The Story of Redemption (Pt. 2)

     Yesterday, we became more aware of our need for redemption. Today, we turn our attention to the profile of our Redeemer. The immensity of our predicament as sinful creatures before a holy God demands certain things about the One who is to redeem us. We can’t rescue ourselves, and we can’t assume that anyone else who shares our problem of sin can restore us either. So what kind of Redeemer do we need?

1. Our Redeemer must identify with us. How is He to represent us before the holiness of God if He does not identify with us? We need Him to be associated with us so that He can stand in our place.
2. Our Redeemer must be free from sin. Sin is the very root of our problem. If the One who restores us is Himself not free from sin, then anything that He does is useless. So He must identify with every part of our humanity except our sin.
3. Our Redeemer must be more than a man. His power must extend beyond the faculties of a mere man. We are all destined to die because of our sin, and so the One who rescues us must have power that extends over the grave. He must be able to take on the death that we are to experience and do away with it once and for all.
4. Our Redeemer must satisfy the wrath of God. Our sin has put us at odds with a holy God who will not leave it unpunished. The Lord is not going to simply forget about the wickedness that we have done. As the perfect and just God that He is, He must punish our sin. Therefore, the One who Redeems us must be able to take the Lord’s wrath upon Himself and satisfy God’s holiness.
5. Our Redeemer must be sent by God. The Lord is going to allow nothing to pass if it doesn’t glorify His name. He is the One who is owed, and any restoration between man and God is going to have to proceed from the Lord. A self-appointed redeemer is no redeemer at all. Our Redeemer must be from the Lord.
6. Our Redeemer must not expect repayment. Man is dead in his sin with nothing to offer to his own redemption but the sin from which he needs rescue. Any plan that involves man working his way into redemption must be tossed aside because it cannot happen.
7. Our Redeemer must be motivated by a complete and faithful love. Our redemption will cost everything and only the One who truly loves us will be able to endure it.

     As you can see, the qualifications for being our Redeemer are incredible. They stem straight from our infinitely large problem: How can a perfectly holy God be reconciled with an awfully wicked humanity. There are not multiple ways to fix this problem because there are not multiple figures in history that fit the above profile. Only One stands out, and tomorrow, we will see how He alone is our Redeemer.

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