#3

                                                        REDEMPTION

                                                            (Redeemer)

Redeemer- One who frees or delivers another from difficulty, danger, or bondage, usually by the payment of a ransom price. In the Old Testament, a Redeemer could buy back property, or people, sold under duress (Leviticus 25:23-32), (Romans 7:14). Boaz’s function as Redeemer for Ruth is probably the most well known example of a Redeemer in the Old Testament (Ruth 3:13-4:10). God Himself is the Redeemer of Israel, a fact mentioned 18 times- especially by the prophet Isaiah (Psalms 78:35; Isaiah 41:14).

   In the New Testament, Christ is viewed as the ultimate Redeemer. Jesus gave His life as “a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).  

                                                           (Redemption)

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people” (Luke 1:68).

   “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Galatians 3:13).

   “ And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

                                                             Redemption

                                          I. The three fold meaning of redemption:

(1) To pay a ransom price for something or someone; (Hebrews 9:12) “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us”.

(2) To remove from a slave market place; (Galatians 3:13) “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree”.

(3) To effect a full and complete release; (Romans 8:22, 23; 3:24, Ephesians 1:7; 4:30; Colossians 1:14) “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our bodies”. (*A three fold redemption of body, soul, and spirit).

   The best example of the Old Testament regarding redemption is the office of a kinsman-redeemer. The office of a kinsman-redeemer was “to regain possession of a property which had been sold for debt, or in the preservation or restoration of the name of one who had died without offspring that the kinsman redeemer would take the wife for his own in order to raise up a seed that would carry forward the dead mans name” (Deuteronomy 25:5). Once again we are reminded that Boaz is the most familiar example of a “kinsman redeemer” (Ruth 3:4).

                                    II. The qualifications of a kinsman redeemer

(1) He must be a near kinsman (Leviticus 25:48, 49; Ruth 3:12, 13).

(2) He must have the ability and where-withal to redeem (Ruth 2:1).

(3) He must be willing to redeem (Ruth 3:13).

                                  III. Our great redeemer The Lord Jesus Christ.

(1) He became a near kinsman to us by His Incarnation and life (Hebrews 2:14-16; 4:15).

(2) He had the ability and where-withal to redeem us (John 10:11, 18; I Peter 1: 18, 19).

(3) Most importantly He certainly was willing to redeem us (Hebrew 10: 4-10).

God bless