“Redemption!”

The Appomattox Court House Presbyterian Church Pulpit
Rev. Cameron S. Smith
The Lord's Day, February 19, 2006
Ezekiel 36:22-32
John 1:14-18, 29

Question 12
Q. Since, then, by the righteous judgment of God we have deserved temporal and eternal punishment, how may we escape this punishment, come again to grace, and be reconciled to God?
A. God wills that his righteousness be satisfied; therefore, payment in full must be made to his righteousness, either by ourselves or by another.

Question 13
Q. Can we make this payment ourselves?
A. By no means. On the contrary, we increase our debt each day.

Question 14
Q. Can any mere creature make the payment for us?
A. No one. First of all, God does not want to punish any other creature for man's debt. Moreover, no mere creature can bear the burden of God's eternal wrath against sin and redeem others from it.

Question 15
Q. Then what kind of mediator and redeemer must we seek?
A. One who is a true and righteous man and yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is at the same time true God.

This morning, we move into the second major division of the Heidelberg Catechism. The first division; questions 3-11 teach that it is human misery that results from being separated from God that drives us to the grace of redemption at the foot of the cross. The second division of the catechism, questions 12-85, explores the meaning and core convictions of that redemption that we have in Jesus Christ.

But, before I go further, I want you to know that I have felt your pain! The last three sermons on the consequences of original sin have been intentionally heavy, although I've tried to soften each blow with the hint of God's provision in Christ. I also want you to know that what I've been teaching you regarding the reality of original sin just so happens to be the minority report in the Christian Church today. According to a 2002 survey by George Barna, 74% of American Christians --52% self-identifying Evangelicals -- reject the doctrine of original sin, answering in the affirmative to this statement: "When people are born they are neither good nor evil - they make a choice between the two as they mature."

So then, following the lead of a vast majority of the Christian Church, we are at our core, basically good people who make poor choices every once in a while - some of us more than others and some of us making more severe choices than others. So it follows from this reasoning that "the cure" takes the form of varying degrees of self-improvement, behavior modification or psychological adjustment through medications and/or therapy. Redemption boils down to right thinking, understanding or right methods in fixing the problem, whatever it might be.

But here's what I am teaching you through the Heidelberg Catechism, which I believe follows the lead of the Scriptures: You cannot buy, earn or engineer your redemption before God. It is beyond human capacity and means to secure. Original sin is far more serious than any terminal diagnosis, it's an eternal diagnosis. Redemption, in the Biblical sense, means being supernaturally transferred from death to life. (cf. Eph 2:1) This redemption that the Bible speaks of is comparable to a cancer-ravaged patient hearing the long-prayed-for news from the doctor: "You're cured - you're cancer-free." It is the song of redemption from the lips of the blind man from birth after the touch from the Master's hand: "One thing I do know. I was [once] blind but now I see!" (John 9:25).

And this thought makes for a good segue into our four questions this morning. Taken together, they teach that redemption is at its core, a supernatural work. Follow the train of thought through these questions that lays the foundation of our redemption:
Question 12 begins with this: "Since…we have deserved temporal and eternal punishment, how may we escape this punishment, come again to grace, and be reconciled to God?" Answer: "God wills that…payment in full must be made to his righteousness, either by ourselves or by another." The next question follows logically: (Q.13) "Can we make this payment ourselves? In other words, can we save ourselves? The answer is: "By no means. On the contrary, we increase our debt each day." The answer to the very next question (Q.14) narrows down the possibility of redemption: "No mere creature can bear the burden of God's eternal wrath against sin and redeem others from it."

I like the way the catechism describes the human dilemma: Every day apart from Christ, the burden of our guilt before God grows - much like the digital display on a New York City street corner that displays the ever-increasing national debt. And while we can chip away at the national debt through human wisdom and political action, the alarming thing about sin is that we can't solve or remedy the problem on our own. Consequently, our culpability grows daily; our sin-debt accumulates in the sight of God at the rate of an overdue credit card bill.

The final question in the set teaches that this humanly impossible saving work is not only God's initiative; but it is His solution and His application of the solution: (Q.15) "…What kind of…redeemer [do] we seek [need!]? One who is a true and righteous man and yet…one who is at the same time true God." The Christian Church down through the ages, has always believed, taught and cherished that the Lord Jesus Christ is both man and God. The human-ness of Jesus enables him to stand in our place: "He had to be made like his brothers in every respect…to make [atonement] for…sins…." (Heb 2:17). But more importantly, in his humanity, Jesus became the second Adam for us, (cf. 1 Cor 15:45, 47). This means that he lived out the mandate that was given to Adam by obeying God perfectly; and it's based on the perfect obedience of Christ that we can stand before God with a clear conscience, declared righteous. The term redemption itself means "to buy back or to set free by paying a ransom"; and this is precisely what Jesus has done for us! (cf. 1 Cor 6:20, 7:23). This is what John the Baptist understands when he sees Jesus walking towards him: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). Jesus takes away the sin of the world by redeeming us from the slavery of original sin. The curse is undone.

But, we have stressed all along that no mere mortal can accomplish this task of redemption. And so we must confess that Jesus is God as well for only God can do this work. Calling attention to that point, our Scripture lesson from Ezekiel 18:30-31 a couple of weeks ago was a tease: "O house of Israel…Repent and turn from all your transgressions….and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!" This exhortation, you may remember, is lodged between two declarations that God desires the best for all creation! Peter repeats this sentiment famously in 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord…is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." But the nagging problem is that, well, it's impossible apart from enabling, eye-opening, heart changing grace from God! I found this impossibility embedded in the chapters following the exhortation to turn and live in Ezekiel 18. There you'll find a seemingly unending laundry list of the sins, not only those of Israel, but of all the nations as well (cf. Ezek. 25-32). It seems that God is toying with us by telling us to do something that we can't possibly hope to accomplish!

However, in our lesson today from Ezekiel 36, where the laundry list of sins comes to an end, I want you to note the almost identical language found in Ezekiel 18, but with a major difference. This time, God is the one who will take care of business: "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean….and I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God." (Ezek 36:25-26, 28). As I mentioned in my children's message this morning, all it takes to find this redemption in Christ is to confess that you can't "fix" things on your own; that you need the mercy found in Christ; and that you desire to change. If these statements resonate within your heart, then redemption has been accomplished on your behalf and is being applied. The promise is yours: Christ is sprinkling clean water on you; he is giving you a new heart; and the Spirit of God is alive within you. If my words ring hollow, I can only ask the same question that God posed through Ezekiel: "Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live." The promise is for you too. Amen