A New Life

Ruth 4 A New Life It was hot, the trip was long, and the man was determined. In fact, the roughly 135 miles would take approximately 40-60 hours walking and the road was rough and dangerous. As the miles passed and the heat bore down his frustration festered, and his determination developed. At long last the destination that he sought was within sight, and he would be able to continue the work that he was so completely devoted to. The best part is they wouldn’t even see it coming. Frustration and determination began to give way to excitement and anticipation and the closer he got the more his mood shifted from dark and brooding to one of joy and elation. In one moment however, everything changed. Telling the story later, he recalls that the last thing he remembers was being blinded by this bright light, having this weird dream and then waking up in a strange place. At first, he thought, I’m dead, then as the thought passes and the cobwebs begin to fall away, he realizes that he is alive, and the memories come crashing in, the flash of light, the voice, the recognition, and the instructions. Suddenly, this man realizes he isn’t the same man that set out on the journey just a few days ago, that he is a new man, with new hopes, new dreams, new desires, new determinations and most importantly a new life directed by a new knowledge and understanding. He realizes that he is no longer Saul the Persecutor, that he is now Paul the Apostle. In the fourth chapter of the book of Ruth we see a picture of the regeneration and new life that comes with placing our faith in Christ. Just as the work that Christ did in the life of Saul regenerated him, making him into a new being with an entirely different viewpoint into life so too will he do the same for us when we simply believe. In this last chapter and the culmination of the redemptive story of Ruth we are reminded that regardless of where we started (Ruth) or where we faltered along the way (Naomi) God is faithful and just to regenerate and renew us. He has already considered our condition, counted our cost, determined to redeem us and called us to be His witnesses. Ruth 4 Considered our Condition Continuing the story from last week we see that the morning has come, and Boaz has made a bee line for the front gate to confront the kinsman redeemer who has first right of refusal. Boaz has an acute understanding of the situation in which both Ruth and Naomi find themselves. In the male driven society in which they lived it was extremely difficult for women to make it without husbands and sons. Boaz has considered their condition and is determined to help them. God has considered our condition. From the Genesis to Revelation the story of the redemptive process of God is revealed to us in every chapter of every book. From the point of the fall to the descent of New Jerusalem, God continuously recognizes the plight of humanity. Glimpses of the redemption to come are seen throughout scripture. In Genesis we begin with the seed of Eve destroying the serpent, the redemption of Noah and his family, the obedience of Abram, the deliverance of Egypt, countless times we see Israel fall and God picks them up. Over and over we see prophesied for us the coming Messiah and then when we move into the New Testament we see the fulfillment of those prophecies in the God-Man of Jesus, through His sinless birth, sinless life, his sacrificial death and His triumphant resurrection ensuring that through those acts we can be redeemed. We see the regeneration of the tax collector, the religious zealot, the widow, the orphan, the persecutor with no care or concern for where they came from or where they faltered. We see the redemption is available to all those who will simply believe on the name of the Lord Jesus from the least to the greatest. Romans tells us that we have all fallen short of the glory of God, but I am here to today to tell you that the good news is that it doesn’t matter how you failed or where you faltered or whether you were on the road to Damascus or in the prisons of Philippi, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords has considered your condition. Counted the Cost God has seen our condition and God has counted the cost of this redemption. In Ruth, we see Boaz interacting with the family redeemer and the conversation goes something like this. You remember Elimelech’s wife Naomi, she has some property for salle, she has a house on the beach, a cabin in the mountains by a lake with great hunting and fishing, and you are the ONLY one who can redeem them unless you choose not to then I can. Of course, this man, being an avid outdoorsman begins thinking about hunting and fishing trips to the lake, tide fishing on the shore gets excited and says, absolutely, I will take on the burden of redeeming her. Boaz says great, there is just one other thing, all of that comes with you having to marry Ruth, the moabitess. Suddenly the kinsman redeemer begins to see his man-cave dreams disintegrate into frilly curtains and monogrammed towels and decides that the cost is simply too great. Boaz, who has already counted the cost, is faithful in his promise to Ruth to redeem. God, when he considered our condition, also understood the cost. He knew that if he was to redeem us, the price would have to be paid, and that the cost was high. Hebrews 9:22 says that “apart from the shedding of blood there is NO forgiveness of sin” and Leviticus 17:11 says “for the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes the atonement.” In Exodus 12 we see that the Passover lamb, that ensures that the angel of death will Passover the Israelites is to be unblemished and pure. In other words, the cost to redeem us was bloodshed, but not just any blood would do, it had to be blood from a perfect, unblemished lamb. God tells us the cost through in Isaiah 53. (Read) Here is the good news, God counted to the cost. Determined to Redeem Us God has considered our condition, counted the cost and He determined that you and I, with all our faults and failures, with all our issues, that while we were not worthy of His redemption, He sent King Jesus to be our Passover Lamb, anyway. We see that Boaz and Ruth get married and it would seem that all is right with the world, yet, just as is the truth in our lives, so it was here in Ruth, the best was yet to come. The redemptive process was not complete until there was a way to carry on the legacy, enter the birth of the child, a new life. God is not done. Redemption requires regeneration, a new life, a change in our direction. When first we see Naomi, they are leaving for a better life, searching for a new opportunity. We