From Emptiness to Fullness (Ruth 4)

First Scripture Reading: Ruth 4:1-22

Second Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-22

Sermon Text: Ruth 4:1-22

When Naomi returned to Bethlehem from Moab, she said in her sorrow, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty” (Ruth 1:20-21). She had no idea at the time that God was working through the disobedience of her family and the trials in her life to grant her fullness by his grace. Yet once she held Obed, she realized the fullness God had provided her. As believers living in the New Covenant, we can see that Obed was only a sign of a greater fullness God would grant Naomi and all those who trust in him, because in the fullness of time, a son greater than Obed would come to redeem his people from their sins and grant eternal blessings. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ,” writes Paul in Colossians 1:19. “For in Christ the whole fullness of diety dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority” (Colossians 2:9-10). And the Apostle John writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:14, 16). The Lord Jesus explained the reason for his coming to redeem us from our sins: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).