The Transforming Power of Knowing Christ's Redemption

The Transforming Power of Knowing Christ's Redemption

There's a profound difference between possessing something and truly knowing you possess it. Imagine a man who inherits a vast fortune—accounts filled with wealth, legally his, no dispute. Yet he never learns about it. He continues living in poverty, worrying about making it through each week, limiting his choices, bound by fear and uncertainty. The inheritance belongs to him, but because he doesn't know it, it exerts no influence over his life.

Now imagine the day he discovers the truth. Nothing about the inheritance changes—it was always his. What changes is his awareness. And with that awareness, everything transforms: how he thinks, how he plans, how he views himself, how he faces challenges and approaches the future.

This is the reality for many Christians today. We possess redemption through Christ's blood. Our salvation is secure. The problem isn't the possession—it's the knowing.

More Than Information

The Apostle Peter wrote to believers who needed to understand what was already theirs in Christ. In his first letter, he reminds them: "knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19).

That word "knowing" carries extraordinary weight. It's not merely intellectual agreement with facts. After all, James tells us that even demons believe in God and shudder (James 2:19). Knowing in the biblical sense is something far deeper—it's a dynamic awareness that continuously unfolds and expands within the life of the believer.

This kind of knowing is transformational, not just informational. It's the very substance of a transformed life.

The Dynamic Awareness That Changes Everything

What does this dynamic awareness accomplish? It does four powerful things:

It re-centers our identity within Christ and upon Christ. Through the Spirit of God applying the Word of God to us as children of God, we begin to see ourselves differently. Our identity shifts from being defined by our failures, our achievements, our circumstances, or others' opinions to being defined by our position in Christ. We are "in Christ"—a phrase the Apostle Paul used repeatedly to describe our new reality.

It reshapes our character around Christ's character. We cannot be centered within Christ without Christ transforming who we are becoming. Our character—the consistent patterns of how we think, feel, and act—begins to reflect His character rather than the broken patterns inherited from our past.

It redefines our motivations and purposes in life. No longer do we look at others for what we can get from them. No longer do we chase after empty pursuits to fill the void. Instead, our motives and purposes align with Christ's. We begin to see with His eyes, love with His heart, and pursue His purposes.

It reforms our behaviors toward Christ-likeness. Gradually, we begin to think like Christ, speak like Christ, and act like Christ. Not perfectly—we all struggle with sin—but progressively. The trajectory of our lives changes direction.

Being Before Doing

Here's a crucial truth: being always comes before doing. Identity always comes before behavior. Character always comes before lifestyle.

You can see someone's being by what they do, how they speak, how they respond rather than react. You can discern their identity through their behavior, their purposes and motivations. Their character becomes evident in the lifestyle they live.

The question is: Are we being restored by an awareness of Christ's redemptive work to such a degree that our very being, identity, and character are transformed? And consequently, is our doing, behavior, and lifestyle also being transformed?

This is what salvation accomplishes. Paul wrote to Titus that God "saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Spirit" (Titus 3:5-7). The Holy Spirit regenerates us—brings completely new life to bear—giving us the capability for the first time to step into life in a new and better way.

But the transformation doesn't stop at salvation. Paul urges believers: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).

Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves

We must regularly preach the gospel to ourselves, reminding ourselves of all that God has accomplished for us in Christ.

When King David faced his darkest moment—his city destroyed, his people threatening to stone him—Scripture tells us "David strengthened himself in the Lord his God" (1 Samuel 30:6). He didn't disappear into hurt and shame. Instead, he encouraged himself in the Lord, sought God's face, and moved forward in faith.

The psalmist demonstrates this same practice: "Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him for the help of his presence" (Psalm 42:5).

This is the dynamic awareness—the living recognition that God's presence is with us, that His truth transforms us, that we are not who we once were.

Consider What Is True

Scripture gives us powerful truths to consider:

"Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ" (Romans 6:11). When temptation comes, we don't have to return to old patterns. We've been crucified with Christ. We're dead to that.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). When guilt and shame knock, we remind ourselves that God speaks no condemning words to those who trust in Christ. Why? Because He spoke those condemning words to Jesus so He could speak accepting words to us.

"I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). We choose to allow Christ to live His life through us.

What Occupies Our Awareness Shapes Our Lives

Here's the critical principle: the realities that most occupy our awareness will ultimately shape the people we become.

When the world occupies our awareness, we think like the world, react like the world, chase acceptance like the world. When fear occupies our awareness, we live controlled by insecurity and pride. When failure occupies our awareness, we live discouraged lives riddled with guilt and shame. When self occupies our awareness, we use everyone for our own agenda.

But when Christ occupies our awareness—when the gospel becomes the atmosphere in which we live and breathe—we are transformed from the inside out. We begin to see ourselves as God sees us: free from condemnation, beloved children. We remember what is true rather than what is merely visible. We think, act, speak, endure, worship, and hope differently.

The Path Forward

Spiritual stability in an unstable world isn't found in better circumstances, more money, higher positions, or greater influence. It's found in a deepening, dynamic awareness of Christ—a gospel-centered awareness that continually re-centers our identity, reshapes our character, redefines our purposes, and reforms our behavior.

This is why we return again and again to God's Word. This is why we participate with the Spirit's work in our lives. This is why we gather with other believers. We need this dynamic awareness to grow, to shape our being and doing, our character and lifestyle, our identity and behavior.

The redemption Christ provides is free and clear. He's paid the debt. All we must do is trust. And then, day by day, allow that truth to possess us with ever-deepening awareness until our lives reflect the One who saved us.

What occupies your awareness today? May it be Christ—and may that awareness transform everything.