100 Sermon Illustrations on Redemption

Often a doctrine related to God's overall redemptive plan in Christ receives relatively little attention. The doctrine of glorification seems to reflect this scenario.

Even the Baptist Faith and Message itself devotes only a scant 17 words to its explanation. With these few words, however, our predecessors in faith knowingly submitted for our benefit a doctrine replete with applications still to be explored by most.

For those of us who lived in Texas when the oil boom went bust back in the '80s, the perfect sermon illustration -- the "divine pipeline" of Romans 8:28-30 -- often welled up from the pulpits of West Texas.

This particular text essentially told us, then as now, that it is impossible for those foreknown, predestined, called and justified by Christ's person and his work to ever slip out of the life-flowing pipeline without also finally being glorified. Once having entered the costly pipeline of salvation, Christians should look forward to when they will not only be raised from the dead ultimately but will be raised to everlasting life at Christ's return as well.

The Apostle Paul describes the process: "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:52-53).

Here the devil can hardly be said to be in the details, but rather a God-ordained justification/sanctification/glorification procedure is seen as working itself out for the sake of God's people. But what exactly are the details?

It is difficult to argue with Wayne Grudem's assessment of glorification as "... the final step in the application of redemption. It will happen when Christ returns and raises from the dead the bodies of all believers for all time who have died, and reunites them with their souls, and changes the bodies of all believers who remain alive, thereby giving all believers at the same time perfect resurrection bodies like his own."

From this we gather that the doctrine of glorification ultimately has to do not only with the perfecting of our material bodies but with the immaterial aspects of our having been made in God's image as well.

Whatever erroneous conclusions may be drawn by folks who believe that salvation applies only to the soul, Grudem's definition reveals here a more holistic approach to the matter.

While we must grant that it is proper to take care of our physical selves, by the same token our efforts will prove in the end to be a losing battle.

The Apostle Paul speaks to the issue by saying "our outer man is decaying" (2 Corinthians 4:16). Physical death comes to everyone as a result of sin's entrance into the world.

But for Christians, death is not the only thing waiting for us at life's end, but the Lord Jesus Christ himself awaits us as well.

An obvious two-fold aspect is at work here: either we are going to die and immediately be received into his presence, or we will be among the few who will graciously be allowed to welcome him at his return.

Hence, Christ alone is our true hope (Philippians 3:20-21). From this it is easy to conclude that not only will we someday be with the Lord of the universe himself, but we are also going to be just like him (Matthew 13:43).

By way of further definition, glorification is the final phase of our total redemption as believers in Christ. Nevertheless, for the moment we live between the first and second comings of Christ.

There is a sense, then, in which we are between "the already and the not yet." While there is no denying the fact that Christ's person and his work on the cross have conquered both death and sin on our behalf, sin has yet to be eradicated entirely from the existent earthly economy.

We are justified in Christ, true, but we are still being conformed to his image by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. We still battle remaining sin. Even though the power of sin has been broken, we still suffer at the hands of the world.

The greater truth operating here is that God has initiated a good work in us -- one which will at last be brought to fruition when Jesus returns. Only then will we finally be perfected in holiness. Our battle with sin will end, and we will be entirely conformed to the image of Jesus Christ himself. We will have put on the imperishable and been clothed with immortality.

And the glory that will someday be revealed in us will so overwhelmingly outweigh our present sufferings that no real comparison should be attempted (Rom 8:18-19).

When Jesus comes back, what will actually take place with regard to Christians who have died? "Behold, I tell you a mystery," Paul says, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed" (1 Cor 15:51-52).

This incredible transformation only takes place at Christ's Second Coming. All living Christians will also be suddenly and supernaturally changed physically, undergoing a transformation so profound that the term "resurrection body" only hints at what will actually take place at the time.

Scripture indicates that Jesus was raised in the same body in which he died, and apparently this will also be the case with Christians. In 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, Paul provides us with an analogy that seems to compare our glorified, resurrection bodies to the relationship existing between a seed and its plant; it is the same organism but naturally different.

John also tells us that when Christ returns "we shall be like him, because we shall see him just as he is" (1 John 3:2). This is a part of the "good news" that we as Christians often neglect -- that our glorified bodies will be like Christ's, impervious to death and sickness, with our souls filled to the brim with righteousness and truth.

The grief and burdens that life can bring will trouble us no longer. Even the very presence of sin will be eradicated, and the sanctification process will be completed.

If there is one overarching application that illustrates the doctrine of glorification's vitality, it would be this: Jesus is coming back to receive us to himself and to change us gloriously.

This truth should serve to strengthen and inspire us even as it has already throughout the history of God's people, many of whom have willingly suffered for Christ's sake as a result of the spiritual fortitude the doctrine produces.

This is not to say that other applications should not be attempted. For example, the doctrine of glorification should also promote holiness of life. If we continually keep in mind the idea that we will soon be like him, we will be motivated beyond the norm to "work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12), to cooperate with him in the sanctification.

If we continually place before us the idea that glorification is the logical conclusion to the drama of God's redemptive plan, a renewed spiritual pilgrimage will result.

In summary, Christians have been regenerated and justified by grace through faith. But on this side of the grave, we will never be thoroughly free from either the taint of sin's effects or the creeping deterioration of our mortal bodies. Christ's salvation, however, is holistic in nature, and in him all things are truly made new.

Through a providentially wrought sanctification, we become, step by pain-staking step, in our experience what we already are judicially. At long last, when we are clothed with a glorified body, our justification and sanctification will merge as one.

From the very first moment of being in Christ's presence, we will never have occasion to sin again. Every aspect of our God-imaged essence will have been redeemed and glorified, and we will enjoy God's presence and each other's company for all eternity in a physically and morally perfect environment.

As for God's redeemed people as a whole, the glorified state will entail nothing less than a perfect deliverance from everything once entailed by the curse of Genesis 3 itself.

As for our individually resurrected, glorified bodies, they will never be corrupted. As for our individually glorified souls, they will love God wholeheartedly without reserve or qualification.

This is where Christians desire to be; but if remaining on in mortal flesh is necessary, it will mean fruitful labor for us as servants of Christ. Either way, God's people win out in the glorified end.

__________________________________

Full text of Article 4d: Salvation

D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

_________________

Ostrander is associate dean and associate professor of Christian theology at Boyce College in Louisville, Ky.

*

I guess you could call it a "tale of two cities." It was during the Civil War. The Confederate Army had again invaded the North. The Confederate general came to Hagerstown, Maryland, and he threatened to burn the town - unless they came up with a $20,000 ransom. A local businessman rallied the townspeople and he collected the ransom. Hagerstown was spared. Then the Confederate forces moved on to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and made the same demand. Those people did not come up with the ransom. Chambersburg was burned to the ground.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Price To Go Free."

Ransom unpaid, you pay the penalty. Ransom paid, you go free. The ransom made the difference. That's true, not only in the history of those Civil War communities - it's true in our own personal histories. You and I face a terrible penalty - and the ransom makes all the difference. Not just for now, but for eternity.

The penalty every one of us faces is spelled out in six stark words in the Bible - "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) In other words, what we get paid for running our life our way instead of God's way is "death." And the Bible makes it clear that death is a spiritual death - eternal separation from the God who made us. "Hell" is the word God uses to describe an unspeakable eternity without Him, without His love and with no relief. It's a price I deserve to pay because I have made me the center of my universe and I have pushed God to the edge. It's a price we all deserve to pay. Our fear of death is not irrational - especially in light of the judgment on the other side.

But then there's the ransom. Jesus tells us about it in Mark 10:45, our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." The price for you to go free has been paid - by the only Son God has. When Jesus was going through that awful agony of the cross, He was literally paying for every thing you've ever done against God. For you to pay for your sins would take an eternity in hell. But the Son of God was paying your price, going through your hell for you, as He sacrificed His life on the cross. He was taking your place!

So the price has been paid. But only you can personalize for yourself what Jesus died to do for you. Your penalty before God is marked "paid" the moment you put your total trust in Jesus Christ to be your own personal Savior from your own personal sins. A rescuer comes and throws out a line to a drowning man - but that man has to grab the line. Jesus has done everything that needed to be done for your sins to be forgiven, for you to be rescued from an awful eternity. But you have to grab Him with all the faith you've got and say, "Jesus, You're my only hope."

