God Lost Everything in the Garden — Here's How He Redeemed Us

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, an Oklahoma rancher and farmer. Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for over 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say, time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, good to see everybody in this afternoon. And again, we'd like to welcome our television audience from wherever you are. And we just appreciate so much your letters of encouragement. Every time the phone rings and someone shares again that they're seeing things they've never seen before, you'll just literally make my day. And we always like to, of course, make our television audience aware, especially new listeners, that all the past programs are available now on videotape, audiotape, as well as the printed page. And they all are just word for word off the program. Nothing is dressed up or edited. But if you're interested in any of those things, you give us a call or write to us and we'll get the information to you. Also, we are now putting out a quarterly newsletter. They'll get the camera on it over here. We are now putting out a quarterly newsletter free of charge. And of course, they go out to all the folks that are on our mailing list. But if you are not on our mailing list, if you've never written or called, and you'd like to receive this little newsletter free of charge, you just again call us or drop us a note and we'll be glad to give it. It's not long. You can read the whole thing in five minutes. We just have a short article on prophetic things and some of the letters that come in from our audience and our television logs so that you can pass these things on to your friends and loved ones. Okay, I think that's all the announcements. You know, I've once told somebody, I break every rule of religious broadcasting. I don't wear a suit and tie, and we don't have a fancy format, and I do all my own announcements. So that's just all part and parcel of our program. And that's what makes us different from all the rest. And over and over, you know, it's kind of amusing, over and over people write and say, don't ever change a thing. Well, we don't hope to. I'm going to keep right on using the simple music stand, and I'm going to keep on doing what I do without benefit of a suit and tie, because we know that this is what the people like. So again, we just like to tell everyone that we're an informal Bible study. We're not preaching at anybody. We're not trying to twist arms, but fortunately we're getting such response that people are getting into the Book. They're seeing things they've never seen before, and we just give the Lord the praise and the credit for all that. All right, now Roy's already got it on the board that we begin this time with Ephesians chapter 1, verse 6. And you remember in our last series of programs, as we started the Book of Ephesians, this goes into what I call deeper spiritual things, and what we've had even from Romans and the Corinthian letters and Galatians. Now we sort of take a jump up, as I put it on the board in our last series of programs, we kind of take a jump up from the fundamentals to that which are deeper, more profound church truths. And so consequently, all these letters of Paul are called the church epistles, but Ephesians and Philippians and Colossians and Philemon, we normally refer to them as the prison epistles, because they were written while Paul was in prison in Rome, shortly before he was martyred. And so again, we always like to make mention of the fact that in these prison epistles, there is no single mention of the Old Testament. There's not a reference back to it anymore. There's not a reference to the Jew, not one single reference, because now everything has flowed into this teaching of the Body of Christ, in which there is no distinction. There is no Jew, there is no Gentile, so far as a division of their background. We have all become one as members of the Body of Christ. And so we have to keep this in mind, that as we study these prison epistles, that this is strictly church ground, and there is no other portion of Scripture that is so profoundly directed to the position of the church age believer. And you won't find these things back in the Old Testament, you won't find it in the four Gospels, you won't find it in Acts, and even in Paul's letters of Romans and Corinthians, there is not this emphasis on our position in Christ. Now I think I mentioned when we started the letter, in our previous programs, that ninety -some times, ninety-some times in just six chapters, we have the prepositional phrase, in Him, in Christ, in Whom, which is all depicting our position. Now some things I have to repeat, and repeat, and repeat, because it's the only way it sinks in. But all the things that we're going to be looking at is primarily directed to our understanding of our position in Christ. The Jew knew nothing of that. He knew his covenant relationship, he knew all the promises that God had made to their forefathers, but they knew nothing of a position in Christ. Now even for us today, it's hard to comprehend, but we take these things by faith. I don't feel like I'm in Christ, in Heaven, but I know that I am, because the Word says I am. And this is where every believer has to come to understand that what the Bible says