As Chris wraps up our advent series on the book of Ruth, the main question we should ask is,”What is the lesson of this book? What one main thing does the author want us to take away from reading this story?”
It seems the main lesson of the Book of Ruth is probably that the life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there. The life of the godly is not an Interstate through Eastern Washington, but a state road through the Cascades. There are rock slides, avalanches and sharp, slippery curves that make you go backwards in order to go forwards. Along this hazardous, twisted road that doesn’t let you see very far ahead, there are frequent signs that say,”The best is yet to come.” At the bottom right corner, written with an unmistakable hand are the words,”As I live, says the Lord!”
The book of Ruth is one of those signs for you to read. It was written and it has been preached to give you encouragement and hope that all the perplexing turns in your life lately are not dead-end streets. In all setbacks of your life as a believer, God is plotting for your joy. He does work ALL things together for the good of those who love Him, despite what it may look like and in spite of whatever our sins may be. He is always working to bring His purpose to fruition.
The best is yet to come. That is the unshakable truth about the life of the woman and the man who follow Christ in the obedience of faith.
Chris Brannon continues in our Faithful God series in Ruth chapter 3. He explains what a kinsman redeemer is and the four things that were necessary to be one. The first is that the kinsman had to be related by blood to those he redeemed. The second is that he had to be able to pay the price required for redemption. The next thing necessary is that he had to be willing to pay the price of redemption. Lastly, the kinsman redeemer had to be free himself.
What is the relevance of this story for our lives? We are all, like Ruth and Naomi, in need of a redeemer – Sin, the Fall, the need for redemption has left us in a desperate condition, spiritually impoverished and distant from our heavenly Father. We come to the feet of Jesus – We are received, even welcomed by the only one who could welcome us into our heavenly home. We are brought into the one relationship we most desperately need – with the Father.
This is why we mark the initial coming of Jesus as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem. This is also why we so eagerly anticipate His second coming. He is our redeemer. We were hopelessly lost and destitute as a result of our sin. Yet Christ came to redeem. He was the only one who had the position, ability and the desire to do so.
Chris Brannon continues in our Faithful God series in Ruth, chapter 2. As we continue on through our series, we can see God’s redemptive plan become a little clearer. We also see more and more that His sovereign purposes cannot always be seen or understood from our perspective. Especially when we are in the middle of struggles and afflictions. However, if we know and believe in the goodness and kindness of our Heavenly Father, we can trust Him as we go through those hardships.
As we continue to look into this story, it becomes apparent that there are several lenses we could look at it through. The first lens is the human lens. Where we see devotion, commitment, kindness and romance. Another lens is the moral lens; integrity, character compassion and loyalty. The third lens is the God lens. This is the lens that Chris primarily focuses on today. This is the character of God, the grace of God, loving-kindness of God and the sovereignty of God.
God is not an employer looking for employees. He is an Eagle looking for people who will take refuge under His wings. He is looking for people who will leave their father and mother and homeland, or anything else that may hold us back from a life of love under the wings of Jesus.
Do you know what the advent season truly is? Chris Brannon starts a new series in Ruth. It’s a story that shows how “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform”. It’s also a story for people who wonder where God is when there are no dreams or visions or prophets. This story is for people who wonder whether a life of integrity in tough times is worth it. And it’s a story for people who can’t imagine that anything great could ever come of their ordinary lives of faith. The book of Ruth is a refreshing and encouraging book.
There are four lessons that we can learn from Ruth. The first lesson is that God’s rule is sovereign. He rules the nations and He rules families. The second lesson is that God’s providence is mysterious. His providence is sometimes very hard. The third less is that God’s grace is sufficient. Not only does God reign in all the affairs of men, and not only is His providence sometimes hard, but in all His works His purposes are for the good and happiness of His people. The last lesson that we can learn from Ruth is that God uses death to produce life.
