If you will, turn with me to
the Gospel of Leviticus, chapter 25. Leviticus, chapter 25. My subject is Christ, our kinsman
redeemer. I preached a message by the same
title to the folks at College Grove Friday night. But that
message was taken from the Book of Ruth, the four chapters in
which God the Holy Ghost gives us a historic picture of Christ
as our kinsman redeemer by Boaz redeeming Ruth. Here in Leviticus
25, we have the law that God gave concerning the kinsman redeemer
of which the Book of Ruth is a portrayal. In the Old Testament
scriptures, Understand as you read the Old Testament Scriptures.
Every law, every commandment, every ordinance, every ceremony,
every priest, every garment of the priesthood, all the events
that transpired in the history recorded in the Old Testament
were brought to pass by God's design to be a picture of Christ
and God's salvation in him. And one way or another, they
all are designed to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ to show
us who he is, what he would accomplish, and how God saves sinners by
his free grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now this law
of the kinsman-redeemer is found in Leviticus 25, verses 25 through
55. Remember, according to verse
1 of this chapter, this law was given at the very time God gave
the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. He gives a law of the
kinsman-redeemer at the very time He gave those Ten Commandments
that curse us all. Those 10 commandments that announce
God's judgment upon all peoples. Those 10 commandments that expose
our sin. So that as he gave the commandments,
he gave this law of the kinsman redeemer, giving hope and promise
of redemption, even for those who are cursed by the law. It
is no accident that this law is given in direct connection
with the year of Jubilee. It came to pass in God's providence
that precisely at the time when the trumpet was to be blown in
the year of Jubilee, our Lord Jesus Christ, our kinsman Redeemer,
died to set us free from the curse of the law, from death,
and from sin by his accomplished redemption. Now I want to show
you something of what this chapter teaches us about our all-glorious
Christ, our kinsman Redeemer. The Lord Jesus, the Son of God,
became our kinsman, our next of kin, our nearest kinsman. He became one of us for one purpose,
that he might redeem us for the glory of God. that he might redeem
us and make his name famous in Israel. He came here that he
might recover our ruin from our father Adam and restore that
which we lost in Adam and restore that with an overplus. Restore
that which we lost with that in Adam and give us much more
besides. Let's read the verses of this
passage that specifically deal with the kinsman redeemer. Verse
25. If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his
possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall
he redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man have none
to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it, Then let him
count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto
the man to whom he sold it, that he may return unto his possession. But if he be not able to restore
it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand
of him that bought it until the year of jubilee. And in the jubilee
it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. Verse
47. And if a sojourner or stranger
wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor,
and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the
stock of the stranger's family, after that he is sold, he may
be redeemed again. One of his brethren may redeem
him, either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him. Or
any that is nigh akin unto him of his family may redeem him.
Or if he be able, he may redeem himself. And let me show you
three things in this picture. First, we'll talk about the redeemed.
And then the redeemer. And then thirdly, the redemption. First then, the passage speaks
of the redeemed. If one of the Jews had fallen
into deep poverty by neglect, by carelessness, by foolishness,
or by any other means, didn't matter how he fell, didn't matter
how he came to this great poverty, and he sold his land to another,
and at last sold himself to a stranger, the Lord God made a way for him
to be redeemed. This picture certainly gives
us a picture of the sin and fall of our father Adam. Adam who
sold himself and all humanity into bondage and death and sin. When he, by his transgression,
we transgressed. When he, by his sin, we sinned. When he, by his rebellion, we
rebelled. We all died in Adam, for we all
sinned in Adam, and we all came under condemnation in Adam. We
lost everything in him, Adam. Oh, what a fall. What a fall. That man Adam created in the
image and likeness of God is brought to sin and death and
helplessness. That man who was made ruler over
all God's creation is now made to suffer everything in God's
creation. When this happened, God made
a provision for redemption. Verse 48 says, after that he
is sold, he may be redeemed. This is after the fact. This
verse also states the possibility, in these words, he may be redeemed. Just as our God gave his law
in Israel before anyone needed it, our great God found a way
of ransom for us before ever we fell in our father Adam. I
want you to read carefully the article in today's bulletin on
limited atonement. Keep it. Make sure you understand
it. We need to recognize that God's
work of grace for us was not some kind of an afterthought
with God. It was not some kind of a reaction
by God. God doesn't react to things,
God acts. The things that God does that
appear to be reactions are things that God purposed from eternity.
