Sand Mountain Sermonette 67
Ephesians 4:30-32; Ephesians 1:13
Redemptive Love
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:30-32
Back in the day, and many of you who are reading this blog will remember, we earned points for receiving merchandise without having to pay cash for it, via the famous “S&H Green Stamps” system. It worked like this: Our mother, Jeanine, for example, would earn these stamps when purchasing groceries, gasoline, and other things. Later, when she had collected enough stamps to exchange them for a lamp or kitchen item she wanted as selected from the “S&H Green Stamp” catalog, she would drive about thirty minutes down Hwy 431 to the “S&H Green Stamp Redemption Center” located in Guntersville, Alabama, to pick up her goodie!
Now, to be honest, mother only received what she really wanted for herself two or three times over the years because she would give in to my brother and me who would be wanting a badminton set or something of the sort. And boy oh boy, did my brother and I love licking and pasting those stamps in the little books you received in-order-to receive that special toy!
The Bible says Jesus died for your sin and mine by paying for our sin in full at the cross! And Paul tells us in Ephesians four the moment we are saved, we are also sealed by the Holy Spirit now and forever through the precious blood of Christ (see also Ephesians 1:13). In other words, it is Christ’s redemptive love on His part that purchases, saves, and seals us! But our walk with God doesn’t stop there. Paul goes on to say in our text for today that we grieve the Holy Spirit when we do not love others with the same love in which God loved us at the cross: when we use the words of our mouths to hurt or destroy someone or we get mad at someone at church or carry unforgiveness in our hearts.
Instead, Paul says we are “[to] be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you.” That’s redemptive love in motion in a world that is currently lost, dark, and divisive! Therefore, let us exchange our weapons of war for attitudes and actions of love and mercy in the name of Christ who died in our place that we might live and bring great glory to the Father!
Praise be to the One who sought and bought me with His redeeming love,
Pastor Louie