If you've never done that - and you want to be able to go to bed tonight knowing that you're forgiven and knowing you're going to heaven - tell Jesus that you are His from now on. Tell Him that right where you are. If you're ready to begin your relationship with Jesus Christ today, I want to send you my booklet. It's called "Yours For Life." It's all about getting started with Jesus. Just let me know you want it.

The ransom is the difference between paying the price and going free. Jesus Christ shed His blood to pay the price for you. Don't risk another day without Him.

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

*

In his book "Yearnings," M. Craig Barnes tells of a tribe of Australian nomads called the Achilpa. These primitive people told how their god Numbakula had created heaven and earth. In their legend, he made the universe, then cut down a gum tree and anointed it with blood. He placed it between the heavens and the earth, then climbed it and vanished into the sky.

Accordingly, the Achilpa made their gum tree pole. As they moved from place to place, they let the bend at the end of the pole choose the direction for them. Regardless of where they went, so long as the pole stood in their midst, their tiny world was secure and meaningful. One day, the pole broke. Suddenly, their world was in disarray. For a while they wandered without direction, but eventually, the tribe dropped to the ground and waited for the sky to come crashing down.

Missionary author Don Richardson made a discovery some years back that applies here. After writing an account of his missionary experiences in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, with a tribal people he learned how to present the gospel of Jesus to them, he wrote a second book. "Eternity in their Hearts" tells how God has revealed Himself to every culture through their stories, customs, myths, and legends. What the Christian witness has to do, Richardson says, is learn the stories the people tell that explain and define them. There one will find the nest, the preparation, the unique foundation, for the Gospel which God has given those people. It's an intriguing theory, or a fascinating fact. Let's look more closely at the Achilpa legend.

A tree anointed with blood, erected between heaven and earth, a tree that the god climbs and then ascends into heaven, which gives order and meaning to their lives -- does that ring a bell for you?

It sounds like a ready-made situation for those people to learn about Jesus -- His bloody death on a cross, His resurrection, and His ascension into heaven -- doesn't it?

Don Richardson and his wife Carol made a discovery in Irian Jaya that forever changed the way they related to "pagan" cultures. They found that the warring tribes had a custom they called "the peace child". In order to end a conflict and establish peace, each tribe gave to the other a child from their village. They laid hands on their child and sent him to the other side, and in turn received their new child. They gave the children new names.

Then, so long as their peace child lived, peace prevailed between the peoples. In a crisis between the groups, one would say, "I plead the peace child", meaning "So long as the peace child lives, we are brothers." It was a remarkable custom that the Richardsons discovered and wrote about in their book Peace Child.

Richardson explained to the tribes how the great God in Heaven had given His Son Jesus as a Peace Child to us, to establish peace with Him and between men. Since He lives eternally, that peace is established forever. For the first time, the tribal people began to comprehend this message the missionaries had brought.

Don Richardson calls these "redemptive analogies," the keys to various cultures that God has provided for an entree into the hearts and minds of those people groups. We see it in the Bible. Paul noticed that the Athenians had erected altars and statues to every god imaginable, including one shrine dedicated "to the unknown god." So, he built on that and introduced them to the One True God, Yahweh (Acts 17). The New Testament book of Hebrews, writer unknown, does the same with the sacrificial lamb of the Old Testament period, showing how the Lord Jesus Himself is the very Lamb of God who once and for all takes away the sins of the world. It's a brilliant technique.

At the end of his first book, Don Richardson tells of a missionary working with a remote tribal group in Irian Jaya who had just figured out how to put together two important words: ki for "life" and wone, "words". He walks outside his hut and announces to the assembly of fierce warriors, "We have come to bring you ki wone, the words of life." The man of God had no way of knowing he had just touched off a revolution.

Some of the older men caught the phrase the missionary used.

They stared at him and blinked as if awakening from a long sleep. "Trembling with excitement," Richardson writes, "the sages conferred with one another." It turns out that an ancient story of their tribe told of the day someone with white skin would come and tell them the secret of immortality. The ancestors had said, "Be sure you listen to them or immortality will pass you by."

That night, the missionary was busy with other tasks and heard singing erupting across the valley. He wondered what kind of celebration was going on. The next morning, when he walked outside, thousands of tribal people had surrounded his home. "Tell us how we welcome the words of life," they said to him.

Richardson ends that book wondering how many more cultural analogies planted by God Himself are waiting to be found in order to introduce their owners to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He concludes, "Only those who go and search will find them."

__________________

["Eternity in Their Hearts" is a reference to Ecclesiastes 3:11; the book "Peace Child" was published in 1974 by Regal Books. "Eternity in Their Hearts" came out a couple of years later, presumably by the same publisher.]

*

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

"I'm redeemed,

I'm redeemed,

Praise the Lord!"

*

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 3:23-24 NKJV)

Justification is of Grace

• Short…God — Gal 3:22, Rom 5:2 — glory in the future enjoyed with God; or “the praise or approbation of God.” (Macknight, Alford, Grotius, Tholuck, Meyer, De Wette)

• Freely — without merit on part of man.

• Grace — Rom 4:16, Eph 2:8, Tit 3:5,7 — unmerited favor, and good will

• Redemption — Matt 20:28, Eph 1:7, Heb 9:12, 1 Pet 1:18-19, 1 Cor 7:23 — deliverance of a captive by payment of a ransom

Sin the cause of man’s loss of glory — Anon.

I. All men have sinned.

II. None can attain to the glory of God on the ground of the first covenant.

Persons understand by this glory

1. A visible glory

2. God’s glorious image.

3. The fruition of His presence in heaven. Learn

(1) How useless it is to deny our guilt

(2) How mad it is to make light of our condition.

(3) How foolish it will be to continue looking to the law for help, or to deny our application to Christ

Mystery of redemption fit for faith — Dr Spencer

I. Justification by free grace.

II. The mode by which this free justification comes,-through redemption in Christ Jesus.

III. The authority on which Christ acted in His great work of redemption.

1. All creation obeyed Him.

2. He was the fulfilment of all the prophecies and promises of the O.T.

3. His whole revelation, character, promises, and work, were perfectly adapted to man-to, all his character, condition, and prospects, to his hopes and fears, his heart and conscience, his tomb and eternity.

IV. Atonement. Christ came to be a propitiation.

V. The manner whereby sinners become interested in the propitiatory redemption — through faith in the blood of Christ

The principle of propitiatory sacrifice recognized in the religious ceremonies of heathen nations — Rev. C. Stovel

I. There have been among heathen nations many gods, and to these have been presented in all ages many diversified sacrifices. The leading ideas of propitiatory sacrifice are:

1. That it makes an offended god propitious again.

2. That it pleases the god, not by punishing the offender, but by sacrificing a substitute.

3. It implies the attainment of actual friendship and intercourse with the god.

II. It is necessary to inquire whether there be any agreement between the heathen and the Sacred oracles — respecting the use of propitiation. Here we observe an universality which extends itself as it embraces

1. All the worshipers can enjoy in their gods

2. All the departments of human affairs.

III. This agreement extends to the origin of these sacrifices.

IV. The difficulty with which this doctrine is preserved.

V. The consequences of losing or rejecting the propitiation appear to be the same everywhere

Pharisaism — When the late Rev. George Burder, of London, was preaching at Warwick, he was called to attend the execution of three men, one a coiner, and the other two housebreakers. “One circumstance,” says Mr. B., “affected me very deeply. All the men were on ladders, then the mode of execution, with the ropes about their necks, about to be turned off, when the coiner, endeavoring to fortify his mind in this awful situation, uttered words to this purpose, which I distinctly heard, being at a short distance: ‘I never killed any body, I never hurt any body, I hope the Lord will have mercy upon me.’ This poor creature seemed to die nearly in the spirit of the Pharisee, ‘I thank God I am not as other men are, or as this publican,’ for I thought he alluded to the two thieves suffering with him. I was so deeply affected that I could scarcely refrain from crying out to the man, ‘Do not trust in your own righteousness; look to Christ.’ This has often occurred to me as one of the most glaring instances of a self-righteous spirit that I ever knew”

“Bring in Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and deck them with all those virtues which made them glorious; but yet they sinned. Bring in the noble army of martyrs, who shed their blood for Christ; but yet they sinned.” — Farindon.

“As in the law of Moses there were three kinds of sacrifice — Immolations, Libations, and Victims — Immolations, which were made of the fruits of the earth; Libations, of liquors, as oil and wine; Victims, of living creatures; so, likewise, God requires that we give Him our actions for fruits, our affections for Iiquors, and ourselves for victims.” — N. Caussin.

