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A young widow named Ruth, a Moabite woman, was the daughter-in-law of a Jewess named Naomi. Naomi and Ruth both lost their husbands and were very poor but they had a rich near-kinsman (relative) named Boaz. Boaz came to the rescue of Naomi and Ruth and saved them by taking them into his family. He married Ruth. God was using Boaz and Ruth to portray His own work as Kinsman-Redeemer that goes far beyond this human act of redemption.
The God described in the Bible is not a kin to man. He is Creator-God, we are His special creation. He is very much above us in every way. But on that first Christmas morning, in the small town of Bethlehem, God chose to be a kin to us. He became human, our near-kinsman that He might rescue and redeem us from sure eternal death by Himself dying in our place. By the death of our Kinsman-Redeemer, we are set free forever from our spiritually dead state.
A kinsman-redeemer comes into the picture only when the person who is suffering has reached the end of his own means. As long as a person in Israel had resources of his own, he was expected to use them to help solve his problems. But when he reached the end, where there was nothing left, then he could count on his relatives. Among them would be the one who would be the kinsman-redeemer, one who would take the responsibility of delivering him from that difficulty.
In the same way, the individual has to recognize that he is spiritually bankrupt and needs to hand his life over to Jesus Christ. One can go through Christmas without Jesus Christ. One can try to work out the problems by oneself. But all of God’s blessings are made available only through faith in Jesus. Faith is simply to take God at His Word. Let this Christmas be a time of commitment as you hand over your life and your problems to Him. And out of the gloom, doom, darkness and despair, hope will be born afresh and anew. Jesus is your Redeemer!
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing.
