Redemption through Incarnation

An excerpt from this morning's sermon: "Redemption Through the Son" (Ephesians 1:7-10)

 

There is no redemption without Incarnation because only a blood-relative could be our kinsman-redeemer and pay the price to get us out of hock and out of jail. That’s why Jesus was born as a little human baby in Bethlehem.

It was 25 years ago that 16 year old Anissa Ayala found lumps on her ankles and began having severe stomach pains. Her parents took her to the hospital and she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. If she couldn’t get a bone marrow transplant she would die. Her older brother wasn’t a match, her parents weren’t a match. Others were tested, but no match.

So her parents made a huge decision: they decided to try and conceive a child who might be a match for Anissa. Mary Ayala was already 42 years old – so her odds of a successful pregnancy were only 40%. Abe Ayala had to have his vasectomy reversed, and even if they could conceive, there was only a 23% chance that the baby would be a match. And they got all sorts of criticism and hate mail for what they were doing. But for the sake of their daughter, they did it. Little Marissa was born in 1990, and she was a match. 14 months later, they fed her marrow into sister Anissa’s veins, and her cancer was completely cured. Today, Anissa and Marissa are best friends.

Marissa said about her sister, Anissa. “Without her and her sickness, I wouldn’t be here. And if I hadn’t been born, she wouldn’t be here.”

She was born because of her sister’s terminal disease, so that her sister might live.

We are all born with a terminal disease – literally. It’s in our blood from our father Adam, and it’s sin. It’s killing us from the inside out from the day we are born. We needed a cure for our disease – blood atonement – but there was no match. We needed a blood-relative. So God decided to bring His own Son into the world to be our kinsman-redeemer. What a sacrifice for the Son, yes, but what a sacrifice for His Father. So Jesus came, and He was a perfect match for us because He’s a real human being, just like us. He could pay the price to redeem us because He is God and had no sin. Jesus was born as a little baby so that He might give His blood, so that we might live forever. We have redemption because of Incarnation.  Isn’t that Christmas?