Sweet Redemption Series

Text: Ruth 4:13-22 Title: Sweet Redemption Date/Place: LSCC, 4/11/06, AM

A. Opening illustration: Tom ran home and counted all his money. Exactly one dollar! When he reached the store, he rushed to the counter. “Here’s the money for my boat.” As he left the store, Tom hugged his boat and said, “Now you’re twice mine. First, I made you and now I bought you.”

B. Background to passage: The NT never actually mentions Boaz as a type and shadow of Christ and His redeeming work. But the OT in many places calls God our Redeemer (Ps 78:35, Isa 44:6, 22-24). And with the language used in the NT of redemption as an explanation of salvation (Eph 1:7, Col 1:14, Heb 9:12, 1 Pet 1:18-19), it is an easy parallel to draw between the redemption going on in Ruth and the redemption that you and I can experience in Christ. And we would be doing the book of Ruth no favors if we skipped over this theme, as it is mentioned 12X specifically, and referred to many other times. The term means basically, to buy something back, pay a price or debt or ransom to someone for something. FREEBIE: GOD ORDAINS AND PLANS EVERY LIFE, EXPECTED OR NOT. CHOOSE LIFE!

C. Main thought: Three great truths about redemption from Ruth, because He has not left us without a redeemer!

A. Qualifications of the Redeemer

1. The situation was dire in the life of Ruth and Naomi, and yet, not just anyone can come in and fix it. It had to be a certain type of person. 1) First this person must be a near kinsman. It had to be someone within the family. Someone who had a blood relation, a vested interest in the family, and someone that could identify with the need. 2) Secondly, a redeemer had to be willing. We have spoken on several occasions about the fact that being a go’el did not force you to redeem; it was voluntary. And Boaz told Ruth that he was willing. 3) Thirdly a go’el must be able to pay the price. Boaz had to be financially able to buy back the land, and physically able to take on a wife.

2. Heb 10:4, John 10:18, Isa 53:12, Phil 2:7, Titus 2:14, 2 Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15, Rev 5:3,

3. Illustration: Laws of the land written to aid blood relatives in custody and inheritance cases, Jesus was the UlTimate Volunteer. How Big Is Your God? What would have happened had Moses tried to figure out what was needed to accomplish God’s command? One of the biggest arithmetical miracles in the world was required in the desert. Moses led the people of Israel into the desert….Now what was he going to do with them? They had to be fed, and feeding 3-1/2 million people required a lot of food. According to the U. S. Army’s Quartermaster General, Moses needed 1500 tons of food a day, filling two freight trains, each a mile long. Besides, you must remember, they were cooking the food. Just for cooking this took 4000 tons of firewood and a few more freight trains, each a mile long and this is only for one day (not to mention for keeping warm, and if anyone tells you it doesn’t get cold in the desert don’t believe them!). They were for forty YEARS in transit!!! Let’s not forget about water, shall we? If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes (no bathing?!), it took 11,000,000 gallons EACH DAY--enough to fill a train of tanker cars 1800 miles long. And another thing! They had to get across the red sea in one night. Now if they went on a narrow path, double file, the line would be 800 miles long and require 35 days and nights to complete the crossing. So to get it over in one night there had to be a space in the Red Sea 3 miles wide so that they could walk 5,000 abreast. Think about this; every time they camped at the end of the day, a camp ground the size of Rhode Island was required, or 750 square miles

4. When Christ took on flesh (John 1:14) and dwelt among us, He became that blood relation to us. He experienced everything that you and I experience as human beings. He left the portals of glory to take on flesh, assume humanity, and walk where we walk. And He has the right genealogy according to this chapter to fulfill all the prophecy. And Jesus Christ was willing to be our redeemer. Don’t think of Christ as a forced sacrifice like the lambs of the OT, but as a loving, willing participant in the glorious plan of redemption. Jesus was more than able. What does it take to pay a sin debt and purchase eternal life for the world? Perfection and Death! God demanded that sin be paid for and that righteousness be attained. Jesus lived without sin, without even a millisecond of an improper thought or attitude to earn a righteousness that He could give to you and I. Then He died a death that He didn’t deserve, so that He could pay that to God on our behalf, and earn our freedom from the consequences of our sin. He used the word, tetelestai, to say that it is paid in full. The Holy Judge of the Universe demanded that sin be punished, and no man or beast on the face of the earth could pay for any sin but his own. Is Jesus qualified to redeem the world? Redeem you?