1. The Way of Salvation Hidden Before Time Began
God foreknew that the first man Adam would disobey and because of that the spirit of so many people would die and they would fall in to destruction. That is why God prepared a way of human salvation through Jesus Christ before the time began. It is the way of the cross. God hid it in secret because He would not be able to save mankind if the enemy devil had known this way of human salvation beforehand.
1 Corinthians 2:7-8 says, “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, [8] which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
As each country has its own law, there is law in spiritual realm as well. To recover the mankind who became children of the enemy devil into God’s children, it has to be in compliance with the law of the spiritual realm. That is why God sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to this earth and let Him be crucified to redeem the sin of mankind according to ‘the law of the redemption of the land’.
2. The Law of Redemption of Land
Leviticus 25:23-25 says, “The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. [24] And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land. [25] If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.”
The law of the redemption of the land dictates that even when one sells his land, he or a close relative can redeem it later. So when people sell land in Israel, they record the process of the selling and purchasing of the land and the contents of the redemption of it. The seller and buyer put their seal in front of witnesses. They keep one copy of the contract in the storehouse of the Temple and put another copy in front of the Temple entrance without sealing it so that they can see it any time. So even when one sells his land, if he has the ability and wishes to get it back, he can redeem it any time according to the redemption rules.
In the same way, there was a contract of redemption of the land between God and the enemy devil due to the disobedience of Adam. Adam had to hand over all his authority to rule over everything because of his disobedience (Luke 4:6), but it cannot be sold forever but can be redeemed some day.
God prepared Jesus Christ as the one who is proper for the redemption of the land and opened the way of salvation through the suffering on the cross. Whoever calls the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13) and gain the authority of a child of God (John 1:12).
3. The Conditions of Redemption of Land and Jesus Christ
To be appropriate according to the law of the redemption of the land recorded in Leviticus 25:23-25, one must be a relative of man and have power and love to redeem the land. But on this earth, there is nobody who is appropriate to redeem the land.
Revelation 5:4 tells us that there is a scroll that says God handed over the authority to rule over the earth to the enemy devil due to Adam’s disobedience, but the authority will be given back to God if there is somebody who is able to redeem it. The apostle John wept because there was nobody to open the scroll. But verse 5 says, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” Jesus Christ, son of David, is the appropriate one who can redeem the land.
What, then, are the conditions to redeem the land?
First, he has to be a relative of Adam, namely a human being.
Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Romans 5:19 says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” Therefore, if there is somebody who can redeem the mankind from their sins, they can become God’s children getting out of the rules of the enemy devil.
According to the law of the redemption of the land, even if one sells his land, he cannot sell it forever. If the seller wants it back, the buyer has to give it back, and if the seller does not have the strength to buy it back, a close relative can redeem it on behalf of the seller. Therefore, to redeem devil’s children, the redeemer has to be a relative of Adam, namely a human being.
Then, does Jesus Christ meet the condition of the law of the redemption of the land? As John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, Jesus is the Word, who is God, and came to this earth in flesh as God’s Son. He meets the first condition of the law of the redemption of the land because He was born as a human being.
Second, he must not be a descendant of Adam.
Because Adam has the sin of disobedience, all mankind who is born of Adam’s line has original sin. Because a sinner cannot redeem other sinners, the redeemer must not be a descendant of Adam who had sinned. The apostle John tried to find somebody like this. When he looked up to heaven and there were only angels. When he looked down to the earth, there were only sinners who were Adam’s descendants. In the Hades, there were only the enemy devil, so he could not find anybody (Revelation 5:1-3).
Then does Jesus Christ have the qualification for the second condition of the law of the redemption of the land? Jesus was born of King David’s family in flesh, but was not conceived by the combination of man and woman, so He has no original sin. He was born as a man to redeem us from our sins, but was conceived by the Holy Spirit borrowing the body of the Virgin Mary. Therefore, He is not a descendants of Adam (Matthew 1:18-21).
Third, he must have the power to redeem the land.
Just as it is useless if you do not have power when you want to pay back debt, to redeem the land, the one must have the power. If the power of the counterpart is greater and he does not want to give it back, you cannot take it. So you must have greater power than your counterpart. In spiritual realm, power is to win over the enemy devil, and to do this, one must not have sins.
Then, does Jesus Christ have the qualification for the third condition? He did not have original sin because He was not a descendant of Adam. He did not commit any sin either because He kept the law completely for 33 years of His life. He was circumcised on the 8th day after His birth. He kept all the commandments and respected His parents until He became 30, after which one can leave his parents. Since then, He began His ministry.
Because Jesus had no sin at all in this way, He had the power to redeem the land. Finally, the enemy devil could not but give back the authority.
Fourth, he must have love.
Even though one meets all the above conditions, if he does not have love, which is the most important, it is of no use. It is like when a younger brother has big debt, even if his elder brother has so much money, it is of no use if the elder brother does not have love to pay back the debt for his younger brother.
Ruth 4:6 says, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” You can see that this man had the ability to redeem the land but did not. After all, Boaz, the next kin redeemed the land of Naomi. It was because he had enough love. He finally could be on the genealogy of Jesus as the great grandfather of David.
If Jesus did not have love to sacrifice Himself on the cross, could God bring back the mankind to had become children of devil as God’s children? Because of the love of God, Jesus came to this earth, gave forgiveness to sinners, healed many diseases, loosened the chains of injustice, gave peace, joy, and love, and did only good things. Nevertheless, He was crucified shedding all His blood by the hands of His creatures to open the way of salvation. Because God is love, He gave His one and only Son without sparing Him. Jesus, too, followed God’s will and took the cross with love.
Therefore, there is only one Jesus Christ who is qualified to redeem the land. We cannot be saved through any other name but Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). Let us realize this clearly, recover the authority of God’s children, lead a blessed life with prosperity in everything having the assurance of salvation, and give glory to God always.
