There is a quote you may have heard of before, “Preach the Gospel to yourself daily.” Now, I am not entirely sure who to give credit for coming up with that statement. Many say it was Martin Luther, Jerry Bridges has used it in a couple of his books, and even people like Paul David Tripp. Regardless, preaching the Gospel to ourselves daily is an important practice. Doing so, we are reminded of our sinful state before we had new life. We are also reminded of the greatness of God, in sending Jesus Christ to die in our place, and giving life to those who repent of their sins and trust alone in Jesus.
There is a lot that the Gospel offers us. Life, yes. But there are great “big” words that describe what we experience through the power of the Gospel, one of which is redemption.
“In Him (Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).
Before Christ, we were enslaved to sin. We sinned in all that we did, for sin was our master. When Christ died for our sins and rose again, His blood paid the price to set us free from our sin. What Christ did on the cross was a legal act. There was a cost to pay for sin. All throughout the Old Testament, Israel would make sacrifices for their sins. Those sacrifices were not ultimate, but pointed to an ultimate sacrifice. Jesus was the spotless Lamb, who shed His blood on our behalf for our sins. He has redeemed us from our slavery to sin. We now can serve God with our lives.
There are times in life where we may get bogged down. We may focus on what we have lost or do not obtain on this earth. Preach the Gospel to yourself every day. We have obtained something that will never perish, something that is worth far more than this world could ever offer. We have freedom in Jesus Christ. We have life through His name. Glory to God alone.