Redemption

That place where God comes down and makes everything right

That place where we are redeemed.

In the old Testament we find redemption in the book of Ruth

The story of Naomi and Ruth is a beautiful story. One woman was older and the mother of sons, the other younger and married to one of her sons.

And the sons die, leaving no recourse for the women.

In that day and time if a husband died the woman would become the wife of the next son, but in this case all of the sons had died, and Naomi was a foreigner in the land, and therefore there was no husband for Ruth.

This meant destitution. No way to make a living, no hope to raise a family.

Because of the sorrow and the life change thrust upon these women by grief and loss, Naomi travels back to her original country, and Ruth goes with her.

To eat Ruth goes out each day into the neighboring fields, picking up the leftovers after the threshers had gone through the field.

Though there were a number of fields, she found favor in the field of Boaz.

As it turns out Boaz was a distant relative to Naomi, and therefore able to redeem the situation

Boaz had the authority and opportunity to make something right that had gone terribly wrong.

The hopes of these women lay in the hope of family. When family had died, so had hope.

Only a kinsmen redeemer could make it right. And this turned out to be Boaz.

So through the proper course of action, according to the protocol of the day, Boaz married Ruth, redeeming her.

“Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!'” Ruth 4:14

The kinsmen redeemer.

God is our Kinsmen redeemer.

“Our Redeemer – the LORD of hosts is his name – is the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 47:4

When we are without hope, God has the authority to make it right.

We must simply put ourselves at his feet and ask.

“They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.” Psalm 78:35

It is an interesting part of the story of Ruth that by the advice of Naomi, she one night came and laid herself at the feet of Boaz. A provocative act, an act of humility, this action stated loud and clear, “you may have your way with me”

And this is our opportunity with God. He is our kinsmen redeemer. He is the only one with the authority to make right, in our lives, in our communities, and in our nation, what has gone very wrong.

“For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.” Isaiah 54:5

We simply bring ourselves to his feet. We in essence lay at his feet, declaring that we are his.

We declare our dependance on him, we say, “Would you redeem us?”

“He said, ‘Who are you?’ And she answered, ‘I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” Ruth 3:9

We are told that at the end of the age Jesus Christ will return to redeem his bride.

Those who have made him their bridegroom, will find themselves caught up in the skies with him.

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.” Job 19:25

Because Jesus Christ established himself through death and resurrection as our redeemer, and since we have received him as our personal redeemer, we take up the cause of redemption alongside him.

Privileged to know him we now take on redeeming the things around us. We are called to be redeemers of what has gone wrong around us.

We enter into the work of healing people, relationships, and the systems of this world.

“Thus says the LORD, you Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.'” Isaiah 48:16-18

God as our Redeemer took on the responsibility to redeem, and we have opportunity and privilege of the same.

Just maybe God has established you as a Redeemer for a part of your world.

God’s way is to respond to the needs of the world through His people.

“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt. This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ – this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years” Acts 7:34-36

How might you enter into God’s redemptive work today?