Understanding Redemption (Part 1)

To fully understand redemption it is necessary to begin at the place where spiritual and physical death began and that is in the garden of Eden.  In Genesis, Adam was given specific instructions concerning which trees he could eat the fruit of and which one he couldn't (Genesis 2:15-17). Although Eve was deceived in the transgression, Adam was the real transgressor because God had spoken directly to Adam concerning which trees they could and couldn't eat from.  Had Adam not disobeyed God and eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he never would have experienced death (spiritual or physical).  When God made Adam and Eve He breathed into them life and when they sinned they passed from life to death and then Satan became their father and lord. So because of his disobedience, sin and death became his fate as well as the fate of the entire human race (Romans 5:12) and therefore God's redemptive plan was put into effect to save humanity.  When Adam sinned the spirit side of Adam died immediately although he lived on physically for 930 more years. I want to share with you what spiritual death will do and how God brought about redemption.

What Spiritual Death Will Do

Once Adam and Eve disobeyed God, fear came upon them and they hid themselves from God (Genesis 3:7-10). This was the first sign of their spiritual death.   A person who is spiritually dead will naturally hide from God.  They will not desire spiritual things nor will they desire to be with God's spiritual people of light because they are in darkness.  If a man says that he is a Christian yet walks in the darkness and loves not God the Bible tells us that man is a liar and the truth is not in him (1 John 1:6).  After Adam sinned he no longer was in fellowship with God and he wanted to hide from God. God's plan from the sin of Adam and Eve was not to just forgive man, but  to work out a way to where the spirit of man could be made alive again!

How God Brought Redemption

To bring redemption, God's plan was to bring a human being into the world; One that was divine and human yet had no spiritual death in him.  This was accomplished through the miraculous power of God through the seed of a woman.

John the Baptist recognized who Jesus was when he declared "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."  Jesus knew who He was because when he was baptized the Father declared "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Jesus was the first human to walk the face of the earth since Adam and Eve who had no spiritual death in his spirit.

If you are saved you have no spiritual death in your spirit either.  You are a new creature and you are to rule and reign in this life by Jesus Christ.  You are to walk as Jesus walked, with authority, power, and dominion.  This is part of the redemption process God has brought to humankind.  It is in Jesus that we live, and have life!

If you haven't been "born again" and entered into spiritual life with Christ then your spirit man is dead.  Yet when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior you are not only forgiven but you receive what Adam lost, your spirit is made alive with eternal life.  My associate Keith Fife wrote a post you might want to check out called "Changing Clothes."  It talks about putting off the old and putting on the new Christ life.

What about you?  Are you ready to enter into the spiritual life of Christ?  It will change your future forever!  Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

-- Pastor Temple