King's Business - 1947-04

when they were bom or how old they were, but they knew they were alive and aged. Similarly, there are many saints who cannot name the time and place when they were “bom again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Pet. 1:23), but they are truly saved. The question each of us must be assured of is whether the deliverance from the guilt of sin which the Re­ deemer accomplished by His death and resurrection, has become a personal reality. Can you say with Job, “I know that my Redeemer liveth”? If not, then before another moment rolls into eternity, you can, through the simple acceptance, by faith, of what God’s Word declares, pass from darkness into light and share the knowledge that God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven your sins. A Complete Atonement Just what did Job mean when he affirmed that he knew that his Redeemer lived? Some expositors explain the word Redeemer by saying that Job expected one of his relatives to arise after his death as the avenger of his blood and to exact retribu­ tion for it. Job’s hope, however, utterly contradicts this interpretation. Already the man of God had expressed his desire for a daysman (R. V. umpire) between himself and God, who could be no other than a divine personage (9:32-35). He also declared his conviction that he had his “Witness . . . in heaven” (16:19). He longed to have an advocate to plead his cause (16:21). He called upon God to be “surety” for him (17:3). Thus, having already acknowl­ edged God as his Judge, Umpire, Advocate, Witness, and Surety, Job did not have to take a long step in the acknowledgment of God as his Redeemer. The word Job uses for Redeemer is of intense sig­ nificance. In the original, it is goel, that is a “kinsman redeemer.” In the Old Testament, goel was one who brought back a forfeited inheritance, redeemed a slave, avenged the slain, or one who perpetuated a family name and heirship among the families and estates of Israel. We have no hesitation in affirming that Job’s Re­ deemer is likewise ours—even the Lord Jesus Christ— for the language he used suggested a divine Goel: “Shall I see’God” (19:26). Though he lived hundreds of years before Calvary, Job meant, when he used the word Re­ deemer, exactly what we mean when, in the full blaze of divine grace, we use the same word. Commenting on Isaiah 59:20, Dr. C. I. Scofield reminds us that the Old Testament figure of a kinsman-redeemer is a beautiful type of Christ. Explaining the New Testament doctrine of redemp­ tion, Dr. Sbolield points out that there are three words translated redemption in the Scriptures. One word means to purchase in the market —in which there is the thought of a slave market. Another word implies to buy out of a market. And still another word suggests to loose or to set free by paying a price. The Saviour performed all of these services on behalf of the believer. Our Heavenly Inheritance was mortgaged by sin, and we were utterly unable to pay the debt, to satisfy God’s justice for sin, to renew our mortgage, or to provide a new settlement of our inheritance. Something of our condition is seen in the experience of Ruth, the Moabit* ish woman. As the widow of Mahlon, she was involved with her first husband in his losses and liabilities. But when she became the wife of Boaz, the redeemer of her estate and the lord of the harvest, she and her inherit­ ance were redeemed, and she became the sharer of his wealth and social standing. In Christ, we who in Adam were condemned and alienated, are justified and recon­ ciled. Saves

JtouU . 2>. understood. It is evident that the language he used re­ lated to two advents df Christ. Job’s friends urged him to set his hopes upon a return to temporal prosperity, to health, wealth, and friends. Job, however, longed for God and His salvation. Upheld by this Spirit-given hope, the patriarch spoke of vindication in a future life. Here is an ancient message. Job’s declaration of the Redeemer is all the more striking if, as many scholars affirm, his book was the first book of the Bible to be written. It seems unquestionable that this book was in existence before the giving of the Law. Job, then, was probably the first herald of Easter. Here is a central message. Job's Easter prediction is almost in the center of the Old Testament. This is sig­ nificant, since the central truth of Christianity is that which Christ made possible by His death and resur­ rection. In Job’s triumphant utterance, there are at least six related truths for the comfort of every believer: A Christian Assurance Job was positive in his assertion: "I know that my Redeemer liveth.” Perhaps, maybe, possibly: this man’s vocabulary of faith included no such words. Unlike many present-day preachers, he did not doubt his beliefs and believe his doubts. Although he lived years before Christ, and on the other side of the cross, he knew that Christ would come as the Redeemer. To know anything is to be confident of its existence. How did Job know that his Redetemer was alive and that ultimately he would see Him? Knowledge, such as Job mentioned, is not a mere mental comprehension founded upon scientific statements. As used by Job, the word Implies an inner knowledge and inborn conviction. This kind of knowledge regarding the redemption of Christ can never be acquired merely by acquiescing to state­ ments of Scripture. It comes by the Holy Spirit’s burn­ ing into one’s consciousness the true meaning of these inspired statements, meaning that will apply personally to heart and life. There is no greater tragedy than for one to rest upon a superficial head knowledge of the finished work of Christ, and to refuse to experience that heart knowledge which is essential to salvation. If the certainty of Christ’s rederpptive work is not yours, pause and ask God to reveal the reality of it to you by His Spirit. He longs to do that! Just when this unshakable certainty gripped the heart and mind of Job we are not told. Whether the truth of a living, loving Redeemer came as a crisis or as a process in Job’s experience is unrecorded. He knew, and that was sufficient for time and eternity. Many there are who can point to a definite day and hour when the miracle of the new’birth was accom­ plished in them, and they became children of God. Others, Just as certain that they possess personal faith in Christ, cannot give the exact date of this transaction. We are told that when the old age pension system was introduced in Britain, scores of elderly people had no birth certificates to produce that would prove that they were eligible for the pension. They did not know APRIL i’ «7

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