Faith Finds Redemption

Faith when life falls apart

Ruth 1:1

Rebellion – Defeat – Conviction – Deliverance – Peace – …

Elimelech “My God is King”

Naomi “Pleasant” or “ Delightful”

Malohn “Sick”

Killion “Wasting Away”

Orpah “Stiff-Necked” or “ Fawn”

Ruth “Friendship”

¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. ¹⁷ Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” -Ruth 1:16-17 NLT

Mara “Bitter” “The Almighty has made life very bitter for me.”

 

Faith in the Ordinary

“As it happened”

Extraordinary moments are built through ordinary acts of faithfulness.

Character is revealed through ordinary actions.

Reputation grows as others witness those actions.

 

Faith finds Grace

Grace:

-welcomes those who feel outside

-gives beyond what is required

-received becomes grace shared

-renews hope in weary hearts

Mara “Bitter” 

“The Almighty has made life very bitter for me.”

Naomi “Pleasant” or “ Delightful”

“He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.”

 

Faith takes the next step

Faith costs something

 

Faith at the table

Faith:

-recognizes that we cannot redeem ourselves

-trusts the One Willing to pay the price

-receives what the Redeemer has purchased

 

Faith Finds Redemption

⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and to the crowd standing around, “You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. ¹⁰ And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today.”

¹¹ Then the elders and all the people standing in the gate replied, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. ¹² And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.”

The Descendants of Boaz

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. ¹⁵ May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”

¹⁶ Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. ₁₇ The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.

¹⁸ This is the genealogical record of their ancestor Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron. – Ruth 4:9-18 NLT 

Faith:

-sees hope beyond emptiness

-trusts God to redeem what seems lost

-recognizes a story bigger than our own

¹² And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.”  -Ruth 4:12 NLT 

 

God does not excuse human sin, but human sin cannot defeat God’s purposes.

 

²⁶ And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[a] in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together_[b] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ²⁹ For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn[c] among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

³¹ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? ³² Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? ³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”_[d]) ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[e] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.  -Romans 8:26-39 NLT 

Boaz came to survey his field.

Jesus came to survey his field, the earth.

Boaz looked out and saw Ruth.

Jesus looked out and saw us.

Boaz spoke kindly to Ruth.

Jesus has spoken kindly to us.

 

⁴ Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? -Romans 2:4 NLT

 

Boaz spoke kindly to Ruth.

Jesus has spoken kindly to us.

Boaz went beyond the requirements of the law and extended grace to Ruth.

Jesus extended grace to us by fulfilling the law.

Boaz was a man of standing among his people.

Jesus, the sinless Son of God, stands above all others.

Boaz was a close relative of Ruth’s deceased husband.

Jesus took on flesh and blood to become one of us.

 

Where are you still trying to secure your own future, and what would it look like to entrust that part of your story to your redeemer?

How will the grace you have received from your Redeemer shape the way you see and treat the people God places in your path?

As we close “When Faith Finds Redemption,” what part of your story do you need to entrust to your Redeemer, even though you cannot yet see how He will finish it?