How God speaks through a lineage of grace
When we deal with any shame from our family or past we position ourselves to hear God.
A recap on Tuning into God’s voice.
God speaks to you because he loves you and wants to lead you.
God speaks about our relationship with Him and our relationships with people (family, friends, church, boss, neighbour etc etc)
God speaks to us in His Son as a new creation, forgiven, holy and blameless. Sonship is his frequency.
Matthew 1:1-17
This is a record of the life of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram, 4 Aram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon. 5 Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, 6 and Jesse fathered King David.
David fathered Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asaph,[c] 8 Asaph[d] fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah, 9 Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amos,[e] and Amos[f] fathered Josiah. 11 Josiah fathered Jechoniah[g] and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 After the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah[h] fathered Salathiel,[i] Salathiel fathered Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, 14 Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud, 15 Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob. 16 Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus,[j] who is called the Messiah.[k]
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David totaled fourteen[l] generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon totaled fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah[m] there were fourteen generations.
So what could an ancient line of Jesus’ descendants teach us about hearing God?
1. God wants to speak to us about the era we're living in
Jesus’ genealogy (descendants) was crucial to being validated as the Jewish messiah. The author Matthew was writing the genealogy as 3 x 14 descendants which needs to be seen to be six lots of seven (the number of completion).
Now with the seventh (total completion) was upon them - the messianic age was here. This is the new creation era where God was fulfilling all his promises to redeem the earth.
If you were tell someone in 10 years time in another country what it was like to live during Brexit or the pandemic you might have something to say about the atmosphere, the government policies, what the media was like etc. Your life has been formed by the backdrop of government policy and the culture this facilitates.
What could it mean to be aware of heaven's government, agenda and “policies”? What would you say about Heaven’s influence during this time? What are you more attuned to? An earthly or heavenly agenda and atmoshere?
This is the age of the new creation where Christ has forgiven humanity of it’s sins, destroyed death once and for all and produced the decisive victory of darkness. You have been grafted into a lineage of grace.
The church is called to build toward the knowledge of God’s glory covering the earth as the waters cover the sea. Wow, that is so encouraging! Are you stirred?!
The prophets in the Old Testament longed for the day we live in. You might like the idea of going back and chatting with King David, Moses, Abraham, but you know what? They would be more eager to speak to you and understand what it is like to live in the new creation era. No animal sacrifices, no temple, no priesthood.
They could barely imagine the glory of the new covenant - the relationship we now have in Christ as holy and blameless filled with the Spirit forever.
What heavenly agenda have you become aware of this year?
2. God wants to speak about the power of vulnerability
Included in this genealogy are characters involved in incest and murder, there are prostitutes and immigrants. It’s been said the bible is the most honest book in the world. There is no cover up here! The truth is not hidden.
You might expect the biblical authors to airbrush Jesus’ ancestry, instead all the skeletons come out the closet and all the black sheep of the family are named. There is no dark episode or character in Jesus’ lineage that isn’t redefined by grace.
God is the bravest person you can imagine. He is willing to be vulnerable to misunderstanding and rejection to ensure that the gospel is for all.
The highlight reel in Matthew 1 is not exactly a marketer’s plan to manage the perception of the Saviour of the world! It’s too raw.
It’s like God sees Jesus’ family differently, as if they are forgiven and therefore included in God’s story again.
You might expect the biblical authors to airbrush Jesus’ ancestry, instead all the skeletons come out the closet and all the black sheep of the family are named. There is no dark episode or character in Jesus’ lineage that isn’t redefined by grace. You have been grafted into this story of grace, you and your family.
God is the bravest person you can imagine. He is willing to be vulnerable to misunderstanding and rejection to ensure that the gospel is for all.
The highlight reel in Matthew 1 is not exactly a marketer’s plan to manage the perception of the Saviour of the world! It’s too raw.
It’s like God sees Jesus’ family differently, as if they are forgiven and therefore included in God’s story again.
What uncomfortable truths are in your lineage you'd prefer to airbrush?
Have you disqualified yourself? Have you forgiven the past failure in your family?
Ask God: how do you see my family history?
What are you grateful for in your family history?
Action: Identify a strength or something you admire in a family member to share with them.
