2002-01-01
Good Morning Treasured Readers,
All this week I have been led by the Holy Spirit to write about the traits of a kinsman-redeemer and to share with you the citations that shed light on this subject. We have discussed four so far: 1) He must be a blood relative; 2) He must be able to pay the price of redemption; 3) He must desire to be a redeemer; 4) He must be willing to be a redeemer. Where Christ is concerned, we can see that He not only desired to obey God and be our Kinsman-Redeemer from slavery to sin, but He was willing to put His action where His mouth was. In other words, our sinless, perfect Savior gave His physical life for us on the cross; He didn’t just talk about doing so. The example He set is quite sufficient to qualify Him to say to us, as He did in LK 9: 23, “If any of you wants to come with Me, he must forget himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” Previous to that Christ had said in LK 9: 22, “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later He will be raised to life.” We know from both Biblical and historical accounts (like that of Josephus Flavius, a Jewish historian of the time) that Christ put His actions were His words were.
Today, we will look at the fifth trait of a true kinsman-redeemer. 5) He had to serve as the judicial executioner of the murderer of his relative. Because we are made in the image of God [GN 1: 26], life is sacred. That is why God instituted a system of capital punishment for those who didn’t hold life as sacred. GN 9: 5-6, “If anyone takes human life, he will be punished. I will punish with death any animal that takes a human life. Man was made like God, so whoever murders a man will himself be killed by his fellow man.” This notion is supported by RO 13: 1-4, “Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God. Whoever opposes existing authority opposes what God has ordered; and anyone who does so will bring judgment on himself. For rulers are not to be feared by those who do good, but by those who do evil. Would you like to be unafraid of the man in authority? Then do what is good and he will praise you, because he is God’s servant working for your own good. But if you do evil, then be afraid of him, because his power to punish is real. He is God’s servant and carries out God’s punishment on those who do evil.” God’s will concerning murder is very clear in EX 20: 13, “Thou shalt not commit murder.” The Hebrew word for “murder” is “rasha” [pronounced ray-sah], which means “with intent to kill.” This doesn’t contradict GN 9: 5-6, but adds the element of intent to the meaning.
EX 21: 12 –14 sheds light on God’s inherent justice with regard to intent. [God speaking through Moses] “Whoever hits a man and kills him is to be put to death. But if it is an accident and he did not mean to kill the man, he can escape to a place which I will choose for you, and there he will be safe [referring to cities of refuge]. But when a man is angry and deliberately kills another man, he has to be put to death, even if he has run to My altar for safety.” The attitude that God has about matters such as these is further illuminated in MT 5: 23-24, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your first there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Obviously where murder has been committed, there can’t be reconciliation with one’s brother. Nor can there be the proper offering made to God, particularly where there is murder with intent to kill.
I’ve skipped around between the OT and the NT here on purpose. It is so you can see the consistency of God’s teaching regardless of the time in history it is written. There is much more to say about setting the foundation of the laws from the Torah before completely explaining how Christ as our Kinsman-Redeemer does execute justice on the adversary whose purpose is to knowingly extinguish human spiritual life. So, be patient with me as I continue this discussion in the next message. For us to have a real appreciation for the consistency and fairness of God’s justice, we need to see what that means to our own lives. What would they be like if Christ had not been sent to do the work of the cross? How would it impact us if He had not either been willing or qualified to be the perfect sin sacrifice? What if He didn’t desire to bear the suffering that was prophesied in IS 53? When the martyred people mentioned in REV 6: 9-11 asked the question: When will our deaths be avenged? what would the answer have been had not Christ come to be our Kinsman-Redeemer? The answers to these questions are something worth meditating upon as they apply to our lives and our faith.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have prompted Paul to convey Your will, in 1PET 1:16, “Be holy because I am holy.” In doing so, he cited LV 11: 44-45 and LV 19: 2. This shows us not only Your will but the consistency of Your teaching. You have called us to lives that are holy and sanctified, because You know that is the only way we can be perfected and eventually be brought to Your side in heaven for eternity. None of this would have been possible had it not been for Your righteous wrath against Satan’s injustice and Your willingness to sacrifice Your only Son on the cross to open the way to our salvation. You have thus made Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer and the executioner of the one who wants to bring us to spiritual death. This is Your justice and it is righteous and full of goodness. We need to take David’s advice in PS 36: 12, “See where evil men have fallen. There they lie, unable to rise.” His words in PS 9: 1-2 and 17-20 express what is in our hearts today. “I will praise You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the wonderful things You have done. I will sing with joy because of You, I will sing praise to You, Almighty God…Death is the destiny of all the wicked, of those who reject God. The needy will not always be neglected; the hope of the poor will not be crushed forever. Come, Lord! Do not let men defy you! Bring the heathen before you and pronounce judgment on them. Make them afraid, O Lord; make them know that they are only mortal beings.” We come before You in humility today to confess our sin and to pledge You our trust, obedience, adoration worship, glory, honor, diligent service, praise, and utmost thanks. As PHIL 4 :13 tells us, “we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us.” We offer this prayer in His name, O Dearest Father. Amen.
As mentioned above, tomorrow’s message will be about the fifth trait of a kinsman-redeemer and will continue cite verses from God that will allow us to have a deeper appreciation for exactly what Christ’s Atonement means to us. God, our Supreme Ruler, watches over us each day. He knows the number of hairs on our head and cares deeply for each one of us. His values measure our true worth on a spiritual basis, not by artificial human standards like how much money you make, what you do for a living, how much formal education you have, or how much authority you have over others. Instead, His love is unconditional, consistent, compassionate, patient, and with wisdom. He held nothing back from us, not even His only Son. We need to spend some time each day in thanks and praise of this magnificent Source of good that is a daily Presence in our lives. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn