HAVE YOU BEEN REDEEMED?

REDEMPTION

“Twenty” is the Biblical number that represents redemption in the Bible. Spiritual Redemption is the purchase God made by the suffering and death of His Son, Jesus Christ. That purchase when reciprocated is the deliverance of sinners from the bondage of sin and the penalties of God’s violated law by the atonement of Christ.
Every person that goes to heaven must be redeemed. Read and learn what God’s word says about redemption.

Outline:
I – The Price Paid
II – The Praise Presented
III – The Proclamation Proclaimed

I – THE PRICE PAID
Let me give you an adolescent example of redemption: A young boy receives as a gift for his birthday a beautiful AKC registered puppy. The little boy’s eyes beam with delight and joy. Day by day as they tumble in the grass and play together the boy and dog become best friends.
One day the dog wanders off and the boy can not find his dog. He puts up posters and asks neighbors if they have seen his dog but nobody has. One neighbor wisely suggests, “Have you checked the dog pound or the pet stores?” The little boy grabs his bike and heads to the dog pound and pet stores. Sure enough his dog is at a privately owned pet shop. He goes up to the owner of the store and says with a tear in his eye, “Mister that is my dog and I want him back.” The man says, “Son, that may be so but a man walked in here the other day and I paid him for that dog. Before you can have him back you have to pay what is owed.
“How much is owed?” the small boy asks. The man says, “$200.00.” “Mister, I don’t have $200.00. I don’t even have $2.00,” the child spoke. “I’m sorry son,” said the man, “but before you can get your dog back you have to pay the price.”
The little boy goes home and with tears in his eyes, he tells his dad the story. The wise dad says, “Son what are you willing to give up for your friend?” Will you sell your bike? Will you sell your video games? Will you sell your baseball cards? The little boy says, “Dad I will give everything I have to get my pup back.”
That Saturday the little boy had a yard sale and everything he owned he put in the yard sale. He sold his bike, his video games and everything he had. He made exactly $200.00.
He took that money and rushed down to the pound with joy in his heart he laid down the money on the counter and gladly paid the ransom for his pup. When the cage was open the little pup saw his master and with his tail wagging and joy in his eyes, he leaped into his master’s arms reciprocating the purchase made.
That is what is called redemption. The boy sacrificed all he had and paid the price for his pup’s freedom. The pup in return revealed his deep appreciation of that freedom even though the pup did not fully understand the complete sacrifice the boy made.

In Isaiah 53, Isaiah tells us the story of redemption. Man ignorantly, proudly or stubbornly ran away from God and become lost in an evil world of sin. He sold his soul to the devil when he chose to sin. But God so loved man that He gave all He had when He sent His son to “seek and to save that which was lost.”
The price for God to purchase back mankind would be expensive. The price would be so high; all the wealth in the world would not be enough to pay God the great price of redemption.
God’s son would have to give his life. His son would be despised and rejected of men. He would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He would be stricken, beaten and wounded for our transgressions. He would be bruised for our iniquities and beaten with many stripes for our healing.
He would not open his mouth though tortured, but would suffer as a lamb taken to the slaughter. He would have spikes driven through His hands and he would hang on a cruel cross for six hours while the sins of the world were laid on Him.
Jesus Christ would have to die this cruel death, descend in to hell, defeat Satan, break down the prison doors of death and walk out of the grave all by Himself. This Jesus did and Isaiah says in Isaiah 53:10, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him.’
God found joy in sacrificing His son to save you from your sins. Does He see you willingly run and jump in His arms of love. That is redemption.

II – THE PRAISE PRESENTED
Many actions and reactions flood a person’s soul when they realize what transpired in redemption. When they see as some say, “The whole ball of wax.” When they see the awesome price Christ paid. One of those reactions is praise. The reason that Christians sing is their hearts are full of joy over their redemption.
One of the famous songs of the Christian faith is “Redeemed” by Fanny Crosby.


REDEEMED
Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
Redeemed thru His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am.

Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell:
I know that the light of His presences with me doth continually dwell.

I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long:
I sing, for I cannot be silent, His love is the theme of my song.

I know I shall see in His beauty
The King in whom law I delight,
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps and giveth me songs in the night.

Redeemed, Redeemed, Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb,
Redeemed, Redeemed, His child and forever I am.

