According to Hebrews 9:12, Jesus brought about eternal redemption. That seems like a good idea. It is lovely to be redeemed, especially if it is for all eternity!
To what extent do we actually require salvation? In the musical “Les Miserables,” Fantine, a character, reflects on her depressing past and sings:
When I was younger and fearless, fantasies were created, used, and squandered, and there was never a ransom to be paid. I dreamed that love would never end and that God would be forgiving. No wine untried, no tune unheard.
This song explains how a variety of things arise from childhood fantasies, such as dreams that are created and then dashed, wines that are tasted, and songs that are sung. To put it another way, you pursue your interests. And the underlying idea is that there is no cost involved in God’s forgiveness. Fantine is quite disappointed when she sings this. She now knows that there is a cost associated with sin. Her life has been ruined by it.
Sin has a price – and you can’t pay it
That’s a profound realization. [There is a cost to sin]. You eventually discover that you are unable to pay that cost. You’ve committed actions that are irreversible. You are aware of aspects of your own personality that you know are incorrect. When you’re fifteen, you think that as you get older, things will get better. And you come to the realization that you are who you are at 45.
Who pays the price for sin? Who will make it right again? There is no hope in the song. Fantine’s dream that God would forgive has fallen apart. But that’s because she had a wrong impression of the Gospel. She thought that God forgives, and therefore there is no need to pay a price for sin. But the core of the Gospel is that a price must be paid for our sins, and God Himself pays it. This makes the Gospel a much deeper story than “no matter, God doesn’t mind”. This much deeper story becomes visible when Jesus dies on the cross. And we also hear it in the phrase “eternal redemption” from Hebrews 9:12. Against Fantine’s despair, we put the hope that Jesus brought about an eternal redemption.
Why is redemption “eternal”?
What does it imply that there is an everlasting redemption through Jesus? If this is the case, it implies that you will live forever yourself, which is necessary for your eternal redemption. That is a really significant message. It gives your life a great deal of significance. You won’t live to be fifty, seventy, eighty, or ninety years old. Even when you reach a billion years old, your existence has only just begun because there is no end to life after death.
That’s why, to be quite honest, I don’t understand many of the individuals who claim that the Christian faith is more about how you conduct your life now than it is about eternity. Naturally, it matters how you live right now. However, the beauty of the Christian faith is that it teaches us how to be happy for all eternity, not just for a little while.
Eternity is important
There are two key places on the line that represents our life, if we visualize it as a continuum from birth to eternity. The first is the point at which we pass away. The point of the resurrection of the dead is the second. Eternity goes on after that. Our birthplace is established in the past. There is no doubt that eternity continues forever. [The return of the Lord Jesus] will occur at a time that the Father chooses. That has been resolved. The only thing we are unsure of is when we will pass away. And we often worry about dying a little bit sooner or a little bit later.
Remember that eternal life is far more significant than life as it exists right now. How much energy we expend to preserve and enable life on Earth! And how many things do we have to give up in order to protect our own and others’ worldly lives? If we concentrated on achieving eternal life for ourselves and others, wouldn’t it make sense to expend even more energy?
Christ came to offer everlasting salvation. This serves as a reminder that we shall either live forever [in hell without the Lord God] or forever [on the new earth with Him]. In eternity, those who die and live without Christ will also be without Christ. And to be without Him is to suffer eternally. He arrives to deliver us from that misery. He has made eternal salvation possible. Anyone who is saved is saved for all eternity and becomes His own eternally. Eternal glory follows eternal redemption. Place your faith in Jesus so that you, too, can experience eternal redemption.
