Beautiful People, 

I hope you had a chance to watch the Ruthless play. The story of Ruth and Boaz is beautiful. In her despair and pain, Ruth finds a Kinsman Redeemer in Boaz—one that has the privilege or responsibility to act on behalf of a relative who is in trouble, danger, or in need. As I reread the story, analogies of Christ’s redemption came up. After Adam and Eve sinned, the rights to humanity were sold, and the wages of their sin was death. In His love and holiness, God chose to become our Kinsman Redeemer by becoming our next of kin, “The Second Adam.”

“The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:45-49).  

We found no favor with God, yet He decided to lavish His marvelous love on us by dying for sinners. He redeemed the irredeemable. How should we respond to this type of love? How should we live? One way is to embrace the ministry of reconciliation.

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).  

The practice and ministry of reconciliation is a sign of Gospel living. It shows that our hearts have accepted the Gospel, the Good News of Christ’s redemption, which empowers us to love and forgive the unforgivable in others. Why is that? Because He first loved us when we were unlovable. This type of love does not excuse accountability or responsibility. No, on the contrary, it heightens them. Love and forgiveness without accountability are dangerous.  He redeemed us when we were irredeemable. Because of this, I am accountable and responsible for living a life that reflects this redemptive love. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5) to be a Kinsman Redeemer to those around you. Actively pursue reconciliation, forgiveness, and grace. By God’s Holy Spirit, learn to redeem the irredeemable.