In this sermon, the preacher discusses the necessity of redemption by going back to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He emphasizes that God gave them one commandment not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they disobeyed and sin entered the world. The consequences of sin included separation from God and being enslaved to Satan. However, Jesus came to set the captives free and bring deliverance through his love and sacrifice. The preacher quotes John 3:16 to highlight God's love for humanity and Romans 5:6-8 to emphasize that Christ died for the ungodly. He concludes by referencing Luke 4, where Jesus quotes Isaiah and declares his mission to preach deliverance to the captives and set the oppressed free.

Good morning, greetings to each one, in Jesus' precious name. Blessing to be gathered here today to commemorate the death of our Lord. Before we begin, maybe we could kneel together for a word of prayer. Lord, thank you for your goodness to us. Thank you for this time we have to gather together and worship you, to seek your face, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for the sacrifice that was made on Calvary for our sins. Thank you, Lord, for that great redemption we have in Christ. I pray, Lord, that you would be with me, Lord, as I open up your word. Pray that I could rightly share your word, Father, and I pray you speak to our hearts and draw our hearts towards you in gratitude for what you've done for us. I just pray your blessing upon this service, may your presence be here in a real way. We need you, Lord. We pray it all in Jesus' name. Amen. I'd like to begin by asking a question this morning. How valuable is a life? How valuable is human life? Consider the great lengths that we tend to go to in order to preserve life, or to save someone's life. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions of dollars, will be spent in an effort to save somebody's life on medical procedures, or heroic efforts can be made to save a person's life. Why is that? The value of human life is immeasurable. I was reminded of a time 17 years ago when two sons fell through the ice on the pond in their home. The efforts that were made to try to rescue them and to save their life, unfortunately it wasn't successful. But there was a lot of effort made because life is valuable. How valuable is spiritual life? Our physical lives are valuable. But how much more is our spiritual life valuable? The value of our souls. Jesus said in Mark 8, 36, What shall a profited man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Our souls are invaluable. It's worth more than the whole world. What is the world worth? Two years ago, it was estimated that the value of real estate in the world combined was around $217 trillion. It was also estimated that the combined wealth of all the people in the world, $241 trillion, and depending where you look, I think I saw another figure, $256 trillion. And those numbers are astronomical. In reality, I thought the numbers would be higher, especially when we think of our national debt being in the trillions of dollars. But the value of this world in dollars, trillions, hundreds of trillions of dollars. But Jesus said that a soul, if you would gain all of that and lose your own soul, what would it profit you? Because our souls last forever. And this world is all going to burn up someday. All those hundreds of trillions of dollars that this world may be worth is eventually going to vanish, vaporize. So what will profit if we gain everything and lose our own soul? Well now, think about what Jesus went through in order to redeem our souls. Because he recognized the worth of a soul. Twice in 1 Corinthians we are told that we are bought with a price. So this morning I would like to consider the price of our redemption. 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19 says this, For as much 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. So that's the title of my message this morning, the price of our redemption. The price of our redemption. What is redemption? Redemption simply means a ransom. And a ransom is that which is paid, it's a price that is paid for the release of someone from captivity. In the early 90's in the country of El Salvador, there was a missionary by the name of Eli Glick who was taken captive by kidnappers and a ransom was demanded. The kidnappers were demanding 100,000 colons, and I'm not sure I'm saying that correctly, but that translates into $11,000 or $12,000 US. And he went through some difficult times there, suffering. They did deliver a ransom, just part of it, but he actually was released before the ransom was received. Many people were praying. But the ransom was given as a price to release him. And several times the scripture speaks of our redemption. We have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ is a ransom that was paid for our release from captivity. So why is redemption necessary? Well, to answer that we need to go back to the beginning. So turn with me to Genesis chapter 2. And we're familiar with this account, but we have this situation here where God created the world, a beautiful place. And he created Adam and Eve, placed them there in this garden that he created, a beautiful garden, the Garden of Eden. And he told them, in Genesis 2 verse 16, The Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. So they had only one commandment, don't eat of this tree. And guess what? That's what they did. We know the story how Satan came in the form of a serpent and tempted Eve and made it look like she was being withheld from something that was good. And so she took of the fruit of the garden and she gave to her husband and he ate. And they disobeyed God. And by yielding to Satan, man became a slave to him. He was taken into captivity. And sin began to reign in the world and reign in the lives of men and women. So I'd like to consider here the awful consequences of sin. It brought separation from God. Adam and Eve had enjoyed sweet communion with God. In the evenings he would come and they would walk together in the cool of the day and fellowship. But we see that something happened with that relationship. If you go to verse 8 of chapter 3, it says, They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. Suddenly they realized there was something amiss in their relationship. And it's because they had disobeyed God. They were no longer holy and pure. And so they hid themselves. They were afraid. Communion was broken. Fellowship was lost. And of course we know how God called them and he said, Adam, where are you? