Matthew 1… a genealogy of Christ our Lord, but oh the story it does tell and how it stirred my soul this morning. Christ, the perfect Son of God Who came to earth to take the sins of the world upon His shoulders on the cross of Calvary had a family line that was as speckled as the coat of a leopard. And why did that stir my soul? Because if God would use this bunch to be in the story of His Son, there is hope for me to be used in the ministry of Christ as well.
I imagine (in my puny mind) of days in Heaven when Christ will show us the works of our ministry and how His hand was in it all the time stirring and guiding to work things (all things) for good. A look at the behind the scene shots that we were not privileged to understand while here on earth. We’ll be shocked just as I’m sure these characters would have been, when living out their lives, shocked to know their story was written down for eternity to be studied by man. We look at fame today as a Hollywood noteworthy or even with fame at its best we’ll look at a war hero. And while there will be some who will talk about these in ages to come if the Lord tarries, none will be talked about as the characters in God’s word. That is true fame! But not always for what they would have liked.
- Abraham lied
- Jacob was known as the deceiver
- Judas thought he slept with a harlot (his daughter-in-law that he’d lied to)
- That daughter in law, Thamar, is mentioned in Matthew 1
- Boaz married Ruth (a Gentile) not a Jew at all, yet there she is in this story.
- King David, known and loved as a man after God’s own heart… yet he murdered Urias after an affair with his wife, and God mentions it in this story, and the list goes on and on…
Character after character, flaws and all, there they are in the story of Christ our Lord. It had to be so, most likely because of us. If God had used, good, godly men and women to fulfil the story of the coming of the Lord, those good, godly men and women or their ancestors would have worked themselves into the story of Christ as being “worthy” to have been there. But as God would have it, there were none found worthy, and God made sure we knew that. Because none of us are worthy of being listed as a part of His family… except through the blood of Jesus!!! Oh glory to God on that!
That is what stirred my soul today. For me it is another day of feeling like a constant failure… but God said through His word, “Yes you are… and so were they… and yet I used them. Now suck it up and get back out on the battle field we have work to do.” And so I will… unworthily. It is no wonder we sing “Worthy is the Lamb.”
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
… and though He was slain to receive it, we receive it as heirs…
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.