Jesus, Our Redeemer

Redemption is a word often thrown around in Christian circles but not always well understood. As leaders, we’ve found ourselves teaching on this subject many times. Understanding the meaning and significance of this term changes how we see ourselves as leaders in Christ and what His act of love truly unlocked for us. “Redemption” means to buy back, win back, or purchase. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He purchased us back from the enemy. Not only did He buy us back, but He also restored our relationship with God as though Adam and Eve’s sin never happened. In essence, Jesus reset our relationship with God to what it was originally intended to be.

So, let’s go back to the garden of Eden: what was God’s original intention for humanity?  Genesis 1 says that we were made in the image and likeness of God. We were made to reflect God’s glory, to operate as He does, and to think as He thinks. Since Christ’s blood reset us, we no longer have to function and think like we did before. Once we accept Christ as our Savior, we need to reflect the image of God—be like Him, see like Him, speak His Words, and do what He does. The vision that we have for our lives, especially as ministry leaders, should reflect God’s image and His purpose for us. Let me ask you: in what ways are you operating like God? Does your leadership style mimic what Jesus would do? In what ways do you need your mind to be reset to His image?

God did another thing for Adam and Even in the garden: He blessed them. In God’s blessings are found favor, provision, health, strength, fruitfulness, and everything we need to live victoriously on this earth. When we walk in power provided to us through Jesus’s blood, we have no choice but to walk in the blessing of God. We have faith in the fact that God sees us as His Righteousness. We have faith that we are blessed going in and blessed going out. Through Christ, we’re no longer cursed. There is no need for us to live under the curse from generation to generation; instead, we can begin to operate at our highest potential and experience the highest place in which God wants us to live.

Lastly, God gave Adam and Eve authority (or dominion) over the earth. It is this same power that Jesus gave His disciples when He sent them out to share the gospel with others in Luke 10. God’s original intention was not that man would rule over one another, but rule over His creation. Jesus redeemed us from being controlled by racism, classism, sexism, and all the other ways humans try to assert their supposed “superiority” over each other. We no longer have to walk in victimhood, but we walk in victory, knowing that we’re made in God’s image and that He’s given us the power to be who He created us to be. You no longer have to walk in feelings of inferiority, insecurity, inadequacy, or powerlessness; Jesus redeemed you and reset your identity!

Hold your head up high as you go through your day because you have been redeemed!  As someone who leads others in ministry, I want to remind you that, through Jesus’s blood, your life has been reset. Your image has been reset. We all make mistakes and often must continue leading while working out those mistakes. The challenge for you is to accept His work in you and to walk in it by resetting your mind. This happens as you read the Word of God, pray, and spend time with Him. What would it look like for you to truly see yourself the way God sees you and to operate as He intended? When God created you, He blessed you. He called you good, and He called you free. Now, all you have to do is believe it. Yes, you are enough!