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And he said, who told thee that thou wast naked? And he said, hast thou eaten of the tree where like humanity that thou shouldest not eat? And he admitted it, but he said, well, the woman gave me to eat. And they kept blaming each other. He blamed the woman and the woman blamed the serpent. And of course God gave the consequences to each one. And then if we go down to verse 22, we see, The Lord God said, So he drove out the man and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life. So now man is separated from God. He's driven out from that place that God had created for him, that place of beauty. They're separated from God's provision. They could just go and eat of the fruit of the trees whenever they wanted to. Pick it off the tree and eat. But now Adam had to till the ground. He had to work hard by the sweat of his brow to provide food for himself. It says that in verse 17, Of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Curse is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shalt bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. For out of it wast thou taken, for thus thou art, and unto thus shalt thou return. So they were separated from God. And they had to work hard for their sustenance. We still have that today. Sin brought death, just like God had warned. There was that spiritual death in that severing of their relationship with God. Because that's what death is. Death is a severing. When we die physically, our spirits are severed from our bodies. And they died spiritually and their relationship was severed between them and God. Not only did it bring spiritual death to them, it brought death to animals. Verse 21 it says, Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothe them. So an animal, at least one, had to die. Probably a couple of them. And God used their skins to clothe Adam and Eve. Death came into the world because of their sin. Romans 6.23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. Death is the payment for any sin, whether it's big or small. Now we might think, well, eating of the fruit of a tree, that's not a big deal. I mean, that's not like killing somebody. That's not like adultery. It was just a small thing. They just ate fruit they weren't supposed to eat. And yet it was a sin because they had broken God's commandment. And that sin separated them from God. We tend to overlook, quote, small sins. But this was no small sin. No sin is a small sin. And that sin brought death into the world. Romans 5.12 says, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So because Adam sinned, all of us are sinners as his descendants. What do we do with sin? Blood has to be shed in order for sins to be forgiven. Hebrews 9.22, That word remission means freedom. So without death and the shedding of blood, there is no freedom from captivity. Now we're talking about redemption. Redemption, remember, is being set free. It's a price that is paid in order that someone else can be set free. So the wages of sin is death. Death must take place in order for us to be free. And that's why we have throughout the Old Testament these substitutionary sacrifices. And they were necessary there, but they did not take away sin. They only covered sin. We go to Hebrews chapter 10. It talks about that. It says, For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never, with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshipers, once purged, should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. It didn't make them perfect. They would still go and sin again. And then a sacrifice had to be made again. It didn't deal with the root issue. So sin brings death. Thousands of animals, tens of thousands, probably hundreds and maybe even millions of animals were slain throughout the Old Testament period in an effort to atone for sin. Sin brings man into bondage to sin and to Satan. The law of sin brings us into captivity. Romans 7 and 23, it says, I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. There's a bondage that we have to reckon with. We are slaves to sin. And that's why we need redemption. 2 Timothy 2, 24-26, it says, And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God perventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. The devil takes people captive. And all of us have been in captivity to him through our sin. And that is a terrible captivity. There is no way out in our own strength. Satan doesn't let his prisoners go. Isaiah 14, this is where it talks about Lucifer and how he's fallen from heaven. And right after those verses where it says how he will ascend up into heaven and be like the Most High, then it says, in verse 15, Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms, that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the house of his prisoners? Satan doesn't let his prisoners go free. He keeps them in bondage. The only way they can be set free is if there is a ransom price paid. And Jesus came to set the captives free, praise God. That was what he said in Luke chapter 4 where he's quoting from Isaiah. He was in