As we close our study of Ruth, we are asking, “How does God turn our sorrow into joy? Our darkness to light? Our despair to hope? The answer is, through ONE single act of redemption!

1. Our redemption is a necessary act. The only way the Ruth biography ends well is through a kinsman-redeemer. And because we are by nature, “children of wrath” (Eph 2:3), the only way our story ends well is through redemption in Jesus Christ.

2. Our redemption is a solo act. There can only be one redeemer. For Ruth and Naomi, this is Boaz. For us there is only one true redeemer, “one name by which we can be saved” (Acts 4:12): Jesus Christ. “He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and No one comes to Father but by Him” (John 14:6).

3. Our redemption is a sovereign act. In chap 3 Ruth says, “Boaz, redeem me” and then Boaz does all the work to make this happen. Ruth could not redeem herself and neither can we! “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast,” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

4. Our redemption is a legal act. There was a debt that had to be paid to redeem the lineage of Naomi and Ruth. It required a legal transaction. Our sin (yours and mine) demands a payment (for the wages of sin is death) and Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection is the legal receipt that we have been purchased and are forever His.

5. Our redemption is a loving act. What made Boaz willing to go the distance? Not law, but love! The cross is not only a legal act, but also a loving act. For Christ so loved the world that He gave Himself up for us (John 3:16).

6. Our redemption is an undeserved act. Ruth is a Moabite; she doesn’t deserve the act of inclusion in the redemptive act of God’s grace. You don’t deserve it either (and neither do I). Yet the Bible tells us that “while we were yet sinners” Christ died for us.

7. Our redemption is a public act. Boaz redeemed Ruth publicly in front of many witnesses; just like Jesus, who died on the cross for all to see.

8. Our redemption is a costly act. Redemption was costly to Boaz. He needed to have the right to redeem, the resources to redeem, and the resolve to redeem, which he gladly and generously provided.

9. Our redemption is a final act. The exchange of the sandal proved it was a done deal, never to be reversed. Jesus died for our sins “once and for all.” It is truly finished.

10. Our redemption is a hopeful act. It was this redeeming act that secured a future for Ruth and Naomi—as well as put in motion the genealogy that would lead to the birth of Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah. The Bible tells us we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:3).