man would not be a slave unless there were some specific problem that made him so poor that he sold himself into slavery. Israel as a nation is never made a slave, except when she sins against God so seriously that He gives her over to her enemies as He once delivered the race to Satan. For a slave to be delivered means a price has to be paid (Lev. 25:48-55). For a nation to be delivered means there must be a war with the Satanic king. Only when he is defeated can the people be delivered (cf. Ex. 6:6; 15:1-15).

Jesus' death on the cross was the ransom that had to be paid to deliver us from slavery to sin and Satan: "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mar. 10:45). His death was also the climactic battle in the war with Satan that destroyed him once for all, as Jesus Himself taught: "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out" (Joh. 12:31; cf. 16:11). Paul too emphasized this aspect of redemption: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2:14-15). Jesus took upon Himself flesh and blood so that He could shed His blood for our redemption: "we have redemption through his blood" (Eph. 1:7).

Redemption From Sin

To be redeemed from Satan means to be redeemed from sin. This is first of all redemption from the judicial guilt of sin, as Paul says in Ephesians 1:7 when he seems to equate redemption with the forgiveness of our transgressions. Unless Christ took the penalty of our sins for us, we could not escape making the payment ourselves. Salvation does not mean a relaxing of God's justice.

Redemption also means deliverance from the power of sin. This is not particularly in view in Paul's passage in Ephesians 1:7, but it does receive emphasis in Ephesians 2 and in the Biblical message of redemption in general. God has not taken us out of Egypt in order to kill us in the wilderness. We are redeemed from the power of sin so that we may bear the fruit of righteousness for His kingdom.

Redemption also means the final and perfect deliverance of our bodies from all of the effects of sin in the resurrection. Unlike the ancient Greek pagans, Christians do not see the body as the source of our problems. On the contrary, sin began with a spiritual being who has no body, Satan. But we do certainly have the effects of sin in our body. We are weak, sickly, dying. Redemption would not be complete unless it meat deliverance from the effects of sin and the provision of a new body that is no longer subject to death.

It is this that Paul refers to in Romans 8:23: "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." Our future glorification with Christ in the resurrection is the full meaning of our adoption in Christ and the final aspect of redemption.

We are redeemed, thus from sin's guilt, power, and effects. The deliverance from Satan is perfect when we reach heaven. Until then we are to earnestly fight for His kingdom, remembering that Christ "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Tit. 2:14).