“Wise men have a greater skirmish with their own vices than with foreign swords.”

I've been privileged to have many friends in law enforcement over the years. No, not because I was in their custody. But some of them have the intriguing and harrowing assignment of being involved with both a SWAT team and the Hostage Negotiating Team. Needless to say, they are specialists who are called in when there's an especially dangerous situation, often involving people who are being held hostage by a felon. Their mission, one way or another, is to do whatever it takes to bring out those who have been taken captive.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Taking Back What The Enemy Stole.”

That could be the mission God is asking you to go on right now. There's something, or someone, that our enemy Satan has stolen. And your Lord wants you to fight to get back what your enemy has no right to have.

There's a memorable picture of this in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Samuel 30, beginning with verse 3. While David and his warriors have been out on a military mission, their mortal enemies, the Amalekites, launch a sneak attack on David's camp and take prisoner “the women and all who were in it.” The Bible says, “When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.” The Bible says they wept until “they had not strength left to weep.” It's a heartbreaking scene.

But those tears then turned to bitterness - “each one was bitter in his spirit,” the Bible says. “But David found strength in the Lord his God.” So, “David inquired of the Lord” and, as a result of God's direction, he led his men to take back what the enemy had stolen. And the Bible says, “David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken ... nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.”

That may be God's word to you today, because your enemy has stolen something or someone he has no right to. It could be he's stolen a child of yours or the love that was once in your marriage. Maybe the enemy has taken the joy you once had in serving your Lord, or he's stolen the love and unity of your church once knew, or the sense of calling you once had. Satan also steals reputations ... even years of your life, by keeping you from Jesus. Now when you've lost something to an enemy ambush, it's easy, like David's men, to succumb to bitterness and to feel like surrendering. But, like David, you need to “find strength in the Lord your God” instead of finding discouragement in what you've lost.

Then you pray for God's strategy for fighting back to recover what the enemy has stolen. Declare war on whatever has been keeping you from recovering what you should never forfeit to the darkness. Maybe you've been accepting a loss that you should never have surrendered to. You know what God is saying? It is time to fight back and realize that the Messiah, Jesus, who descended from David, has the power to “bring everything back.” You are no match for this enemy from hell, but he is no match for your Jesus!

And Jesus told us that we could pray and bind that strongman, and one stronger than he is (and he is speaking of Jesus himself) will come and overpower him and take away his possessions. And those are possessions he never should have had. The enemy may have his hands on something or someone that he has no right to. It's time for you to follow General Jesus into the battle to take back what the enemy has stolen!

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

*

Michael Irvin, the self-styled playmaker during his Dallas Cowboys days, is still very much at home at the Super Bowl.

Strolling the sidelines at Super Bowl XXXVIII Media Day at Houston's Reliant Stadium, Irvin was chatting with players and kidding around with his former teammate Deion Sanders. And he was wearing his latest stylish suit, akin to the times he once wore a full-length mink coat during his playing days.

But Irvin, now a commentator for ESPN-TV, is making bigger and more eternally important plays than the many touchdowns and taunts he dished out during his decade-plus career as a Cowboys wide receiver.

He is now more than happy to talk about his new, fulltime career and his maturing faith in Jesus Christ which lifted him from a much-publicized career marked by drugs, adultery and other troubles. The new Michael Irvin story is every bit as interesting as his rise from south Florida poverty to a national championship at the University of Miami, where he met his wife Sandy, to an All-Pro career in the NFL.

“Sometimes, we all have problems and they can get overwhelming, but when God saves us, we think about all He has brought us through and it's just amazing,” Irvin said.

“You might say I should hide my problems, but I just want to spread the word about how good Jesus is to me. It's His hand who brought me through all this.”

This is the first Super Bowl Irvin has attended as a member of the media after earning three championship rings with the Cowboys. He said his return to the super stage in Houston this week still brings back great memories.

“When I think back to my football career, all my best memories are of the Super Bowl,” Irvin said.

He said the NFC champion Panthers, making their first appearance as a team, are in for a big shock on Sunday afternoon.

“I still remember the first Super Bowl I played in 1992. Emmitt Smith and I went on the field together for the warm-ups and when we saw those 93,000 people out there and felt the energy, I just said, 'Wow.’ My knees were shaking and I was scared.”

After having his career cut short by a neck injury in 2000, Irvin said he finally turned his life over to Christ in early 2001, got into a Dallas church where he was discipled by his pastor and now has an accountability group with fellow believer Sanders.

“We talk to each other all the time, we're always leaving Bible verses on each other's cell phone and encouraging one another to do good,” Irvin said.

Sanders, in town to do the Sunday pre-game show for CBS, said his new spiritual accountability with Irvin also has helped greatly in his own growing faith.

“He's my best friend. We'll talk three-four times a day and then go out for dinner at night. We lift each other up, encourage and hold each other accountable,” Sanders said.

Irvin regrets that most fans outside of Dallas only remember the dark days when he landed on the wrong side of the law, but today's NFL players are eager to hear how he conquered the many demons in his life through faith in Christ.

“A lot of times I'll talk with players after the [ESPN] cameras are shut off and I'll be able to minister to them. They all know I went through the ups and downs,” Irvin said. “I did almost every bad thing you could do, but it's through the power of God I can live this life.”

He recently has begun to give his testimony to church groups or those Christian athletes interested in learning his new life story.

“I know one player, as soon as I saw him, he wanted to know what was happening,” Irvin said. “As Christians, I think we have a heavy responsibility to witness to His power.”

Irvin still lives in the Dallas area where he enjoys watching his young son play football. During the regular season, he flew constantly to wherever the ESPN crew was stationed that week and often would run into people in airports struggling to overcome the same problems he had faced.

“I talked with this lady for three hours about her son and the drinking problem he was facing. I know what God can do,” Irvin said, “because of what He did for me.”

Longtime Dallas Cowboys team chaplain John Weber was there for much of Irvin's stellar football career and said the former wide receiver's much-publicized struggles make him the perfect person to share with people he meets today in his media career.

“Michael lives in a world and meets people that I could not even comprehend,” Weber said. “I believe he is as secure in his faith as you or I would ever be and he has a great opportunity to share.

“Some people cannot look past the flashy Michael or the old Michael to see what he is today.”

Irvin said he doesn't glory in his past misdeeds, but doesn't shy away from them either if they can be used for the right purpose.

“I don't want people to forget my story and rob God of all His glory.”

*

1. And can it be that I should gain

An int’rest in the Saviour’s blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain?

For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love! how can it be

That Thou, my God shouldst die for me?

Chorus

Amazing love! how can it be

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!

2. He left His Father’s throne above,

So free, so infinite His grace?

Emptied Himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam’s helpless race!

’Tis mercy all, immense and free,

For, O my God, it found out me.

3. Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night.

Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray;

I woke – the dungeon flamed with light!

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

4. No condemnation now I dread;

Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!

Alive in Him, my living Head,

And clothed in righteousness divine,

Bold I approach th’eternal throne,

And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

1. Alas! and did my Saviour bleed?

And did my Sov’reign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For such a worm as I?

Chorus:

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light

And the burden of my heart rolled away–

It was there by faith I received my sight,

And now I am happy all the day!

2. Was it for crimes that I have done

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity! grace unknown!

And love beyond degree!

3. Well might the sun in darkness hide

And shut his glories in,

When Christ, the mighty Maker, died

For man the creature’s sin.

4. But drops of grief can ne’er repay

The debt of love I owe:

Here, Lord, I give myself away–

’Tis all that I can do!

Additional verse, to go after 3., above:

Thus might I hide my blushing face

While Calv’ry’s cross appears,

Dissolve my heart in thankfulness

And melt my eyes to tears.

”Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Well may we marvel at the historical fact recorded in the two words, “Christ died”; yet even more to be wondered at is the resultant theological truth in those other two little words, “for us”. Here is the Gospel message in focus-point: “Christ died for us.”

The first meaning of the Greek preposition here translated as “for” is “for the sake of.” Christ died for our sake. He died because of us. He was not just a martyr, sealing his testimony with his own blood. Nor was He just a leader, setting an heroic example to his followers. He died for our sake, just as directly as a certain mother in a famine-stricken city suffered starvation for the sake of her infant son to whom she gave up her own scanty rations. He died for our sake, just as truly as a father has sometimes suffered for the sake of his son, to provide him with a better chance in life. Yes, just as directly, Jesus died for us, because He loved us — loved us in a far higher and sublimer sense than any earthly mother or father ever loved.

