“And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9,10).
We will praise Him because out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation He will have redeemed a vast multitude. The thought of His death will continue to result in praise to Him as it alone secured the redemption of His people.
Jesus Christ actually died on a cross and His blood was literally shed. The Old Testament sacrificial system, in which animal blood was shed, pointed forward to this. The writer to the Hebrews comments, “According to the law, almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22 CSB).
But, in Revelation 5:9,10, the word “blood” serves as a figure of speech for Christ’s sacrificial death. This is also the case in other verses, such as:
⦁ Romans 5:9 — “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
⦁ Ephesians 1:7 — “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
The physical liquid itself does not justify or redeem, but Christ’s sacrificial death does.
The words redemption and ransom are closely related, and sometimes appear to be used interchangeably, but they emphasize different aspects of God’s salvation work.
In basic terms a ransom is the price paid to free someone, and redemption is the result of that price being paid. Throughout time and eternity the people of God will ever be grateful that the Lord Jesus paid the ransom price and redeemed them by His sacrificial death upon the cross.
Redemption in the Old Testament
A consideration of redemption in the Old Testament will help us to understand the significance of Christ’s redemptive work.
In Exodus 6:6 we read of the Lord’s great promise to His people who were in slavery in Egypt, “Therefore say to the children of Israel: 'I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments”.
The thought here is of liberation from slavery by the actions of the LORD. The character of God depends on Him achieving what He promised and David, many years later, celebrates the Lord’s efficacious redemptive work for His people: “And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods?” (2 Samuel 7:23).
In Leviticus 25 we read of laws for the redemption of people and property. In times of extreme need a family might sell their property or even themselves into servitude. The law of God provided for the property or the person to be redeemed by the payment of a price. The language used is that of a market, where buying and selling takes place. When the redemption price was paid the person would be freed from those who held them. Thus we can see that to redeem is to secure the deliverance of a captive by the payment of a price.
These are just two of many examples of a ransom being paid for the redemption of people.
Redemption in the New Testament
In the New Testament we have a clear picture of the state of all humanity. We need redemption because we are enslaved to sin and separated from God. We all fall short of God’s holiness. We are sinners on three grounds: by imputation, meaning all humanity is counted as sinful because of Adam’s actions (Romans 5:12); by nature (Ephesians 2:3; Romans 7:18); and by practice (Romans 3:23). Without a willing and able redeemer we would be left to suffer the consequences of estrangement from God and face a just penalty for our sin.
The Lord Jesus identified Himself as the One who paid the ransom price for sinners to purchase their freedom:
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
The believer can rejoice and worship in the sure knowledge that at the cross Christ actually paid the ransom price – His own precious blood (1 Peter 1:18,19) – and accomplished redemption for all who would come to Him.
Another aspect of what Christ achieved on the cross is seen in Galatians 3:13: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’).”
All have broken the law, and disobedience results in death (Deuteronomy 27-28; Galatians 3:10) but Christ, Paul states, became a curse on the cross so that His people would never experience that. We can be assured that those whom He has redeemed will never come under the curse of the law; they will enjoy the freedom obtained for them by their Redeemer.
Peter emphasises that it is while He was on the cross (tree) that the Lord Jesus truly bore the sins of others:
“who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
The price was paid there in full. Every believer can be assured that they have been set free as a result.
The fact that a ransom has been paid and redemption accomplished means that the one who was a slave of sin is now a slave of God:
“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Corinthians 6:20).
The redeemed are not free to do whatever they want, but to do the will of their Master, who purchased them at great price. Every action, work and word should be designed to glorify the One who purchased them.
Peter reminds us that every believer has been redeemed by Christ’s precious blood. We could not do anything to secure it with offerings of money but the perfect Lamb of God gave Himself as the payment:
“knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18,19).
The Lord Jesus procured and secured redemption for His people by paying the necessary price. His role within the Godhead, where there is perfect unity, was to redeem His people. The Father chose who would be redeemed before the world began (Ephesians 1:4), Christ’s death actually accomplishes their redemption (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 1:7), and the Holy Spirit applies that redemption to them (1 Peter 1:18-23).
However, it is worth highlighting that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus is of infinite value. C. H. Spurgeon once said, “There is such infinite value in the blood of Christ that if God had willed it, Christ need not have suffered another pang, though there had been ten thousand worlds besides this to redeem.”
The gospel message is for everyone, no matter age, background or nationality. If you trust in Christ for salvation you can know that you have been redeemed because He paid the ransom price that you could never pay. In the words of a song:
He paid a debt He did not owe,
I owed a debt I could not pay;
I needed Someone to wash my sins away.
And now I sing a brand new song,
“Amazing Grace” (all day long)—
Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.
We commenced by considering a hymn that will be sung in heaven, and we will conclude by rejoicing in the words of a hymn that believers sing on earth. “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood”, written by William Cowper, contains these powerful words:
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.
E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
