Main Idea: The word “redeem” does not just mean to buy something, it means to buy it back.
Verse: “You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19 NKJV).
Note: Often I repeat the same ideas over the course of a several night crusade. One night I preach on the Four Greatest Miracles in the Bible. The next night I tell this story and use it to reinforce the sermon from the previous evening. The sermon has the same four basic points but the ideas are communicated in a slightly different way.
Story: I want to tell you another story about a little boy from this village. His name is John .
One day John decided to make himself a toy boat. He found a large piece of wood and a knife. He began to carve himself a boat. He worked very hard on it until it was a beautiful boat. He painted the boat and he fashioned sails from a piece of paper.
John loved his beautiful boat. Every day he went down to the water to play with his boat. But one day a strong breeze began to blow. It blew his boat so fast that John lost his boat. He was very sad. John looked everywhere for his boat but he could not find it.
One week later, John went to the market. In one shop, he suddenly saw his boat. It was sitting on the shelf. He said to the shop owner, “That boat is mine. I carved it with my own hands.” But the shop owner replied, “Well, the boat is mine now. It is for sale.”
John’s heart sunk. He was so sad. He had made the boat and now someone else owned it. He asked the shop owner, “How much does the boat cost?”
“$50,” the shop owner replied.
John exclaimed, “$50? But I don’t have that much money.” John decided to earn the money. He worked very hard. He did chores for two weeks in order to earn money because he loved his boat so much and he wanted it back.
Finally, after two weeks, John went to the shop owner and asked, “Do you still have my boat? I want to buy it back.”
“Yes,” the shop owner said. John quickly handed over the money and took the boat. Once again, he owned the boat that he loved.
As John walked out of the shop, he said, “Little boat, little boat, you are twice mine. First you are mine because I made you. But then you are mine because I bought you back.”
John noticed there were some scratches on the side of his boat and it was covered in dirt. The sail had torn away. John lovingly washed he boat and repaired it until the boat was just like new.
Application:
Tonight I am preaching about the four greatest miracles in the Bible. The first miracle is: God created you. Just as John made a little boat with his own hands, God created you. God made you beautiful and He loves you very much.
But sin separates us from God. In my story, John’s boat was lost when the wind blew it away. In God’s story, we were separated from God because of Adam and Eve’s sin. This is why God hates sin, because sin creates a separation between humans and God.
The second miracle is: God loves you. Even though God hates sin, God loves you. In the story, John went looking for his boat and tonight God is looking for you because He loves you.
The third miracle is: God saves you. Once John found his boat, he had to work very hard to earn money so he could buy back his boat. In the same way, Satan has stolen us from God. The price for sin is death. That’s why Jesus died on the cross. He used His blood as a way to buy us back from the hands of Satan. When God created us, it cost Him nothing, but when God bought us back it cost His blood. This is what it means to be redeemed. God made us once, and then Jesus bought us back with His blood.
The fourth miracle is: God heals you. After John purchased his boat from the store, he noticed it was scratched and dirty. He washed it and repaired it. In the same way, God wants to heal your body and make you whole. Not only does God save you, He also repairs you and makes you a brand-new creation.