is true, and we take it by faith. We don't necessarily feel it. Emotions are not dealt with. Now emotions are fine up to a point, but emotions can never take the place of good biblical doctrine. And so even though we may not feel like it, yet on the basis of God's Word, that's where we are. We are in Christ, in the heavenlies, and we are part and parcel of everything that God has been building on, ever since He began with Adam in the garden, back there in Genesis. Ephesians chapter 1, continuing on where we stopped in our last program, that He has already predestinated us into the position, and that's what that word adoption means up in verse 5. He has placed us positionally as children by Jesus Christ Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, for the purpose, see, that we would be to the praise of the glory of His, what's the any of this. We haven't earned it or merited it, but it's all of grace that God has seen fit to do this on our behalf. All right, wherein He hath made us accepted, here it is again, in the Beloved. That's how we're accepted in God's eyes, is because of where we are in Christ. And He cannot reject us, because then He would have to reject the Son Himself, and that He'll never do. And so in view of our position then, we are in the Beloved. Now right back in verse 7, another prepositional phrase, and what is it? In whom? See, in whom? In who? In the Beloved. Who's the Beloved? Christ. And so in Christ we have, we're not working for, we're not hoping for, but we what? We have it. And what is it? Redemption. We have redemption, and there's only one way to experience redemption, and that is through His blood. Now I remember years ago, years ago, a good friend of mine from another denomination came to visit one morning, have a cup of coffee with me, and he was all distraught, because his denomination, is one of the big ones in America, his denomination had literally called in all the old hymn books, and they were going to dispense new ones to all the congregations of that denomination, in which there was no more reference to the blood of Christ. And he was all shook up, they took out all those old hymns, like there's power in the blood, and there is a fountain, they took them all out. Well they can just as well throw away the New Testament, because our hope of eternity, rests on that blood of Christ. And here it is again, see, we have our redemption, and our position in Christ, through His blood. And you can't throw that out, we cannot ignore that. Alright, and so it's the redemption through His blood, which also then, brings about the forgiveness of sins, and again it's not because we've merited it, but it's all according to His what? His grace. See, and this is beyond human comprehension, how that God would do all this, before we even came on the scene, and doing it with the knowledge, the foreknowledge, that we would one day be His, and we would be in Him, and that we would be redeemed, and forgiven. Alright, now as I was thinking on these things over the last several days, you want to remember that redemption is not a Pauline invention. Redemption comes all the way up from the Garden of Eden, because, I'm not going to go all the way back to Genesis just now, but when God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, they were His, weren't they? They fellowshiped with Him every day, they were His. But sin came in, and He lost them, because He couldn't fellowship with them in their sin. And that's why I think He had to go out into the Garden, not that He didn't know where they were, but to show us that they were now so separated from Him, that what was the question that He asked first? Where art thou? See, where art thou? Now He never had to ask that before, but as soon as sin had separated, and He had lost them, now He could ask the question, well where are you? Adam should have answered, we're lost. See, not like the little lamb in the parable of Luke 15, that one out of a hundred, the only one that in the parable the shepherd concerns himself with. Why? Because that little fellow knew he was lost. The ninety and nine went out roaming in the desert in the wilderness without a shepherd, and sheep without a shepherd are lost, but what's the difference? They don't know it. See, the little lamb knew he was in trouble, and so he was bleeding his head off, but the rest of them started roaming around lost in the desert and never knew it. Well that's what it means to be separated then, that God lost the human race. All right, now I can take you back to the Old Testament. Come back to Job 18, I think it is, 19. Job 19, and this is one of the earlier uses of the word in the Old Testament of redemption. And Job understood it. Verse 25 of Job 19. Job 19, verse 25. I'll give you time to find it, because again, this is what we hear from the audience. Give us time to find these verses. All right, for all of you out there, for all of you in here, Job 19, verse 25, where Job writes, For I know that my Redeemer liveth. See how plain that is? Now maybe we should stop first and define the word redeem. What does it mean? To lose control of something, and then pay the price to buy it back. That's redemption. You know, the thought just comes to my mind. I remember years ago, and I'm sure most believers or pastors have probably used the same illustration. I think I've read