DECEMBER 30 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SUMMARY-17 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31 (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

DECEMBER  30  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   SUMMARY-17 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31  (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16) 

365 Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, Lord and Savior, You are worthy, You alone are to be praised above all names. Lord, our lives simply have no meaning outside Your Salvation, No Hope without Your Cross and Sacrifice, and no Life outside Your Death and only through Your Resurrection can we have Eternal Joy and Heaven itself! Outside of Your Mighty Deeds the world only offers despair, death, darkness, and no hope of life. Lord Jesus, I pray to always be “In Christ” for outside there is no “LIGHT” and only “In Christ” will we ever find “True Rest” — Lord, I dedicate myself to Your service, make me wholly Thine, shape me, mold me, and use me as You Will. Let my life be Yours that I will always remain “In Christ”!!!          AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

DECEMBER  30  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   SUMMARY-17 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31  (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16)  Jesus has in His Genealogy some very interesting TRUTHS listed that point to both Him being the Messiah and what His “Inheritance” as the Messiah might include and therefore “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1:1) can be used to shine a light on the “Purpose” of the Messiah and the God that sent Him to be born of a “virgin” and live a perfect life in order that He might die as “the Lamb of God”. The following comments are taken from a sermon given by Brian Walls on the Genealogy of Jesus Christ taken from Matthew 1:17 and presented on 12/28/16 and an internet article titled “The Origins of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-25)” written by Robert L. Deffingbaugh (Copyright 2003 by Community Bible Chapel, Richardson, TX) in which some very interesting information can be understood from this Genealogy of Jesus Christ as given by St. Matthew in his efforts to present to the Jewish Community that Jesus IS the Messiah. In the sermon given by Brian Walls he points out that in the genealogy given by Matthew that contrary to normal Jewish genealogy that the inclusion of women was very rare and the inclusion of Gentiles was even less likely to appear in a good Jewish genealogy but the very fact that by Matthew including these women and them being “gentiles” as well points to the “TRUTH” of the genealogy and we must also consider what the internet article by Robert Deffingbaugh starts out with — a quote from the “Apostle to the Gentiles” the Apostle Paul “16 Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.” (2nd Timothy 3:16-17) As we look at the “inspiration” being from “God” for this genealogy given by St. Matthew then we must trust that God had a “purpose” for the inclusion of these women and not only their inclusion but the “TRUTH” of their lives which to God was important enough to be included in the Genealogy of God’s Anointed and I quote Robert Deffingbaugh as he observed about the inclusion in the Genealogy of Jesus Christ  these less-than-reputable women: “One purpose of the first genealogy, then, is to dramatically underscore the truthfulness of God’s Word.” And as Brian Walls pointed out, if you are writing a resume then you usually don’t included such dubious characters  in your list of references for we as fallen creatures succumb to the temptation of burying those parts of our pasts because they do not shed a “good light” on our reputation so for God to make sure these additions are not only included but their problem actually highlighted such as “David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.” (Matthew 1:6) So in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ God reveals the TRUTH that David the king was guilty of both “adultery and murder”   and also was an ancestor of Jesus thereby making Jesus both a Son of David and a Son of Abraham thereby meeting the minimum requirements of the Jewish Messiah and also  these revealing facts listed in the ancestry of Jesus as Robert Deffingbaugh states “dramatically underscore the truthfulness of God’s Word”. The inclusion of both Jew and Gentile in the line of the Messiah reveals the purpose of the Messiah and the heart of God for His Creation and was put very beautifully by Frederick Bruner: “One gets the impression that Matthew poured over his Old Testament records until he could find the most questionable ancestors of Jesus available in order, in turn, to insert them into his record and so, it seems, to preach the gospel — the gospel, that is, that God can overcome and forgive sin, and can use soiled but repentant persons for His great  purpose in history.”  So when we read the Genealogy of Jesus in God’s Holy Word we must trust that there is always a reason and purpose behind what God includes in HIS WORD for our benefit and let HIS WORD teach us that truly “God so [loves] the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son [Jesus] that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Simple-Direct-Truthful and can only be found “In Christ”!!!