Christ, Is Zion's Next Of Kin
Redemption is the act of taking back by the seller from the buyer a thing which had been sold subject to thE right of repurchase.The right of redemption then is an agreement by which the seller reserves to himself the power of taking back the thing sold by returning the price paid for it. It is the ransomed of the Lord returning to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; with joy and gladness. It is God remembering his congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shall thou go forth out of the city, and thou shall dwell in the field, and thou shall go even to Babylon; there shall thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of your enemies, ( Micah 4:10). Redeem: according to the Oriental law of kinship, ‘redeem’ means: “to be the next of kin and as such to buy back a relative’s property; it means to perform the part of near or next of kin; it means to purchase, ransom, deliver, or be an revenger. It means: “to sever, that is, generally to release, preserve, rescue . Redeem means: “ to buy up, that is, ransom; figuratively to rescue from loss (improve opportunity)”. Redemption means: “having the right or authority by virtue of relationship to redeem; pay a ransom in full; provide full deliverance.
The story of Ruth, the Gentile ancestor, of Jesus of Galilee; provides us a glimpse into the right of redemption. Ruth, a Gentile, was wedded to one of the sons of Naomi which died. Ruth had no rights of patrimony, as the sons died leaving no inheritance for her. There was a famine in the land and Naomi and Ruth fell upon hard times. The husband of Naomi and both her sons died. Naomi, her Mother-in-law was also penniless. Naomi instructed Ruth to return to the homestead of her parents, peradventure they would provide for her need. Nevertheless, Ruth said: " entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou go, I will go; and where thou lodge, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou die, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. Where up Naomi, said: "call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me. When Boaz first saw Ruth, he said: "The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust".
When Ruth repeated to Naomi, that which Boaz has said, Naomi, said: " Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. In the course of the story, Boaz, said to Ruth: " my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou require: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. If he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee.
Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Mo ab, sold a parcel of land.. redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, for you will not redeem it, I will redeem it. Thou must also buy the field of the hand of Naomi and thou must buy it also of Ruth; the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of your old age (Ruth chapters 1-4).
The redeemer, redemptions motifs in this story is that Boaz, a near of kin, redeems Naomi and Ruth from a perilous situation, during a time of famine in their own life. And any possibility of returning to their own homestead was deminished, because it was now owned by someone else. And unless they are successful and having their estate restored, they must suffer the death of poverty and even worst famine. Then along came a royal relative, Boaz!
Our relative; the relative of mankind,must be able to redeem, not simply some real estate; or make our living condition more acceptable. This relative, must have the capacity to redeem our soul from both sin and death. The relative we need is one who can offer an eternal redemption. Wherefore , in all of creation, only God can be our next of kin. There is no other being in the creation of God that do the part of a next of kin; none, except God. Certainly, not the angels; for they had already inquired of God: "what is man that you are mindful of about him". God responses: I am mindful because Man is my relative. I have made man in my own image. Therefore, as regard the order of creation, God is our only relative. I don’t mean our natural and biological relatives. I don’t means Adam. I means God was the only relative that Adam had.
The angels were not relatives of Adam; and if they were, they had no rights as a next of kin. The were not interested, nor capable of acting in the capacity of a redeemer; because they had no relationship rights. And even, if relationship rights could be established for angels; they are unable to do the part of a next of kin. When Adam fail, he was all alone. The only person he could talk to about his problem, and who could do anything about it, was God. To talk to his wife or even angels, offered no recourse. God did not simply become our next of kin at the birth of Jesus, in Bethlehem of Judea; he was our next of kin before the foundation of the world. Therefore even before we can speak of redemption; we must first establish, who among the next of kin has redemption rights. Who has the right to redeem mankind. God is the maker of mankind; thus in matters dealing with the redemption of the soul, an appeal must be made to God, to restore and return us to our inheritance.Then along came our royal relative from the heavenly places!
God, having the right of redemption, takes us deeper into the Godhead; for the only way Christ could be our redeemer, is if he is God. If Christ is not the supreme God; he has no rights of redemption and thus cannot give his life to redeem our soul from death. But if Christ is God; if Christ is the creator; if Christ is the maker of all things visible and invisible, then he alone; he only can redeem our soul from sin, death, hell and destruction. Christ is the supreme God. Christ is the creator of all things visible and invisible. Christ exercises his right of redemption, because we are his offspring; we are his next of kin. And as his next of kin we were in serious trouble as regard the indebtness, slavery and bondage of our soul to sin, death, hell and destruction. Our sins had sold us to the devil . The devil owned all that we had; and now he demands the destruction of our soul. The devil can't hurt God; so he went after his next of kin. Paul, agrees with the poet who said: “ For in him we live, and move, and have our being”; For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device, (Act 17:28-29).
Man's primordial problematic enemy is sin. The problematic enemy is his moral weakness: his inability, by any means to find acceptance in the eyes of his maker. Sin is the enemy. Sin is the enemy of mankind from the beginning of recorded time; an enemy from which he has been unable to extricate himself; an enemy he has been unable to defeat; an enemy that has ravaged and robbed all that he has; and now desires to extinguish the life of his soul from the face of the earth. Sin is the enemy, due to the inability of human nature to discern and repel the tricks played upon it by sin. The nature of man is depraved; it is desirous of things (anything) and as such it is conducive to sin. It offers sin an environment in which it can thrive and make rebellion against God. Sin is not all of ma's own making; but man has been in a conspiracy relationship with sin. Now sin is that which is criminal against God. it is a crime against the oracles of God. Sin cross the boundary line from good into evil. Sin is an activity against God; and thus it is against one's own well being. When one commit sin; he sins not only against his own soul, but against God.
