Coming to the Rescue

 "He said, 'Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me.'; and so, he became their Savior. In all their distress, he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old."                 Isaiah 63: 8, 9

    One dark and rainy night, our phone rang. "Could you please come and help me?" our daughter asked. "My car is stuck in the mud." My husband compiled the tools of rescue he felt we may need and together, we headed out. On the way, however, our wipers quit working! Now we needed to be rescued. Enter our relative, Jeff, who kindly came to our aid in inclement weather. Our daughter tried to free her car on her own but she needed help. In the Bible, Jeff would have been our kinsman redeemer - a next-of-kin who, in certain emergencies, was expected to come to the rescue. 

    Sooner or later, in this life, we will find ourselves stuck in the mud. We're wet, miserable, sinking in our sinful mire, unable to free ourselves, no matter how hard we try. Who will rescue us from this mess? We need Someone who is not also stuck, Someone who has all the right equipment. "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1: 13, 14) 

    Do you know you were bought at a precious, valuable price? It was not with perishable things, like money, that we were redeemed, but "with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." (1 Peter 1: 18, 19) The word "redeem" means to "recover ownership of by paying a specified sum; to buy back." When it comes to saving souls for all eternity, who could possibly afford that price? 

    Jesus came to the rescue in person, in inclement situations, paying the price we could never afford. Just as we would never have left our daughter in the mud, He heroically came to deliver us from this body of death so we may go home to be with Him where it's safe and dry. He is our Kinsman Redeemer.

"I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?" Hosea 13:14