We all desire to have a good ending to our story, with words such as; restore, rebuild, return, reclaim or renew. Often the word we are actually searching for is redeem.
Professor Jerry Sittser elaborates on the meaning behind those re- prefix words, and the essence of redemption.
“All those words that begin with the re- prefix assume an original state that was good and some kind of decline or deterioration.”
“When we renew something it means that it grew old. We renew marital vows, for example, after a rough passage of a marriage. We rebuild a shed that had fallen in disrepair. We restore an automobile that’s rusted out, and so on.”
Why is redemption such an important element to God’s great story?
“Behind it stands a vision of original intent for something, the way things were supposed to be. This sets Christianity part of an unusual religion because it posits; God created the world to belong to Him, to function a certain way, a way that was harmonious and truthful and beautiful.”
As we know from the story in Genesis 3, brokenness entered in the world as humans rebelled against God. This led to suffering and pain that we still experience today.
“Humans rebelled against God and set up a chain reaction of suffering and destruction that has touched the entire created order of human history.”
But suffering is not the end of our story – redemption is.
“God set in motion a plan to reclaim this planet and everything in it, especially human beings, the crown of its creation, and make all things right, well and whole again. Even though scripture uses words like restore, renew and repair, the primary term it uses is redeemed.”
This redemption comes at a cost, paid by Christ on the cross.
“What sets the word redeemed apart is that it requires a sacrifice of some kind, suffering of some kind, and that suffering, God to himself through Jesus Christ.”
God is not only an author of our story; He chose to become a character in it. He suffers alongside us and offers redemption through Jesus Christ.
“God in your individual in story and chose to suffer for the entire world; to set things right, to restore, to renew, to reclaim things to His sacrificial death and to prove that work was done perfectly, we have a resurrection.”