But this Greek word translated as “for” also means “in behalf of.” Our Lord’s death was vicarious. He not only died for our sake; He did something on our behalf which we could never have done for ourselves. He made an appeasing offering to the infinitely good and holy Creator, against whom the sin of mankind is a measureless outrage. As our sin-less, self-sacrificing Representative, He propitiated the offended divine righteousness; thus magnifying the divine law, and honouring it on our behalf (Isa. 42:21).

Still, further, this Greek particle translated as “for” means "instead of." Yes, the incarnate Son of God was there in my place. He was not only my Representative who died on my behalf; He was my Substitute who died in my very stead. The stripes which should have fallen on me fell on Him. All the punishment due to me, He bore in my place. So fully did He become my Substitute that He somehow bore both my punishment and my guilt; for “He was numbered with the transgressors” (Isa. 53:12), and “God reckoned Him to be sin who knew no sin …” (II Cor. 5:21). Oh, the wonder of it — Christ died for us; for our sake; and in our behalf; and even in our very place!

Look again now at that word, “died”. It is not merely that Christ was put to death for us. He “died”, that is, He voluntarily and deliberately yielded Himself up to it for us. His death was not merely an execution inflicted upon Him, or a savage injustice which just happened; it was an eternally significant ordeal which He himself purposefully underwent with a view to our redemption. Humans and demons were permitted to combine in the perpetration of the nefarious crime, but the omniscient Triunity foreknew it, and anticipated it, and overruled it, so that Sin’s foulest revolt became Love’s sublimest victory. Yes, He “died”. What it cost Him we can never know, except in distant dimness; but the enormity of anguish involved in bearing the damning weight of human sin, from the beginning to the end of time, He knowingly determined to bear. Such was His love for us. Oh, how we should love Him!

Early in the new film WALK THE LINE a twelve-year-old Johnny Cash is talking with his adored older brother Jack. Johnny asks how Jack is able to remember all the stories in the Bible. Jack, who wants to be a preacher, responds, “You can't help people unless you can tell 'em the right stories.”

It's a truth that the filmmakers clearly bore in mind as they made the movie. WALK THE LINE, a beautifully made film about Cash's early years, is many stories in one: a story of sin, self-absorption, recklessness, grace, and redemption.

It's not a pretty story, by any means. Johnny Cash once told ROLLING STONE that he was “the biggest sinner of them all.” He was looking back on years of drug addiction, infidelity, a failed first marriage, and more -- sins that are depicted frankly in the movie. As we see him grow more and more successful as a singer and songwriter, we also see his life and marriage begin to fall apart.

Though Johnny Cash kept singing about the Gospel message he had learned as a child, he was no longer living out that message. As he put it in the ROLLING STONE interview, “I was separated from God, and I wasn't even trying to call on Him. I knew that there was no line of communication.... I had drifted so far away from God and every stabilizing force in my life that I felt there was no hope.”

Just as he did in real life, Johnny in the movie has to hit bottom before his life begins to turn around, with the help of his future wife June Carter, her family, and their solid Christian faith.

But June had her own demons to battle. A musician and performer since the age of ten, as a young woman June had maturity well beyond her years. She went through two divorces and for years struggled against her attraction to Johnny, who for much of that time was a married man.

As I said, it's a messy, often painful story.

Johnny and June Carter Cash, however, in their later years were widely known and respected as devout Christians, people of great strength, compassion, and integrity.

I got to know Johnny when he accompanied me to what was then one of the most brutal prisons in America, the Angola penitentiary in Louisiana -- an amazing day of singing and preaching. Johnny Cash was the real thing. I can testify it, as could the hundreds of inmates who met Christ that day.

Unfortunately, this film ends before the full story of Cash's conversion to Christ and the good things he did thereafter could be told. That story would have been a great movie, but maybe that's too much to expect of Hollywood. Even so, as it is, in spite of portraying drug use and domestic violence, the film is appealing to nonbelievers, because it's the story of two seekers who, after a great deal of pain, start down the path to true healing. It does allude to God's plan, but stops there.

We need to be ready to fill in the details about how Cash found his redemption in Christ, the One who truly transforms lives.

WALK THE LINE, reviewers are saying, has Oscar written all over it, so the crowds will be huge. It's the kind of story -- the right story, as Johnny's brother, Jack, would say -- that will encourage people to examine the direction and meaning of their lives. Just be sure your friends and neighbors who see the movie know the whole story -- especially the real-life ending.

________

Copyright (c) 2005 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

The picture painted in the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah is a depiction of realized hope, redemption, and reconciliation. It is a stirring picture of wholeness:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

to grant to those who mourn in Zion --

to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified (61:1-3).

The prophet's words mark one of the most beloved passages of Scripture. Isaiah outlines God's plan for restoration, putting into words the hopeful cry of justice and liberty, marking the end of mourning and ashes. It was no doubt a passage that sustained the Israelites through exile and desperation. I imagine that in Babylon the imagery in this chapter was often longingly upon their hearts, the promise of God's comfort and grace treasured words upon their lips. Likewise, I imagine that in Jerusalem congregations delighted to hear Isaiah 61 proclaimed from the scrolls in worship.

Consequently, I imagine faces of utter shock, when after reading these familiar words before a synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus commented: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (See Luke 4:14-30).

According to New Testament scholar Darrell Bock, the Gospel of Luke has often been the neglected gospel in the life of the Church. Yet more so than any of the other gospel accounts, Luke depicts in detail how a small part of history in a small part of the world reveals the plan of God for the nations. Luke writes the story of Christ across the pages of human history, showing the tension between that which blinds us to the work of God and that which points us to our desperate need of Him. Luke's portrait of Jesus shows God's continued work among the oppressed and downtrodden, the captives and the blind. As he carefully places the parables and teachings of Christ before his readers, Luke forces us to see that whether we deliberately make a choice to receive him or not, a choice is always made.

At the synagogue visit where Isaiah 61 was read aloud, Jesus reveals himself as the fulfillment of a story set in motion long before his time on earth. His words put both the hearer of that day and the reader of the present in the position of having to make a choice. All of the promises of God stand before us in the person of Christ. He is the fulfillment of God's plan. He brings liberation to the captives. He brings sight to the blind. He binds the brokenhearted. He brings salvation - - or he does not. In this particular synagogue, the people ran him out of town.

Scottish theologian James Stewart once noted, “Christianity is not for the well-meaning; it is for the desperate.” In Christ we encounter the story of God among us, the certainty of our captivity and the hope of our release. He comes to bind the broken. The invitation to receive him is a startling invitation to wholeness.

________

Copyright © 2006 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

A well-known preacher was about to go to bed one night when there came a knock on the front door. When he opened the door he found a little girl standing there, drenched with rain. As he stood looking into her thin, haggard little face, she asked anxiously, “Are you the preacher?” “Yes, I am,” he replied. “Well, won't you come down and get my mother in?”

The preacher looked down at her and said, “My dear, it is hardly proper for me to come and get your mother in. If she is drunk, you should get a policeman. He is dressed for this stormy weather.”

“Oh, sir,” she replied. “You don't understand! My mother isn't drunk. She's at home dying, and she's afraid to die. She wants to go to Heaven, but doesn't know how. I told her I would find a preacher to get her in. Come quick, sir! She's dying!”

So the preacher agreed to go. The little girl led him through the night into a slum district, to an old house, up a rickety stairway, down a dark hall, and finally into a room where the dying woman lay.

“I've got the preacher for you, Mother. He's here. You just tell him what you want, and do what he tells you, and he'll get you in!”

The poor woman raised her feeble voice and asked, “Can you do anything for a sinner like me? My life has been lived in sin, and now that I'm dying I know that I'm going to Hell. But I don't want to go there; I want to go to Heaven. What can I do?”

By his own admission, the great preacher stood there looking into that woman's face and thought, “What can I tell her? I have been preaching salvation by reformation, but this poor soul has gone too far to reform. I have been preaching salvation by character, but she hasn't any. I've been proclaiming salvation by 'ethical culture' - but she wouldn't know what the words mean - and besides, she hasn't time for that.”