And our redemption, our salvation in Jesus Christ was that which
God decreed from eternity. Indeed, it is that for which
he made the world. God made this universe so that
he might display his glory in Jesus Christ our Redeemer, that
he might make himself known the glorious Lord God. And all the
work that he does in time was accomplished for us from eternity. Let's look one more time at this
very familiar text in Romans 8, Romans chapter 8. In Hebrews
4, the apostle tells us the works were finished from the foundation
of the world. That's just about as plain as
it can get. I received yesterday in the mail
some pamphlets from a fellow I've known for many, many years,
and I was saddened to receive them because it takes to task
the idea of absolute predestination. He was raised to know better.
He was taught better. He wants to profess better, but
he's taking it to task. Particularly men take the task
matter of eternal salvation, eternal redemption. The book
of God states it plainly. Romans chapter eight, verse 28.
We know, we know. We who are born of God know.
We who are taught of God know. We who know what this book teaches
know. We know that all things, all
things, I wonder what that includes, I'll let you in on a little secret.
It probably includes all things. All things. But what? Yeah, that
too. But what? That too. All things
work together, not individually, not isolated, but together, like
a great piece of machinery. All things work together for
good. Not for everybody. Never dreamed
it never thought it never said it but for good to them that
love God To them who are thee called according to his purpose.
These are the redeemed For whom he did for no and that word for
no Doesn't refer to God for knowing things It's never used with reference
to God for knowing things It's who he did for no It's not talking
about God's omniscience. Omniscience is an attribute of
God. It's talking about God's foreknowledge. That's an act
of God. The word might better be translated,
whom he did love beforehand. That's what it's talking about.
Whom he loved with an everlasting love. He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son. that he, the Lord
Jesus Christ, might be the firstborn, the preeminent one among many
brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. Whom he called, them he also
justified. Whom he justified, them he also
glorified. At the very time, indeed time
is the wrong word, because we're talking about eternity. Before
the world began, before time was marked out, when no one existed
except God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, God loved the people. And those people he loved, he
predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. and having
predestined them to be so, having willed it, God accomplished it. They were called, and they were
justified, and they were sanctified, and they were glorified in Christ
before the world began. And now, in his wise and good
providence, this is what God's doing. He's bringing those people
He loved from everlasting into the blessed union of life and
faith with his son in the knowledge of his son. Every war that's
ever been fought by greedy men over money, power, and land. And sadly, when you get right
down to it, I can't think of any war that was ever fought
except over money, power, and land. Isn't that sad? Isn't that sad commentary on
our race? But every war that's ever been
fought, every calamity that's ever come to pass, every sickness,
every disease, every plague, every death, Every nation God
has raised up, every nation God has put down is but for one purpose,
the saving of God's land. That's God's providence. He works all things to accomplish
this which he from eternity predestined. The words back here in our text,
redeemed again, speak of getting something back that has been
lost. It speaks of getting something
back that you once possessed. It's a word we would use if we
went to a pawn shop with a redeeming ticket and redeemed something
we pawned last week. We were His. We belonged to God
before we fell. We belong to Christ from eternity. Those who were redeemed. Now
listen carefully. Those who were redeemed. All
of them were Israelites. The law of redemption didn't
apply to anybody else. The kinsmen redeemer, this law
was not given to anybody else. The redeemed ones were chosen
covenant people, God's elect. So it is with Christ our Lord.
The redeemed ones were redeemed because God made a covenant,
a covenant with Abraham. And that covenant with Abraham
represented a covenant, a covenant made with God's own son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, before the world was to redeem and save
his people, the sons and daughters of Abraham. All right, that's
the redeemed. Second, this chapter speaks of
the redeemer. And this is both the best and
the most important part of the chapter. The nearest kinsman
had the responsibility of redeeming his brother and his brother's
lost property. If a person was forced into slavery,
his redeemer purchased his freedom. When debt threatened to overwhelm
a man, the kinsman stepped in to redeem his homestead and preserve
his family. If a family member died without
an heir, without a son, the kinsman gave his brother a name that
lived on. By marrying his widow, his brother's
widow, and raising up a son to his brother, the law was given
in the Book of Deuteronomy. It is very plain that if you've
got a brother and your brother dies and has no child or has
no son, then you marry his wife and you raise up seed to your
brother in your brother's name. We have a picture of this in
Judah giving Tamar to Onan. And we have a picture of it in
Ruth chapters three and four. Naomi told Ruth when they came
back to Bethlehem, Judah, Her husband Elimelech had died and
left her a widow. Ruth's husband Elimelech's son
had died and left her a widow. And they came back to Bethlehem
Judah in abject poverty, helpless, broken. And Naomi told Ruth back
in Moab about a kinsman. She said, there is in Bethlehem
Judah a kinsman. And God gave a law about kinsmen. There's a kinsman who has the
ability, has the might, has the power, has the right, has the
money to redeem what Elimelech in his foolishness lost, to redeem
our state. And she told her about the kinsmen. They had other kinsmen besides
Boaz, but she tells her about this kinsman, this kinsman redeemer.
