Jesus has come to redeem our broken lives from sin. But He did not come just to save us from something. Redemption also involves a purpose…a saving for, if you will. Zechariah concludes his prophetic hymn of praise for Christ with these words, “He has given us the privilege, since we have been rescued from the enemies’ clutches, to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness in His presence all our days” (Luke 1:73-75, HCSB).
We should be thankful to have been redeemed by Jesus from the clutches of the enemy. But even more, we should be thankful that we have been redeemed for a purpose. Check out the four purposes redemption provides for us:
1. To live without fear of our enemies, chiefly, sin, death, and the grave.
2. To live in holiness, meaning that relationally we belong to God. Holy is not a behavioral concept, it’s a relational concept—we are set apart to God, by God, and for God!
3. To live in righteousness, meaning that we are empowered to live as Jesus lived and would have us live.
4. To live in His presence all our days. After all, the only way we can stand in the presence of God is because we have been redeemed.
This Advent season I’d like to encourage you to think about Jesus our Redeemer. He’s not just redeemed us from something. He’s redeemed us for something. And the for makes our lives purposeful and meaningful.