"And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities" Psalm 130:8
In ancient Israel, when a man became poor, he could sell his land to pay his debts. If he earned enough money, he could buy the land back. If not, one of his relatives could redeem the land for him. This also applied to slaves. The law identified this kinsman-redeemer as the nearest willing relative. No one else had that responsibility.
What about you and me? We were once slaves to sin, sold out under the power of Satan. We could not buy ourselves out of this type of slavery. We could never acquire the medium of exchange to free ourselves. We needed a kinsman-redeemer.
And that's what God gave to us -our kinsman redeemer! By entering the world as a man, Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity, became our elder brother. He possessed the right to rescue us from sin, guilt, and death. When He paid the ransom price with His innocent suffering and bloody death, we were set free! When He rose from the dead to live again forever, He shared His eternal life with us. When we came to faith in Jesus, He adopted us as members of His family -the family of the redeemed.
Dear friend, if you are struggling with not knowing if you are saved, put aside all your own efforts at redeeming yourself. Jesus has done what you could never do. Trust that your Kinsman-Redeemer has most certainly rescued you on His cross. All of us have deserved damnation. We all need our Kinsman-Redeemer. Give up your sin and trust that your Older Brother, Jesus, has purchased you. In Him you find your eternal salvation!
-Dale
