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?
B. Qualifications of the Redeemed
1. To be redeemed, one also had to have some qualifications. 1) The first of which was that Ruth had to see the need for redemption. We know she did when she left Moab with Naomi, and left Naomi to glean in the fields. And then Naomi declared her need for security in chapter three. And obviously she believed it, or she would have never acted. 2) Secondly, Ruth needed faith/trust. And we know that she trusted God when she left Moab and confessed Him as her God. We know that she trusted Boaz and Naomi because she did exactly what they said. 3) Thirdly, there must be a willingness to die to self. This is about repentance. Turning from self to Christ. Ruth did this on the threshing floor, when Boaz said that he will tend to the matter in the morning. She didn’t beg, scheme, manipulate, or in any way try to sway, she abandoned self, and trusted God and Boaz.
2. Rom 3:10-18, Luke 13:3, 14:28, 33,
3. Illustration: Prussian king Frederick the Great was once touring a Berlin prison. The prisoners fell on their knees before him to proclaim their innocence—except for one man, who remained silent. Frederick called to him, “Why are you here?” “Armed robbery, Your Majesty,” was the reply. “And are you guilty?” “Yes indeed, Your Majesty, I deserve my punishment.” Frederick then summoned the jailer and ordered him, “Release this guilty wretch at once. I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who occupy it.” The Red Sox Nation’s slogan was “you gotta believe,” “So long self, it’s been too long, but I have found somebody else.”
4. The first step on our behalf in the plan of redemption that Christ has for us is to understand our need for salvation. Many of you here today have no clue that you need help. You don’t realize that every thought and action that you do is corrupted, and offensive to God. You don’t know that you are liars, murderers, and adulterers. You fail at the greatest command (to love God completely) every single minute of every single day. And the wages of your sin is death. You must pay for what you owe one way or another. Until you realize how miserable you have failed God, and how desperately you need a redeemer, you will never be saved. The second step in your part of salvation is to believe in Christ. To own what He did as your own. To actively receive His forgiveness and righteousness. Has there ever been a time in your life that you knew you were lost without Christ, and you turned to Him alone in faith for salvation? Have you been born again? You cannot trust in your grandma, or in your good works, or in your church, or in your knowledge, or in the lie of Satan that God will just let you in, and He loves everybody too much to send anyone to hell. The third step here is to repent. To be willing to forsake sin, forsake self, forsake Satan, and forsake this world and this life to gain Christ. It is not a bad trade! But repentance is essential. Salvation is more than just intellectual knowledge, more than reform, more than turning over a new leaf, more than getting religious; it is total abandonment of everything that you are for everything that Christ is. Many make the “commitment” but aren’t willing to pay the price. That is why Jesus says to count the cost. He knew that there are many of you who aren’t willing to follow Jesus.
C. Benefits of Redemption
1. We see a few of these benefits in Naomi’s and Ruth’s lives. 1) The first one that is mentioned is the restoration of life. This child and the circumstances that surrounded it had brought her completely back from the emptiness of life described in the first chapter. One paraphrase puts it “He will make you young again. 2) Another benefit is joy. The actual word used is to nourish or sustain. Older people can become cynical in their age, but children bring the best out. 3) Another benefit is the glory of God. This whole wonderful story points to God and His redemption. And that is stated in the end of verse 14. 4) And of course eternal life. The genealogy of this chapter shows the line of Boaz going on to David. This is probably the purpose of the book itself originally. Because the Davidic line would produce the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ, and salvation to the entire world.
2. Isa 35:10, John 4:10, 13-14, 10:10, 1 Pet 1:8, John 1:29.
3. Illustration: Even the heretic Joel Osteen gets it right sometimes, when he says that you can have your best life now, “Grandchildren: grand when they come, grand when they go,” –Wiersbe, “You are the Lord, the Famous One, the Famous One, Great is your Name in all the Earth.”
4. 1. Some in our day believe that telling people of the abundant life that Christ offers is not a legitimate means of evangelism because it makes too many promises that it can’t keep. And that is true if you promise that Christ will alleviate all problems, curb all future suffering, and secure your future financially. But Christ used this method with the woman at the well. But it is fact: Christ does give you abundant, full, and complete life. Salvation is not something that is only enjoyed on the other side, and we don’t live a miserable existence on this side (although if you looked at some of your faces this morning…) just awaiting heaven. 2. Christ is the sustainer of joy come what may. He never diminishes in value or worth. He never gets old. He is sweeter as the days go by. The more you know of Him the greater your joy in Him is. 3. The point of salvation is not that you would live with God forever, although that happens, it is that God may be known and rejoiced over as most worthy for what He has done in redemption. Redemption declares all the marvelous character attributes of God to us and to the world; so that He will be famous, and His name would receive renown and praise. 4. If you have received Christ as your treasure, Lord, and Savior, you will gain eternal life with ever-increasing joy in the presence of the all-sufficient, all-satisfying, all-encompassing Christ! And time does not even allow us to speak of unexplainable peace, limitless strength, and beautiful Christian fellowship, and impeccable divine wisdom, and pure holiness, and unshakable faith, and spiritual gifts, and boundless love, mountains of mercy, oceans of grace, absolute freedom from guilt and shame, a constant sovereign counselor who has promised never to leave or forsake you, inexhaustible reservoirs of every resource your need in this life of that to come. But all that is there. Just not enough time!
A. Closing illustration: the story in news this week of the mistaken identity of the college student that was killed in a car crash in Indiana. What if the doctors had come to them on the day of the crash and said that there was a possibility that they could bring back their precious child, but the cost was too high? Their response might be, “there is no cost that is too high, we’ll pay any price.” That’s what Jesus said to God the Father, as He left heaven to dwell
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
