I was listening to Christian music this morning and heard a song that made me scratch my head and say, “Did I hear that right?” The lyrics stated, “If you’ve been forgiven and if you’ve been redeemed…” Right off the bat, you wouldn’t think there would be any question about what was being said. But there was one repeated word that truly caught my attention: the word IF. Somehow, it struck me that if a Christian can sing a song that says “if,” it carries with it the implication that there is a question of doubt about the act itself. I’m not sure why it struck me that way, but it did.
As a Christian, there should be no question as to our redemption based on what the scripture tells us when we acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. Of course, that spiraled into thinking about people questioning whether or not a person could lose their redemption once they have professed their faith. This, in turn, got me to ask why we seem to doubt or question what God provided for us. Why are we saying if? Why are we worried about what we could do that could rip from us the very promise that gives us hope? It sounds as if there are too many variables that drown out a truth that never changes from God’s perspective, only ours.
The truth is that in Jesus Christ, our redemption arrived and delivered us from alienation with God.
That statement alone contains much to unpack. But whether anyone believes it or not, it is a truth that has nothing to do with our ability to accept it. I don’t know why we find that so hard to understand, but we do. It is as if unless we believe it, it can’t be true. It is almost like we are trying to create a God that agrees with us rather than believing in the God who was before creation began.
The Apostle, Peter, wrote that our God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, caused us to be born again to that living hope. He didn’t say God asked us to believe. It says He caused us. Caused is the word that should catch our attention, even as it is used in the past tense. Cause, used as a verb, means to compel by command and authority. That definition alone does not convey anything other than accepting that God is completely responsible for it. Our belief of that, or lack thereof, does not make it so. It just is, all on its own. So, why do we spend so much time trying to rewrite the rules, so to speak?
It seems we have forgotten that in our fallen state, our true nature changed from its original intention. This darkened reflection of truth hinders us. But once we see the truth of Jesus Christ, it is only the beginning of God removing the things from our lives that are no longer consistent with our redeemed nature. Salvation does not depend upon us having enough faith or enough repentance in order to obtain it. Faith is the response to what God has done with a grateful “Thank you!” Salvation is God’s gift that restores everyone to our original blueprint.
Why is this so hard to believe? It started in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were seduced by a voice that spoke of a desire to be more than they felt they were as if they had been created lacking something. At that moment, they began to align their thought patterns with the accuser. The terrible fruit of that choice led to the revelation of the knowledge of good and evil. We don’t call it that, however. We call it our conscience.
That single act produced within mankind a sense of guilt and shame, all of which produced fear. Fear spiraled into self-loathing as we attempted to hide from ourselves, from others, and, even worse, from our Father in Heaven. In that single instant, our attitude toward our Creator disconnected us from our true relationship with Him. But God didn’t leave us stranded in that single moment in time.
From before the foundations of this earth, this universe, and this space-time continuum, God created a covenant with Himself to restore that which we freely chose, and many still choose, to reject. The incarnation of Jesus was God, fully man, living within the human realm, and by the shedding of His own blood, bound Himself to us not in chastisement but in a loving relationship. Simply stated, Jesus did not come here to fix God’s attitude toward us. He came to fix us, in us!
The shame of religion is that it has hijacked the beauty of God’s acceptance of us. Jesus, fully human, joined us in the lie about our humanity but chose not to operate out of that lie. God stood with the entire human race in the Garden of Eden. From the start of it all, God has always been with the entire human race. Ephesians tells us we were predestined into adoption from the beginning. Religion has tried to convince us that this predestination is only for some people. But that is another lie we have been asked to believe.
Human nature was always meant to participate in God’s divine nature. That is how we were originally created. God predestined the whole of mankind to adoption. It is just sad that some will willfully choose to reject the gift paid with such a great price. The very DNA of God abides in us, which tells us we belong to God, always have, and always will. The Holy Spirit simply helps convince us of what God already believes of us.
Until we discover what this free gift means to us, we act out in a wrong manner toward God. He continually works within us to change and remove thoughts of separation and insufficiency from our mindset. In Him, we are free from guilt, free from the lie, and free from death. In the incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, God joined us in the consequences of Adam and Eve’s original choice. This plan was in play before we existed, and from that moment forward, God has never left us or forsaken us. Despite the contrary, we are delivered. We are adopted. We belong to Him. The good, great news is that we have been for all time, truly redeemed!
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