see Ruth desiring this new life, not the old life. When we are regenerated the redemptive process begins. As humans we are born sinners, there is nothing within us that is capable of desiring God in the way that he wants us to desire Him. We may feel like part of us is missing, we may not feel secure in our lives, we may hope that there is something better but not know what…until that moment when the gospel message is proclaimed, the spirit of the living God moves within us and we understand that God HIMSELF is inviting us into the fold. That God HIMSELF reached out to us, to claim us, redeem us, regenerate us, repurpose us, give us a new life and a new heart and set us on a path in a direction towards the new life He has created and away from our old life that we must leave behind. That road, is not an easy road, it is a road full of pitfalls, snares, distractions, dangers, slippery slopes and dotted with quicksand. That road is a variable minefield of Satan designed to tear down, damage, decimate and utterly destroy you and your new life. Look at our earlier example. When Paul was blinded and helped by his companions into Damascus and he set out on his new journey it wasn’t easy. The same can be said of countless thousands of people over the last 2000 years that have willingly walked this dangerous road to their death. WHY? Everything in our human nature SCREAMS flee when danger approach. Avoid pain, run away, studies have shown that an infant in the mother’s womb will recoil from pain. NOBODY likes pain. So why, why when we are regenerated and renewed in our life and begin a new walk with Christ why would we willingly move towards pain and away from safety? Because we begin to understand what James 1:12 means “blessed is a man who endures trials, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that He has promised to those who love Him.” We begin to realize that while we have life yet to live here it is but a moment and the pain and suffering only temporary and that it PALES in comparison to the glory that is to come. Our new life begins to take shape. As that life begins to take shape, we understand that praise and glory and honor belong to God alone. Colossians 3:23 says that everything we do we do for His glory alone. When we walk in this new life and we do everything for His glory alone it has an impact on those around us. They see a new life, they see this regenerated being and they begin to want to know why you are different and when they desire to know why you are different it gives you the opportunity to recognize that because God considered your condition, because He counted the cost and because He determined to redeem us anyway, we are called to be His witnesses. Called to be His Witnesses In Ruth, as Boaz provides for the redemption of Ruth and Naomi, he calls on those around to witness that he has redeemed them. This is an important step because prior to this moment they were almost a secondary class of human and this work of redemption elevates their position in the eyes of all those around. No longer are they to be Naomi the widow who is empty and Ruth the foreigner, but they carry a new name and this act of witnessing certifies that all those gathered would know that they now belong to Boaz. In traditional marriage the woman takes on the last name of the man. This is a sign that she is now joined to him, the two have become one. It is an outward symbol of the two leaving their fathers and mothers and cleaving together to become one and just as it is in marriage, when we believe and are saved we get a new name, a new identity. We belong to someone else and we are to TESTIFY to that new identity and new ownership. The last words of Christ on this earth were a command for us to go, make disciples and teach and the apostles were obedient to that call. But here is the thing about our response to this call, it must be rooted in two things, our love for God and our love for others. First, if we truly love God and are thankful for what He has done in our lives then we will be burdened with the desire to share about Him. Here in the south we are a very polite people. Often, we don’t want to be confrontational, we don’t want to cause issues, upset the status quo or doing something that may cause some of our friends to dislike us…the problem with that is when it interferes with us proclaiming the gospel of Christ IT MUST GO. Second, when we love our neighbor we recognize that Eternity hangs in the balance, we cannot afford to not share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What is it about you that screams to everyone around you that you are a blood bought believer in Jesus Christ. How do you live your life and speak so that others will know who you are and who you belong to? We come to church we hear a word we amen, we go home, we come back, we go home, we come back and not once in that process do we STOP and LOOK around and recognize the lostness around us. So many times do we look at the people around us and fail to recognize that every single person you meet has an eternity. Either an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell and how much do we have to hate people NOT to share the gospel with them. We look around at the lostness of humanity and we search for someone to blame and we question why the world is in such bad shape and all the while we sit smug in our self-righteousness and never once recognize that the church is failing at its job because we have turned into a social club rather than an army of the living God and much of the lostness in this world is because we are more comfortable in our pews and sanctuaries than we are sharing the gospel of Christ with the nations. Maybe, instead of calling this a sanctuary we should call it a mission briefing room. After 30 years of hard work, multiple arrests, countless hours writing and even more hours praying and preaching the apostle Paul was killed in Rome at the order of Emperor Nero. From the man on the mission to single handedly destroy Christianity to one of its greatest champions Paul understood what it meant to be redeemed and he lived and died for the gospel of Christ. What good news it is for us to know that God has already considered our condition and accepts it, He has already counted the cost of our redemption and paid it, He is still determined to redeem us and has given us a way, and He calls us to be His witnesses to the nations because we love Him and love others enough to share the truth. We are brought to a point where a decision MUST be made. We turn towards Him or we turn away from Him. He is calling you, he is prepared for you are you prepared for Him?