Nazareth. He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read. In verse 17 it says, And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And then he closed the book and sat down and he said, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And Jesus came to set the captives free, to preach deliverance to the captives, to set at liberty those that are bruised. Jesus brings freedom. Why did Jesus come to set us free? He came because of the great love for which he loved us. We're all familiar with the most commonly quoted verse, John 3.16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God so loved us that he provided a way of escape from that penalty of sin. What love! Especially considering the personal sacrifice that it involved. And that love was expressed to vile sinners, those who were unlovable. Romans chapter 5, verses 6-8 says this, For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commended his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were sinners, before we had even turned from our sin, while we were still in captivity, Christ died for us. This is a supernatural love. So, as I said earlier, the wages of sin is death. That price has to be paid. But Jesus paid that price for us. So I like to consider the price that he paid to redeem us, and to restore that lost relationship that he lost there back in the Garden of Eden with man. He wanted that relationship restored. So, what price did he have to pay to do that? Well first, he had to leave the glories of heaven. Come down to earth. Become a man. Take on flesh. Now, heaven is a wonderful place. It's an indescribable place. It has beauty that we can't even fathom. Paul was caught up to the third heaven. It's his testimony. But he said it was unlawful to say what he saw there. He saw things that were mind-boggling. It's a beautiful place. There's nothing there that can mar that beauty. So Jesus left that beautiful home and came down to this earth, a place that has been marred by sin, that's wracked with disease, that is filled with suffering and fighting and so many things that are never seen in heaven. This world used to be a beautiful place, but it is no longer. I mean, there are some aspects it is. God's creation is still beautiful and awesome. But sin has left its mark in this world. Heaven is a place of purity. There is nothing there that is defiling. There is no sin, nothing to taint God's glory. He left all that and came to this world that's filled with sin and strife, hatred, immorality, impurity. He left a spotless place and came to a place that is defiled. Heaven is a place of worship. The angels cry, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty. Continuously, without ceasing, there is this continuous worship going up to the throne of God. And Jesus was there receiving that worship. He was waited on hand and foot by the angels that ministered to him. He left all that and came down to this earth and became a nobody, a poor carpenter's son, living in a dirty little village of Nazareth. As Jesus walked on this earth, he served men. By healing them, by teaching the principles of the kingdom of God, he came to this earth as a servant, even though he was king and Lord of all, yet he came and served mankind. This is part of the price he paid to redeem us. Mark 10.45 says, For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Serving was part of Christ's redemption. He ministered to people even when he was tired and he was weary physically. In heaven, there was no weariness, but here on this earth he experienced weariness. He got tired. We have the account of Jesus traveling through the land of Samaria and he came to Jacob's well there and it says that he was wearied with his journey and he sat there on the well. But even while he was weary, he still took the opportunity to minister to the Samaritan woman that came along. We have the account of Jesus on the Sea of Galilee and he was weary. He fell asleep in the boat and he was so tired that even when the storm came and the winds blew and the boat was rocking back and forth, he was sound asleep. He was weary. Jesus was swarmed by people who followed him for selfish reasons. They followed him because they wanted to see miracles. They followed him because they wanted the benefits. In John chapter 6, after he had fed the 5,000 people and he had sent them away and he sent the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and then later he followed them walking on the water and then on the other side, the people that he had fed came looking for him. They had come around. They took also boats and came across and they came to him. They wanted to follow this man. But Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles but because ye did eat of the loaves that were filled. Jesus saw through their motives. He realized and he challenged them. You're not following me for the right reasons. You're following me because you want the benefits you get out of following me. Jesus' price that he paid to redeem us here on this earth, he was despised and rejected. He paid the price of rejection. John 1.11 tells us, He came unto his own and his own received him not. The people didn't accept him for who he was. They didn't recognize his claims. The religious leaders rejected him. Psalm 118.22, which was quoted by the apostles later, says this, The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner. They rejected Jesus. They didn't want him to rule over them. They did not accept his lordship. He was rejected. Isaiah 53.3 tells us, He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Jesus faced despising. He faced rejection. And yet he gladly did that for our redemption. His claims as being the son of God, his claims of being the Messiah, were questioned because of his upbringing, because of his family. When Philip came to Nathanael and told him that we have found the Messiah, we