Our Redeemer

“But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us;

you, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.” – Isaiah 63:16

 

Martin Luther entered the monastery in 1505. He was gripped by fear of an angry God who could never be pleased. Desperately seeking forgiveness from this distant, wrathful God, Luther confessed his sins three times a day, for as much as six hours at a time, afraid to miss the smallest sin. Moved to the depths of despair, Luther once declared: “Love God? I hated him!” For young Luther, thinking of God brought only fear and anxiety.

Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He said, “I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul.”

But then from 1510 to 1520 Luther lectured on the Psalms, and on the books of Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians. As he studied these portions of the Bible, Luther understood the doctrine of justification—God's act of declaring a sinner righteous—by faith alone through God's grace. He began to teach that redemption was a gift of God's grace, attainable only through faith in Christ. 

 

Salvation is God’s grace to us. Today in prayer, give thanks to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. 

 

“But this Christ or Redeemer took not upon him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham, that is, human nature, that in the nature which sinned he might make the expiation required.” – Adam Clarke

 

God’s Word: “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” – Isaiah 44:6