it more than once, but it is so kind of heart-touching as well as making the point of the little fellow who had built a model sailboat. And he had spent one whole winter just laboriously building this little sailboat. And it was beautiful. And so one day his parents took him out to the beach, and he played with that sailboat, and it was just all that he could hope for. But being a child, something got his attention, and he left his boat, and he went and did something, and when he came back, it was gone. And oh, he wept bitter tears that he had done so much to build that little boat. He had enjoyed it so much, the few little moments that he had played with it, and now it was lost. It was gone. But months later, he and his mom were walking down the street, and here in the window of a pawn shop was his little boat. And oh, he was so elated. So he goes in to the shopkeeper, and he says, That's my boat. I want it. And he says, No, sonny. He said, That's my boat. I've paid for it. He said, If you want it, you're going to have to pay me. So the little fellow says, How much? Well, I don't remember, depending on the times, you know, but it was far more than what he had. And so he had to go back and find a way that he could generate enough money to go and buy his little boat. So he shoveled snow all winter, and he mowed grass, and finally one day he had enough to go back to the pawn shop, the pawn shop. Unfortunately, his little boat was still there. And he went up to the counter, and he says, I want my boat. And the guy says, You got the money? And he says, Yes. And he plunked it down. And so he took his boat. And as he was going down the street holding that boat, he said, Little boat. He said, I made you. I lost you. But I have bought you back. You're mine. Well, that's just a simple, heart-touching story of a little lad. But listen, that's exactly what God did. God lost us when Adam sinned. And for 2,000 years, God prepares for the coming of the Redeemer. And all the Old Testament, like Job, are looking forward to it, that when the Redeemer would come. In fact, now come on ahead with me to Isaiah. Isaiah 59, verse 20. I want you to see that this whole concept of a Redeemer is not Pauline. Paul puts the cap on it. Paul puts the frosting on the cake. But ever since Adam sinned, God has been preparing for the coming of this Redeemer. Like the little boy out there scooping snow and mowing lawns, he was getting ready for the day when he could go back in and pay the price of redemption. All right, that's what God did. All right, now verse 20 of Isaiah 59. This is all prophecy yet. This is all looking forward. And so here we have the promise of this coming Redeemer. All right, now let's skip all the way back up into the New Testament and stop at Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. And now, like I said, Paul puts the frosting on the cake, so far as the price of redemption is concerned. Romans chapter 3. Oh, let's just drop in at verse 23, I guess. Romans chapter 3, verse 23, where he comes to this graphic conclusion that a lot of people don't believe even today. They think they're good enough. They think that somehow God's going to let them slip in. No, He won't, because the Scripture says all have sinned. Every human being from Adam on, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But God didn't stop there. He immediately, like the little boy again, got busy and started preparing for the coming of a Redeemer. And so verse 24, being justified, even though we're sinners, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption. See, there it is again. Through the whole process of buying us back. That's what it was all for, that He could pay the price of redemption, which had to be the blood of Christ. Now again, you know, that's another whole half hour, the blood of Christ. Why is that so unique? Well, it was divine. You want to remember that Joseph was not the father of the baby Jesus. God was. And as I've pointed out over the years, and I've had questions come in after questions, the blood circulatory system always originates with whom? The father, not the mother. None of the mother's blood courses through the baby while it's in the uterus, while it's in the womb. Because you see, the baby's blood is kept from any, what shall I say, pollution of the physical mother. And Christ's blood originated with God Himself. And so when He was born, it was divine blood that coursed through His veins. And when His blood was shed, it wasn't just the blood of another human being, it was the divine blood of God Himself. And so this was then the price of redemption. All right, verse 25. "...whom God hath set forth..." That is Christ Jesus in verse 24. "...whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation..." Now that's what God has done. That's the place of sacrifice and offering and mercy and grace. All right, God did all that, but it was through faith in His blood. See that? If we don't believe in the shed blood of Christ and its power for atonement, we're as lost as a goose. Now you might as well smark it down. There will be no one in heaven unless he's been redeemed by faith in the blood of Christ. Now I'm getting right down to the nitty -gritty they make some day kick me off the air, and like I've said over the years when that day happened, then my cows get my full attention. It's