Redemption is the song of the saints of God. We rejoice because the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.
Galatians 3:13 reads, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”
The word redeemed means to pay the price in order to set another free. It also means to buy or rescue.
So the question comes to mind, “What exactly was the price God paid to redeem mankind?”
The answer is found in First Peter 1: 18 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
It wasn’t silver and gold. It wasn’t good works and traditional teachings of the church or the family that saves a soul.
Jesus gave His life and shed His blood on Calvary to buy man’s soul from Satan and to deliver man’s eternal state from hell.
In our English language we speak in three tenses when dealing with words or sentence structure; past, present and future. In the Greek there is another tense called the aorist tense. It does not regard these tenses particularly but speaks as if the transaction in the past is still happening today and will happen yet in the future.
The word “redeemed” in this passage is in the aorist tense. So to say, “I am redeemed, I am being redeemed and I shall be redeemed yet in the future,” is a true statement.

Redemption is not only the song of the saints of God on earth today, but redemption will be the song of the saints in heaven for eternity.
The saints of God are pictured in heaven in Revelation 4 and 5. John records what he saw and heard when he was translated to heaven from the Isle of Patmos. He writes, “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5: 9).

There are a number of examples of the number twenty in the Bible and its relationship to redemption. Let us look at a few:

III. THE PROCLAMATION PROCLAIMED
Remember that the number twenty in Biblical numerology means redemption. Now examine a few points about redemption.
I – TWENTY WAS THE JEWISH AGE OF REDEMPTION.
Exodus 30:12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.
13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.
14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD.
There are four very important principles in this verse:
1) The word ransom in the Hebrew means a “price for a life.” It also means “redeemed from captivity by paying the equivalent.” Do you understand what that means? A child has a difficult time understanding redemption. That is why for those who did not understand it, at the age of twenty, each twenty year old was to make a personal ransom for his soul.
2) It was not until a Jewish young man turned twenty was he considered mature enough to make an understandable and willing ransom for his soul.
3) The amount paid was a half a shekel or twenty gerahs. This was a very small price to pay by man but the price was the same for the rich man or the poor man. The thought is this: For us to give God our lives is really not much but it is what is required by all men and women, rich or poor.
4) The offering that was made was of silver. Silver always represent redemption in the Bible.

Examine two very important thoughts from this passage:
A – The Act of repentance:
Listen to a statement that might shock most Christians and many pastors. As it cost the Son of God His life to redeem you, it will cost you your life to be redeemed. Selah!
Someone said, “But Salvation is a free gift.” It is in the respect that Jesus paid it all, but it is only received when a person is redeemed and reciprocates to God what God has given Him.
Examine the trade: Man gives us his sin for God’s salvation.
Man gives up a fleshly life for a spiritual life.
Man gives up his pride for a Christlike life.
Man gives up hell for heaven.
Man gives up time for eternity. Have you paid your ransom?
After Christ rose from the dead and after Pentecost, Peter preached and said, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
First look at the word “repent.” Many modernistic preachers and even some who call them selves fundamental, have discredited the truth of the word repent. They have defined it as “a change of mind.” That is like defining marriage as two people who decided to live together.
The word has a far deeper meaning. “It means the sorrow and pain of sin one senses within his very being when he realizes he has violated God’s holy law and dishonored God’s holy character.”
It places within that person the sense of sorrow due to one’s conduct and the fear one feels in recognition of judgment to come.
When redemption takes place in one’s life, there is not just repentance but godly sorrow with that repentance.
Second Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”
True repentance takes place when a person experiences godly sorrow which means that person is truly sorry that he or she has sinned against God or hurt God’s reputation by the life he/she lived.
Worldly sorrow is seen in a person that weeps over losing personal or material things in life. Worldly sorrow does not bring a person to true repentance only godly sorrow will do this.
Second, look at the word converted. To be converted means to be changed from one state to another. It pictures a field being changed from being barren to being fruitful. It speaks of an animal being change from being wild to being tamed. It means for a man to change from loving and living for self to loving and living for God.

