Thursday 9 March 2017

OUR KINSMAN REDEEMER


In the Old Testament the kinsman-redeemer is a male relative who, according to the writings of Moses, had the responsibility of acting on behalf of a relative who was in need.
The Hebrew term is gâ'al and means 'to redeem' (according to the Oriental law of kinship) to be the next of kin and to deliver or redeem property or person. The kinsman redeemer is illustrated very clearly in the book of Ruth, where Boaz is seen as the kinsman-redeemer.
"Yahweh is Israel’s Redeemer, the one who promises to defend and vindicate them. He is both Father and Deliverer (Exodus 20:2). There are numerous Old Testament appeals to God as rescuer of the weak and needy (Psalm 82:4; Daniel 6:27; Jeremiah 20:13) and preserver of the sheep of Israel (Ezekiel 34:10–12, 22).
In the New Testament, Christ is often regarded as an example of a kinsman-redeemer because, as our brother (Hebrews 2:11), He also redeems us because of our great need, one that only He can satisfy. In Ruth 3:9, we see a beautiful and poignant picture of the needy supplicant, unable to rescue herself, requesting of the kinsman-redeemer that he cover her with his protection, redeem her, and make her his wife. In the same way, the Lord Jesus Christ bought us for Himself, out of the curse, out of our destitution; made us His own beloved bride; and blessed us for all generations. He is the true kinsman-redeemer of all who call on Him in faith."
Christians see their kinsman redeemer in the person of Jesus Christ. All human beings need to be redeemed from sin and this required a perfect sacrifice. Since all have sinned and come short of the glory of God there is no one born of Adam who had the necessary qualifications... so God himself undertook to be born of a woman (to come as man undefiled by Adam's nature) and fulfil the role on our behalf.
Christians believe Jesus is God, but to be our 'kinsman redeemer' he needed to have a human body prepared for him like unto ours (the virgin birth), but not only that he needed to lay to one side all the power of deity and live as man. He could not use his divine power at all if he was to be our 'kinsman' and our 'redeemer'.
Christians who are born again of God's Spirit COULD live perfectly holy lives by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit except for 'the sins that so easily beset us' (Hebrews 12:1). "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1John 1:9).
To be our kinsman Jesus needed to live the life of a man empowered only by his obedience to the Father by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit and not by any applying of his own divinity.
Jesus lived his life on this earth as a man by the word of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
There is a passage in Philippians where it is said of Jesus that... "who existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)
I really cannot explain it better than this... I do pray you will be enlightened.

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