This morning I would like to tell you a story of a little boy named Timmy.
Timmy had saved his allowance money to buy a model boat kit. It wasn’t just any toy boat, it was a sailboat. The day came and his father took him to the toy store, he found the box sitting on the shelf and took it to the register. There he gave his hard earned money to the clerk and he and his father walked out the door.
Timmy worked very hard for the next few weeks on his toy boat. He would come home from school, do his chores and homework and then out to the shop he would run to work on the boat. Finally the day came…the last coat of paint was dry, the sail was in place and the boat was finished.
After school the next day Timmy could hardly wait for his dad to come home. They were going to take the boat on its maiden voyage. They walked to the park together, Timmy was talking non-stop with excitement. They got to the bank of the creek, set the little boat in the water and watched it sail on the current. It was thrilling!
Timmy’s dad gave him permission to take the boat to the creek as long as his chores and homework were done. Each day was a new adventure. How Timmy loved sailing his little boat. One day, he placed his little boat in the creek and as it sailed down stream something terrible happened.
The tether that Timmy had tied to the boat came loose. The boat sailed farther and farther down stream. Timmy had no way to retrieve it and now it was lost. Timmy was heart-broken. He loved that little boat, he had worked hard to make it and now it was gone.
As he walked home his head was hanging low and tears filled his eyes. It was gone!
Timmy’s dad said they could get another kit and build another boat but that just wouldn’t be the same.
One day Timmy was with his Mom in town. They were running errands. As he walked down the street with her, he glanced up and there in the window of the hardware store was his boat. It had a For Sale sign on it. Timmy was thrilled.
His mom took him in the store. The clerk retrieved the boat from the window. The price tag said $12.95. The clerk told them that someone had found the boat outside of town stuck in the creek bank. They didn’t want to boat and sold it to the store owner. That’s how it came to be in the window.
Timmy could have the boat back if he would just pay the store owner what the owner had paid for it. Timmy dug deep into his pockets and pulled out his allowance money. He had just enough. This little boat, Timmy’s boat, had now been owned twice.
It had been redeemed!
This story is one that I heard long, long ago in Sunday School but it can apply to our relationship with the Father.
We have also been redeemed. Christ redeemed us from a life of sin. When Adam sinned in the Garden all mankind was lost to sin. Prior to that Adam and God had been in a perfect relationship. They walked together each day. But when Adam sinned that was gone, it was lost.
“Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life. 19 Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God.” Romans 5:18-19 CEV
God wasn’t willing to lose man. He established a plan that would reconcile or redeem His relationship with mankind. The word redeem means to regain possession in exchange for payment. Reconcile means to make compatible or friendly again. Christ did both for us.
“You were rescued (redeemed) from the useless way of life that you learned from your ancestors. But you know that you were not rescued by such things as silver or gold that don’t last forever. 19 You were rescued (redeemed) by the precious blood of Christ, that spotless and innocent lamb. 20 Christ was chosen even before the world was created, but because of you, he did not come until these last days. 21 And when he did come, it was to lead you to have faith in God, who raised him from death and honored him in a glorious way. That’s why you have put your faith and hope in God.” I Peter 1:18-21 CEV
“But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger. 10 Even when we were God’s enemies, he made peace with us (reconciled), because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son’s life. 11 And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us.” Romans 5:9-11 CEV
Just like Timmy’s little boat, we were originally made to have relationship with God in a perfect way but man became lost. It took the sacrifice of Jesus to redeem us for our original owner.
God’s love reached out to us and brought us back. We have peace with God!