SPEAKER_00: Greetings in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that we are all well.
SPEAKER_00: We thank God that we are almost coming to the end of the month of February.
SPEAKER_00: The theme for the month of February is remarking power of redemption.
SPEAKER_00: And our sub-theme is salvation connected.
SPEAKER_00: I want us to look at the scriptures in the book of Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 1 to 6.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to read.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says, And you he made alive who are dead in trespass and sin, in which you once walked according to the cause of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we once conducted ourselves in the last of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of mind.
SPEAKER_00: And were by nature children of love, just as the others.
SPEAKER_00: But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love, with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespass, made us alive together with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: By grace we have been saved, and raised us up together and made us to sit in the heavenly place in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Those are the words of Paul and they remind us three truth.
SPEAKER_00: And the truth number one is we were dead without God.
SPEAKER_00: Anyone without God is dead, though they look alive.
SPEAKER_00: Number two is God's mercy brings redemption.
SPEAKER_00: And number three is we can live in liberated freedom.
SPEAKER_00: Today we reflect on the liberating power of redemption.
SPEAKER_00: The meaning of the word redemption means to be rescued, to be restored, and reconnected to God.
SPEAKER_00: Salvation is not just forgiveness, it's also freedom, new life, and connection with the Almighty God.
SPEAKER_00: Today, many people live physically alive but spiritually disconnected.
SPEAKER_00: Or we can say, in other words, we can say they are spiritually dead, disconnected.
SPEAKER_00: But God's salvation reconnects us to Himself and with purpose and peace and victory.
SPEAKER_00: The first point we mentioned was we were dead without God.
SPEAKER_00: Paul reminds us that before salvation, we were spiritually dead in sin.
SPEAKER_00: We followed worldly ways, we lacked peace and direction because God was not in control in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual death brings fear, guilt, and separation from God.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, when you talk about separation, it's forever separated from God.
SPEAKER_00: But good news is God did not just leave us there.
SPEAKER_00: Point number two is God's mercy brings redemption.
SPEAKER_00: God is rich in mercy through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We are all made spiritually alive.
SPEAKER_00: We are forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: We are restored.
SPEAKER_00: Our relationship with God is restored.
SPEAKER_00: And the point number three is living in liberated freedom, when we are redeemed, we are free from guilt and condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: We gain new identity as God's children.
SPEAKER_00: We live with confidence and we fulfill God's purposes in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Redemption sets us free.
SPEAKER_00: We walk in grace and not in shame.
SPEAKER_00: So my final word is God has redeemed you to liberate you.
SPEAKER_00: Salvation reconnects you to Him.
SPEAKER_00: May we all live in that freedom and not keep it to ourselves but share it with other people.
SPEAKER_00: So I pray that we are all going to have and experience this liberating power of redemption and that we are going to be connected to the King of Kings, who is our God, our Savior, who died on the cross because of our sins.
SPEAKER_00: Have a blessed week and God bless you.