B – The Act of the Ransom – (Exodus 30:14) Many religions have set an age on a person when they think a child is old enough to be redeemed.
Some have what is called confirmation at the age of twelve or thirteen or another age, but I have said often, the time of salvation to a soul is not an age but a stage.
That stage is when that person truly in his/her own mind, heart and soul understands God’s redemptive work and then he/she willingly and submissively surrenders before Almighty God and receives His Son into his/her life as Lord and Savior.
There are many people that make professions of receiving Christ at young ages.
Of those, many remain faithful to God, His word and His Church. On the other hand, many make professions and they reach the age of about twenty and they go hog-wild mad, living in sin.
When a youth reaches maturity and begins to make his own decisions in life, the direction he choses becomes clear if he has understood redemption by repenting with godly sorrow and being converted and in return paying a ransom for their own soul.
Some may ask, “What do you mean, paying the price a ransom for their soul?” I mean as Christ chose you in Him before the foundations of the world and gave his life for you, you must willingly and unashamedly choose Him and give your love and life for Him.
I believe salvation is like a marriage. It is like a two-way street.

II - TWENTY WAS THE AGE OF THE REDEMPED TO GO TO WAR
Throughout the book of Numbers the number “twenty” was associated with a young man coming of age to make decisions for him self, but particularly to prepare him self for war.
The word “twenty” appears 293 times in the Bible. In the first chapter of Numbers, the word “twenty” appears 33 times. 19 times in chapter one we read, “From twenty years old and upward.” All that were able to go forth to war in Israel were to go and fight for freedom.
The application is two-fold:
1) A person who receives Christ’s redemption must understand there is a great war to fight and every one must prepare for battle.
2) A person who is redeemed is redeemed by “faith.” The phrase “from twenty years old and upward” appears 19 times in this first chapter of Numbers and 19 is the number of “faith.”
We are saved by grace through faith. It is not of good works we have done. Jesus Christ paid for our redemption. By faith we received God’s wonderful Salvation. That salvation comes after godly sorrow brings a person to repentance.

III TWENTY WAS THE AGE FOR THE REDEEMED TO REDEEM
In the book of Ruth we find the story of a family of four that had lived in the world and lost everything. Three die and now the wife, Naomi, returns home after laying her husband and two sons in the ground.
But, one joy among all the sorrow followed her, her daughter-in-law, Ruth went home with her. Naomi had gone out full and returned home empty. She would live in poverty the rest of her life it seemed.
Then a man by the name of Boaz came on the scene. Boaz became Naomi and Ruth’s kinsman-redeemer purchasing them at a great price. He redeemed their property and their lives. They moved from rags to riches.
It is interesting to find that Boaz’s name appears twenty times in the book of Ruth where this story is told. Twenty is the number of redemption.

IV TWENTY WAS THE AGE OF THE REDEEM TO BE RESPONSIBLE.

A young man was to mature and grow up in Israel’s culture by the time he turned twenty. He was totally responsible for his own actions before Almighty God. He could no longer blame anybody for his actions. He was responsible for him self.
We find that truth in Numbers 14:29. When Israel refused to believed God’s word to enter into the Promise Land, God revealed to them the consequences of their lack of faith and at what age they were responsible to Him. Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me (Numbers 14: 29).
It is true that children have the tendency to act like their parents but when a child comes to the age of “redemption” he is accountable to God for all his own actions. If you are old enough to claim to know Christ as your Savior, you are therefore responsible for your actions.

Winston Churchill
A wealthy English family once invited friends to spend some time at their beautiful estate. The happy gathering was almost plunged into a terrible tragedy on the first day. When the children went swimming, one of them got into deep water and was drowning. Fortunately, the gardener heard the others screaming and plunged into the pool to rescue the helpless victim. That young boy who was rescued was Winston Churchill.
His parents were so deeply grateful to the gardener they asked, “What can we do to reward you?” He hesitated, then said, “I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor.” “We’ll pay his way,” replied Churchill’s parents.
Years later when Sir Winston was prime minister of England, he was stricken with pneumonia. Greatly concerned, the best physician in England was summons to the bedside of the ailing leader.
That doctor that came to Churchill was Sir Alexander Fleming, the developer of penicillin. He was also the son of that gardener who had saved Winston from drowning as a boy! Later Churchill said, “Rarely has one man owed his life twice to the same person.”
But is that not exactly what God has done for mankind? The Heavenly Father gave us the gift of physical life. We were drowning in our sins and then through His Son, the Great Physician, He has imparted to us eternal life.
May we become fully aware of our indebted love to Christ? He has given us both life and eternal life through the redemption of His Son. Should that not motivate us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Him?

