Ruth's Redemption

MBL: God’s redemption is freely available to...

all peoples..

in all things...

through Jesus.

Introduction

Let’s revivew...

Ruth committed to Naomi…to proximity, a people, a place, for one purpose.

In Chapter Two, Boaz’s care points to Jesus’ care for us. That we can receive care from Christ, and model his example to othres.

In Chapter Three, we observed three things from Ruth, a desire for redemption, a deliverer of redemption, and a declaration fo redemption. That we have a need for redemption in our lives because of our sin, we have a deliever whose name is Jesus, the son of God, and he has declared his redemption over us today where we rest in assurance that he has got us covered.

And it brings us to the end, in chapter four, where now we talked about the effects of his redemption and the base of the redemption.

The question is, To whom and where will God’s redemption go, and how it will affect them? See, the Gospel, which means good news. Is indeed good news. But what makes it good?

In the morning’s, the windows to the East side of my house catch the sunrise, and its a beautiful thing to see it when its rising, particularlly in the Fall. As the light begins to shine through the windows, our living area begins to brighten, you can feel the warmth on your skin, (and we pray that it would stay there but lately it just keeps going till its 100 degrees outside).

And the redemption of God is very similar. Everyone in its path expereince the light of Jesus, the warmth of his salvation and personal relationship with him. It permeates everything. And in today’s final chapter, you see the length, the width, depth of God’s redemption.

Today, this is the main idea I want you to catch…that God’s redemption is freely avaiable...

to all peoples...

in all things...

through Jesus.

To All Peoples...

Read 1-12

The go before the elders at the gate, the place of decision for moments like this.

The initial reedemer comes, but declines.

Boaz fulfills his promise and redeems Ruth, marries her, and she is brought into his family.

They exchange a sandal, as a form of an agreement and declaration over the matter at hand.

So let me point out something here, Boaz refers to Ruth for the first time in this book, Ruth the Moabite, recognizing and showing she is not of the people of Israel, the chosen nation. She is an outsider, coming in. Well, remember what Boaz and Ruth paint a picture of? Its a picture of the Gospel. God’s redeeming and saving work towards those who will trust in him.

God’s salvation is not exclusive to a certain race, a certain demographic, or even a nation, but here, Jew and Gentile come together, both saved by Yahweh and following Yahweh. All are welcome in.

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” - Revelation 7:9

See, Heaven will be a place that is multi-generational, multi-ethinc, where all peoples from all places will worship Jesus in one accord.

So now, in this life, we extend this redemptive invitation to everyone, no matter the color of their skin, the age they are, what they look like, all of welcome to hear and partake of the goodness of Jesus Christ. The redemptive moment is expressed here to Ruth the Moabite, it is expressed universally through the love of Jesus and his church living out his mission.

In all things...

In the next few verses, we see the wedding of Ruth and Boaz. They come together in covenant marriage, and they conceive a child and bear a son. And notice what the women say to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel.”

Do you remember the posture of Naomi’s heart and how she felt in Chapter One. At the end of Chapter One, she referred to herself as Marah, which means Bitter, because she felt that the Lord had dealt bitterly with her. But listen folks, God’s redemption is pouring out over Naomi in this moment. Her family has been redeemed, she has been taken care of, and God had not abandoned her for a moment, even when she felt like God had indeed done so.

She has moved from sorrow to Joy. God’s redemptive work carries over into all areas of life. That when you follow Jesus, you see him restoring you in ways that you wouldn’t find in the rest of the world. Where the guilty become innoncent, the sorrowful become joyful, the dead are made alive, the old are made new, everything changes when Jesus redeems you. It affects all things in life.

Now let me be careful here and explain a dimension of this. That God’s redemptive work affects all things indeed, but this doesn’t mean he necessarily isn’t going to fix every single problem in your life. God’s redemptive work is made known in your life now, and its made perfect in eternal life. Think of the the old candy, now or later, it was called now or later, because you eat eat it then but because it took so long to chew you would still be chewing later. The redeem working of Jesus is different... is some now, all later.

We will experience great redemption now, (where we are redeemed from our sins) perfect redemption (where we full the perfect effects of Jesus) in eternal life and we trust in God’s providence in how he carries this work out in this time on Earth.

For example, Dr. Tony Evans’ wife Lois 2-3 years was battling cancer and went home to be with the Lord. And in their funeral, her son preached on something profound that has stuck with me every single moment. In cancer, and life-or-death situations, its so difficult to know how to pray, or what to pray sometimes. And her son, said this and I’ve never forgotten it, he said when it comes to this cancer, she was going to be healed or she was going to be healed, she was going to live or she was going to live. Meaning, that she was gonna be healed from cancer now on this Earth or she was gonna be healed of cancer forever. She was going to live on this Earth now or she was going to go live forever with Jesus. In both of them, God’ redemptive work is carried out, it just looks differently.

So whatever happens with the Lord’s redemptive work and effects of his grace in our lives now, we trust in his wisdom and providence that whatever happens, whether we see it to be what we want or what we don’t want with the circumstances of life, we trust God that is for our good, and that is for his glory.

We can assured that the redemptive work of Jesus will do much good in you now, and it will be perfected in the life to come. Where Jesus tells us in Revelation 21:4 - 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away

It’s coming. Let’s be overjoyed in what we have experienced in life’s circumstances now, and trust in what is to come in the life ahead.

Through Jesus.

I have said from day one that this entire book points to Jesus. And this is the part that is most interesting to me, and I believe that proves this idea. I know how people generally feel about genealogies. And all that is, is a line of ancestry. For example, my dad did a DNA test and tracked his ancestry through ancestry.com, and I learned that my great-great-great grandfather, immigrated from a small fishing village called Groomsport in Ireland, and I know that there is I descend from. Now, both in old and new testament, we have many genealogies. Some are long, some are short. And it is easy just to gloss over them. But if you will stop, pause, and consider this one here, you will understand the thread that connects all of Ruth to the rest of the Bible.

You’ll notice at the end, it says that Boaz fathered Obed, and Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. This isn’t a random David. This is King David, the faithful one. The one that slayed Goliath, ruled Israel, and is renowned in the Scriptures. But where else do we see these names mentioned in the Old Testament? Let me point you here. Isaiah 11:1-2 - “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and brunch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” Who is this passage talking about?

Here is another hint: Revelation 5:5: 5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Folks, the stump of Jesse, the root of David, these passages are talking about no one other than Jesus Christ. So here we go, Ruth, the Moabite, is in the lineage of Jesus. Her story, directly connects to the descendants of David, and it is from her and Boaz’s line of children, that Christ, would be born. See, in God’s providence, he brought together a Jew and Gentile, and they would be the ancestors of Jesus himself.

God in his providence, centuries before the coming of Jesus, is already doing a providential, miraculous work, in the small things, to prepare the way of Jesus.

It is by Jesus, and through Jesus, we have redemption.

Now, you may be thinking, I don’t fit the bill for Jesus to redeem me. To purchase me back, from my own sin, guilt, and shame. To save me. You may be thinking, I can’t be that person. You don’t know what I’ve done, who I roll with, what I aspire to do, I’m too far gone. I’m not a church person, I don’t fit in, it would never work. Listen, you are exactly who Jesus can and desires to redeem. He took someone outside of Israel, and made them a part of the lineage of Jesus. Grafted them in, so that they might know the goodness of God. Those who are far off, those are who are weary, those who are running, Jesus can and will save you if you call upon him.

This is the point of Ruth. The point of Ruth is that all would experience redemption through the blood of Jesus. So today, I want to invite you to believe in him.

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