The Hope of Christmas

Hey everyone! In the spirit of Christmas, I figured I would write a little bit about what God has taught me during this advent season. Yes, I know its been a while, but I would not be able to sleep tonight without posting something!

Over advent, I have been studying the genealogy of Jesus found in Matthew 1. The two main things that I have taken away are that Jesus' line is far from perfect and that God remains faithful to His promises. Now, to examine these ideas a little closer.

The geneology of Jesus reads as follows: "Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ." (Matthew 1:2-16)

For so long, I've skipped over this part of the Matthew. I've justified this because I wanted to get straight into the action. But in actuality, there is so much action in these 15 verses. The genealogy of Jesus includes those who were faithful servants of the Lord and others who worshipped other gods. There is MUCH sin in the genealogy of Jesus but yet so much faithfulness. Some examples of sinfulness would include Judah sleeping with his daughter-in-law, dressed and a prostitute, and impregnating her with twins, David sleeping with Bathsheba, and the hard hearts of Manasseh and the next kings of Israel (Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah). But them you have the faithful Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his son on the altar and Ruth, the loyal woman who left everything behind to follow her mother-in-law.

The genealogy of Jesus reveals to us the sinful nature of man. But despite all the sin and shortcomings, God remained faithful to His promise. In Genesis 3:15, God promises to the devil that He will "put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” The promise of a Savior coming dates all the way back to almost the start of the Old Testament! That to me is pretty crazy! Even though they were imperfect, God chose certain people to make up the line that He would send His son through. God used these people for a greater purpose. That gives us hope that He is using us too for a greater purpose.

Our Savior was born over 2,000 years ago on this day! Let us all rejoice that God sent His Son incarnate to pay our debt. To pay the price of our sins. Let us adore the Lord today. Let us praise Him and be thankful Emmanuel came to be with us! And let us be ready for His second coming! Merry Christmas!

-Mia