13.07 Limited Redemption

13 - Jubilee; Section 7 LIMITED REDEMPTION

It would not be right to finish this chapter without pointing out an additional scriptural distinction between Redemption and Jubilee. We who embrace the precious truth of the reconciliation of all things to God are sometimes guilty of being careless with our terminology. I am certain that you have at some time heard people speak of UNIVERSAL REDEMPTION. But when we speak of the meritorious work of Christ on the cross, do we rightfully say that He died to redeem all men and all things back to God, or do we more accurately state that Christ died to reconcile, justify, save and restore all men? "What is the difference?" you ask. It is just the difference between the law of Redemption and the law of Jubilee! All men were eventually restored to their inheritance in any event, but some were restored under the LAW OF REDEMPTION, whereas the remainder were restored under the LAW OF JUBILEE. I make the following statements reverently, with bowed head and shoes removed from off my feet, but they are true to the Word of God. Not one of those who were set free in Jubilee were redeemed! Conversely, not one of those who were redeemed had to wait until Jubilee to get back his inheritance! Thus, all those who were restored to their inheritance before Jubilee constituted THE REDEEMED - although all the rest came back to their inheritance eventually whether or not they had been able to experience redemption.

While we remain as children, many things are kept from us and many things are not understood or are misunderstood. The childish traditions of the Church have clouded men’s minds with darkness and have hung a veil of blindness over their eyes. The things that are really important we cannot see and the things that are not important are magnified to the heavens. How carelessly have we uttered terms like justification, salvation, reconciliation, new birth, atonement, redemption, etc., all the while supposing these are interchangeable terms which all mean more or less, the same thing. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Each of these tremendous words bespeaks a particular facet of God’s great plan of salvation, but each denotes a different aspect of the operation of God in His great reconstructive activities.

Jesus Christ reconciles the world, is the Saviour of all men, and justifies all mankind (1 Timothy 4:10; John 4:42; 1 John 4:14; John 12:32; Romans 5:18; 1 Corinthians 15:22 etc.). In reference to Christ’s SAVIOURSHIP the scriptures boldly proclaim that HE IS THE SAVIOUR OF A-L-L MEN. But when we come to this term "redemption," there is a difference. With only one exception, redemption is consistently associated throughout the Word of God with the Old Testament LAW OF REDEMPTION. And this redemption, as you should be able to discern by now, has a limited, rather than a universal, application. There is a special sense, alluded to in only one solitary passage of scripture (1 Timothy 2:5-6), wherein redemption is applied to the whole race of men. But in its primary sense, as expressed in every other passage in the entire Bible, redemption relates solely to those persons who benefit from Christ’s atonement prior to the antitypical Year of Jubilee, that great dispensation of the fullness of times in which all things in heaven and earth are finally gathered together into one in Christ. Thus, only the Lord’s special, chosen, elect, separated, peculiar FIRSTFRUIT PEOPLE may properly be termed THE REDEEMED!

Speaking of Pharaoh and his pagan subjects God said, "I will put a DIVISION between My people and your people" (Exodus 8:23). A literal translation would read, "I will put REDEMPTION between My people and your people." The Hebrew word for division here is translated redemption in Psalms 111:9 and Psalms 130:7 and redeem in Isaiah 50:2. This shows that God’s law of Redemption, in operation, SEPARATES between those who are uniquely His and those who are not. It distinguishes between those who come under the law of Redemption throughout the church age (the elect), and the great mass of men who will come under the law of Jubilee in that glorious age yet to come. It clearly discriminates between those who, by the merits of Christ’s sacrifice, find a full and complete release and restoration now, and the vast aggregate of men remaining in bondage until a future day of release. In the Old Testament redemption relates to Israel as God’s peculiar people, and in the New Testament to the Church which is His body. Notice the limited scope of redemption in the following passages. "Wherefore You art great, O Lord God ... and what one nation in the earth is like Your people, even Israel, whom God went to REDEEM for a people to Himself, and to make for Him a name ..." (2 Samuel 7:22-23). "Remember Your congregation ... which You have REDEEMED; this mount Zion, wherein You have dwelt" (Psalms 74:2). "Thus says the Lord that created you, O Jacob, and He that formed you, O Israel, Fear not: for I have REDEEMED you, I have called you by your name; you art Mine" (Isaiah 43:1). "Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and his REDEEMER ... beside Me there is no God" (Isaiah 44:6). "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He has visited and REDEEMED His people, and has raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of David ..." (Luke 1:68-69). "And there was one Anna, a prophetess ... and she coming ... spoke of Him (Jesus) to all them that looked for REDEMPTION in Jerusalem" (Luke 2:36-38). "And they sung a new song, saying, You art worthy ... for You were slain, and have REDEEMED us to God by Your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9). "Forasmuch as you know that you were not REDEEMED by such corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers" (1 Peter 1:18). "And they sung as it were a new song ... and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were REDEEMED from the earth" (Revelation 14:3). "But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us ... REDEMPTION" (1 Corinthians 1:30). "... according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children (sons) by Christ Jesus unto Himself, in whom we have REDEMPTION through His blood ..." (Ephesians 1:3-5; Ephesians 1:7). "Giving thanks unto the Father, which made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light ... in whom we have REDEMPTION" (Colossians 1:12-14). A brother in Christ wisely wrote: "I have actually had men tell me that to put emphasis on sonship is selfishness. Instead of emphasizing sonship, they say, we should be up and doing and trying to bring the world to Christ. I really have no argument with any man about such things, but when I read in Romans eight that the whole creation - man, animals, birds, fish, vegetable life, and even the elements - is groaning in travail for the hour when they will be delivered from their dreadful night of bondage by the sons of God, then how can I or any man be so ignorant and short-sighted as to condemn those who see the purpose of God in sonship and who press toward it with all their strength? Not only is creation groaning for this most important of all events, but the Spirit also helps our infirmity and gives to us that spirit by which we are able to say, "Abba, Father." The spirit that cries, "Abba, Father," is indeed the spirit of sonship, for who else can cry "Our Father" but he who is a son of God?" - The Page.