Kinsman-Redeemer

My two Jen Hatmaker studies collided a bit this week, which is kind of funny considering in one I am reading out of Ruth and the other in Ephesians, but stick with me.

In Ruth, Boaz is Naomi's husband's family's (follow all those possessives?) "kinsman-redeemer".  Basically, he was part of her husband's family and as the kinsman-redeemer (my Study Bible tells me) he was responsible for protecting the interest s of needy members of the extended family.  Things like providing an heir for a brother who had died, redeeming land that a poor relative had sold outside the family, redeeming a relative who have been sold into slavery and avenging the killing of a relative.

Now transfer that to Ephesians 2:1-10 where we were dead in our transgressions and sins and God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ...and raised us up with Christ....and shows the incomparable riches to his graces, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ....through faith ---not from ourselves or our works--but a gift of God. 

Redemption means "the purchase back of something that has been lost, by the payment of a ransom."  I was lost and dead in my transgressions and sins and have been bought back to life though the payment of my sins by the blood of Christ.  It was not by canceling a debt or bargaining a trade or working off the wrongs myself, but the price was paid for me to restore me, who couldn't afford the cost of my freedom, of my life. (Taken from Make Over)

In Ruth we get to see Naomi change her hope from wanting to be called "Mara" because she was bitter from life, to praising God because He never stopped showing His kindness because of the appearance of their kinsman-redeemer.

In our lives we can see bitterness, sin and sadness.  We can choose to live there or we can choose to take the hand of our redeemer and have the price paid for us. 

Oh, how I don't understand how people can reject this.  Except the fact that when Gandhi said "I like your Christ.  I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."  But this is a whole other topic for another blog post.

Praise God that He supplied us with our redeemer.  There is no way I could ever pay my debt.