Names of Jesus: Redeemer

The Israelites had been taught for generations that a promised Redeemer, the Messiah, would one day come. They would hold festivals and have special days dedicated to providing sacrifices to cover their sins. They sacrificed animals, such as lambs, goats, and calves, and it was instilled in the people that blood was necessary for the redemption of sins, but that the animal blood provided only a temporary covering. One day there would be a lasting sacrifice and there would be no more need for sacrifices to be made for sins because the Redeemer would provide a lasting cover for all sins.

What is a Kinsman Redeemer?

All throughout Old Testament times, God was teaching His people, both then and now, that He is faithful and will redeem His people. He provides the way for salvation, and it is by belief in Him and obedience that we can find it. God’s people were constantly rebellious, but God continued to redeem them again and again. This gives us hope today and shows us that God wants His people to be saved.

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14 CSB

¹⁷ This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says:

I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you for your benefit,
who leads you in the way you should go.

Isaiah 48:17 CSB

²⁵ But I know that my Redeemer lives,^[a]
and at the end he will stand on the dust.

Job 19:25 CSB

• Redeemer – H1350 – gā’al
  • to redeem, act as kinsman-redeemer, avenge, revenge, ransom, do the part of a kinsman

One way God taught His people about the importance of redemption was by implementing laws and practices to redeem lands and inheritances. If a man died leaving his wife a widow with no children, a near relative of the husband would be called upon to redeem the widow, and carry on the lineage of the deceased husband. He would marry the widow, ensure the land stayed in the family, and they would have children on behalf of the first husband. This was known as a Kinsman Redeemer. We see a real example of this in the book of Ruth where Boaz becomes the Kinsman Redeemer of Naomi. This is also a foreshadowing of what was to come.

⁹ Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. ¹⁰ I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear among his relatives or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.”

Ruth 4:9-10 CSB

God redeemed Israel

Another powerful example of redemption in the Old Testament is the Passover. The Israelites would observe the Passover Festival every year as a reminder of God’s redemption of His people at the cost of Egyptian lives. God spared His people, redeeming them, freeing them from Egyptian slavery, and in so doing paid with the blood of Egypt. God showed His people that He would redeem them from any enemy at any cost. When God’s people were freed from Egypt, they were led through the wilderness, and God continued to redeem them time after time and was patient with their disobedience.

²⁵ When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, you are to observe this ceremony. ²⁶ When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ²⁷ you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians, and he spared our homes.’” So the people knelt low and worshiped.

Exodus 12:25-27 CSB

What is redemption?

God redeemed His people throughout Old Testament times and has provided lasting redemption for all who will believe. Redemption is a deliverance from the penalty of sin. It is to be released from a debt owed, freed from bondage, and forgiven of your sins. To be redeemed is to be saved from the consequence we deserve for our sins. The price of sin is death, and redemption of sins requires a blood payment.

• Redemption – G3085 – lytrōsis
  • a ransoming, redemption
  • deliverance, esp. from the penalty of sin

¹³ He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. ¹⁴ In him we have redemption,^[a] the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:13-14 CSB

Why is redemption necessary?

Because the price of sin is death, blood must be spilled to pay for sin. Sin cannot be forgiven without blood spilled to pay for it. In Old Testament times, there was a whole sacrificial system in effect but that was not lasting. Sacrifices were needed on a regular basis to continue to receive forgiveness of sins. God had been teaching His people that there would come a time when He would provide lasting redemption.

⁴ When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our^[a] hearts, crying, “Abba,^[b] Father!” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.

Galatians 4:4-7 CSB

Redemption is needed in order for sins to be forgiven. Without the forgiveness of sins, we are still enslaved to our sins, and are unable to freely serve God. If we are slaves to sin, we cannot be free servants of God, therefore we are unable to have personal relationships with Him. God loves His people and desires all to be saved, and all to know Him personally. Without redemption, this is not possible. We needed a Redeemer, and we could never redeem ourselves.

¹⁸ For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for you. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

1 Peter 1:18-21 CSB

Without redemption, we cannot receive forgiveness or have a personal relationship with the Lord, and therefore we remain in our sin and separation from God. Redemption not only frees us from the bondage of our sin, but also gives the free gift of salvation that comes through faith in Jesus. This salvation redeems us to God, making us children of God and coheirs with Christ. As coheirs, we inherit a place in Heaven after the Last Judgment. Redemption through Jesus is the way to eternal life with the Lord.

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation^[a] for all people, ¹² instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.

Titus 2:11-14 CSB

How did Jesus redeem us?

God provided His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Redeemer of the world. All the laws and practices of the Old Testament for the forgiveness of sins were to prepare the people for the coming Redeemer, the Messiah who would save the people for eternity. Jesus came to be the spotless lamb that was slain on behalf of all who would believe in Him as their Redeemer.

⁶⁸ Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited
and provided redemption for his people.

Luke 1:68 CSB

¹¹ But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come.^[a] In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), ¹² he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

Hebrews 9:11-12 CSB

As blood is the price for sin, Jesus’s blood was spilled to cover the sins of the entire world for all time. He took the whole curse of sin upon Himself as He died on the cross and with His blood paid the sin debt for all of mankind. By faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we all have access to eternal redemption, the forgiveness of our sins, and the promise of eternity with the Lord.

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.^[a]

Galatians 3:13 CSB

How can I be redeemed?

When you believe that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the world, and place your faith in Him as your personal Savior and Redeemer, you will receive forgiveness of your sins and enter into a personal relationship with God through the blood of Jesus. With saving faith comes true repentance, and repentance leads to a change in direction. We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to convict, teach, and guide us through this new life with the Lord now that we have been freed from the bondage to sin.

²¹ But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets.^[a]22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ^[b] to all who believe, since there is no distinction. ²³ For all have sinned and fall short of the^[c] glory of God; ²⁴ they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented him as the mercy seat^[d] by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. ²⁶ God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:21-26 CSB

By God’s great mercy, He gives grace to those who believe in His Son, and we become His children as well. As part of God’s family, we are blessed with the presence of God, personal access to Him in prayer, and the strength of Christ to persevere in this life until the ultimate day of salvation and the Last Judgement. When that day comes, those who have faith in Christ and are named as children of God will inherit eternal life with Him. It is by God’s grace through faith that we can receive the incredible gift of redemption and salvation. We cannot obtain it on our own, but only through faith in the precious blood of Jesus that was spilled on our behalf.

¹⁶ For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through him and for him.
¹⁷ He is before all things,
and by him all things hold together.
¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.

Colossians 1:16-18 CSB

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