And Ruth follows Naomi back to Bethlehem Judah. And when they
get into Bethlehem Judah, Ruth says, let me go glean in the
fields today. This is the time of barley harvesting.
So the people went out to glean, the poor gleaning behind the
reapers. And Ruth, her hap was to lie
on the field that belonged to Boaz. And Boaz came, and he spotted
Ruth. And he left some handfuls of
purpose. And he said to Ruth, he said,
you join me for lunch today. And he flirted with Ruth, he
courted her. And he assaulted the men, took
care of her, and let no one harm her. She said, if you're thirsty,
you come get water they drew for you. They'll do this for
you. And then Naomi, when Ruth came home with that sack full
of barley, just all she could carry, she said, honey, where'd
you get that? She said, I was out leaning and
came in the field of a man by the name of Boaz, and this is
what he left me. And Naomi said, oh, bless God. The man's a near kinsman. There's
hope for us. The man's a near kinsman. He
might redeem us. And she said, now Ruth, let me
tell you what you do. Get to chapter three. She said,
tonight Boaz will be laying in the tent and take his rest. And when he's finished reaping
and finished eating and finished drinking, you watch where he
lays, you mark the spot. and you go in and lay down beside
him and do what he tells you to do. And Ruth slipped in there
well after dark and she laid down beside Boaz, snuggled up
close to him, and Boaz felt something, he was scared, he turned around,
woman, what are you doing here? She said, I'm your handmaid. Spread your skirt over me. Take
me for your wife. You're my kinsman. Now, Ruth
didn't have but one thing. She didn't have but one thing. Just one thing. You know what
she had? Boaz said to Ruth when he first
met her, He said, I know who you are. I've heard about you. Everybody in town knows you're
a virtuous woman. All she had was her good name. The only thing that set her apart
from anybody else was her good name. She had stayed with Naomi. She followed Naomi, a virtuous
woman. Bernita was asking me about this
this morning. I talked to her about it. I always wondered what
is this? I know there's nothing untoward
concerning this. What is it? No, Ruth didn't do anything evil. Boaz didn't do anything evil.
But it certainly would appear so to anybody who saw it. And Boaz said to Ruth, he said
to you, you get on out of here. Don't let anybody see you. And
I'll do everything you need. I'll meet your every need. Now
this is what I'm telling you. This is what Ruth is telling
you. This is what this law is telling you. There's only one
way that you find an interest in our kinsman redeemer, the
Lord Jesus. You got to give up everything. You got to give up everything.
Everything. Sacrifice everything! Come to him with nothing. Most
of us are proud of our names. We like our good name. Shelby
and I were watching Matt Dillon last night before we went to
bed late, and thought I'd send his son away from home with some
of the thief and robber. He said, our name's been a good
name. Nobody speaks ill of this name,
and we're proud of our name. You come to Christ with nothing. There's no goodness in you, no
goodness about you. There's nothing in you to distinguish
you from any vile wretch in hell today, nothing. And you'll come
to Christ that way or you won't come at all. You come bowing
to him, confessing your sin, giving up every claim to righteousness,
bowing to him as Lord. And Boaz told Ruth, said, I will
be your kinsman redeemer, but there's a kinsman nearer you,
he's gonna be dealt with first. And Boaz came to that nearer
kinsman the next day in chapter four, and he said, Elimelech
died down in Moab. And his wife, Naomi, is coming
back and said, I thought I would advertise it to you so if you
want to, you can buy back Elimelech's inheritance. You can redeem her.
He said, well, I'll take that. But Boaz said, there's a catch.
You got to take Ruth. You got to take that Boabitis
woman. You got to marry her, too. And the man said, no, I
can't do that. That would mar my inheritance.
And Lemuelette's boy, he's older than my boy, he'd be the firstborn. My boy would lose everything.
Oh no, no, no, no. You can have him if you want
him. I don't want him. I don't want him. So it is with our blessed
Savior. Before he could have us, he must
deal with the law. The law of God must be satisfied. Justice must be satisfied. And 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. When death came at
the hands of another man, the Redeemer acted also as the avenger
of blood. and pursued the killer. He pursued
him with vengeance required in the book of God. The word translated
redeemer is the very same word that's commonly translated avenger. Where God gave the law concerning
the cities of refuge, the avenger of blood, he's the kinsman redeemer. This word is used throughout
the Old Testament by the Lord God to describe himself as our
redeemer. The implication is clear. He
who is our kinsman redeemer, our true kinsman redeemer, is
himself God our Savior. Let's look at a few of them.
