If you were to stand before God today, what would your defense be for all of your sins? Most people have no idea what they would say. Many would hope somehow that their good works in life would outweigh their sins and God would judge in their favor for being good enough. But, what if God said that you fall way short of His standard of perfection and judged your life to be unqualified for entrance into heaven? You can know this before it is too late: all of us have sinned and all of us fall short of the glory or the perfection of God. The entire human race is FALLEN. That was true of our first parents, Adam and Eve and it is true of every single person who lived after them. One description of the Fall is Original Sin. Mankind has lost innocence and needs to get back through the forgiveness of that sin and all the sins that followed.
Redemption means to “restore to original condition”
How can you and I be restored to the position that we had with God before we sinned and fell? The answer lies in Jesus Christ. He lived a sinless life and died an innocent victim as payment for our sins. He paid the price through the sacrifice of His life for us. Since He is God, He is holy and without sin and is able to take our sins upon Himself through forgiveness of the sins of the world. However, in order to receive that forgiveness, each of us must by faith accept Christ’s payment on our behalf. Otherwise, we will die in our sins and remain unredeemed.
Nothing is more important than your redemption. Are you redeemed? Praise God for his great love for you. Notice in the definition below for the word “redemption” that God desires to save the entire world. He loves you so much that He died for you. Notice also that a debt was paid for the redemption. All of us have a debt that we cannot pay on our own through our own goodness. The debt is beyond our ability to pay. But God made that payment in blood on the cross for us. His Sacrifice was perfect so that all who believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life. We never were worthy, we never will be worthy of heaven and God’s acceptance. If you are trying hard to be good enough for God, forget it. Only Jesus is worthy, only Christ can save you. You cannot save yourself by any amount of “goodness”.
Redemption requires outside help. God alone can save you and faith alone in God is our only way to find redemption.