A.J. GORDON
Some years back when A. J. Gordon was pastor of a church in Boston, he met a young boy in front of the church carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, “Son, where did you get those birds?”
The boy replied, “I trapped them out in the field.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
“I’m going to play with them, and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home.”
Gordon offered to buy them, and the lad exclaimed, “Mister, you don’t want them, they’re just little old wild birds. They are dirty and they can’t sing very well.”
Gordon replied, “I’ll give you $2 for the cage and the birds.”
“Okay, it’s a deal,” said the lad, “but you’re making a bad bargain.”
The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his money. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue.
The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ’s coming to seek and to save the lost—paying for them with His own precious blood.
“That boy told me the birds were could sing very well,” said Gordon, “but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, ‘Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!”
You and I have been held captive to sin, but Christ has purchased our pardon and set us at liberty. When a person has this life-changing experience, he will want to sing, “Redeemed, Redeemed, Redeemed!”
Please understand again, most people who claim they were redeemed at an early age, often have no experience at all. The evidence of salvation is clear.

V - TWENTY IS THE NUMBER OF REDEMPTION USED OFTEN IN THE BUILDING OF THE TABERNACLE.
While Israel was traveling to the Promise Land, God instructed Moses to build a tabernacle for worship. The tabernacle when finished would be a place where God met with His people. It would be a place of sacrifice, cleansing, judgment, intercession, and worship. The story of redemption in the Tabernacle is found in Exodus 26-38.
Exodus 26: 18 And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward.
19 And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.
20 And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side there shall be twenty boards:
In the wilderness, right after Israel was delivered from Egyptian bondage, they built a Tabernacle to God. It was 100 cubits long and fifty cubits wide. The building of the Tabernacle was completely a testimony of Salvation, sanctification and service to our Lord.
On the North side of the Tabernacle were twenty boards. Those twenty boards represent our redemption. The twenty boards which are secured in the ground are placed in sockets of brass. Brass represents God’s judgment, thus Jesus Christ came to this earth and took our place by facing the judgment of God on Calvary’s cross.
The twenty boards also are capped with silver. Silver is always a picture or redemption as gold is a picture of one who has gone through the fires and came out pure.
There are also hooks and rings made of silver that connect the beautiful white linen cloth to the twenty boards that circle the Tabernacle. The rings and hooks are made of silver, thus it is not only the redemption of God that saves us but it is His redeeming love that keeps us.
The white linen shows forth the righteous and holy life of the believer. The south side has the exact main dimensions as the north.
On the East and West side there are ten pillars. Ten is the number of testimony. When we have been redeemed through the judgment that was placed on Jesus Christ, we have a testimony for Him also.
This is all on the outside but the true work of redemption takes place on the inside of the Tabernacle. There is one door to enter the tabernacle. That door represents Jesus Christ as the one and only way to heaven.
Four boards capped with gold hold the extra beautiful curtains together which represent this door. The curtains are intricately interwoven with blue and scarlet and purple threads. The scarlet represents the sacrificial blood that was shed for the sins of the world. The blue represented the hope of eternal life for all who receive Christ’s redemptive work and the purple represent royalty. Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords.
After the door, we behold the brazen altar. It is on this alter that the sacrifices are made by the priest. It is here sacrificial animals are offered for man’s sin. The blood is offered here as well as through the inter Tabernacle.
You then come to the brass altar where the priest cleanses himself before going into the holy place. There must be cleansing before any one can enter the holy place.
Inside the holy place are three beautiful pieces of furniture. First you see the incense altar. This is a place of prayer. As Jesus was the one who intercedes for us, we today may come and intercede for others.
To the right in the holy place is the table of showbread. Fresh bread was made and placed here daily. This bread represented Jesus Christ as the bread of life. If we eat of this bread, Jesus, we shall be fully satisfied. But as the bread is made daily, we must feast daily.
To the left of the incense altar is the golden candlesticks. They are made of pure gold which represents the deity of Jesus Christ. They are filled with oil and the wicks are to burn day and night. Thus, Jesus Christ is the light of the world. As Jesus was the light of the world so believers in Christ are to be lights in this dark world. Keep you vessel filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit and your will burn for Him all day.
There is one last place that only one person was allowed to enter a year during Israel’s days in the wilderness. This place was the Holy of holies. It was here where the high priest went once a year to offer the blood of a sacrifice and make atonement for the sins of Israel. This place was the most intimate place of worship. The priest had to have every sin confessed and had to be perfectly clean to go into the presence of God.

Today, we that are redeemed are to be pillars that show forth Christ’s righteousness. But we are what we are because of our inner worship with God. The out side of the believer will be righteous if the inside of the believer has been redeemed.