Redeemed!

There is a house in our neighborhood that hasn't been much to write home about.  It wasn't exactly pretty, in fact, it was downright ugly.  That was until recently.

The house went up for sale and when the house changed ownership things began to change.  First we noticed the old carpet had been ripped out and carried to the roadside.  Then there was evidence of floors being refinished.  We could tell the walls were being painted inside as well.  Still the house looked virtually the same on the outside.

Then the carpenter moved outside.  The old, dated wrought-iron rails were pulled down and new, modern wooden rails and posts were put in their place.  The shutters were taken down and painted.  But the biggest change came only this week. 

My husband watched it in stages, but I only saw the finished product as we drove by today.  The old, monochromatic, red brick had been painted.  In it's place was a crisp cream colored house.  Sharp and fresh looking, the whole house looked new.  What had begun as an inward transformation ended up as a total transformation.  What was once an outdated, ugly old house now looks fresh and cute.  The house has been redeemed.

I know how that house feels. I've been redeemed, too.

When we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, it isn't just a mental thought that occurs to us, it is a fundamental change in our most inward being.  That old part of us is not just painted over, it is destroyed, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Romans 6:6.)  

Not only that, but we are resurrected with Him too, "that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4.)



Just as the house in our neighborhood is no longer an ugly, outdated house, we are no longer a sinful, wicked person.  Our new being is "created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). Our every expectation should be that we should walk in and live in that righteousness and holiness by the power and strength of the Lord Jesus Christ.  After all, would you expect the new owners of the house to sleep out on the old carpet by the side of the road?  No, they will celebrate the beauty of the redeemed house and enjoy the glory of the work of the carpenter.  In like manner we should live in a way that celebrates the beauty of the redemption of our souls and the glory of the work of our own Carpenter.

 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, 

so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous. 

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. 

But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:  

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness 

unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 5:19-21