We are all aware of the truth that Jesus saves sinners. To have the optimum utilization of the freely given salvation, we should know what it is that Jesus saves us from. We know that by believing in Jesus, we will obtain eternity (John 6:47). We believe that Jesus removed our curses while hanging on the tree (Galatians 3:13). We believe that our sins are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:7). Despite knowing all these truths, we fail to enjoy the freedom in Christ Jesus, and often go back to our old bondage. To come out of this bondage forever, we must be clear about what is necessary to retain our salvation.

The Fall

Since the day Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they came to know that they were naked. Prior to their fall, they were not ashamed of their bodies, but suddenly they felt a need to hide their nakedness. They lost the image of God in them as the openness had gone forever, and man had to maintain secrecy to guard his image. Now man is very much conscious of protecting his image and never thinks of regaining the image of God in him.

To justify his stand, Adam covered his sin by blaming Eve and was reluctant to accept his mistake. God drove them out from the garden, and he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). In other words, because of disobedience our entry to eternal life was closed temporarily.

By eating the forbidden fruit, man took an additional responsibility of discerning good and evil. Disobedience to God attracted the attention of man towards evil rather than good. With all the intelligence in him, man lost his sense of love for God despite God loving him. If we do not love God, then it is impossible for us to obey God. Mankind determined that their flesh would not obey God. God, while sending them out from the garden, did not take back anything He gave them prior their fall, but mankind lost the image of God in them.

The Redemption

By sinning, we deprive ourselves of the image of God. To redeem His image in us, God came as a man to give us back His glory. Because of our sins laid on Him, Jesus did not even look like a man. The beauty of God becomes ugly, even beyond the image of man, as the Son of Man hanged on the cross disfigured and ugly.

Just as there were many who were appalled at him—his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human beingand his form marred beyond human likeness.

Isaiah 52:14 (NIV)

Prior to crucifixion, in an upper room, Jesus broke the bread and blessed the wine. There He announced the new covenant made through His blood. While the Passover commemorates the freedom given to the Israelites from the hands of their Egyptian masters, the food in the upper room commemorates the freedom made available to all people from the clutches of sin. When the Jews observed the first Passover, they were in a rush as they had to leave their place of bondage.

Today we are participating in His Holy Communion, not in haste but at ease to remember and rejoice in the freedom God gave us from the clutches of sin through His Son, Jesus Christ. People celebrate the Passover once a year, but Jesus asks us to remember His New Covenant as often as we can. Jesus asks us to remember our Father and thank Him for His incredible love. To believers in Christ, it is a daily meal rather than a Last Supper.

To fulfill the law, Jesus has to shed His blood while dying on the cross to save us from the wages of sin. The scripture tells that the blood of Abel cried aloud for justice because while in his body, Abel loved God and offered Him the best. The blood of Jesus speaks justice to us because Jesus shed His blood by obeying God while in His body (Hebrews 12:24).

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.  

Hebrews 9:22 (NIV)

An Ultimate Redemption

The origin of all sins is disobedience, and when we disobey God, we convey to Him that we do not love Him. When we rejected God, He sent His Son and redeemed us with the blood of His Son. Jesus substituted us on the cross and removed the animal sacrifices once and for all. For this reason, we should understand that Jesus did not replace the animal sacrifice by Giving His life. The animals did not sacrifice their lives in obedience to the love of God, but killed only to fulfill the law. Jesus gave His body as a sacrifice with utter obedience to the will of His Father. He did not substitute the animal but did something else that animals cannot do but a man can. Yet no man was there to obey God, so God gave Jesus a body in His image as He gave to man in the beginning.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;  with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll — I have come to do your will, my God.’”

Hebrews 10:5-7 (NIV)

Redemption is about the Son of Man obeying God, even until the death on the cross. There Jesus proved that man could obey God and adhere to all His commands by loving God with all his heart. Jesus did not hesitate to become our brother to show us that we can obey God. Jesus gives us sonship, so we call His Father our Father and do His will as Jesus does. God refurbished our senses to realize the unconditional love of God to obey Him with all our hearts. Our heavenly Father forgave all our sins by making the life of His Son an atonement for our sins to have us again with Him in His Kingdom. God redeemed us and made us His children by giving us His image back. Redemption is all about receiving the image of God back in us.

The Way To The Tree Of Life Is Now Open

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23 (NIV)

From the day Jesus died on the cross for our sins, the way to eternity is open for those who believe in Him and His work. Jesus told this truth while He lived on this earth in His flesh.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

John 6:51 (NIV)

What does Jesus convey by asking us to eat His flesh? God gave Jesus a body to obey His will while none other in the flesh obeyed Him. Jesus, as a Son of Man, obeyed the will of His Father to redeem the lives of all men journeying toward eternal death because of disobedience. Jesus referred to the redemptions task assigned to Him by His Father as a cup of drink while praying in the garden of Gethsemane. For Jesus, eating the food is doing the will of His Father. Jesus said this while standing beside the well in Samaria.

When Jesus says to eat this bread, He asks us to obey His Father in all respect as He obeyed Him despite being a man. Despite everything done for our salvation, we often get into our old bondage. To come out of this bondage forever, we must be clear in our understanding that only by obeying God one can retain the image of God redeemed to us because of the obedience of His Son, Jesus Christ.

While confessing our faith that Jesus died for our sins in the place where we ought to be, it is also necessary to implement the obedience of the second Adam to do away with the disobedience of the first Adam. May our God give us a fleshy heart to obey Him in all respect.