Exodus chapter six. Exodus chapter six. We're gonna
read the scriptures. Who is my Savior? Who is your
Savior? Who is my Redeemer? Who is your
Redeemer? Exodus 6, 6. Wherefore say unto
the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you
from under the burdens of the Egyptians. and I will rid you
out of their bondage, and I will redeem you. I'll redeem you with
a stretched out arm by might, and I'll redeem you with great
judgments by justice. Look at Job, Job chapter 25,
Job 25, I'm sorry, chapter 19 and verse 25. Job said, I know
that my Redeemer liveth. I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand in the latter day upon the earth. It
is God who redeemeth thy life from destruction, the psalmist
tells us. The Lord God says, fear not thou worm, Jacob. Ye
men of Israel, I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel. Look at Isaiah 41, 43 rather,
verse one. Isaiah 43, verse one. What a blessed solace for our
souls to know our Redeemer. Now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob. He that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have redeemed thee. God's redeemed are His elect,
His covenant people, a people who have no reason ever to be
afraid. A people who have no reason ever
to be afraid. What do you suppose? God is going to allow to touch
you. He gave his son for you. Who do you think is going to
harm you? God gave his son for you. Who
do you think is going to injure you? God gave his son for you. Look at Isaiah 44, verse six. Thus saith the Lord, the King
of Israel, his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am first and
I am last. Beside me there is no God. Verse
22. He says, I have blotted out as
a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins, return
unto me, for I have redeemed thee. The Lord hath redeemed
his servant Jacob, but even God himself could not be our redeemer
except to become our kinsman. And that's exactly what our Savior
did. I want you to look at Hebrews
chapter 2, verse 16. Hebrews 2, 16. When Christ came into the world,
God became our kinsman. Hebrews 2, 16. For verily he
took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the
seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things he behooved
him, to be made likened to his brethren. Why? That he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. Brother Lynch was talking to
us this morning about the priesthood. The Lord Jesus was behooved. It was necessary for him. If
he would save us, to become one of us that he might be a merciful
and faithful high priest to make reconciliation for our sins.
When Christ was born at Bethlehem, his birth was different from
that of any other man. You begin reading the first chapter
of Matthew and you read the so and so begat so and so and begat
so and so until you get down to verse 18. And then in verse
18 there's a change. There the book of God says, now
the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. When his mother
Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she
was found with child of the Holy Ghost. She was found with child
of the Holy Ghost. Our Lord Jesus is that one who
breaks his mother's womb in birth. He's called the firstborn. The
firstborn. He is the only child ever to
break his mother's womb in birth. The womb is broken in conception,
not in birth. Except here. Here, God created
a man in the womb of a virgin. And the firstborn breaks the
womb in birth. He is our kinsman redeemer. The word was made flesh. and
dwelt among us. God became one of us. What's
required of the kinsman? How can a man redeem another
man? How can the kinsman redeemer
be our kinsman redeemer? Well, obviously he must be near
a kin. He must also be able to redeem. That means he must be free of
calamity and not need redemption himself. He must be willing to
redeem. He's not required to, he just
must be willing. And if you're gonna redeem, you
gotta pay the price. Whatever the price is, you got to pay
it. Redemption was completed only
when the payment was made completely. Only when the law was fully satisfied
with the payment made. Measuring things according to
the year of jubilee, if that drew near. And the man was required,
if he didn't redeem, to bear the shame of it permanently. The dear kinsman, he wasn't forced
to redeem, but if he didn't redeem, it was a custom in Israel, they'd
take his shoe off. And he would be the man with
the loosed shoe, as took place in Ruth chapter
four. Our Lord Jesus Christ, our kinsman
redeemer, will never bear shame or reproach. For he shall not
lose one for whom he suffered and died. He shall not fail,
but rather he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall
be satisfied. He who satisfied the justice
of God. shall be satisfied by the justice
of God, for the law itself demands that his redeemed ones go free. Christ had the right to redeem
us, because he's our near kinsman through the incarnation. He is
that one that cannot be touched, that can be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities. One who was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. The Lord Jesus has power to redeem
because he's God. His work is the work of the infinite
God. His sacrifice is of infinite
worth and of infinite merit. Our Lord Jesus Christ, blessed
be his name, is willing to redeem. He said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Christ demonstrated his willingness
to redeem sinners when he went to Calvary and died
in our stead. He's willing to save sinners.