not going to stop me from living or anything like that, but I am going to stand here and I'm going to teach what I feel is the truth of the Word of God, whether people like it or not, but they seem to be liking it. The blood of Christ, it is the only purchased price for our redemption, and we have to appropriate it by our faith. We believe it. We trust in it. All right? All right, so declare His righteousness for the remission of sins in our past. In other words, the blood of Christ covered all the sins all the way back to Adam and all the way forward till the end of time. And so it was a complete atoning. It was a complete purchase price of mankind's redemption. Well, let me see. I'm just trying to think what minute I got left. We've got six minutes left. All right, we still got a few more to go on. Come on up to Hebrews. Oh, there are others, but I don't want to get caught short of time. We could certainly find more references about the blood of Christ other than Romans, but let's skip all the way through. We've already touched on the one in Ephesians, and come to Hebrews chapter 9. Now there are so many references to the blood in Hebrews that I can't begin to touch on all of them, so I'm going to hit the ones that are probably the most emphatic. But here in chapter 9, verse 11. But Christ, being come a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. Now we're teaching the book of Hebrews in our Muskogee class on Saturday night, and you know, I repeat and repeat until I'm almost afraid that they're going to get sick and tired of hearing these things, but it's the only way they learn, and they keep encouraging me. But you see, the little book of Hebrews is constantly referring to that which was good, the Law, Judaism, it was good. But Paul comes along, and with this Gospel of Grace, and we'll see in our next program, the Revelation of the Mysteries, it's all so much better. And so all through the book of Hebrews we see this constant comparison of that which was good, but now we have something that is far better. All right, now here it is in this verse. Oh, their earthly tabernacle was beautiful, it was functional. My, they could take that thing down and move it at the drop of a hat, and they could set it up. It was functional, it was beautiful, it did everything they needed, but now it was patterned after something in heaven, you see, more perfect in verse 11, because it's in heaven, and it was that one that was the pattern for what Moses built in the wilderness. But anyway, it was that which was good, compared to that which is far better. All right, now then here we come to verse 12. Oh, the blood of bulls and calves did its work, it covered the sins of Israel, but it was nothing when compared to the blood of Christ. All right, now let's read the whole verse. Verse 12 You see, over and over and over the blood of Christ has paid the price of redemption that had to be paid in order for man to, or for God to get control of fallen man. And He's done it. It's been paid in full. All right, so then verse 13, For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies the pure in the flesh, how much what? More. See, even though those things back there were good, how much better, see? Shall the blood of Christ, verse 14, through the eternal Spirit, that is through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He offered Himself without spot to God, and it'll purge your conscience from dead works, to serve the living God. All right, then I have to bring you down to verse 22, a verse that I've used ever since we began our television series way back in Genesis. That it's one of the absolutes of Scripture. Now we know we're decrying the fact that our society is rotting at the seams because we have lost our absolutes. We no longer as a society say, well now these are absolutes. But the Scripture does. The Scripture has absolutes. And when you ignore them, you're on thin ice. You're sliding to your doom. All right, but here's one of them. Verse 22, Almost all things are by law purged with blood. And then the last part is what I'm talking about. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission. And we got to hang on to that. We dare not sidetrack it because it's an absolute. And so let's move on. Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1. Even Peter, even though he follows Paul in his epistles, yet here he agrees 100% with Paul in theology. And that was in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18 and 19. For as much as you know you were not redeemed, there's the word again, with corruptible things of silver and gold from your vein, conversation received by tradition from your fathers. But flip side, we're not redeemed with silver and gold, but we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. Well if we got time for one more verse in Revelation, I hope. Let's move there fast. Revelation chapter 5. Can you do that in 10 seconds? Revelation chapter 5. We don't even have 10, but anyway it's back there in verse 9 that he was worthy because we have been redeemed to God by his blood. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, OK 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, OK 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported and your gift is appreciated. Thank you and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.