"I Know That My Redeemer Lives…”

“I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES…”

Job 19:25

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: Humor about Pastors

1. RENEGADE SONG LEADER

a. Having just preached a passionate sermon on the dangers gossip and tale-bearing, the pastor turned over the pulpit to the song leader for the closing hymn.

b. The song leader, with a twinkle in his eye, had everyone turn to hymn #661 and sing, “I Love to Tell the Story!”

2. PREACHER’S HELLFIRE

a. Fond of spicy food, the pastor kept a jar of pure, hot horseradish on his kitchen table. One evening an unsuspecting dinner guest took a big spoonful of the stuff and was taken aback.

b. When he finally regained the ability to speak, he gasped, “I’ve heard of minister’s preaching hellfire before, but you’re the first one who’s ever passed out samples!”

B. TEXT

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth” Job 19:25.

C. OCCASION OF THE QUOTE

1. The godly old patriarch Job got caught in a war zone, in a battle between Heaven and Hell. All of Job’s property and livestock were destroyed and his 10 children were killed in what looked like judgments from God. When Job had no one left, he fell back on his last resource – his Friend in times of prayer, the Redeemer!

2. Early on in his trial, Job cries for someone to mediate between he and God (Job 9:33, “If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together”). Job’s 3 “friends” acted more like prosecuting attorneys than friends, trying to convict him of some sin.

3. As if a courtroom of Law, Job lays out the “case” (13:3,8,18; 23:4; 31:35) for his innocence. But Job can’t find God to present the facts to (13:22,24; 23:3, 8-9).

4. Then he becomes conscious, by way of revelation, that he has always had a heavenly friend and advocate to stand up for him -- the preincarnate Jesus (“Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend,” Job 16:19-21). This is whom he makes allusion to as “my Redeemer” in chapter 19.

5. The Hebrew word for “redeemer” is “Goel.” It was the word for the “kinsman-redeemer” of the O.T. (Lev. 25:25-55; Ruth 3:9,12-13) who had the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty. What Boaz was to Ruth, Jesus is to His Church!

6. So we’re going to look at the 3 characteristics of our Kinsman-Redeemer Jesus and how He will represent us at the Throne of God at the Last Day!

I. JESUS IS OUR CLOSEST RELATIVE

A. STRONGEST MEANING OF “GOEL”

1. In Job 19:25 Job said, “I know that my Goel lives.” This Hebrew word designated his closest relative, who, because of his family connection, was bound to take up his cause.

2. If a man was murdered, the Goel would try to avenge his death. If a person fell into debt, and was sold into slavery because of the debt, his Goel, if he was able, had to redeem him. That’s why he was referred to as “redeemer” (Lev. 25).

3. The most outstanding qualification for the “redeemer” was that he or she had to be the nearest relative. Job knew he had One IN HEAVEN (“Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high” 26:19).

B. JESUS AS OUR CLOSEST RELATIVE

1. Jesus Christ is the closest relative you have, if you’re saved. Your own brothers, sisters, mother or father aren’t as close as He is. Why?

2. Since He knew you from the foundation of the world and has been with you every moment of your life, He is more intimately acquainted with you even than your mother or sister. He alone knows the origins of your motives, your feelings, and is in complete sympathy for you, since He knows every circumstance and pressure.

3. His kinship is superior to your own flesh & blood because he chose to be your relative. Many people wish they weren’t related to their parent or sibling. Not Jesus; He knew all you really were but still chose to be your closest friend. Nothing would satisfy Him except to come to earth and share in your mortality.

4. He’s also a closer relative because your natural relatives will eventually die and you won’t be able to count on their help some day. But Jesus will always be there, both now and forever. He will never fail to be present for you!

C. ILLUSTRATION: TRUST HIM TO HOLD THE ROPE

1. A group of botanists were exploring remote regions of the Alps in search of new species of flowers. One day they saw through binoculars a flower of such rarity and beauty that its value to science was incalculable. But it lay deep in a ravine with cliffs on both sides. To get the flower someone had to be lowered over the cliff on a rope.