Then it came to him, “Why not tell her what your mother used to tell you as a boy? She's dying, and it can't hurt her even if it doesn't do her any good.”

So, bending down toward her the preacher began - ”My dear woman, God is very gracious and kind, and His Book, the Bible, says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

“Oh,” exclaimed the dying woman, “does it say that in the Bible? My! That ought to get me in. But sir! My sins, my sin!”

It was amazing the way the verses came back to him. “My dear woman,” he continued, “the Bible says that 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin..’ “

“All sin, did you say?” she asked earnestly. “Does it really say, all sin? That ought to get me in!”

“Yes,” he replied, kneeling down beside her. It says all sin. The Bible also says, 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

“Well,” she said, “if the chief got in, I can come. Pray for me, sir!”

With that the preacher prayed with that poor woman, and she got in. And in the process, he confessed, “While she was getting in, I myself got in. We two sinners, a dying woman and a preacher, were saved together in that little room that night.”

________

Source: The Timothy Report, Copyright (c) 2004

Upon … an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee. — Psalm 144:9.

The Bible never speaks of angels singing. We read that at creation “all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7); at the birth of Jesus they said, “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:14); and in Revelation 5 it is recorded that the number of angels was ten thousand times ten thou- sand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” (v. 12). But only of the redeemed is it said, “They sung a new song” (v. 9). To account for this difference, two reasons may be suggested. One is, the angels are not the subjects of redemption, and the first and last songs in Scripture are both connected with redemption. The other they have never had the varied experience that belongs to a redeemed sinner. It is this varied experience which an instrument of ten strings suggests. — R. E.

Praise shall employ these tongues of ours,

Till we with all the saints above

Extol His name with nobler powers,

And see the ocean of His love;

Then while we look, and wondering gaze,

We’ll fill the heavens with endless praise.

[… but when I sing redemption’s story

they must fold their wings

for angels never knew the joy

that our salvation brings … ]

In 1925, a young American physicist was doing graduate work at Cambridge University, in England. He was depressed. He was fighting with this mother and had just broken up with his girlfriend. His strength was in theoretical physics, but he was being forced to sit in a laboratory making thin slices of beryllium. In the fall of that year, he dosed an apple with noxious chemicals from the lab and put it on the desk of his tutor, Patrick Blackett. Blackett, luckily, didn’t eat the poisoned apple. But school officials found out what happened, and arrived at a punishment: the student was to be put on probation and ordered to go to London for regular sessions with a psychiatrist.

Probation? These days, we routinely suspend or expel high-school students for doing infinitely less harmful things, things that typical teenagers do. To acknowledge that the causes of our actions are complex and muddy seems permissive, and permissiveness is the hallmark of an ideology now firmly in disgrace. That conservative patron saint Whittaker Chambers once defined liberalism as Christ without the Crucifixion. But punishment without the possibility of redemption is worse: it is the Crucifixion without Christ.

As for the student whose career Cambridge saved? He left at the end of the academic year and went to study at the University of Göttingen, where he made important contributions to quantum theory. Later, after a brilliant academic career, he was entrusted with leading one of the most critical and morally charged projects in the history of science. His name was Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb.

Isaiah 44 God’s Court with His People

44:1-5 Lesson 1: you are going to be restored

• formed — My Servant — Chosen — see Titus 2:11-14, Romans 8:33ff

• pour water (John 4), pour Spirit (Acts 1-2)

• God used His Name to show His right to this people, now the people anxious to claim His Name

• … and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch …

44:6-8 Lesson 2: Yahweh alone is God

• verse 6: King — Redeemer — Lord of Sabbaoth — First — Last — unique

• verse 7: His plans, carried out; His forecasts, come to pass

44:9-20 Lesson 3: Idols

• they are ridiculous

• applies to gods of wood and stone

• applies to gods we devise in our own minds

44:21-28 Lesson 4: Redemption

• verse 22: you must deal with sin

• verses 24-25: redemption is the act of a sovereign God

• verse 28: a proof — God names Cyrus, His deliverer, many years before he is born

1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1

The Beauty of Ruth

A Midnight Encounter

Ruth 3:6-18

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. The story of Ruth is a picture of God’s grace, an illustration of the message of the gospel. In this history we find that Naomi found grace in Ruth’s eyes; that Ruth, in turn, by her character of faithfulness and kindness found favour with Naomi, with Boaz, with the people of Bethlehem, and with God who destined for her to be one of the ancestors of David and of Messiah.

2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2

The story thus far …

A. Only Naomi and Ruth returned as representing the family of Elimelech who had gone to Moab in the time of famine. Naomi had gone out full and come back empty …and bitter. Yet, in the midst of this, her Moabitess daughter-in-law, Ruth, cared for her. Ruth industriously went out to glean in the fields and to provide for them both. Here she meets Boaz, a rich near relation. Naomi gives Ruth a strange instruction. Today, we see what happens as Ruth obeys.

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. In Elimelech’s actions in leaving Judah, understandable but not commendable in themselves, God is working out a purpose and a demonstration of His grace. Orpah and Ruth portray how two different groups respond to the Gospel. Both groups listen and are attracted to the Gospel. But Orpah represents those who never fully commit themselves to it and when the life decision comes before them, respond by turning back to their own people, their own land, there own gods. Ruth is like the true church, the believers who give themselves to Jesus as their Saviour and Lord. These are they described by Paul, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9 NAS) … that lay hold of God’s grace in its fullness and come to know life. Today, Ruth obeys Naomi, and in so doing comes nearer to the rest which Naomi desires that she should have: “And Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, ‘My daughter, shall I not seek a place of rest for you, which shall be well for you?’” (Ruth 3:1)

3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3

Ruth Obeys, 3:6-7

A. The story continues where we left off last week

B. A refresher question: describe Ruth’s obedience.

C. Was Boaz all alone in that place?

D. What kind of atmosphere would have pervaded? (see Isaiah 9:3)

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7 Now, when Boaz had eaten and drunk so that his heart was glad, and had gone to lay down at the end of the heap, then she went secretly and uncovered the place at his feet and she laid down.

B. Ruth obeyed completely what Naomi her mother-in-law had told her

C. No, this was a time of harvest; there would have been many servants there as well, all engaged in the work.

D. This was the end of harvest, the realization of the fruit of all their efforts. It was a time rejoicing for the whole community. The word glad is from the root ‘tobh’ (as in the phrase, ‘Mazel Tov!”), filled with the mirth and thankfulness for God’s goodness.

#1. “Thou shalt multiply the nation, ** Thou shalt increase their gladness; They will be glad in Thy presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.” (Isaiah 9:3 NAS)

#2. ** Hebrew has ‘not’ here; but Qeri reads ‘to it’: ‘You will increase gladness to it.’ This better agrees with the context.

4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4

Boaz discovers Ruth, 3:8-9

A. Boaz is startled awake

B. What does he immediately notice?

C. What relationship does Ruth claim with Boaz?

D. ‘Spread out the hem of your skirt’ … ‘hem’ is the same word as ‘wing’ in Psalm 57:1, 61:4, 63:7. What is the picture in those places?

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. 8 And it came to pass in the middle of the night that the man was startled and turned himself, and behold, a woman was lying at his feet: 9 And he said, ‘Who are you?’; and she replied, ‘I am Ruth, your handmaid, and spread out the hem of your skirt over your handmaid, because Kinsman-Redeemer are you.’

B. There is no indication what startled him (it may have been a noise or his own snoring – see how romantic I am! – or as he shifted in his sleep, his feet stretched out and touched Ruth) but he immediately senses that he is not alone; hence his question. He also discerns that it is a woman, by her clothing (cape or headdress) or beardless face … even a quarter moon would show this.

C. A ‘handmaid’ which is different from the ‘maidservant’ in Ruth 2:13, but is used in humility; yet, in doing so, she points out here kinship relationship to Boaz, not as a boast but almost as an entreaty.

D. ‘Wing’ is picture of protection and particularly that of marriage (cf. Ezekiel 16:8). Ruth is offering herself in marriage. Sadie Hawkins!

5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5

Boaz’ words to Ruth, 3:10-13

A. Boaz clarifies the situation with a promise

B. How do we know Boaz understood Ruth’s proposal?

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. 10 And he said, ‘Blessed be you by Yahweh, my daughter; you have caused your last kindness to be better than the first in not going after the young men whether poor or rich. 11 and now, my daughter, fear not; all which you say I will do for you because all of the gate of my people knows that you are a worthy woman.’ 12 Now, it is indeed true, I am Kinsman- Redeemer, except that there is the Kinsman-Redeemer, one who is closer than I. 13 Lodge this night, and should it be in the morning if he will redeem you, fine, let him redeem, or if he is not willing to redeem you, then I shall redeem you, even I, myself, as Yahweh lives; lie down until the morning.’

