The prophet Hosea spoke of Christ’s atonement when he prophesied, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death…." HOS 13:14.

This prophesy was like a Lighthouse of mercy in the midst of a sea of threatening of God’s wrath.

The Apostle Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation… For therein is the righteousness of God revealed…[in the atonement of Christ, who was made to be sin for us, 2CO 5:20] the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness," ROM 1:16-18.

The atonement of Christ teaches us how wroth God is with sin, that He would bring His just wrath upon His own Son as our Substitute before He would let one sin go unpunished. Therefore, our text teaches that our redemption from death is twofold. It not only refers being redeemed from the grave, but also from spiritual death which is the power of sin.

As the result of our shameful fall in Adam, we have not only lost our love for God, but we have become the bond servants of Satan and sin. "…the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be," ROM 8:7.

 TIT 2:14 tells us that Christ came to redeem us from the power of this spiritual death. "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

The prophecy of Christ in our text says, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death." This redemption was obtained through the death of Christ that sin might lose its reigning power. ROM 6:10 says, "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."

As sin loses its reigning power, we are admonished to become imitators of Christ. "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof," ROM 6:11-12.

Those who have been redeemed from the power of this spiritual death no longer serve sin, Christ is enthroned upon their heart. Being ransomed from the power of the things of death we can live rejoicing in the blessed promises we read in HOS 14:4-7 "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him."

These blessed promises not only deal with a pardon for our sin, but they speak of the blessed relationship a true believer has with Christ. "I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon."

Our text speaks of a resurrection in a figurative sense, i.e., of a spiritual resurrection as we find in ROM 6:4. "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

This spiritual resurrection is beautifully described in ROM 8:10. "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness."

The love of God is what breaks the power of spiritual death spoken of in our text, and leads us to repentance. ROM 8:12-13 says, "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Amen.

WHITER THAN SNOW

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul;
Break down every idol, cast out every foe;
Now wash me , and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, look down from Thy throne in the skies,
And help me to make a complete sacrifice;
I give up myself, and whatever I know—
Now wash me , and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat,
I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet;
By faith, for my cleansing, I see Thy blood flow—
Now wash me , and I shall be whiter than snow.