For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:6-8)

Why I Am Redeemed

Forty years had passed since the Hebrews came out of Egypt by the power of God. They stood at the edge of the promised land for the second time and with a heart devoted to serving the Lord. Four decades earlier, their parents arrived at the land promised to them and through unfaithfulness were rejected by God and punished with a long wilderness journey. Moses was retelling the history of Israel admonishing the new generation to follow the word of the Lord. This new nation of God’s people were very special because they were the ones who would cross the Jordan River and fulfill the long-ago promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Israel was a holy people to the Lord. Through the grace of a compassionate God, Israel had been plucked from the slavery of Egypt to become the special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. No nation on earth had the blessing of the Lord God Almighty as their King, Savior, and Lord. The Law of Moses was unique among all peoples giving the Hebrews the eternal thread of redemption that would one day bring the Son of God to earth. Israel was the crown jewel of God’s plan to save all men, the apple of His eye.

Lest the Hebrews would think more highly of themselves in their station of grace, Moses reminds them they were not chosen because of any special merit on their part. As a nation, they numbered only a few million souls. They were small and insignificant people compared to the nations of Egypt and the surrounding nations. There was nothing special about Israel that made them more powerful against their enemies. They were a small multitude of nomadic herdsmen that had wandered in the wilderness for forty years with no home of their own. What separated them from all other peoples was not because they had embraced the Lord God with tender love but that God Himself had chosen them and saved them.

First and foremost Moses tells the Hebrews they had done nothing to deserve the love of God. They could not and did not save themselves from the Egyptians. Giving the Ten Commandments to the people, the Lord begins by reminding them that it was He who delivered them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage by His mighty hand. There was nothing the Hebrews could have done to affect their release. God delivered Israel because He loved Israel. Love was the motivating factor of their salvation based upon the grace and mercy of the Lord God. If it had not been for the love of God, Israel would still be enslaved. Secondly, the Lord had made a promise to Abraham the land of Canaan would be given to his descendants. Forty years earlier the people rejected that promise. Now a new generation with hearts of courage was willing to follow the Lord across the Jordan and take the land promised by God. The Lord never failed on a promise He made. Israel was a nation because God had said He would deliver them and He did. Redemption came for the Hebrews because of God’s love and God’s promise.

The nation of God is no longer defined by the borders of rivers, mountains, and seas. God’s people are those found in the church. On the Day of Pentecost, the Lord added to the church those who were saved. Only in Christ are the spiritual blessings found. The joy of redemption is given to all who will obey the word of the Lord subjecting themselves to His grace, love, and mercy. Like Israel of old, the church is called the holy nation of God, a chosen generation, and His own special people. Every Christian is a special priesthood in the presence of the Lord. Through the mercy of God, deliverance from sin is granted to hearts that submit to the will of the Father. Is a man saved because he is a worthy candidate or deserving of the forgiveness of sins? In many ways, he is less deserving than Israel to be redeemed from sin. God’s love delivered Israel from Egypt at the cost of a lamb on the night of the Passover. It cost the Son of God His life to save all men from sin. This sacrifice was never because any man deserved it nor was worthy of the price paid for redemption. The redeeming of sinful man came because God loved man – period.

There is nothing man can brag about. All men deserve the wrath of the Lord God but He chooses rather to show love. The sacrifice of Jesus did not come from the mind of men but the heart of a loving Father. Jesus died in fulfillment of a promise made in the Garden of Eden that when sin first destroyed the fellowship of God and man, redemption would come in the form of the Seed. Only through the Son of God would the word of God be confirmed. Jesus died to fulfill the word of His Father. Love was the reason for Jesus dying and no man deserves such love; and yet it must be embraced to be saved. There is nothing you can do or will be able to do that merits the love of God but He has offered His Son to save you. When you obey the grace of God you will find redemption and in that redemption, you will find eternal love. Know that the Lord is God, the faithful God who keeps His word. He loves you – yes, He loves you.