Our Kinsmen Redeemer

So it has been a while since my last post. Life has been crazy but, this rocks my world!

There are arguments that say the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. I beg to differ. The Old Testament shows many prefiguring’s of the New Testament Savior. My case in point will observe the book of Ruth. This is the same true One and Only God who has always been displayed. The kinsmen redeemer named Boaz was a prefiguring of the redeemer to come. There are several aspects that enlighten one to see this resemblance. Culturally there were certain criteria to be met to ensure that the kinsmen could redeem a particular piece of property. If a family member died another member of the family could take ownership of a particular piece of property to ensure that it did not leave the family. The same is true today when a family member leaves something in their will, but back then they did not have such a thing. Instead a piece of property could be claimed by the closest member of the family without a contract.

The same is true with God and His redemption of His property that was cut off from Him by sin. God owns this universe and it was put do death by sin. He had to have a kinsmen redeemer that could claim the right to His property. Several things must be taken into consideration for this to happen and we see this from the story of Ruth.

The kinsmen redeemer must be -

Related to the individual by blood (Mat 26:28 represents the blood of Christ which represents His poured out life. Rom. 3:25, 5:9) Jesus had to be related to us or connected to us by blood that is why He took on human form. It was not a heritage identification it was a human blood connection. Just as OT sacrifice needed and unblemished animal to sacrifice, we needed His perfect blood.

Free, not a slave – Jesus was not in debt to sin and He was not a slave to sin (John 8:46, Heb 6:15) this is why we can’t save ourselves. (Romans 3:23, 6:16)

Able to pay the price of redemption – (Mat. 28:18) Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. His perfect blood could cover the cost of sin. (1 Cor. 6:20) Tells us we were bought at a price and Jesus paid that bill. He even tells us that through Him is the only way to redemption. (John 14:6)

Willing to pay the price – Back in the story the first redeemer didn’t want to pay the price. (Mat. 26:42) Jesus cries out to the Father for another way out and how does He respond? Not my will but yours. In other words, I’ll do it if it is the only way. Jesus was willing to pay the ultimate price.

Prepared to marry the widow – (Rev. 19:7) prepares us for when the bride (church) and the bridegroom (Lamb) will be united. This was the reason that the closer redeemer in Ruth didn’t want to redeem the estate. He didn’t want to endanger his own estate by marrying a foreigner. Christ has taken the final position of bridegroom and fulfilled the requirements of the redeemer.

Christ was not a physical redeemer that allowed us to keep an earthly estate. He is the redeemer that allows us to claim our heavenly estate with the Father. The thing that blows my mind more than anything is that Christ didn’t have to redeem us if He didn’t want to. This is what makes this so meaningful. He could have backed out at anytime. But Mat. 16:23 shows us where His heart is. Jesus Christ was willing to lay down His life and pay the ultimate price for sin. I don’t think that we will ever be able to fully comprehend the love of God.

So who do you belong to? Are you willing to accept the kinsmen request to be brought back into the family? Will you venture out on your own and see where it lands you? God is willing to take you back, are you willing to enter into His offer?