Redemption – a) The action of being saved from sin, error, or evil. b) The action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.
Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.
Warnings From Israel’s History
1 Corinthians 10:1-4
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Sea – Baptism; New Life; Freedom and authority over past sin.
Exodus 14 (The Red Sea)
Cloud – God’s Presence; Holy Spirit.
Exodus 13:21
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
Numbers 9:15-17
15 On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. 16 That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. 17 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped.
How to Live in God’s Promises:
1) Value God’s Favor Over His PROVISION.
1 Corinthians 10:5
Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
2 Corinthians 5:9
So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
Exodus 16:2-3
2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
2. Value God’s Favor Over the DESTINATION.
Numbers 9:15-18
15 On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. 16 That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. 17 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. 18 At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.
3) Value God’s Favor Over Our DESIRES.
1 Corinthians 10:7
Do not be idolaters, as some of them were . . .
Matthew 6:9-11, 6:33