B. Boaz shows his understanding

#1. He recognizes her act as kindness

#2. For it is Kinsman-Redeemer relationship that is being addressed

#3. He remarks that she has not pursued other men who could be more attractive (either because younger, or wealthy or both)

#4. For he recognizes her worthiness of character does not permit alternate explanation

6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6

3:10-13, continued

A. (A bit of repetition here): what does Boaz recognize about Ruth and her act?

B. How might Boaz have responded?

C. What is the significance of ‘the gate of my people’ as in 2 Samuel 15:2, Proverbs 31:31? (most versions do not translate ‘gate’ but explain it, ‘all the city’)

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. He recognizes

#1. (repeat) her kindness which was shown to Naomi’s family in Moab and now to him

#2. (repeat) her worthiness, showing her willingness to give inheritance to her husband’s family in accordance with God’s law

#3. (tongue in cheek) it is the woman who decides on marriage first! (“going after” = pursuing)

#4. Ruth was attractive (both in character and nature) … she could have had her choice of the young men, either poor or rich!

B. He could have treated her act as impudence or boldness in suggesting that she should ask an important, rich man to marry her

C. The gate (rather a place inside the gate) was not only the place of commerce but also where the rulers of the town sat to make decisions. The point is that the whole city knew this to be a fact, even including its judges and rulers.

7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7

3:10-13, continued

A. What does Boaz promise?

B. “Lodge this night …lie down”…what does this tell us of the character of both Boaz and Ruth?

C. Is our estimation of Boaz’ age confirmed by the doings of this night?

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. He promises

#1. To do for her (ie., on her behalf) all that she has said by her act an her words – ie., to see that the Kinsman-Redeemer responsibility is carried out

#2. That the closer Go‘el shall be given his opportunity and if he fails to take it then Boaz will carry out the responsibility

#3. By his opening blessing and his solemn oath, Boaz indicates both his desire and his determination to carry out what he has spoken

B. These words tell us that Boaz knows that the situation cannot be misinterpreted on account of Ruth’s character and his responsibility and that she is safe with him and need not risk returning to the town. Boaz is assuring her that she may now rest for he has accepted his responsibility.

C. He is young and hardy enough to have taken part in the winnowing and to have camped out on the heap, and yet old enough to be able to see the attraction to a younger widow of the younger men.

8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8

Ruth leaves Boaz with his gift, 3:14-15

A. Now the dawn approaches and Ruth leaves.

B. How does Ruth show her confidence in Boaz?

C. What is the nature of the gift of barley?

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. 14 So she lay down at his feet until morning. Then she returned before a person could recognize his friend, for so he had said, ‘Let not it be known that this woman had come to the threshing-floor,’ 15 then he said, ‘Bring the cloak which you have on,’ so she brought and held out the cape and he measured six measures of barley and set it upon her; then he went into the city.

B. In two ways

#1. Remaining there at his bidding, realizing the safety he provides

#2. Leaving early, obeying his command, leaving it to him to carry out his promise in his way and time

C. It’s interesting!

#1. How would the ladies like to receive 6 measures of barley as an engagement ring? How far do you men think you would have got by offering this as an engagement present!?

#2. Up to this time, what had Ruth had to do for all the food she had gained? She had had to gather it and to winnow it herself. For this barley she has had neither to gather nor to winnow. All she had to do was to accept the gift. This is a picture of grace. The cape would be the headdress that Boaz’ foot may have touched startling him awake in the night.

#3. So, early in the morning they both departed; Boaz into the city and

9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9

Ruth and Naomi discuss the event, 3:16-18

A. Naomi greets and questions Ruth

B. Naomi’s question is literally ‘Who are you?’ … what is she really seeking to find out?

C. What was the ‘all which the man had done for her?’

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. 16 And she went unto her mother-in-law, and she said, ‘How are you, my daughter?’ Then she related to her all that which the man had done for her. 17 and she said, ‘Six measures of barley he has given to me! For he said unto me, “Do not return empty-handed unto your mother-in-law.”’ 18 And she said, ‘Sit still until you shall know how the matter will fall; for this man will not rest unless this matter is completed today.’

B. It is not that she does not recognize Ruth … ‘my daughter.’ The question is, ‘Who are you: Ruth my widowed daughter-in-law, or Ruth who is affianced to Boaz?’

C. It included Boaz’

#1. praise of her character,

#2. acceptance of his responsibility on her behalf,

#3. promise of carrying out that responsibility,

#4. assurance of his kind intentions, and

#5. dowry of six measures of barley which was to be given to Naomi

10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10

3:16-18, continued

A. What should Boaz’ gift signify to Naomi (cf 1:21)?

B. How does Naomi assess Boaz’ character?

C. How does Naomi assess the situation?

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. There is a contrast

#1. She left the land full, because of a lack of food, a famine as punishment from Yahweh

#2. She returned to the land empty, but now has food, a blessing from the hand of Yahweh

#3. In all of the circumstances of life, Yahweh is in charge

B. She knows from what has transpired that Boaz will carry out what he has said and resolve the situation; this he will do without resting and that very day. Boaz is trustworthy.

C. ‘Ruth, you may now relax; your rest is coming.’ – wait and see

11 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11

The Kinsman-Redeemer

A. What does Boaz teach us about our Go‘el?

#1.John 5:17, Romans 8:28

#2. 2 Corinthians 1:20, Revelation 1:5, John 14:6

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. Our Go‘el

#1. Has worked and is working in the harvest and on our behalf

#2. Is faithful and we can trust what he has said to carry it out

12 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12

– - – - – slide above, notes below – - – - -

A. Well, will the nearer Kinsman-Redeemer do his duty or not? Will Boaz lose Ruth to this man? Will Ruth have to do with a lesser man? Tune in next week, same time, same place to find out!

1. Let earth and heaven combine,

Angels and men agree,

To praise in songs divine

The incarnate Deity,

Our God contracted to a span,

Incomprehensibly made man.

2. He laid his glory by,

He wrapped him in our clay;

Unmarked by human ey,

The latent Godhead lay;

Infant of days he here became

And bore the mild Immanuel's name.

3. Unsearchable the love

That hath the Saviour brought;

The greace is far above

Or man or angels thought;

Suffice for us that God, we know,

Our God, is manifest below.

4. He deigns in flest to appear,

Widest extremes to join;

To bring our vileness near,

And make us all divine:

And we the life of God shall know,

For God is manifest below.

5. Made perfect first in love,

And sanctified by grace,

We shall from earth remove,

And see his glorious face:

Then shall his love be fully showd,

And man shall then be lost in God.

The night before Easter, I was up preparing food for the breakfast I would serve after Easter sunrise service. I had the TV on in the background and "Pretty Woman" was playing -- a movie classic. I wondered why I loved this movie so much since I was a young girl...I have seen it a hundred times. Why would I love a movie about a prostitute? Then this past weekend, I visited a small church in Ft. Lauderdale where the priest spoke about the Bible story of Hosea and Gomer, a story of Hosea's love for his prostitute wife. No matter what she did, Hosea continued to pursue her and wait for her with open arms.

I was reminded why I love "Pretty Woman" ... I am Julia Roberts and God is Richard Gere. For years, I prostituted myself to the world, but God rescued me, gave me new clothes without stain, set up a new home for me in His mansion, and made me an heiress to His kingdom. Forever I will be God's pretty woman!

Below I have included a skit on the story of Hosea that a coworker had shared with me a couple of years ago. It's a beautiful story that will tug at your heart strings.

_______________________

THE ROMANCE OF THE AGES

by Robert Tullos

MAN: ‘Tis a strange and timeless story…

WOMAN: A love story…

MAN: The story of Hosea and…his wife.

WOMAN: And her name?

MAN: Well, you see, the story is a whole lot better if you don’t have to say her name…

WOMAN: But her name is important.

MAN: I know, but…

WOMAN: Her name was Gomer.

MAN: If there is a lesson to be learned from this story, it’s don’t name your daughter…Gomer.

WOMAN: No…there is a much greater lesson to be learned. You see, Gomer, was a prostitute.

