What does it mean for you to say: I know that my Redeemer lives? This message not only refers to Job’s response to his misfortune, but this discussion also seeks to make this phrase relevant to the Christian’s walk with God. This sermon begins with Job’s reaction and then takes a step forward in the life of the believer in Jesus Christ. Just as Job looked to God as his vindicator, so every believer looks to Jesus as his redeemer. Every Christian can say: “I know that my Redeemer lives”, even in the face of adversity.
I wonder how many of us can say like Job in his frustration and anguish over his friends’ false accusations against his integrity before God: “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). Although Job had lost his children, his wealth and his health, he could still say: “I know that my Redeemer lives.” He never lost courage to stand up for what he knew to be right.
He knew that ultimately God would justify him. The word Redeemer could also be translated vindicator. Job knew that he had faithfully served God. If Christians hurt your feelings, or falsely accused you, could you say what Job said?
Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do? Has anyone ever pointed the finger at you for something you weren’t guilty of? Job’s three friends accused him of wrongdoing. And out of desperation, Job says, “I know I have a living defender” (Job 19:25). The Bible translates this verse: “Christians have appropriated this verse to celebrate redemption from sin and judgment, but Job had something else in mind. Job is claiming that God will ultimately vindicate him in the face of all false accusations. In the end , God will defend Job and give him the reason.
Job throws his faith forward
Job throws his faith forward and declares that the day will come when God will defend him. In other words, Job is saying that God is his kinsman and his avenger. The day will come in the future when God will correct this wrong. Job did not believe in the annihilation of the soul.
He understood that life existed beyond this life. She knew that she would finally see God (Job 19:26). Job knew that there was life beyond the grave. He knew that this chapter of his life was not the last. One notes Job’s confession of faith in this section. One detects his faith in God the Father, the creator of heaven and earth. He believed in a living redeemer.
Job believed in the resurrection of the dead; and he believed in the life of the world to come. He maintained that he would see the goodness of God in the land of the living, not in the land of the dead. He was absolutely sure that death was not the end of existence, and that one day he would see God with his eyes:
Job was subjected to intense attacks from satan. In one day he lost the vast majority of his material belongings, as well as his ten children, due to acts of robbery and natural disasters. What was Job’s response? The Scriptures tell us: “Job arose, tore his cloak, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said, Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. In all this Job did not sin, nor did he accuse God of wickedness (see Job 1:20-22). Then satan deprived Job of good health, beating him with painful boils from the crown of his head to the soul of his foot. Yet his life remained , satan being restrained by the grace of God.
Still, the Scriptures say, Job did not sin with his lips, instructing his wife with a question: Will we accept God’s good and not accept adversity? (see Job 2:10) Did Job wonder why these things were happening? Yes, he did it! Did Job get tired and discouraged in the midst of these trials? Yes, he did it! Did Job begin to question God on these matters? Yes, he did it! But Job never questioned the existence of God, or his presence, or his relevance, or his ultimate and merciful intention! In the midst of these great difficulties, Job declared: “I know that my Redeemer lives!
Job knew his God existed, for he could look up to the heavens as David would later, and he could see them declaring “the glory of God,” as David would later write in Psalm 19. Job did not have the written revelation of the will of God in the form of the Old Testament Scriptures. They would not be written for hundreds of years, but he had the promise of a savior from sin. Kept alive through oral tradition, it has been passed down from one faithful and believing generation to another.
He knew that God would send the “seed” of the woman promised by God in the Garden of Eden. That “seed,” God had assured the man, would crush satan’s head, as he endured a wound for his healing (see Genesis 3:15). As cryptic as those words sound, Job knew they meant God’s victory on behalf of humanity. Ultimately, God would resolve the tragic circumstances he faced, for he had promised victory over even greater circumstances and enemies: Satan, sin, death, and hell!
work and future life
Job did not seek vindication here, but sought exoneration in the hereafter. Job had just declared his despair and utter helplessness in this life:
We do not know how much Job understood about life after death, but the text indicates that he knew that death was not the cessation of life. Although he may have faintly perceived this understanding; however, he recognized that there is a future state.
