Stage Two "Redemption"
This is day two of the blog series “Ten Days Through the Stages of Life.” The series is intended to bring us through the Ten Stages of Life as defined by God’s word through Complete Peace. God has given His people the map, the Bible, to their journey and we are here to facilitate its reception. God has been gracious enough to give us His word written in our language to read, meditate on, and receive in His truth that transforms His people’s lives into what He has designed them to be from the foundation of the world. The person of God lives on the Stage of Life they are experiencing until they finish all Ten Truths of that Stage; then, they live in that Stage while they are on the next Stage until they complete its Ten Truths. Complete Peace is, “Drawing a court case for God and painting a portrait for His people.”
The second Stage of Life, the true life in God, is the Stage of Redemption and is found in the Book of Exodus as God plagued Egypt and set His people free.
Redemption is simply defined as purchasing something back that once belonged to the person or entity.
God shows His redemptive love by freeing His people from Egyptian bondage through His process. He made the process last as long as it was necessary to show His people how it worked. God told Moses before Moses ever went to tell Pharaoh to let God’s people go that God was going to harden Pharaoh’s heart and he would not let the people go until the process was complete and God received honor through it.
God displaying His loving redemption to His people is the same process that He leads His people through today. The first Stage of Life named Humility is what all of God’s people will live in as they are on the Redemption Stage of Life.
The first Truth in the Stage of Redemption is, “Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.” God had Moses strike the water with his rod which is a piece of wood. Jesus came and smote His people’s sin with a piece of wood which is the cross. This is a portrait of God making the first step in redeeming His people from sin.
The second Truth in the Stage of Redemption is, “Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD.” The Egyptian magicians could bring these idols out of the water just like Moses, but when Pharaoh was tired of having them on his land, he asked Moses to rid the land of them, and Moses asked, “when shall I entreat for thee,” then performed it as he requested. God has the same system of redemption for His people. God did what was necessary and has it waiting for His people to ask Him to receive it and tell Him when they want to receive the idols being removed. His people must be tired of the idols in their lives and want to have them removed then God will do it.
The third Truth in the Stage of Redemption is, “This is the finger of God:” The magicians could not replicate the third plague that God had sent to the Egyptians, and they finally realized the Truth of God's power. God reveals Himself to His people a little at a time as He knows they are able to receive Him. This Truth shows God’s undeniable power that enables His people’s awareness and is evidence to those around them.
The fourth Truth in the Stage of Redemption is, “And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.” This Truth displays God’s gift of rest to His people as He is becoming increasingly known to be against the others surrounding them. Today His rest is continually inside of His people, but not guaranteed to be outside of them, in fact, Jesus said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
The fifth Truth in the Stage of Redemption is, “And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel.” God sent death to the Egyptians livestock, and none of the Israelites livestock was effected. This gives His people who are seeking Him and understand the Gift the automatic response of honoring Him.
The sixth Truth in the Stage of Redemption is, “ And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.” This is the plague in the middle of the deadly plagues that did not kill anything.
The seventh Truth in the Stage of Redemption is, “Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.” God sent messengers that knew He would be true to His word and kill the people’s livestock and servants that were not gathered into the houses. God is doing the same thing today. He sends His messengers to tell people to come into His house and be saved from the eternally painful death that everyone who does not heed His warning will experience.
The eighth Truth in the Stage of Redemption is, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:” God has His plan for redemption set and knows who are going to respond to His call and who will not. He not only knows who will and who will not, but He also hardens some of their hearts to rebel and go against Him so His power can be seen by the ones who can see who He is.
The ninth Truth in the Stage of Redemption is, “And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” Once God hardens people’s hearts, they have no way of seeing who He is, or what the truth is; while His people who’ve answered His call and are living in His light see Him and the truth.
The tenth Truth in the Stage of Redemption is, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.” God slew His only begotten Son for His people’s redemption, and the reception of this action is what redeems them and frees them from their past into His presence they had not known until this point on their journey.
The second Stage of Life is completed with God’s people knowing who He is, being born again Spiritually through receiving Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and seeing their journey with the Holy Ghost of God showing them the Way. This enables His people to know they are made with and for God's purpose, and they are in His plan
.