All unrighteousness is sin. Sin is a virus in human blood. It has attached itself to man's DNA. God did not create man with sin in him. Sin in man is something which Satan had a primary hand in. Sin is from the Devil. Man is not what he was in creation. He is, what he is, as a result of the hereditary nature of sin, compounded by generations of sin accented by one's own personal transgressions against the commandments of the prophets and apostles. The wages, compensation and reward for sin, is death. The soul that sins shall tormented with death. The torment of the soul for sin begins in this life and continues more severely, even after death; for death is a receptacle to hold sinful souls in an anxiety that deprives it of the joy and the pleasurable delight of being in the presence of God. Sin is the most formidable weapon every allied against the soul of humankind; and sin is most hateful to God; but a hatred from which humankind has hereto been able to deliver himself. Then along came our royal relative from the heavenly places!
The Lord said: “ I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments. After we had been sold into death as a result, God being our brother, redeemed us, because he was able. And being able to effect redemption; he sanctified us to himself. God effected the redemption after determining that the price to redeem our soul from sin and death, was the death of his own soul. Thus in order that he might experience death, God became a human being. God became a human while knowing that the price of redemption was that the God head must experience and taste of death and rise again from the dead. Testing of death for the purpose of redemption was the price God was willing and eager to pay to ransom his lost relative. The lost relative has been sold to death for sin; thus death must be satisfied in full to win release of the soul of the relative. We were sold according to the debt we owed. Our transgressions required that our soul die; and that we accordingly be held by death to accomplish the destruction of the soul. Redemption required that the body be burned by fire and the blood sprinkled upon the altar before the Lord, (Exo 6:6; Lev 25: 24, 48, 49, 52; 27:13, 15, 19, 20, 27, 31; Num 18:15, 16, 17).
Then along came our royal relative from the heavenly places!
In ancient Israel, on the day of atonement, an sacrificial offering was made to make atonement for the soul. The atonement was to put the soul at one with God. It was to remove the sin of the soul; to make the soul capable of rejoicing in the presence of the Divine Nature. The sacrifice of the atonement was to consecrate and sanctify the people by the removal of sin. The blood of the sin offering was poured out before God to made the atonement. for the soul. The atonement was made to forgive the sin of the soul and make the it acceptable to God. The the blood of the the Divine Nature causes the death angel to pass over the soul; so that the it is not touched by the plague. the atonement is made and the transgression forgiven The atonement is made for the altar upon which the blood is sprinkled. The estimation of the soul is so precious, that every where the blood touches must have the capacity to make holy. Do to the high value God places on the human soul, the value of the atonement must be higher; for the atonement must not simply wipe the soul clean; it must also restore it to health, through consecration and sanctification . Both consecration and sanctification are works wrought in the soul by the redemption of the atonement. An atonement is made to secure the forgiveness and remissions of sins .
Then along came our royal relative from the heavenly places!
In the atonement, a spotless and blemish less victim is slain; his body burned and his blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat. The Divine Nature, must be appeased to turn his face away from the transgression and to look with favor upon the person for whom the sacrificial is made; and restore the individual or nation to a peaceful and joyous relationship with the Supreme Deity.
God redeems because it makes his name of great and terrible; because in famine he redeems from death; and in war from the power of the sword; he delivers from the enemy's hand; he redeems from the hand of the mighty. God redeems out of all trouble. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me. God redeems the soul from the power of the grave. He redeems the soul from deceit and violence; He redeems from all iniquities. The redemption of the soul is precious to him; it is that which he enjoys doing. With him there is plenteous redemption. He sends redemption unto his people. Zion hope in the Lord. He commands his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name; for with the Lord there is mercy. (Neh 5:5; 2Sa 7:23; Job 5:20; 6:23; Psa 25:22; 26:11; 44:26; 49:7, 8, 15; 69:18; 72:14; 111:9; 130:7, 8; 1Ch 17:21).
Then along came our royal relative from the heavenly places!
When God looked for a redeemer, there no man; when he called, was there none to answer. God alone is the redeemer; for his hand is not at all shortened; for at his rebuke the sea dries up; he makes rivers in the wilderness; even fish die for thirst. Our next of kin, can, has and will deliver out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem out of the hand of the terrible. God will paid the ransom , to redeem from the power of the grave; God paid the ransom to redeem from death. God said to: “ O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction”. No matter what the pain, thought it be like a woman in travail, our precious Lord and savior Jesus Christ will redeem Zion from the hand of your enemies. (Jer 32:7; Isa 50:2; Jer 15:21; Hos 13:14; Mic 4:10).
Our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, made himself subject to the penalty of the Law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Redemption in Christ Jesus is the first fruits of the Spirit, as we wait for the redemption of our body. Christ Jesus, is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. through his blood is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. The redemption through his blood is our seal unto the day of redemption. In his precious blood we have the forgiveness of sins. His precious blood has obtained for us eternal redemption. God himself is the mediator of the new testament. Now a mediator is normally of two; but it is recorded that God is one. These is nor can be any other redeemer except God. God is one. This God offered up his own soul and died, to taste and experience death to ransom his next of kin. This God has called us and redeemed us that we might receive the promise of eternal inheritance, (Luke2:38; 21:28; Gal 4:5; Tit 2:14; Rom 3:23, 24; 1Co 1:30; Eph 1:7, 14; 4:30; Col 1:14; Heb 9:12, 15).
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