MAN: And Hosea was a preacher.

WOMAN: Not exactly the kind of match you would find on “The Love Connection.”

MAN: But, television wasn’t around. God was the matchmaker.

WOMAN: And Hosea loved Gomer…

MAN: Have you seen my wife Gomer…Where is she!?

WOMAN: Desperately he would search for her, but he would not find her, until he looked in the Red Light District of the Northern Kingdom.

MAN: Despite Lying…

WOMAN: Despite Adultery…

BOTH: Hosea loved Gomer.

MAN: Despite Cruelty…

WOMAN: Despite Sin…

BOTH: Hosea loved Gomer.

WOMAN: Why can’t you just leave me alone! I’m not good enough for you! I can’t live my life as a prophet’s wife! Stop rescuing me Hosea!

MAN: But I love you!

WOMAN: Listen! You pull me out of bars and I’m just going to end up there all over again. I’m not the woman you dreamed I could be…am I?

MAN: No, not now, but…

WOMAN: You’re a dreamer!

MAN: And you’re my wife!

WOMAN: I’m not your wife! I quit! Do you hear me?

MAN: I do hear you, but…(I…love…you!)

WOMAN: Then leave…me…alone!

WOMAN: Do you have any pride, any self respect?

MAN: I have love!

WOMAN: That wasn’t the question…you’re ruining my business…your love is humiliating…

MAN: I know it is…but it’s strong!

WOMAN: Hosea was a romantic in the purest form. Every fiber of his being was love. Every thought, every breath, was consumed by a God-given love for his wife. And like a madman to the world, he would search for his unrequited love.

MAN: No one…

WOMAN: Not Shakespeare…

MAN: Not Browning…

WOMAN: Or Lennon…

MAN: Could write a love song like Hosea lived.

WOMAN: This romance was a nightmare.

BOTH: Hosea was a failure. Hosea loved Gomer.

MAN: At the apex of this romantic catastrophe, we find Hosea once again searching the inner city for his wife. And off in the distance, he sees her, captured and for sale on an auction block. She was an ugly sight…

WOMAN: Bruised…

MAN: Beaten…

WOMAN: Naked…

MAN: Humiliated…

WOMAN: Destroyed.

MAN: She had nothing.

WOMAN: Hosea ran back to the house, packed up their food, their clothes, their possessions; everything of value.

MAN: He ran as fast as he could, and as he arrived, the auctioneer began.

WOMAN: Who will give me five shekels for this woman?

MAN: Five!

WOMAN: Five! Ten, do I hear ten? Ten, to the Roman soldier! Do I hear twelve?

MAN: Twelve!

WOMAN: Twelve, to the holy zealous man! Fifteen, do I hear fifteen? Fifteen, going once…Fifteen, going twice…

MAN: I’ll give everything I have!

BOTH: Silence.

WOMAN: Hosea brought forth everything they owned, and laid it at the feet of the auctioneer. He wrapped up Gomer’s trembling, naked, humiliated body, picked her up, and carried her home.

MAN: Paid in full.

WOMAN: A relentless romantic.

MAN: Solid as rock.

WOMAN: God-like.

MAN: With a God-kind-of-love.

WOMAN: Unheard of before this time.

MAN: Before the time when God looked down upon the auction block of the cosmos and saw you and me.

WOMAN: We were an ugly sight.

MAN: Bruised…

WOMAN: Beaten…

MAN: Naked…

WOMAN: Humiliated…

MAN: Destroyed.

BOTH: Chained and captured like an animal.

WOMAN: We had nothing.

MAN: And before the bidding began…

WOMAN: The earth quaked and God shouted…

MAN: I’ll give everything I have!

WOMAN: And the hammer fell.

MAN: And the ransom was laid down.

BOTH: Paid in full.

WOMAN: The romance of the ages.

MAN: The romantic…

WOMAN: Who gave birth to other romantics…

MAN: And despite lying…

WOMAN: Despite adultery…

MAN: Despite cruelty…

WOMAN: Despite sin…

BOTH: God so loved.

WOMAN: You are invited to partake in this romance.

MAN: To enter in to the very center of Christ’s love.

WOMAN: Totally loved.

MAN: Totally forgiven.

WOMAN: And totally free to love each other…

MAN: As Christ loved us.

BOTH: The romance of the ages.

Our two favorite Christmas stories -- “A Christmas Carol” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” -- exemplify two approaches to assessing our lives.

We all know the problem with Ebenezer Scrooge. Not only is he mean and miserable, he delights in inflicting his misery on others. But after one night in which he’s forced to see how the mistakes of the past and present can immutably corrupt his future, he changes from a miser toting up his ledger to an avuncular, goose-toting do-gooder.

George Bailey too is forced to see his life from the outside, but in “It’s a Wonderful Life” it’s the life that would have happened without him. The man who, at the beginning of the movie, leaps from the bridge to end it all has lost faith in his work, his family, and his own sense of honor. But when George sees the misery his absence would have wrought on his community, his family and his friends, he snaps back to status quo. His life didn’t need to change. He did.

Christians usually focus on the Scrooge model - we are sinners and must change. But there are also many George Bailey's in this world, people who are decent and make a positive impact even if they cannot grasp it themselves. In God's eyes, the redeemed are rich and royal even as they toil in their mundane lives (1 Cor. 4:8).

________

Adapts elements of the article "Scrooge, George Bailey and ‘Vows’: Our Warring Views on True Love," by Lizzie Skurnick in http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/24/scrooge-George-Bailey-And-Vows-Our-Warring-View/, 12/24/10.

Western society is currently experiencing what can only be described as a moral revolution. Our society’s moral code and collective ethical evaluation on a particular issue has undergone not small adjustments but a complete reversal. That which was once condemned is now celebrated, and the refusal to celebrate is now condemned.

What makes the current moral and sexual revolution so different from previous moral revolutions is that it is taking place at an utterly unprecedented velocity. Previous generations experienced moral revolutions over decades, even centuries. This current revolution is happening at warp speed.

As the church responds to this revolution, we must remember that current debates on sexuality present to the church a crisis that is irreducibly and inescapably theological. This crisis is tantamount to the type of theological crisis that Gnosticism presented to the early church or that Pelagianism presented to the church in the time of Augustine. In other words, the crisis of sexuality challenges the church’s understanding of the gospel, sin, salvation, and sanctification. Advocates of the new sexuality demand a complete rewriting of Scripture’s meta-narrative, a complete reordering of theology, and a fundamental change to how we think about the church’s ministry.

Why the Concordance Method Fails

Proof-texting is the first reflex of conservative Protestants seeking a strategy of theological retrieval and restatement. This hermeneutical reflex comes naturally to evangelical Christians because we believe the Bible to be the inerrant and infallible word of God. We understand that, as B.B. Warfield said, “When Scripture speaks, God speaks.” I should make clear that this reflex is not entirely wrong, but it’s not entirely right either. It’s not entirely wrong because certain Scriptures (that is, “proof texts”) speak to specific issues in a direct and identifiable way.

There are, however, obvious limitations to this type of theological method — what I like to call the “concordance reflex.” What happens when you are wrestling with a theological issue for which no corresponding word appears in the concordance? Many of the most important theological issues cannot be reduced to merely finding relevant words and their corresponding verses in a concordance. Try looking up “transgender” in your concordance. How about “lesbian”? Or “in vitro fertilization”? They’re certainly not in the back of my Bible.

It’s not that Scripture is insufficient. The problem is not a failure of Scripture but a failure of our approach to Scripture. The concordance approach to theology produces a flat Bible without context, covenant, or master-narrative — three hermeneutical foundations that are essential to understand Scripture rightly.

Needed: A Biblical Theology of the Body

Biblical theology is absolutely indispensable for the church to craft an appropriate response to the current sexual crisis. The church must learn to read Scripture according to its context, embedded in its master-narrative, and progressively revealed along covenantal lines. We must learn to interpret each theological issue through Scripture’s meta-narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. Specifically, evangelicals need a theology of the body that is anchored in the Bible’s own unfolding drama of redemption.

Movement One — Creation

Genesis 1:26–28 indicates that God made man — unlike the rest of creation — in his own image. This passage also demonstrates that God’s purpose for humanity was an embodied existence. Genesis 2:7 highlights this point as well. God makes man out of the dust and then breathes into him the breath of life. This indicates that we were a body before we were a person. The body, as it turns out, is not incidental to our personhood. Adam and Eve are given the commission to multiply and subdue the earth. Their bodies allow them, by God’s creation and his sovereign plan, to fulfill that task of image-bearing.

