The Song Of The Redeemed

Isaiah 51:11 says, "Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall
return and come with singing unto Zion and everlasting joy shall
be upon their heads…they shall obtain gladness and joy and
sorrow and mourning shall flee away…."

In the book of Revelation, we see an awesome description of the
worship that the angels sing as they surround the throne of God;
the acknowledgement of God’s power, holiness, worthiness
and wealth. But there is one song that the angels cannot sing. It
is the song of the redeemed. The only ones that can sing the song
of redeemed are those who have believed into Jesus, who have had
their lives rescued from darkness, who have experienced the life
changing power of the gospel. This song is a song of joy and
celebration and it is a song that only you and I can sing!

One of the privileges that I’ve had over the years is to
lead worship at the Exodus International Conference. Exodus
International is a ministry committed to leading people out of
the homosexual lifestyle through repentance and obedience to
God’s word. I became connected to Exodus through one of the
associate pastors at a church that I led worship at. He led a
Bible study called Living Waters. It was through Him that we
became introduced to Exodus International. This ministry has been
of interest to us because my wife’s brother is currently
living an actively homosexual lifestyle.

Of all the groups that I lead worship for, this group understands
the song of the redeemed – for they have truly been
redeemed and set free to be who God created them to be and
it’s a joyous occasion. The worship is unrestrained and
free. There is such a sense of gratitude for God’s
redeeming love and power. Each year the testimonies of
God’s continued faithfulness remind us of the fact that God
does miraculous life changing works in the lives of those that
come.

Many people ask – can one be delivered from a homosexual
lifestyle? After all, aren’t they born that way? I always
find this line of thinking intriguing because like all lies of
the evil one – the basic premise boils down to an absurd
assumption that is the result of rejecting real truth.
Let’s take for instance the case for evolution. Many very
intelligent people believe that man evolved from apes. In very
plain terms, they believe that in their family genealogy they
will find a guerrilla or chimpanzee. How absurd is that? When I
would preach in universities I would say to the professors
– you teach us that we came from apes and complain that we
act like animals! Even the search to find an ancestral link
between man and guerrilla is absurd, yet those that are committed
to the evolutionary agenda believe this. Many enlightened
scientists are starting to reject the claims of evolution because
it rejects the archaeological and anthropological record. In
short it rejects real truth – it’s bad science!

Homosexuality is equally absurd because it ignores the scientific
fact of biology - the fact that man is born man and woman is born
woman. That is why every homosexual movement is destined for
destruction – it dies out with every generation and can
only be perpetuated through seduction, violence and deceit. One
of the primary ways that many ladies become introduced to the
homosexual lifestyle is through seduction. Many men are
introduced through violent and abusive acts. Most are deceived
into thinking that this is who they were created to be.
It’s heart breaking!

However once people get connected with their Creator God and find
their identity in Him alone, He does the wonderful work of
restoring them to a true sense of being, to be who they were
created to be – fully male and fully female. All the hidden
things are brought into the light and into conversation with God
where He speaks the healing Word that restores the human
soul.

The liberal media will tell you that Christians hate homosexuals
or that we are gay bashers. Recently Calvary Chapel was accused
of being anti-homosexual in one of the poorest examples of
journalism that I’ve ever seen. That is farthest from the
truth. The only agenda that we as believers have is to love. To
love people back to wholeness. To love people back to
completeness. To love them back to the place where they can be
they were created to be. After all – as Paul writes –
"such were all of you."

We each have our stories of God’s redeeming love. Maybe for
you it was freedom from homosexuality. Maybe it was freedom from
drug addiction or alcoholism. Maybe you have been set free from
the tyranny of pornography or a lifestyle of infidelity or bar
hopping. That means that you qualify to sing one of the most
joyous songs in all of creation – the song of the redeemed.
I look forward to seeing you in that day when we with all the
saints together will join in one celebration chorus and sing how
God has redeemed us out of the depths of despair and brought us
into His marvellous light. Isn’t that a song worth
singing!

Used by permission. For further
information about Exodus Ministries - www.exodus2004.org - and Worship Life
- www.worshipsong.com