May 15, 2001

"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; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot." 1Peter 1:18-19

"Forasmuch as ye know" ~ and I hope you know that you have been
redeemed!
In these verses Peter is speaking of the objective work of God for your
salvation, which is redemption. Brothers and Sisters, He had to pay a
price for us! You and I stood under the judgment of God, for the
Scripture says, ". . .the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel
18:4). God has never revoked that decree. God never changes. He is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. The immutability of God is the
terror of the wicked ~ if they give any thought to it at all! We hear it
said that we are living in a new age with new thoughts and new values,
but God has not changed! There would be no reason for Him to change
because He knew the end from the beginning. Neither did He learn
anything when He looked at the morning newspaper or heard the television
broadcast this morning. It didn't give Him any information because He
knows all things ~ past, present, and future. And God has not changed
His decree that "the soul sinneth, it shall die."
"Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold." If
you have table service of silver which you use only for guests, you know
that whenever you take it out, it is tarnished and looks like pewter. It
is corrupting. Silver and gold are perishable. We are not redeemed with
corruptible things.
"From your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers."
Life is vain; that is, empty without the redemption of Christ. There is
nothing quite so meaningless as human life apart from the redemption of
Christ. Everything else in this world serves a purpose. Every animal and
every plant on this earth serves a purpose. The sun, the moon, and every
star in the sky serves a purpose. But man without God is meaningless. I
read once that mankind is just a rash on the epidermis of a minor
planet! Well, that's about all we are apart from God. We have not been
redeemed by corruptible things ~ not anything from this empty life. We
have nothing to offer God for our own redemption. Ask yourself, "What do
I have that God needs?"
What can you or I do today to redeem ourselves? NOTHING!
Then how can we be redeemed? "With the precious blood of Christ."
Here again, Simon Peter, that rugged fisherman, says that the blood of
Christ is precious. "With the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot." Simon Peter, who lived with Jesus for
three years, said that He was without blemish and without spot. He was
absolutely sinless. I will take Peter's word for it! Certainly he is in
a better position to judge than modern authors who depict Jesus as just
another sinful man. The modern authors write for money, but Simon Peter
wasn't in the money-making business. All he got for his witness of
Christ was suffering and finally cricifixion. He said that we were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, "but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot." This is an objective statement of our redemption. This is what
God did for you and me!
God Bless you as you let God mold you and shape you to work for His
glory.

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