The Ultimate Redeemer ~ Part I

We’re coming to the end of our time together in this wonderful book of Ruth.  Having methodically traveled through the entire book, we’ve learned and gleaned much from this moving narrative in the faithfulness of one Moabite, the power of love, and the blessings given when one waits upon the Lord for all good things. 
 
So as we spend this last week reflecting on all that we’ve learned, let’s take some time to turn our eyes to the One whom this book is really about.

​Boaz.  Naomi.  Ruth.  All three shared center stage in this epic drama set in little old Bethlehem.  However, while each of them have leading roles and are worth studying and learning from, God is the actual star of the show and the One about whom and around whom the entire story revolves. 
 
From the very beginning, we saw how God is in control of all the events and circumstances of life—from the rain that falls to the earth, the seasons and their harvests, the years in one’s life, the people in it, and the blessings bestowed during it.  All things are controlled and given by the hand of God.
 
Therefore, we can trust Him with our lives and have faith that He will bring about good and beauty from the ashes and sorrows of life’s trials and difficulties.  For His ever watchful eye is always upon us and nothing escapes His notice.  What an awesome God we serve!
 
Just as Ruth’s redemption, provision, and new identity came through Boaz, so also we find these things in Christ.  He is our Boaz, our Provider, and our Redeemer.  In Him we are bought from our cruel slavery to sin, redeemed from the life of drudgery we once lived in, saved from the wrath of God that is coming upon all who still walk in darkness, and raised to new life and identity. 
 
But our redemption didn’t come without cost. 
 
While Ruth’s redemption price was measured in gold, ours is fixed in drops of blood.  The cost of our redemption was one perfect life, unspotted and unmarred by sin and freely sacrificed.  And that one perfect life was lived by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity who became fully God and fully man.  He is the one who lived the sinless life we could not, who freely and willingly shed His blood to pay for our redemption. 
 
Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are no longer Moabites or foreigners to God, but are called by God’s name, are God’s children, and are co-heirs with Him.  We need not glean from the leftovers and outer edges of God’s field of grace like poor waifs and scavengers, but we now get to enjoy the harvest, reaping all its benefits.
 
This is our new position, our new identity, and our new place.  All because we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or stain.  He is our Kinsman Redeemer, our Savior, and our Friend. 
 
Do you not see the amazing, unfathomable work God has done for us?!  How richly He has blessed us, and how far He has gone to redeem us?!
 
But now the question is…what is our response?  What will we do in return?  How does this knowledge and truth change our lives and the way we live them?

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
~Isaiah 43:1b
 
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
~I John 3:1a