One can’t help but wonder where he learned about this future state and about God’s justice. He refers to God as his redeemer. In the use of this term, Did he have any indication of the coming of the redeemer Jesus Christ? Perhaps he too had the same traditions that had been passed down through the generations about the afterlife. Perhaps he had some insight regarding the coming savior (Christ) just as Abraham had a vision of the coming savior.
The context in Job 19 seems to refer to God the Father. A reading of the Old Testament Scriptures reveals that the prophets were not totally ignorant of this coming of Christ as redeemer (see 1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:19-21). Is there any reason to doubt that Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Melchizedek, and Job did not understand something about the coming Messiah and life after death?
The coming of Christ as redeemer
Jesus called attention to the fact that Abraham had seen the day of Christ:
How much did the priest Melchizedek understand? Melchizedek, who lived at the time of Abraham, was a priest of the Most High God and king of Salem (see Hebrews 7:1-10; Genesis 14:18-20). Just as God communicated with Noah and Abraham (see Genesis 12:1; 15:1) and with Moses (see Exodus 3:3; 6:1), God also communicated with Job (see Job 38:1-41). . Just as Noah built an altar to God and offered a burnt offering to God after the flood (Genesis 8:20-21), so Job offered a “burnt offering” for each of his children (Job 1:4-5). .
How did Noah know the difference between clean and unclean animals if God had not revealed this differentiation to him (see Genesis 8:20-21)? How did Job know about animal sacrifices? Does this knowledge about sacrifices go back to the time of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-7)?
Jesus accomplished this redemption by dying on the cross for sinners. “In him we have redemption through his blood” (see Ephesians 1:7). It was on the cross that Jesus paid the purchase price to set us free from our slavery to sin. On the cross Jesus reconciled us to the family of God, restoring us to the love of the Father. It was on the cross that Jesus avenged the death blow we received when satan first tempted us to sin.
We too can say like Job, no matter what our current and personal circumstances are. We have the facts relating to the coming of Jesus, his life, his death, and in view of the four Passover accounts found in the Gospels: his bodily resurrection from the grave. The unbelieving world mocks us, suggesting that Bible-believing Christians are weak, ignorant, and superstitious.
The elite in our world today; those who control most of the secular educational institutions; suggests that there is no certainty that it can be found. They say that everything is relative. Nothing beyond the material exists, they claim. Man’s experience, his observations, his understanding must be the measure of all things, they boast. Man, in essence, has become his own god. With the result that the world is beset with problems that have been common to all ages and that have their roots in the sinful and selfish desires of man. “There is nothing new under the sun!” (see Ecclesiastes 1:9)
We invite you to read: 5 Ways To Strengthen Your Faith Remembering That Christ Is The Rock
The fully Evangelical sense
Fully understand what Job perceived, and in the phrase that I express: “”, in the fully evangelical sense. Job was sure that his redeemer would justify him in the end. It is in this same vein of knowledge about the redeeming Christ that every Christian depends for his vindication in his relationship with the Father. Just as Job could express these words.
So also every Christian can say: I know that my redeemer lives, that is, Jesus Christ. Today, think of Jesus Christ as the redeemer of our lives; if you are in it. In fact, he is the closest relative to you. Paul, an apostle of God, speaks of this closeness with these words: “because we are members of his body” (see Ephesians 5:30). Again, Scripture says:
Since the children are flesh and blood, he also participated in his humanity to destroy with his death the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who throughout their lives were enslaved by fear. to the death.
Because he does not help the angels, but the descendants of Abraham. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order to become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, and in order to make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted (see Hebrews 2:14-18).
This redeemer has participated in all the stinging pains that open your heart; he knows your constitution; he knows your weaknesses and your deep feelings. The tests that cut to the bottom, he understands because he also “was made similar to his brothers, to be merciful.”
Paul paints a graphic picture of redemption in his first letter to Corinth:
Every believer can express the same words as Job when going through great adversity.
The believer must know that Jesus redeems our life from the wrath of God, from the dominion of sin, from curses and from condemnation. Jesus makes it possible for every Christian to sing: Where, oh death, is your sting? (15:55).
Job had lost everything, but he had not lost his redeemer. However, we can confidently declare: I know my redeemer lives! We can do it for three very good reasons.