Category: Redemption

The circumstances of Jesus’ birth are established forthrightly by Matthew and Luke. While modernists struggle with the concept of a child being born of a virgin, the believer accepts God’s intent, purpose and ability to bring this event about.

Matthew reveals the following in this short section of his gospel:

1. After Joseph and Mary were betrothed (a type of engagement), Mary became pregnant.
2. At this time Mary was a virgin, the conception was the work of the Holy Spirit.
3. Joseph was informed of God’s plan, and scuttled his plans to put away Mary (as he obviously had thought from her pregnancy that she had been with another man).
4. God’s plan was that the virgin would bear a son named Jesus, who would be the Savior of mankind (vs. 21).
5. The birth of Jesus was a fulfillment of prophecy (Isaiah 7:14). That prophecy refers to the child as “Immanuel” which means “God with us.” Thus, Jesus was declared from birth to be God on earth (cf. John 1:14).
6. In answer to the vision from God, Joseph did not have sexual relations with his wife until after she gave birth to Jesus.

This account marks the beginning of the events leading to the ultimate redemption of mankind (cf. John 17:3).

From the very beginning God had a plan in place to redeem man. This plan was necessary because of the sin of man. It consists of the grace of God, and man’s response to the saving power of the gospel.

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The lesson establishes that God is impartial, and discusses the ramifications of that fact as it impacts the redemption of mankind.

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Sermon by Marc Smith.

In this lesson, Marc uses Mark 2, and the phrase from the KJV indicating that the paralytic man was carried by four men to see Jesus. The phrase is used to illustrate the point that each of us have those who have borne, or influenced us in our lives. Saul of Tarsis is a good example, and four men are mentioned: Gamaliel, Stephen, Annanias and Barnabas who had a profound influence upon him and his conversion to Christ.

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The apostle Paul wrote this epistle to Titus, “a true son in our common faith” (vs. 4). The salutation indicates that, as with Timothy (cf. 1 Timothy 1:2), Paul’s teaching had led to Titus’ conversion.

It was common for Paul, in his epistles, to defend his apostleship as being from God. Paul was not a usurper. In these few verses he states an eloquent argument for his apostleship, as a part of God’s overreaching scheme of redemption for man.

Paul’s apostleship was according to faith. It emanated from God. He states that God had committed him to the proclamation of that faith. God chose through the “foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21).

So, the emphasis here is not really on Paul as a bondservant and an apostle, but on the message he was to proclaim. Paul describes that gospel as that which “accords with godliness” (vs. 1). It leads to a holy life. As such, it is “in hope of eternal life.” That is, in leading the elect to righteousness, it provides standing with God in judgment. This eternal hope is something we are assured of, as it is promised by God, and God can not lie (cf. vs. 2, Hebrews 6:18). This promise, as Paul indicated, predates the creation of man (cf. vs. 2).

The lesson explains the reason why the shedding of blood is necessary for the redemption of man, and why it is that Jesus Christ is the only sufficient blood sacrifice.

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Invitation delivered by: Stan Cox

On July 4, 1776, America declared her independence. In a similar vein, one who becomes a child of God obtains independence from sin – liberty is found in Christ Jesus (cf. Galatians 5:1).

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Invitation delivered by: Jeremiah Cox

Jeremiah points out in his talk that God’s gift of His Son, sent to earth to die on the cross for the sins of man, constitutes the greatest gift ever given to mankind.

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In Genesis 12, God made 3 promises to Abraham. He promised that Abraham would have descendents who would become a great nation; He promised that He would give that people a land to call their own; Finally, He promised that through Abraham’s seed all nations of the earth would be blessed. This lesson examines those promises.

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Invitation delivered by: Justin Carrell

Many of the passages detailing God’s scheme of redemption are familiar to us. It is important that we not allow familiarity to breed contempt. If the words of inspiration are read with care, they are profound and uplifting.

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Walking in the light of God’s will reaps great benefits, including: Fellowship with other Christians, access to the cleansing blood of Christ, joy and exaltation and the assurance we will never stumble (cf. 1 John 1:7).

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Typically, the apostle Paul begins his epistle with praise to God. He proclaims God to be the font of all spiritual blessings, and affirms these blessings are accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ life, death and resurrection the favor of God is complete.

What is interesting in this text is Paul’s reference to foreordination and predestination. This means that God’s scheme of redemption was a fait accompli before the universe was ever created.

When we talk about predestination, we must understand such predestination is not individual in nature. The affirmation that God chose us individually would negate the concept of free will and personal responsibility. It would make passages such as Mark 16:16 — (“He that believes and is baptized will be saved, he that believes not will be condemned”) — nonsensical.

God predestined that those who were among the sanctified —those who were among those adopted as sons — would be accepted. He gives us the choice as to whether we wish to be in that group or not. God is no respecter of persons.

A word study on the terms: Reconciliation, Redemption, Justification, Propitiation and Sanctification as they relate to the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

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Luke’s gospel does not begin with the promise of Jesus’ birth, but that of John the Baptist.

Zacharias, a priest who ministered in the temple during the days of Herod the Great, was visited by an angel of God with the news that he and his wife would have John as their son.

Zacharias and Elizabeth (the cousin of Mary, Jesus’ mother, cf. vs. 36), had no child. Elizabeth was barren, and they were an elderly couple. Regardless, God made the promise to give them a son. Later, when Mary questioned the possibility of her, as a virgin, conceiving a child, Elizabeth’s pregnancy was given as a sign that, “with God nothing will be impossible” (cf. vs. 34-37).

John the Baptist was a great man who served as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. He was the object of prophecy (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 4:5-6), and received the highest praise from Jesus Himself, “Assuredly, I say unto you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11).

John the Baptist’s promised birth was another thread in the tapestry of God’s great scheme of redemption.

Medical science affirms what the Bible proclaims, that life is in the blood. God gave the animals as food for Noah and his family, but gave the admonition, “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” (Genesis 9:4). This prohibition against eating blood was repeated under the Old Law, as the Israelites were warned, “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat” (Deuteronomy 12:23). In both prohibitions the reason for the limitation is given, life is in the blood.

Interestingly, this prohibition against eating blood is given further explanation in the Lord’s words to Moses, recorded in Leviticus 17:10-12, “And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’”

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