Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away (Isa. 51:11).
This is the final return of Israel, the true believers of all ages, to God's eternal Zion. Their joy is everlasting, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away because their cause if forever gone. "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Rev. 21:4).
Those who possess that land are the redeemed. That is the important part of this promise text--we must be redeemed by our Near Kinsman, He who "took not on him the nature of angels; but...the seed of Abraham," that He might "be made like unto his brethren" (Heb. 2:16, 17). He who was not only the Son of God but the Son of man took our place upon the cross. He died for us, and in Him we are redeemed if we will accept it.
Luther once imagined Satan coming to him with a long list and saying, "These are your sins. How dare you hope for heaven?" But he noticed that the devil was holding his hands over the bottom of the list. "Take away your hand," said Luther. And there he saw written, "The blood of Jesus Christ...cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). So the Reformer took hope; and so may we, for we are "not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,...but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18, 19).
Redeemed! how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am.
___Fanny J. Crosby
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles" (Ps. 25:22).
This is the final return of Israel, the true believers of all ages, to God's eternal Zion. Their joy is everlasting, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away because their cause if forever gone. "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Rev. 21:4).
Those who possess that land are the redeemed. That is the important part of this promise text--we must be redeemed by our Near Kinsman, He who "took not on him the nature of angels; but...the seed of Abraham," that He might "be made like unto his brethren" (Heb. 2:16, 17). He who was not only the Son of God but the Son of man took our place upon the cross. He died for us, and in Him we are redeemed if we will accept it.
Luther once imagined Satan coming to him with a long list and saying, "These are your sins. How dare you hope for heaven?" But he noticed that the devil was holding his hands over the bottom of the list. "Take away your hand," said Luther. And there he saw written, "The blood of Jesus Christ...cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). So the Reformer took hope; and so may we, for we are "not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,...but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18, 19).
Redeemed! how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am.
___Fanny J. Crosby
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles" (Ps. 25:22).
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