He's willing to save sinners. Oh, wouldn't God, I could convince
everybody who hears my voice. Christ is willing to save sinners. Far more willing to save than
any sinner is willing to be saved. He is a willing Savior. He delighteth
in mercy. The Son of God paid the price. Justice demanded the life of
one without sin. Justice demanded the life of
one who was perfect. Justice demanded the life of
one who was holy. But justice could not take his
life except he be made sin. So he who knew no sin was by
the hand of God made sin. for us that we, by the hand of
God in justice, might be made the righteousness of God in Him. More than that, our blessed Savior
effectually accomplished it. He, with His own blood, entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. So I bid you come to Christ. Come to Christ like Ruth came
to Boaz. Lay down at his feet, bid him
spread his skirt over you, and take you for his own. Preaching, do you reckon he'd
take me? I'm here to tell you something,
and I tell you this with no hesitancy at all. You come to Christ like
Ruth came to Boaz. Bid him take you, and he will
rejoice to take you. This man receiveth sinners and
eats with them. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Don't miss this. Christ, who
is our Redeemer, our kingdom and Redeemer, is also our avenger
of blood. He is that one who, as the avenger
of blood, pursues the guilty, and pursues them, and pursues
them. And he keeps pursuing them until
he chases them right into the city of refuge. And he is the city of refuge. And there's no possibility of
danger, because as long as the priest is alive, the one in the
city of refuge is safe. How can that be? What's that
got to do with this? Come back to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter
61, I'll show you. Isaiah 61. Christ is the avenger of blood. He chases the guilty one and
chases him into the city of refuge. He's the city of refuge. And
he is the high priest who guarantees the life of that man who's in
that city. Isaiah 61, verse one. The spirit
of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted. to proclaim liberty to the captives,
the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of jubilee, the day
of atonement, and the day of vengeance of our God. What? Vengeance? Christ's death? Is the proclamation
of the vengeance of God? Vengeance fully satisfied to
comfort all that mourn. Christ Jesus, our great high
priest, by the sacrifice of himself, has avenged the guilt of his
people. Has avenged, in the fury of God's
wrath, all that was against us. He's avenged the honor of God. He restored that which he took
not away. But one more question. In Leviticus
25, the kinsman redeemer, we're told, must be able to redeem. He must be able to redeem. We're
told in Psalm 49, that the man cannot redeem himself. None of
them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God
a ransom for his soul, but Christ did. How is it that he's able
to redeem? He who is God, the infinite holy
God, the Lamb of God, becomes one of us. And when he became
one of us, he at last was made to be sin for us. All the sins of God's elect were
laid to his charge, that can't be right. That cannot be right. That's not legal, that's not
lawful, that's not just. You cannot charge him with sin. That's exactly so, you can't
do that. Except he be made sin. and he who was made sin for us. Now, now has all the sins of
God's elect made his. Our guiltiness made his guiltiness.
God's judgment against our sin made his judgment, and he dies
under the wrath of God. John Trapp, commenting on the
40th Psalm, made this observation. He said, our Lord Jesus Christ
was maximum pectorum, the greatest of sinners. For our sins, which
he here calleth his, he suffered. And here his bitter agony in
the garden is graphically described. Neither is it absurd to say that
as he bore our sins in his own body upon the tree, he was first
redeemed by himself and afterwards we. He was first redeemed by himself
and afterwards we. Back in the book of Leviticus
chapter 16, on the day of atonement, Aaron was required to make sacrifice
first for his own sin, then for the people's. Why? Why? Aaron's sins and their sins were
the same. He was one of the Israelites.
Why was he required in that type to make sacrifice first for his
own sin and then for the people's? Because Christ Jesus, who would
fulfill the picture, must be made sin for us. And he needs
not offering sacrifice first for his own sins and then for
the people's. This he did once when he offered himself as our
sacrifice for sin. Naomi's friends give us a fitting
reminder of God's purpose of grace. When the women heard what had
happened, the Lord had given Naomi a son, they said, blessed
be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman. that his name might be famous
in Israel. That's what Christ has done as
our kinsman redeemer. He has satisfied justice. He
has restored what we lost, what he took not away with overflush. He's made us his own. He blotted
out our transgressions. forgiven us our sins, made us
the righteousness of God in Him, married us to Himself, that His
name might be famous in Israel. that his name might be famous
in Israel. Let us ever proclaim his name
and his praises with his name, who loved us and gave himself
for us, our mighty kinsman, redeemer. Amen.