Living out redemption

If you remember, one of my words for 2014 was redeemed. Already, God has been using it far more than I ever thought He would. I should know by now not to limit God. Anyways, I'll hear my word and think, "There's my word, showing up just when I need it." God's kinda cool like that. This past weekend, I went with my youth group to a conference in Birmingham, Alabama, hosted by Student Life. The whole theme of the conference was "Sight Unseen" and the underlying question that all the speakers asked and answered was "How do I see the unseen and live in light of eternity while enduring the difficulties that accompany living in a fallen world?" One speaker talked about how it began with understanding for ourselves God's story. Broken up into four parts it is Creation- God's perfection, the fall, and then get this...

 Redemption.

 After redemption is restoration- when God will come and restore the world to the perfection it had in the beginning. The speaker said that right now, we are living in the story of redemption. Redemption means to bring back. We're not only set free from something, we are redeemed to something. We are bought back to God in order to live for Him. Many people, myself included, get this mindset that salvation is just "amazing grace, I'm forgiven." They get saved in order to know they'll go to heaven when they die. They're okay with being "halfway healed" (another conference quote). But in reality, redemption says that we are called to live out our faith. We are called to be agents of redemption. We are called to be both salt and light.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men.
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. -Matthew 5:13-16


We are redeemed to show others redemption. God began His story of redemption by putting Christ on the cross for you. For me. He is bringing us back to Him so He can then send us out for Him. I want to keep living in His light, shining that light to the ends of the world. I want to be part of His redeemed, living out His purpose. I want to take His redemption to the lost so Christ can bring them back for Him, just as He has me.