Redemption – A Story – Part 3 – Considering the Bible

The Bible speaks of redemption in many ways.

This short study looks at four greek words, revealing the redemption provided by the Lord Jesus Christ. A short story has been supplied, in order to help us picture the word studies of redemption.

The four greek words are

Agorazo
Exagorazo
Lytroo
Peripoiesis

Each of these words will be addressed in the following posts, along with a story of Amicus, a slave in the first century, with no hope of a future. We will follow Amicus through his experience of redemption and see in his life, the life we have experienced.

Amicus – Part 3

As Amicus was being led off and out of the market place, he sensed a difference. No eyes of greed or deciet, no leering of possession or evil intents. He was led to a place out of the agora, into a field of open pasture. One who had purchased him and led him out of the agora, bent down to his ear and gently whispered – “You are free”

Lytroo

Matthew 20:28

even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Lytroo is the term that kicks my butt. (Am I allowed to say that in a Bible study?) As Amicus heard, the payment for his body and life was supplied, but without any strings attached. One who had purchased him had supplied him freedom.

This concept, for some believers, is threatening. Believers have an obligation to serve the Master after such a sacrifice.

I heartily agree, and yet this service is one of willing love to the One who paid it all. The requirement is one of the heart not of the contract, and the Master knows that only by giving the freedom to choose whom the former slave will serve, does He recieve the loving obedience He died for. He is truly One of grace. But He is also One of truth. He speaks of the dangers of complete freedom many times in His Word, warning that freedom can become it’s own slave master.

As Bob Dylan once sang – Ya gotta serve somebody. Service is non-negotiable – It is a fact of life. Who we gonna serve.

Well that is up to you.