λυτρωτής

And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. ~Ruth 3:12 (ESV)

Back in those days, when a widow was to be remarried, she needed to first seek out anyone in the family line who would become her "redeemer" and take her and all her possessions as responsibility. Ruth needed a redeemer, and sought out Boaz, as he was a kind man who Naomi also recommended. Staying true though, Boaz made sure there was no one who should be the one to take her first, so he asked the nearer redeemer and received his permission before anything else.

There is a very obvious line we can draw here between Ruth's redeemer(s) and ours--Jesus Christ. What Ruth required of a redeemer was that he be within the family line. If there was no one left in that family, she would then be free to marry as she saw fit. With us, before we can accept Christ as our redeemer, we must first divorce the world. Next, we must know that there is no one on earth who qualifies as our spiritual redeemer, the only way is through Jesus. The best part about this however, is that God, when we choose to seek him, accepts us into his family, thus allowing Christ to redeem us and call us his own.

Here is a song I really enjoy and thought would go along with this post: