Sarah & I would like to share with you one of our "first" traditions (if we can call it a tradition yet). We decided to get an Advent calendar for our Christmas season! 1. Because I don't remember the last time I ever went through an Advent calendar 2. Because it's cool and we live in Seattle 3. Because it's biblical (thought I should add this one). We are celebrating Advent, because the word means "coming," and reminds Sarah & I of the best "coming" there ever was! The arrival of our Rescuer, Jesus Christ!
It's day 2. December 2nd! Though busy, Sarah and I have decided to carve out time and make sure we get through our Advent calendar... it might be a struggle during the weekdays! We shall see!
Matthew 1:3, 5, 6, 16 "...and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar...and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth...and David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba),...and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ."
Today's reading in Matthew reminded both Sarah and I, that God is a God of grace. I had mentioned yesterday that His lineage was filled with 'somebodies' and sometimes filled with, what seemed to be, 'nobodies,' even the ones we don't like to mention. This should remind us all that God redeems those we would think the most unlikely. Take the example of Jesus' lineage, as mentioned above. Tamar and Rahab prostituted themselves and we see them here in the lineage of Jesus. Ruth was a pagan Moabite, a foreigner to the people of Israel; yet she was brought into the lineage of Jesus through Boaz. Bathsheba committed adultery with King David, who then proceeded to kill her husband; yet their son Solomon is included in the lineage of Jesus. Mary, the teenager visited by an angel, overcame fear, an 'illegitimate' pregnancy, and the ridicule of her town to give birth to our Savior, Jesus.
All these women were not considered the 'best of the best' in our eyes. But God revealed to them and to us that He is a God of great grace! Not only did He show grace to these 5 women, but He has shown grace over and over in Scripture, culminating at the birth of His own Son, Jesus! God gave us grace by sending His own Son as our Rescuer! God became man, dwelt among us, endured our pains, our sorrows, our joys, and our trials here on earth so that He could say, "I have been through what you have been through." "I can completely identify with all of you." And He did all of this without sinning! His final act of grace was taking our place on the cross, dying the death that we rightly deserve, and giving us His life that we could not live! What grace to us! What grace to these women in His lineage, what grace offered to the whole world!
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
No comments:
Post a Comment