redemption Archives - Marissa Henley

Jesus Christ is your Reconciling Savior {No Matter What Monday}

December 4, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

I got my first credit card when I was in college. It was meant for emergencies only, but I became very relaxed with my definition of “emergency.” (Is being out to dinner with friends an emergency? What about not having something to wear to a special occasion?)

By the time I graduated, I racked up more than $1000 in credit card debt and had no way to pay it. The debt weighed on me—I felt the burden of it every day. Finally, I had to tell my fiancé that he was marrying into this debt. He was gracious about it, and we used wedding gifts to pay off the debt. But I regretted that I was starting married life with barely a clean financial slate and nothing positive to offer our financial situation.

Here’s what I love about the redeeming sacrifice Christ made for us: He didn’t just wipe the slate clean and leave us to prove ourselves to God on our own. He could have forgiven our debt, put us back at zero, and then let us earn our way into God’s favor. But that’s not what He did.

In His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ did all that was necessary to fully reconcile us to God:

“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19–20)

We have peace with God because of the blood Christ shed on the cross. This is why the baby was born in the stable—to fix the devastation our sin caused in our relationship with God. These verses tell us that His redeeming sacrifice had the power to reconcile all things on earth or in heaven.

Because the fullness of God dwelled in Him, Jesus Christ has the power to reconcile you to God. You don’t need to worry about getting yourself on God’s positive side with your good works. Christ’s work has perfectly ushered you into a reconciled relationship with your Heavenly Father.

No matter what you face this week, Jesus Christ has fully reconciled you to God.

Jesus Christ is Your Redeeming Sacrifice {No Matter What Monday}

November 27, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

The week after Thanksgiving, most of us fall into one of three groups: those who are feeling great about our Christmas preparation progress, those who are trying not to panic, and those who are blissfully optimistic that Santa and his elves will make, wrap, and deliver the perfect gifts for their loved ones on Christmas Eve.

When you’re buried neck-deep in shopping lists, tangled tiny lights, and wrapping paper, it’s easy to lose sight of why God the Son came to earth and was born in that Bethlehem stable.

I’ve got good news for you—He didn’t come just to give you more to do every December. For the next four weeks, we’ll dig into why Jesus came to earth and what He accomplished for us.

“The next day [John] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29)

In this verse, John the Baptist proclaims the reason the Son of God walked on earth—to be the Lamb of God who takes away our sin.

The Lamb of God lived the perfect life. God’s justice requires a perfect sacrifice—a spotless lamb without blemish. Jesus Christ perfectly obeyed His Father and met the standard of righteousness that we fail to reach.

The Lamb of God died for you. Romans 8:32 says, “God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all.” After living the perfect life, Jesus Christ took the punishment for your sin as He suffered and died on the cross.

The Lamb of God rose again. First Corinthians 15:55 reminds us that the Lamb of God defeated death for us: “Oh death, where is your victory?” Jesus Christ rose again, proving His power to give eternal life to His redeemed people.

In His life, death, and resurrection, the Lamb of God accomplished all that was required for your redemption. He came with a mission, and He completed it. Now that’s a reason to rejoice as we prepare to celebrate His birth!

No matter what you face this week, Jesus came to be a redeeming sacrifice for you.

(Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash)

You’ve Been Given a Guarantee {No Matter What Monday}

October 9, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

We’ve talked for the last few weeks about spiritual blessings from Ephesians 1. We’ve seen that God chose us because of His love, delights in adopting us into His family, and redeems us by His grace. Once we’ve received these gifts of salvation in Christ Jesus, how do we keep them? Can we lose these gifts by doubting or disappointing the One who gave them to us? We find the answer in these verses:

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Those who hear and believe are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. In John 7:37-39, Jesus promised to send the Spirit to those who believe in Him. So when God gives us the Holy Spirit, it proves two things: God keeps His promises, and we belong to Him.

We are sealed as a guarantee or down payment of our inheritance. We experience our inheritance in part now, but one day, we will experience the fullness of this inheritance in Heaven with Him. As we wait for that day, the Holy Spirit “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17a).

We are sealed until we acquire possession of our inheritance. The verse doesn’t say, “You were sealed until the day your faith wavered or until God got fed up with your repeated failures.” Our sealing—our belonging to Him because of the finished work of Jesus Christ—is guaranteed until we acquire possession of the eternal life given to us.

The Holy Spirit is a beautiful and complex gift from God. He is our Comforter, our Guide, our Sustainer. He is also our Guarantee, reminding us that our hope is certain because the One who saved us is also holding on to us.

No matter what you face this week, God’s given you His Spirit to guarantee His gifts.

You’ve Been Redeemed {No Matter What Monday}

October 2, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

A few years ago, someone broke into my parents’ house while they were at work. The thief couldn’t carry much on his way out of the small bathroom window, so the most valuable item he stole was their iPad. Weeks later, the iPad turned up at a local pawn shop.

You’d think that if something was stolen from you and later found, it would be returned to you free of charge. But my dad actually had to go to the pawn shop and buy back his own iPad.

It reminds me of what God has done with us. We are His treasured possession, but we allowed ourselves to be led away from Him by our sin. Because we are precious to Him, God sent His Son to buy us back.

Ephesians 1:7: In [Jesus Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

We can’t redeem ourselves. If we go back to my stolen iPad analogy, the iPad didn’t pay the pawn shop for its freedom. The iPad couldn’t pay its own way. Likewise, we are unable to redeem ourselves—we need a Redeemer who can pay the debt we owe.

In Christ, we have redemption. According to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, redeem means “to buy back” or “to free from captivity by the payment of a ransom.” On the cross, Jesus paid the ransom to buy us back and free us from slavery to our sin.

Our redemption flows from the riches of God’s grace. Because God is rich in grace and mercy, He can pay the price to redeem us. He can forgive all our sins. He’s not just merciful—He’s rich in mercy. And since we are His children, we benefit from His riches.

No matter what you face this week, you have been redeemed by Jesus Christ because of the riches of God’s grace.