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We, as Christians, believe Christ redeemed our lives with His death on the Cross. We speak of the redeeming power of the blood of Christ, but do we know what this means?
I suppose if I am going to do a blog series on Redemption, I should define the word. Besides, I am an editor of English reference books, so its in my nature to want to define things. Today's entry will be simple definitions:
Redemption means:
1. the state of being redeemed (yeah, need to define this further, so see below)
2. deliverance (this too!); rescue from sin
3. salvation (protection from harm)
4. atonement for guilt
5. repurchase, as of something sold
Redeem means:
1. to pay off
2. to buy back
3. to exchange
Deliverance means:
1. salvation
2. liberation
3. a thought or judgment expressed; an authoritative pronouncement
A synonym for redemption is "ransom." I always think of the movies with the rich, heiress hostages and the cute police officers who negotiate a way to free the beautiful, smart hostage and capture the evil psychopathic kidnapper. Ransom is mostly used nowadays in a monetary sense. But the meaning is basically the same as redemption. Think of Christ's blood as the ransom to free us from sin's bondage.
An antonym for redemption is "abandon." In difficult times, this is exactly what we think God has done, isn't it?
But I am getting ahead of myself...
