"The twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out."
Luke 8:1-2
She was the last one to leave the Cross, and the first one to visit His grave. She expressed much love, gratitude, and servitude to the Lord because she owed Him her very life. She would never forget that Jesus had healed her and liberated her from seven demons because torment defined her very existence until she met Him. The power of His touch propelled her heart to beat faster and her respirations to accelerate along with it. This was no ordinary Man. No, this was the Son of God. This was her Redeemer.
Mary Magdalene responded by passionately devoting her days to: loving, faithfully ministering to, and anointing her Lord. The fire of her love and compassion was fueled by her remembrance of the depth of her bondage. She determined in her heart to commit her whole life to following Him and allowing His goodness to flow through her to others.
Propelled by a force that was greater than her own, she pressed on to the destiny God had planned for her life. She opted to leave the past and press into her future. She left her home in Magdela to become a disciple of Jesus. In turn, she was redeemed and made whole; she would never be the same again.
Jesus transformed her life in every way. He took the love and devotion she gave to Him and turned it into a heavenly revelation of her Resurrected King! He honored her sacrifices to Himself by still allowing her story to minister to people in need. He helped her mature in every level of His grace to become everything He had created her to be. She wasn't just redeemed spiritually. No, every aspect of her life was transformed and redeemed to the glory of God!
It still amazes me how God runs His redemptive thread through the whole of our lives. He takes the tiny mustard seed of our faith in Jesus and imputes all of our sin to Him so that we stand righteous before Him. The book of Romans tells us that "All are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is provided in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24).
But, He doesn't stop there. While grace displays God's heart for us and pays for our sin, He still has so much more for us as His children. He takes all of our failures and shortcomings and He uses and redeems each one. When He adds His redeeming touch to all that is broken or not working, He makes it count for profound purpose and His great glory!
More often, it is our failures to which people can relate, and not our successes. This is how we become conduits to help those around us. Max Lucado says, "Blessed are the available, blessed are the conduits; the tunnels, the tools. Deliriously joyful are the ones who believe that if God has used sticks and rocks to do His will, then He can use us."
There are so many people around us who have very real challenges and struggles. While it is true that we are more than conquerors in Christ (Philippians 4:13), and that God does give us victory in all things to triumph, it is also true that hurting people need to know the places that we have struggled and failed. They need to see our humility, along with God's power.
Failure will never define us if we are determined not to be the same person coming out of something as we were going into it. God will always be glorified if we allow Him to touch our circumstances and bring redemption to them. Jack Hyles says, "Failing is not a disgrace unless you make it the last chapter of your book."
We are reminded that we are not God when we fail. We are also reminded of just how much we need God in our lives. We need Him to redeem us, which means "to buy back, recover, and to make up for". It is not just about being redeemed eternally; it is also about living a redeemed life, which is the only kind of life that brings God glory.
God intentionally made humanity dependent upon Himself. We are lesser beings through which He might be glorified. We are told that "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to bring forth the light of the knowledge of the clarity of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay vessels that the excellency of the virtue may be of God, and not of us" (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).
He sends His message through jars of clay so that He will get all the glory. It all starts with Him and it all ends with Him. In eternity, the glory of the redeemed will all go to God and not to man.
Throughout the whole Bible, God's desire is to redeem a broken humanity. Over and over, He proves that He will redeem all things that are given to Him in submission. He redeems: people, families, relationships, broken hearts, dreams, purpose, and destiny. We find that some people are involved in the redemptive process and some are not.
For those who are involved, God empowers them by His Spirit to live redeemed lives. He gives us revelation to hear and know Him so that we are not left on our own to try to figure things out. He also speaks through other Spirit-filled believers to convey His heart and message to us. He also illuminates His Word to light the path in front of us.
His Spirit also teaches us how to live sacrificial lives that prefer others before ourselves. He shows us how to walk in humility and to apologize to the people we hurt. God uses sacrifices in a mighty way to bring about redemption in the broken places of our lives.
The Holy Spirit also brings us to a place of maturity in our walk. He shows us how to receive God's grace at every level to be all He is calling us to be. We walk life out with others in order to hear more and be more like Jesus. We make a decision to not let our past define our present or our future in Christ. Only Jesus has the power to define our destiny.
Redemption is a beautiful gift that is placed upon us. It is not earned, nor is it deserved. Lavishly, God pours out His very best on us so that we can be His ambassadors of grace to those around us. His heart is to always "seek and to save that which is lost" (Luke 19:10), and we are graciously part of His loving plan. That, my sweet friend, is true redemption!
"Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I'm not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things- things which could be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him."
Oswald Chambers
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