Redemption - a different kind of bail

I was in prison recently (no no only visiting - with the alpha program). In leading worship in one of the listed songs “There is a redeemer, ” I had to wonder if the men all knew what it meant. I explained it this way “When you have blown it and have to face the penalty, a redeemer is one who bails you out permanently.” When we break the law of the land we may need to serve a prison term, and bail here on earth does not save us from the penalty, it only gets us out until we come to trial. Before the bar of God the offense is forgiven and He casts my sin into the deepest sea and posts a “no fishing” sign. This “no fishing” is especially for me, no more guilt trips thank you! What I love about God is that moments after my confession I can climb up on His lap and He receives me as if I never sinned!

The redeemer we are talking about is of course Jesus Christ, and He made redemption possible through His death on the cross (He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay!). Here on earth there is the matter of getting caught. On the other hand He sees everything, but the way to get away with the many things of which we are all guilty, is to repent and seek His forgiveness. Being forgiven does not mean we will not have to face the consequences of our mistakes and wrong doing. We do reap what we sow. It is good news though to know that with Him we can always start over with a clean sheet. That is a big part of what the new birth is really all about, a chance to start over. This is good news indeed, and you only find this with God. Our fellows here below find it a tad harder to forgive. When people ask me how I am doing I often say “The Lord loves me, it's the rest of the world I'm having trouble with!” We (I) need to be more like Him in the forgive and forget department! The World would be a better place!