The Genesis narrative also suggests that the body comes with needs. Adam would be hungry, so God gave him the fruit of the garden. These needs are an expression embedded within the created order that Adam is finite, dependent, and derived.

Further, Adam would have a need for companionship, so God gave him a wife, Eve. Both Adam and Eve were to fulfill the mandate to multiply and fill the earth with God’s image-bearers by a proper use of the bodily reproductive ability with which they were created. Coupled with this is the bodily pleasure each would experience as the two became one flesh — that is, one body.

The Genesis narrative also demonstrates that gender is part of the goodness of God’s creation. Gender is not merely a sociological construct forced upon human beings who otherwise could negotiate any number of permutations.

But Genesis teaches us that gender is created by God for our good and his glory. Gender is intended for human flourishing and is assigned by the Creator’s determination — just as he determined when, where, and that we should exist.

In sum, God created his image as an embodied person. As embodied, we are given the gift and stewardship of sexuality from God himself. We are constructed in a way that testifies to God’s purposes in this.

Genesis also frames this entire discussion in a covenantal perspective. Human reproduction is not merely in order to propagate the race. Instead, reproduction highlights the fact that Adam and Eve were to multiply in order to fill the earth with the glory of God as reflected by his image bearers.

Movement Two — The Fall

The fall, the second movement in redemptive history, corrupts God’s good gift of the body. The entrance of sin brings mortality to the body. In terms of sexuality, the Fall subverts God’s good plans for sexual complementarity. Eve’s desire is to rule over her husband (Gen. 3:16). Adam’s leadership will be harsh (3:17-19). Eve will experience pain in childbearing (3:16).

The narratives that follow demonstrate the development of aberrant sexual practices, from polygamy to rape, which Scripture addresses with remarkable candor. These Genesis accounts are followed by the giving of the Law which is intended to curb aberrant sexual behavior. It regulates sexuality and expressions of gender and makes clear pronouncements on sexual morals, cross-dressing, marriage, divorce, and host of other bodily and sexual matters.

The Old Testament also connects sexual sin to idolatry. Orgiastic worship, temple prostitution, and other horrible distortions of God’s good gift of the body are all seen as part and parcel of idolatrous worship. The same connection is made by Paul in Romans 1. Having “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles” (Rom 1:22), and having “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom 1:25), men and women exchange their natural relations with one another (Rom 1:26-27).

Movement Three — Redemption

With regard to redemption, we must note that one of the most important aspects of our redemption is that it came by way of a Savior with a body. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14; cf. Phil. 2:5-11). Human redemption is accomplished by the Son of God incarnate — who remains incarnate eternally.

Paul indicates that this salvation includes not merely our souls but also our bodies. Romans 6:12 speaks of sin that reigns in our “mortal bodies” — which implies the hope of future bodily redemption. Romans 8:23 indicates part of our eschatological hope is the “redemption of our bodies.” Even now, in our life of sanctification we are commanded to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God in worship (Rom. 12:2). Further, Paul describes the redeemed body as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19) and clearly we must understand sanctification as having effects upon the body.

Sexual ethics in the New Testament, as in the Old Testament, regulate our expressions of gender and sexuality. Porneia, sexual immorality of any kind, is categorically condemned by Jesus and the apostles. Likewise, Paul clearly indicates to the church at Corinth that sexual sin — sins committed in the body (1 Cor. 6:18) — are what bring the church and the gospel into disrepute because they proclaim to a watching world that the gospel has been to no effect (1 Cor. 5-6).

Movement Four — New Creation

Finally, we reach the fourth and final act of the drama of redemption — new creation. In 1 Corinthians 15:42-57, Paul directs us not only to the resurrection of our own bodies in the new creation but to the fact that Christ’s bodily resurrection is the promise and power for that future hope. Our resurrection will be the experience of eternal glory in the body. This body will be a transformed, consummated continuation of our present embodied existence in the same way that Jesus’ body is the same body he had on earth, yet utterly glorified.

The new creation will not simply be a reset of the garden. It will be better than Eden. As Calvin noted, in the new creation we will know God not only as Creator but as Redeemer — and that redemption includes our bodies. We will reign with Christ in bodily form, as he also is the embodied and reigning cosmic Lord.

In terms of our sexuality, while gender will remain in the new creation, sexual activity will not. It is not that sex is nullified in the resurrection; rather, it is fulfilled. The eschatological marriage supper of the Lamb, to which marriage and sexuality point, will finally arrive. No longer will there be any need to fill the earth with image-bearers as was the case in Genesis 1. Instead, the earth will be filled with knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

Biblical Theology Is Indispensable

The sexuality crisis has demonstrated the failure of theological method on the part of many pastors. The “concordance reflex” simply cannot accomplish the type of rigorous theological thinking needed in pulpits today. Pastors and churches must learn the indispensability of biblical theology and must practice reading Scripture according to its own internal logic — the logic of a story that moves from creation to new creation. The hermeneutical task before us is great, but it is also indispensable for faithful evangelical engagement with the culture.

Our two favorite Christmas stories -- “A Christmas Carol” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” -- exemplify two approaches to assessing our lives.

We all know the problem with Ebenezer Scrooge. Not only is he mean and miserable, he delights in inflicting his misery on others. But after one night in which he’s forced to see how the mistakes of the past and present can immutably corrupt his future, he changes from a miser toting up his ledger to an avuncular, goose-toting do-gooder.

George Bailey too is forced to see his life from the outside, but in “It’s a Wonderful Life” it’s the life that would have happened without him. The man who, at the beginning of the movie, leaps from the bridge to end it all has lost faith in his work, his family, and his own sense of honor. But when George sees the misery his absence would have wrought on his community, his family and his friends, he snaps back to status quo. His life didn’t need to change. He did.

Christians usually focus on the Scrooge model - we are sinners and must change. But there are also many George Bailey's in this world, people who are decent and make a positive impact even if they cannot grasp it themselves. In God's eyes, the redeemed are rich and royal even as they toil in their mundane lives (1 Cor. 4:8).

________

Adapts elements of the article "Scrooge, George Bailey and ‘Vows’: Our Warring Views on True Love," by Lizzie Skurnick in http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/24/scrooge-George-Bailey-And-Vows-Our-Warring-View/, 12/24/10.

Although I have added a few lines, the idea is not original with me. The author is unknown.

"GOD KNEW WHAT WE NEED"

If we needed more money,

God would have sent us a banker,

If we needed more knowledge,

God would have sent us a professor.

If we needed more things,

God would have sent us a salesman,

If we needed more pleasure,

God would have sent us an entertainer.

If we needed more laughs,

God would have sent a comedian,

If we needed more peace,

God would have sent a diplomat.

If we needed more culture,

God would have sent an artist.

But our greatest need is forgiveness,

So God sent us a Savior.

At Niagara. the Amencan Falls takes its dizzy leap over a precipice of 160 feet. Between the face of that precipice and the great overleaping sheet of water, which forms the fall. there is a vacant space called the Cave of the Winds. The guides robe you from head to feet in rubber garments and go before you to lead the way. You follow slowly and cautiously as they make their way literally under the fall. Finally you reach your stopping point. There, as you stand, thousands of tons of water are rushing over that precipice, with a thunderous roar and blinding splash of spray and mist.

If you were down there where it falls you would be crushed to death in an instant by its savage impact. But though you stand in a spot of great seeming peril, you are perfectly safe; for this great veil of watery death passes over you and spends its fury on the jagged rocks beneath. You are safe because you are a passed-over man. It is a picture of the redemption which is in Christ for us.

_________

Albert Mygatt, Tan 5230

*

1. Freed from the law—Oh happy condition!

Jesus has bled, and there is remission;

Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,

Grace has redeemed us once for all.

Chorus

Once for all—O sinner, receive it!

Once for all—O brother, believe it!

Cling to the cross, the burden will fall—

Christ has redeemed us once for all!

2. Now we are free—there's no condemnation!

Jesus provides a perfect salvation;

“Come unto me—” O hear His sweet call!

Come—and He saves us once for all.

3. Children of God—Oh glorious calling!

Surely His grace will keep us from falling;

Passing from death to life at His call,

Blessed salvation—once for all.

*