You Have Been Redeemed and Forgiven
The whitewater rafting trip should have been cancelled. Today, it would have been.
But back in the 80’s, when I was 17 years old, our youth group hit the water. I remember the guides talking about normal water flow being 700 gallons per second through the measuring station. But due to spring rains, the river was running at 2,400 gallons per second. It was intense, and very dangerous, whitewater rafting.
There was only one thing to do. Raft on!
Within 30 seconds of hitting the river, Deb got tossed over the side. Thankfully, our youth leader acted quickly. He reached across the boat and grabbed her by the ankle. It was very funny seeing someone soaking wet only from the waist up!
At a rest spot downriver, they stopped the whole group and told us to stay away from a dangerous rock. Despite the warnings, two rafts got swept up in the current and dashed upon the rock, one on top of the other. We could see people from the first raft scattering as the second raft was being tossed on top of the first. Our guide yelled at us to meet her downriver as she dived into the rushing torrent to go rescue people and recover a raft.
As we passed the rock, we heard a woman yelling for help. The remaining five of us in the raft fought our way over and got her safely into the boat. No one died that day. But honestly, looking back on it, I’m a little surprised it all ended well.
This is a picture of what God has done for us in Christ.
We were being swept downriver in the torrent of sin. We were not only slaves to sin, but because of our sinful nature, we were objects of God’s wrath living under the “prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2b, ESV). We were citizens of the kingdom of darkness.
But “He (God the Father) has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14, NIV & ESV)
What a glorious picture!
God dove in and rescued us from the rushing torrent of sin.
How did he perform that rescue? By paying the ransom.
Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45, ESV). He paid our ransom through His blood (1 Peter 1:18-19a).
To be clear, this isn’t something we could ever do for ourselves or for another human being. Psalm 49:7-8 states “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice.” (ESV)
But Jesus, being God in the flesh and without sin, was sufficient to pay the ransom price.
This is the good news of the gospel!
We were swept away by sin and belonged to the kingdom of darkness. But because of God’s great love for us, He dove in and rescued us! We were transferred from the kingdom of darkness into His kingdom. Jesus paid the ransom price and forgave us the debt we owed.
Dear Saints, live in the peaceful and joyful security that your acceptance was accomplished by Christ alone. There is nothing left for us to pay. This very second, no matter what you just did or how you feel, the payment for your sin has been taken care of.
We’ve been redeemed and forgiven!
What a rescue! And what a Rescuer!