Buying Us Back – March 18, 2024

Read: Isaiah 43:1-7

But now, this is what the LORD says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”
Isaiah 43:1

Buying Us Back

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Have you ever saved up your money for something new and special that you really wanted: a new toy or a special outing with your parents? Saving your money was probably hard. You might have wanted to spend it along the way, and sometimes it likely felt like the saving was taking forever. But what a wonderful feeling it was when you finally had enough money and could buy what you wanted!

Now imagine saving your money again to buy something, but this time it isn’t for something special. It isn’t even for something new. Instead, it’s for something that you used to own but don’t anymore. That’s not as exciting, is it? It doesn’t even really seem fair, does it? To spend money on something that was already yours?

That’s exactly the picture that Isaiah paints in today’s verse. He uses a very special word: the word “redeem.” This word is used lots in the Bible, and it means “to buy back.” So when Isaiah says that God redeemed us, he means that God bought us back. But… why did we need to be bought back? And what price did God pay for us?

We needed to be bought back because we’re sinners. You, me, everyone in this world—we were born with sin, and we sin every single day. We don’t do what God commands, and we do what he forbids. God commands us to be perfect, but we aren’t even close. He should have sent us away from him forever. Instead, he loved us so much that he redeemed us—he bought us back.

And what was the price he paid for us? We’ve been hearing about that price throughout Lent. Jesus didn’t pay for us with money that he saved doing carpentry work. No, he paid for us with something much more valuable: his perfect life and sinless death. Jesus gave up everything to buy us back!

Did it work? Was the price that Jesus paid enough to buy us back? Sometimes it might not feel as though you belong to God—when you’re having a bad day, when you feel like you can’t do anything right, when you think no one could possibly love you. But we know that it did work because of three little words at the end of today’s verse: “You are mine.” And we’ll hear about how it worked in a couple of weeks at the empty tomb on Easter morning!

Closing Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you for giving up your life to buy me back. Always remind me that I am yours. Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

• What’s something new and special that you really want? How much does it cost?
• What was the special word you heard about in today’s devotion? Who redeemed us?

Questions for Elementary Age Children

• Why does the word “redeem” paint such a beautiful picture?
• Why are the words “You are mine” at the end of today’s verses so important?

Questions for Middle School and Above

• If Jesus’ perfect life and sinless death paid the price for everyone’s sins, why doesn’t everyone go to heaven?
• Think of someone you know who hasn’t heard how Jesus redeemed them. What could you say to them to tell them how Jesus bought them back?