have found the one whom the scriptures speak of, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael said to Philip, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Nazareth did not have a good reputation. So Jesus' claims for who he was, and other people's claims of him, were questioned because of where he came from. Nazareth? When the Pharisees were having discussion about how they could deal with this man, and then Nicodemus challenged him a little bit about it. Can we judge a man before we hear him? And they said, Does any good thing come out of... Has any prophet come out of Nazareth? But even the people of Nazareth, his own hometown, rejected him because of his family. They knew him. Matthew chapter 13. They're like, This man can't be anybody special. We know his brothers, we know his sisters. Matthew 13, 54. And when he was coming to his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch as they were astonished and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James and Joses and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then can this man have all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. So they, they didn't believe him. They just couldn't accept what was happening in front of them because they knew where he came from. Or they thought they did. They knew his family. So Jesus was despised. He was rejected. And then, Jesus suffered betrayal from one of his own disciples. Turn to Luke chapter 22, and we want to see here, spend some time here now thinking about the crucifixion and the events surrounding that. The rulers of the people were intent on getting this man because he was disrupting their program. But they were afraid of the people. But then they got their break when Judas decided to betray him. Luke 22 verse 3, Then entered Satan into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him unto them. And they were glad and covenanted to give him money. And he promised and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude. Now betrayal is a hard thing. But it's especially hard when somebody that you have spent a lot of time with and that you've trusted betrays you. Now Jesus knew the hearts of all men. He knew that Judas was going to betray him. And yet he had walked with him for three years. Three and a half years. Poured his life into him as well as the other disciples. And one of his own disciples betrays him. That is hard. You suffer betrayal. Not only betrayal, but hypocritical betrayal. He betrayed him with a kiss over in verse 47 when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane. He's speaking to his disciples here. It says, While he yet spake, behold a multitude. And he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss? A sign of affection. And yet it was a sign of betrayal. And then Jesus was arrested like a criminal. He was treated just like a thief. Verse 52. Then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders which were come to him, Be ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves? When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me. But this is your hour and the power of darkness. These were treating him like a common thief. As someone that would fight and retaliate. They brought a big crowd out with swords and staves. And Jesus is saying, Who do you think I am? Am I a thief? He was treated like a common criminal. The price of our redemption. Jesus endured shame and ridicule. He was taken here. He was arrested. Taken before the chief priests. We go down here to verse 63. This is in the High Priest's place. His house. Verse 63. It says, And the men that held Jesus mocked him and smote him. And when they had blindfolded him they struck him on the face and asked him, saying, Prophesy! Who is it that smote thee? And many other things. Blasphemously spake they against him. It was an act of mockery. They blindfolded him and then they hit him, saying, Prophesy! You're a prophet. You should know who hit you. And of course Jesus did know who hit him. But he wasn't going to go along with their mockery. He didn't respond to it. But they were mocking him. He was being ridiculed. We go down to the next chapter, Luke 23. We see that his life was traded for a notorious criminal. Barabbas. Luke chapter 23. Starting in verse 13. Now he's been taken to Pilate. He went from the chief priest. As soon as it was day, they took him to Pilate, the governor, because they wanted authorization to have him put to death. And they couldn't do that themselves. The Romans were the only ones that could authorize the execution. So, Luke 23, verse 13. And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers of the people, said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me as one that perverted the people. And behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accused him. So Pilate knew that these accusations were false. It wasn't lining up. It wasn't making sense. No, nor yet Herod, for I sent you to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him and release him. For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast. So he had this custom. Every feast of Passover he would release a prisoner to the Jews. So he thought, this will be the way out. I'll just release Jesus to them. And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas, who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder was cast into prison. Pilate, therefore willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And they persuaded him to release Barabbas rather than Jesus. So here Barabbas was a notorious criminal. He had made sedition, he was well known, he had murdered someone at least, at least one person, and he was cast into prison. And yet, in spite of his terrible criminal history, they wanted that man released rather than Jesus, who was pure, spotless, had done nothing wrong. Jesus endured shame, mocking, ridicule. Go over to the book of Mark, chapter 15. So after Pilate did release him, and let him go, not release him, but release him to them to crucify him, the soldiers mocked him in his claim of being a king. Mark 15, verse 16. And the soldiers led him away into the hall called Praetorium. And they called together the whole band, and they clothed him with purple, and planted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head. Purple was the color of royalty. And so they put a royal robe on him, and they put a crown on him, although it was a crown of thorns. And they treated him as a king, but in mockery. And they began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees, worshipped him. Mockery. He was king, but they mocked his kingship. