The Necessity of the Redemption

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The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and … so all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. Matthew 1:1-17 The New Testament’s first book, Matthew, begins with 17 verses, 45 names, and 347 words detailing the genealogy of Jesus. Why would that be so? It’s certainly not an introductory paragraph that grabs the casual reader’s attention. Of course, if you know the whole story, then it’s one of the most amazing passages in all of literature. You see, it reveals that Jesus was the embodiment, the fulfillment of centuries-old Hebrew prophecies about a Messiah, a Savior, a Christ, who would save God’s people through the line of Abraham. Secondly, it reveals Christ’s humanity and His humility. Even though Jesus was the only begotten Son of God, He came to this Earth in a physical form common to every person and anything but god-like. Yes, Jesus’ family tree included Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, and King Solomon – royalty, patriarchs, and heroes of the Bible.  But it also included the wicked: murderers, adulterers, idol worshippers, and thieves. And it included average, everyday people, the common man if you will. On Christmas Day so long ago, when Jesus was born on this Earth, He was no different than any of us in the physical or human sense. He cried, He grew hungry or thirsty, and He lived a brief life. But this man always has been, is, and will forever be our Savior, the Messiah, and the only true hope for a dark, degenerate, and dying world.

The Necessity of Redemption

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

Hebrews 9:12–14

I read about a little boy who sat down on the lap of a department store Santa with a rather lengthy list of gift ideas. He asked for a bike, a sled, a cowboy outfit, a train set, a baseball glove and a pair of roller skates. When he stopped to take a breath, Santa said, “That’s a pretty long list. I’ll have to check and make sure you were a very good boy.” The boy quickly replied, “You don’t have to go to all the trouble of checking. I’ll just take the roller skates!”

All of us fall short of God’s standard of perfection. While there are no doubt some people who are much better or much worse than average, no one reaches the mark that God has set. “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one”(Romans 3:12). That means that all of us are in need of a Saviour—which is why Jesus came.

There are many great blessings conferred on those who receive God’s free gift of salvation, but none is more important than having the perfect obedience and righteousness of Jesus Christ placed on the record next to our name. As Christians we have no fear of the list being inspected, for when God sees us, He does so through the blood of His Son, and finds us sanctified.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

Rather than relying on our efforts for our standing with God, we have the righteousness of Christ on our account.