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Before I get into what God has revealed to me specifically this week about the word “redeem”, I have to tell you that the word was involved in a minor yet memorable change in my life. For many years, my email address was literally “theboss”. I had been a Christian for a long time, but so much of my focus in the way I did things was self-glorification. While I didn’t think much about my email address, I simply never changed it because I didn’t see a problem with jokingly portraying myself as the one in control. I remember a time while I was in seminary that a trusted friend encouraged me to find an email address that would be more humble and consistent with being a minister. I thought about it and realized he was correct, because even something as simple as an email address should reveal the truth about who I am in Christ. I searched ideas to see what was taken and the perfect fit that I ended up choosing was “redeemedrev”, and it is still my address today. This fits because I am nothing without Christ. He has redeemed me from the chains that once bound me, and HE is the boss of my life!

If you enjoy Christian music, you are probably aware of the national radio station K-LOVE. This summer, K-LOVE had its first ever fan appreciation awards show. Since the event, the on-air hosts have shared several times that the song that was voted “Song of the Year” is “Redeemed” by Big Daddy Weave. If you haven’t heard the song, here is just a part of its powerful lyrics: “I don’t have to be the old man inside of me ‘cause his day is long dead and gone, because I’ve got a new name, a new life, I’m not the same, and a hope that will carry me home, I am redeemed”. Doesn’t that sound like freedom to you? Whatever you’ve done in the past, however people remember you and judge your history, and whomever you put your trust in before, you now have a chance to be redeemed from all of that and given a “new name”, a “new life”, and a “hope that will carry you home”.

In Monday’s blog post, Katie talked about the thing that we most often think of as what we are redeemed from. She talked about the fact that we have all fallen short of God’s standard because of our sin. I’d like to talk to you about chains. Our sin is definitely one of the things that keeps us in chains, but there is something else that does as well that I think often happens without us even realizing it. The “chain” I am talking about is the law. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we should go out and break the law, commit crimes, and be thrown in jail.

The “law” I’m referring to is what Paul talks about in Galatians 3:10-14. The apostle is writing to the church in Galatia because many of them were Jews who were being tempted to focus their energies more on obeying their traditional law rather than on what Christ had done for them. He starts it by saying “all who rely on observing the law are under a curse” (v. 10). He goes on to explain, using Old Testament passages, that those who cannot or do not obey ALL of the Book of the Law are cursed. He ends this brief passage by sharing that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (v. 13a). Essentially, Paul is saying that we were doomed the minute we found out that we had to be perfect in observing the law or else be cursed, and that Christ bought us back from that curse so that we could receive the blessing of God’s promises. Paul is urging believers throughout Galatians 3 to stop being foolish in reverting back to relying on their observance of past traditions and “laws”, and to instead rely on Christ’s work of redemption.

Think back to the lyrics of that song, and then think about what ways you have not lived and walked in the redemption that you know is yours in Christ. How have you, even after receiving Christ and learning about his sacrifice and work for you, continued to allow yourself to be “chained” by the past? Maybe you still have not forgiven yourself or someone else for things that were done. Christ has bought you back FROM the chains, and WITHOUT the chains. Maybe your reputation has been ruined and your good name tarnished. Christ has given you a new name if you’ve trusted in him. Maybe you are having a hard time breaking away from the “rules” and “laws” that someone else has put on you, the ones that are really just someone else’s traditions and opinions and did not come from God or His Word. Understand that, even if you are cursed by those who put unreasonable expectations on you that were unmet, Christ in your life means that NO set of rules or laws can keep you chained when you are trusting in him. I encourage you to let the fact that you have been redeemed set you free from the stress of worrying about others expectations. Let Christ and he alone be your boss!