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. Isaiah 56-7 says, I gave my back to the spiders, and my cheeks to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me. Therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Even though he hid not his face from shame and from spitting, yet he knew there was a time coming when he would not be ashamed. And for that reason he could go through this. And then they crucified him. Verse 24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them what every man should take. They took his clothes from him. He endured the shame of exposure and nakedness. To what extent we don't know, but he was exposed. It was a shameful thing. He endured that shame. He was crucified with criminals. Verse 27 and 28 And with him they crucified two thieves, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. He was counted as a transgressor. Just like these thieves. He was treated just like them. As a criminal. Why did Jesus endure all this for us? Well, in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2, it gives us a clue. It says that he is the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. He knew what was beyond. And he endured that shame. Even though he despised it. Jesus suffered the agony of the cross. Even before he was crucified he was scourged. John 19 verse 1 says, Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. And it's thought that they used a leather whip with pieces of bone and metal embedded in it. In the thongs. And that would just tear open a person's back. And those Roman beatings were so terrible that oftentimes prisoners died just from the beating. And the bleeding that would take place. It was just a terrible thing. Isaiah 52 verse 14, the prophecy of Jesus says this, As many were astonished at thee, his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. This beating disfigured him. It was a terrible beating. It tore his body up. It tore his skin to shreds. He was disfigured. It was a horrible, slow, painful death. The book of Mark tells us that Jesus hung on the cross for six hours before he died. He was suspended on that cross with nails. A very painful position to be hanging by your hands and your feet with nails driven through them. And they tell us that oftentimes the crucifixion victims would die from suffocation because the fluids would build up in their abdominal cavity and they'd have to push themselves up in order to breathe. Eventually they got tired. They would get exhausted and could no longer push themselves up and eventually just asphyxiate or suffocate internally from all that pressure. And they would die. But even greater than that agony, the physical agony that Jesus went through, which was a terrible thing. It was not so unusual though. There were thousands of people that the Romans crucified. And while it was a terrible thing physically, even worse was the agony of separation from his Heavenly Father. In verse 34, Mark 15, 34, at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, which is being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? As Jesus hung there on that cross, rejected of men, tortured, treated like a criminal, suffering a criminal's death. Much worse than that was the fact that God, his Father, hid his face from him. Why did God, the Father, hide his face from Jesus, his beloved Son? Scripture tells us that he bore the sins of the whole world. He took upon him sin. 2 Corinthians 5, 21, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So, as Jesus hung on the cross, he was taking upon himself the sin of the world. He was bearing our sins. It talks about that more in Isaiah chapter 53, that famous prophecy of Jesus. Verse 10, it says, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Jesus bore our iniquities. He took upon him the iniquity of the whole world. All the terrible, filthy things that have been committed by mankind throughout history. He died for the sins of the whole world. And his father turned his face away from that awful sight of the sins. He bore our sins. He took them upon himself. And then, he finally suffered the pain of death. Back to Mark 15, verse 37, Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. He released his spirit. He gave up. He died. You know, our bodies naturally want to hold on to life. We don't want to let go. It is hard to die. I've never experienced it. None of us have. But there's a difficulty to let go of life. Yet, Jesus willingly laid down his life. He talked about that in John chapter 10. Verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Jesus gave his life for us. Verse 15, as the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Then in verse 18, no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. Jesus laid down his life. He didn't let people take it from him, although men, wicked men, crucified him. In a sense, they took his life, and yet he willingly laid it down. Because he could have called 10,000 angels. He could have called a legion of angels and released him. Destroyed all those who were torturing him. And set him free. But he chose not to. John 19.30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. It was finished. His work on earth was done. The price of redemption had been paid. Jesus redeemed us by paying the ransom for us. He paid the price so that we could be set free from our captivity to sin and to Satan. So let's think a little bit about the value of Christ's sacrifice. His blood is precious. I want to read again the verse I started out with this morning. 