December 13: Redeemer
“‘And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,’ declares the Lord.”
Jesus is our redeemer; what a relief! We as humans love the idea of redemption, and can spend a lot of our time and energy trying to redeem ourselves. Second chances, New Years’ resolutions, apologies, “if I do it again, I’ll do it better”, “if only I could have that time over again, I would do things differently”, and on it goes. We have made many movies where we use time travel to go back and fix our mistakes, only to realize this is pointless and futile. Well, thank goodness we have a redeemer in Jesus Christ! He HAS changed the course of our history when he died on the cross. He was the only ever perfect human. He didn't need second chances, he didn't need to do things over, he did them perfectly the first time. And through His perfect life, death and resurrection, he has redeemed our whole past, all of our mistakes, all of our sins. He has given us a second chance, at no cost to us. He died the death that we should have died, in order to redeem our lives and redeem our relationship with him.
But he doesn't stop there, oh no. Jesus death and resurrection for us, and the Holy Spirit in our lives, means our sins and mistakes can be redeemed in this life. Our broken relationships, our bad behaviours and habits, our sinful thoughts, everything that is touched by sin in our life, Jesus has the power to redeem, to use for his glory, to fix what sin has broken. He redeems what we never could in our own effort. He cares deeply for your heart, he WANTS to redeem your life. Let him into your heart and your relationships. Let Him do his powerful work of redemption and be filled with joy over what he can do. By God’s grace, your life can be a testimony to God’s redemptive power.