WAITING FOR SUPERMAN!

If you were in dire trouble and needed to be saved by a superhero who would you pick to come to the rescue? I would pick Superman! Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…

He can fly in the sky like a bird and his hair is never messed up! He fights for truth, justice, and the American way! Strong, fast, powerful. A real hero! He is the perfect package of good looks, brains, brawn, and compassion! Yes, I would feel pretty safe in the strong arms of Superman!

If I were waiting for Superman I would wait a long, long time. His major flaw is not kryptonite. His major flaw is… he is not real!

There is a real superhero of sorts. His name is KINSMAN REDEEMER! He is real and alive and ready to save! He, like Superman, goes by another name. He is also known as Jesus!

So what makes the KINSMAN REDEEMER our real-life superhero? I’m so glad you asked!

To understand we need to look at the deep and ancient meaning KINSMAN REDEEMER.

In ancient times, when there were no governments, no police, no hospitals, no social welfare programs, no insurance, no churches to help the poor and downtrodden, a person in need would turn to their families. In particular, people would turn to a close relative to save them from the problem they were in. Problems so big that they could not save themselves!

If an ancient had to sell his land or even himself or a family member into slavery to pay a debt or to buy food to live a KINSMAN REDEEMER could buy them back.

A kinsman is a relative that is close in bloodline, one that was a kin! In ancient times this person was a close male relative.

But not every close kin or kinsman could save his family. He had to have the means to redeem a family member. He had to have the money or fair trade to REDEEM his kin out of trouble. The word redeem means to BUY BACK WITH A PRICE.

A KINSMAN REDEEMER had to have 3 particular qualities to be the saving superhero of his family. He had to qualify.

In other words, A KINSMAN REDEEMER had to be a close relative. He also had to have the means to buy his family out of slavery and lastly, he had to have the desire to be a KINSMAN REDEEMER.

Qualifications, Means and Desire! All those boxes had to be checked off to be a Kinsman Redeemer.

When a person became a KINSMAN REDEEMER and bought back his close relative with his own money the relationship of the two changed!

In ancient times if a person bought back land, it was yours! If a person bought someone they became your slave. Not so if a family member stood in the gap for another and bought back land or a relative from slavery!

When a Kinsman Redeemer bought back another family member they became bonded to the one another in an even closer relationship for life.

Think of it this way, if someone saved your life in a spectacular, unselfish way and it cost them greatly would you not feel a very special bond to them? Wouldn’t all of us feel indebted to our savior out of sheer gratitude? In ancient times this bond was not only familial, or emotional, it was special and set apart. It went far beyond being grateful or indebted!

We have a KINSMAN REDEEMER that is real, and ready to save us too.

Did you ever stop to consider why Jesus had to come to earth as a human? And why did he die on a cross?  It’s all about being our KINSMAN REDEEMER. It’s all about Jesus being the one and only, real superhero!

Why did God, come down to planet earth in human flesh?

Remember that a KINSMAN REDEEMER had to be a relative, a close relative. Jesus had to be human. He IS all God! But for His 33 years on planet earth, He CHOSE to put His Deity in human flesh so he would be one like us. A human! A KINSMAN!

Why did Jesus come to earth as a human? Because we needed a superhero… and still od! The human race, each one of us, has sold ourselves into slavery… even if we are not aware of it! We belong to a horrible, detestable slave owner named Satan. Satan is a cruel taskmaster. He is all about destruction of earth and of us. Doesn’t he sound like a villain in a superhero comic book. But he is real and purely evil and wants nothing more than our total destruction! He will literally kill us for all eternity unless we can somehow escape! But we can’t. That’s the bottom line truth!   We cannot pay the price.

Who set up this price you ask? Great question! The price was set before the beginning of time by God himself. Why would God set up a price? A price so high that we could not get out of slavery for all eternity to Satan?

This is an even better question! God set the price so high so we would not be able or have to pay for it ourselves. Because we were never intended to pay the price! God’s plan was to send the price to us!

He would send a KINSMAN REDEEMER to us who would save us. Jesus’ whole purpose to come to planet earth as a man was to be our kin and save us! God himself is our superhero! He will save us and pay a price far too great for us to pay!

But what was the price that only God could pay? This is the part of the story… no, real-life saga that brings me to face-to-the-ground worship!

The price was a life!

God tells us that the wages for selling ourselves into slavery of Satan, in other words, sinning, is death (Romans 6:23)! Death is separation from God for all eternity.

But God… I love these words in this story. BUT GOD! Here He comes! Our superhero, our KINSMAN REDEEMER, our great God!

But God knew all this before he even made one speck of creation. His plan for saving us was already in place. So firm that it was as if it had already happened! God Himself would pay the price for our sin and bondage into slavery with HIS life! So, God came to planet earth and walk and lived a perfect sinless life. The wages had to be paid by a KINSMAN who had no sin.

Leviticus 17:11 tells us LIFE IS IN THE BLOOD. Jesus would have to live a sinless life and then die, spilling out his perfect life’s blood dying in our place, thus paying our debt out of slavery to Satan.

Our very God became our KINSMAN REDEEMER. He became like us by becoming our kin. He had the price to buy us back. It was His life. And he had the desire.  

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE AND ONLY SON (to come to earth, live and then die) SO THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE… John 3:16!

The conditions of a KINSMAN REDEEMER were filled and filled perfectly in Jesus!

If I were in great peril of death and Superman swooped down to save me would I refuse being saved? Only the biggest fool would say no and try to save themselves! Superman does not want anything in return. His salvation is free! The only thing I needed to do is to say yes! Believe that he can save me. Would you do it? Of course!!!!

Right now you might be in peril of death! This is not a fairytale or comic book story. This is real! You cannot save yourself. You do not have what it takes! But your KINSMAN REDEEMER  JESUS does! Will you believe in Him. Will you believe He can do it?

If you agree to let Him save you, you now have a very special relationship with Him. You belong to him, not as a slave but as a member of his close family! And He belongs to you! It is the start of a wonderful journey that will take you into the gates of heaven and beyond!

If you accept His salvation then you acknowledge that you are in slavery to Satan and a sinner and cannot save yourself. Bow your knee to Jesus as your Creator (which HE IS) and your KINSMAN owner! You belong to the King! You are of His family and you serve Him now!

I’m not waiting for Superman. Years ago I found a better, real superhero. My KINSMAN REDEEMER, Jesus!  I am His and He is mine! I know and love and serve my King! He is my superhero and He’s waiting for YOU!

Bible verse to think about this week…

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 4:4-7