1 Peter 1.18-19 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. Jesus' blood is precious. It is valuable. It is costly. That blood redeems many souls. Everyone who would put their faith in that blood, put their faith in the sacrifice that was made for their sins. And remember, one soul is worth more than the whole world. And millions have put their faith in Jesus. That blood is precious because he was the spotless lamb of God. He was pure, undefiled. He had committed no sin. There is no other lamb that will do. In the Old Testament, they had to bring a perfect lamb that was spotless. But Jesus is the ultimate spotless lamb. It's only his blood that can satisfy the conscience. Hebrews 9, 13 and 14, For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifyeth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Only the blood of Jesus Christ can satisfy the conscience, can take away that guilt that is upon each of us, that guilt of sin. Because it is pure blood, it is clean, never having sinned. Because we have been redeemed by this precious blood of Jesus. At such a price, the creator of the universe, who gave his life, spilled his blood for us, we have an obligation to live for him. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20, What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. We are bought with a price. A price has been paid for us. So, even bought, we're no longer our own. We never really were our own. Romans 6, 16 to 18, says this, Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. So we see here that we are a servant. We are a slave. All of us here. Either we are a slave to sin and Satan, or we are a servant of Christ. We're going to be a slave to somebody. So because we have been redeemed, we have been bought, we must flee from sin. We can't serve sin and serve God. It doesn't work. No man can serve two masters. There is no middle ground. We're either servants of one or the other. First Corinthians 7, 23 says this, Ye are bought with a price. Be not ye the servants of men. And there it's talking about the context of physical slavery, but saying if you can be made free, use it for God's glory. But there he wasn't saying that slaves should not serve their masters. Rather he's saying, serve God. Serve your master, or serve the Lord by serving your master. And recognize that we are serving somebody much greater than just the man who may be our master here on earth. So because we have been bought with the blood of Christ, serving Him is our highest obligation over any other obligations we may have to men here on this earth. We have been redeemed at a great price. And we are obligated to serve Him who redeemed us. If, after having been redeemed, we turn back to sin, we are in grave danger. Hebrews 10 verse 28 and 29 says this, he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. It is a terrible, terribly dangerous thing to go back to the world, to serving sin and Satan after you have been redeemed with that precious blood of Christ. He's warning us here, he's saying if you have once known the cleansing power of blood and then you just give yourself to sin, there is no other, there is no other sacrifice. It says in verse 26, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Jesus is the only way and yes, God has had mercy on some who have turned their back and come back to him but it is a dangerous thing. Don't count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing by going back to sin. So today we have considered the price of our redemption. Through Adam's sin, we all were born in bondage to sin and Satan. God so loved us that he sent his only begotten son into the world to redeem us. The creator of the universe left the beauties of heaven, his glorious home to come to this sin cursed earth to redeem us. He suffered deprivation and rejection by the very ones he came to save. While we were yet sinners, he gave his life for our redemption, spilling his blood on Calvary as the ultimate ransom price for us. We have been redeemed by the precious, precious blood of Jesus. Acts 20, 28 tells us that Jesus purchased the church with his own blood. We have been bought with a price. The value of that blood is immeasurable. It is the price that was needed to pay for our redemption from the bondage of sin and Satan. And so, because we have been bought with a price, we are not our own. We belong to our Redeemer, the one who paid that price for us. And we should serve him all our days with a heart of gratitude. So, as we partake of the bread and cup this morning, may we remember the price of our redemption. The Lord bless each one. Amen. Thank you, brother. Good remembrance, as the scripture says, to remember the Lord's death until he comes. And we're grateful for that here again this morning. I thought of that last night as I was looking over some of these scriptures, how that a ritual or practice or whatever we want to call a service like this is a clear remembrance. We notice that probably if we would never have it, even though depending on how often that we refer to it in preaching, would make the difference some too. But when we go through this a few times a year like that, there is a clear remembrance and a message according to it that Jesus did die for our sins. And to go through the story in these scripture, as brother Nathan did, is of course a great help. Thank you for listening to this message. 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