“The Redemption” is a foundational stage in God’s plan, centered entirely on Jesus the Christ, who is described as the “focal point and centre of God’s mediatorial Kingdom plan.” This stage accomplishes humanity’s salvation and establishes the “New Covenant.”
Key elements of Redemption through Jesus Christ include:
- Atoning Sacrifice on the Cross: Jesus’ death on the cross is the supreme act of redemption.
- God’s Power and Love: Through the cross, God reveals His power and demonstrates His immense love for humanity: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
- Removal of Sorrows and Punishment: Jesus “took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). Crucially, He “took the punishment for our sins” (Isaiah 53:5-6, 1 Peter 2:24), bearing the iniquity of all. This sacrifice provides “peace” and “healing” for humanity.
- Ransom for All: Jesus gave “Himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6), addressing the sin that separated humanity from God and providing the only sufficient mediation.
- Resurrection and Eternal Life: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, after three days in the grave, is central to eternal life. It signifies God’s victory over sin and death and empowers believers.
- Deliverance from Death to Life: Through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, individuals “pass from death into life” and receive “everlasting life” (John 5:24). This is the “born again” experience (John 3:7; 1 Peter 1:23).
- Intimacy with God: Jesus came not just for eternal destinies but to offer “intimacy and a personal relationship with God the Father today” (Galatians 1:4).
- Mediation and the New Covenant: Jesus is the “one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). He mediates the “New Covenant” by means of His death.
- Addressing Sin: God has a dispute with humanity due to sin (“transgression of the law of God and rebellion against God”). Since nothing humanity can do on its own is sufficient to atone for sin, a mediator is essential. Jesus, as the “Defense Attorney,” took the penalty for sins, allowing believers to stand before God as “totally forgiven sinners.”
- Superiority to the Old Covenant: The Old Covenant, likened to a “marriage covenant” that Israel broke, became “obsolete” (Hebrews 8:13). The New Covenant, prophesied by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34), is superior because God’s law is written “in their minds, and… on their hearts,” and God promises to “forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
- Empowerment by the Spirit: The New Covenant brings “life,” “righteousness,” and is the “work of the Spirit.” It grants His Holy Spirit to personally overcome and enable obedience to God.
- Universal Reach: While the Old Covenant was primarily with the “house of Israel and… Judah,” the New Covenant, through Christ’s blood, brings salvation to “all creation” (Mark 16:15) and enables Gentiles to be “grafted in” to the blessings of God’s salvation (Romans 11:17-24).
In essence, Jesus’ redemption work on the cross and His resurrection are the foundation of the New Covenant, offering forgiveness, new life, and a restored relationship with God to all who believe, transcending the limitations of the Old Covenant and expanding God’s family to include both Jews and Gentiles.
From my book The Fivefold Plan of God.