OH NO! Too dark. Too heavy. I grabbed a paring knife and scraped away the still soft layers of blue-black clouds. Crumbles and short spirals of sticky paint dropped onto my easel’s lip. Standing back, I assessed the mess, both on the canvas and beneath it. Taking a large brush, I pulled it through titanium white on my palate and proceeded to repaint the clouds. My paintbrush picked up the remaining dark tones, blended them with white, and mysteriously created form and depth. 

I stepped back again. Beneath the clouds stood several symmetrical, cone-shaped, purple peaks. Without a photograph to copy and relying on intuition and imagination, my brain refused to form an accurate mental picture past childhood mountain representations. Again, I took my knife and unceremoniously scraped away all earlier attempts to create believable peaks. I grasped my large brush with white paint and a prayer. I combined several smaller mountains into one prominent respectable summit. My paintbrush picked up underlying colors, which glowed through a new transparent layer.

Suddenly, this mountain came to life by no genius of my own. Failure and destruction of my earlier attempts morphed into a towering pinnacle reflecting a glorious sunrise. I scraped the foothills, adjusted their color, added an alder grove to catch the morning light, plus a pond to reflect the foothills. A few more hours completed the redemption of an otherwise trash dump. I thought I finished, left it overnight, and realized it still needed more work in the morning. I wanted to be done. I could just photograph it as is or sit down and keep working. I decided to surrender to His still, small voice.

I thought of redemption as I gazed at the continuing transformation. This word means to “buy back, free from what distresses or harms, extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental, to release from blame, and to release from the consequences of sin.” It also means to “exchange for something of value… to make worthwhile.”

As I read these definitions, I realized this is what Christ has done for me… for us. My life is like this painting. All my self-efforts end in frustration and failure. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get it right. Yet, Psalm 103:4 says, the LORD redeems my life from destruction and crowns me with love and compassion.

Much like scraping away undesirable layers of paint, the LORD uses the knife of circumstances to painfully scrape away my layers of undesirable traits. My painting was only fit for complete destruction before its unexpected redemption. Under the curse of sin and death, my life was only fit for damnation except for the precious blood of the Lamb of God. Jesus took my place on the cross, which redeemed me from that destruction, and crowns me with loving kindness and tender mercies while transforming me into His own image (Psa 103:4). 

Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Not only does He save me from eternal damnation, but from that hell-bent nature with which I was born. When I received His gift of salvation, He gave me a new heart, and His Holy Spirit, who now lives within me—guarantees eternal life with Him. My new heart desires to walk in the newness of life, to trust, obey, and live for Him. When I fall, He picks me up. When I grow weary, He carries me to still waters and restores my soul. And I do fall; I do grow weary and just want to be done! But He patiently encourages me to keep going and not settle for less when He wants to give me more.

As that mountain awaits the morning, we await our final redemption morning when Jesus comes, as promised, to take His Bride to live with Him in heaven forever. “Jesus answered and said, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:1-6).

In the Gospels, Jesus tells his disciples of things that will happen in the last days just before He returns. “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains… And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt 24:6-8;14).

Jesus says, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luk 21:28). Moses wrote prophetically of the Lord, “In your unfailing love You will lead the people You have redeemed. In Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling” (Ex 15:13). What a comforting assurance of His ever-present love and strength and the glorious future awaiting us!

Many names and attributes describe our LORD, but Redeemer is my favorite. When I confess my sins, He is faithful and just and to forgive my sins and to purify me from all unrighteousness (I Jn 1:9). He takes my mistakes and failures, scrapes them away, exchanges them for something of value, and makes me… and you worthwhile.

For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your REDEEMER is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.

Isaiah 54:5