In the retail business world, redemption is defined as the act of exchanging of one thing for another such as, a coupon.  You would go into a store that issued the coupon, and you submit the coupon in exchange for the product, or to redeem the product it represents.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, redemption means to buy back, to get or win back, to free from what distresses or harms, to free from captivity by payment of ransom.

In the beginning, God created man.  Man could fellowship with the holy and glorious God face to face; because of disobedience, relationship with God was destroyed (Genesis 3).

Jesus was sent on a mission by His Father to restore that broken relationship.  “For God so love the world that He sent His only Son…” (John 3:16).

What was required to rescue man? Scripture paints a clear picture:  a sacrifice of life would need to happen because sin is punishable by death, (Romans 6:23).  In order for God to accept and be pleased, only a perfect sacrifice would satisfy the requirement.  Jesus, the perfect and spotless Lamb of God (John 1:29), was willing to restore that broken relationship.  He willingly sacrificed His life to take away the sin of the world.

God always had a plan.  This is not something He scrambled and suddenly came up with as a solution to rescue man.  “…the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world,” (Revelation 13:8).  Yes, God foreknew man will fall.  He had a plan before the foundation of the world that Jesus would come and gave His life as a ransom for our deliverance.

In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

What is ransom?  It means a sum of money or other payment demanded or paid for the release of a prisoner.  The amount has to be precise to satisfy what is required for the penalty.  And because sin is punishable by death, Christ had to sacrifice His life as a ransom for our deliverance from the imprisonment of sin.

Thus, a ransom was necessary in exchange for man’s freedom.  You were living under the bondage of sin and death, but because Jesus gave up His life as ransom, you have been bought out by the blood of Jesus Christ as an exchange for your deliverance from the slave market of sin.

Now after deliverance from the slave market, God didn’t just stop there and said, you are good to go, you are free.  No, He didn’t do that.  Instead, deposited His Holy Spirit into our hearts.  I don’t know how that works, but the Bible says that the Spirit of God establishes residence in a believers life one that person has a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.  In addition, God adopted us as His sons, no longer slaves but sons, wow!

In writing to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul writes, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  You are no longer slave but a son,” (Galatians 4:4-7). 

And as an adopted son, you are heir of God, co-heir with Christ.  “Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ…”(Romans 8:17).  Think about it, what belongs to Christ, belongs to you as well.  As children, we have an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade kept in heaven.

By what means are you claiming you are a son of God? Have you been adopted as a son of God? A ransom has already been paid for your deliverance by Jesus Christ on the cross of calvary. All you have to do is to accept it that payment. “But as many as received Him, He gave them the power to become children of God, even to those who believed in His Name,” (John 1:12).