How the New Testament Begins....and Why

I love beginnings and endings.  To me, it is always important that any book begin with something significant, something that really matters, something that catches your attention.  And of course, the ending needs to be powerful as well.  We see that the Bible is the prime example of this principle.

The New Testament begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ.  Now one might think this is a rather boring way to start a new book.  We don't usually think of genealogical records as being attention getting.  But in this particular case, it is quite meaningful that the book begins with this record.  We have just finished the Old Testament with all of its stories, people and nations, looking at the history of the Jewish people down through the centuries.  A close examination of the OT shows that one of the key things it is doing is to give the history of the family of Jesus leading up to the time that He will be born.  As we arrive at the NT, we see that it opens with a quick summary of what has been taught in great detail throughout the OT. 

Note the opening words, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham; Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob...."  This quick summary of the family of Jesus only takes 16 verses.  But in these verses we have a strong tie to the OT, and we have a message being given to us that this is important.  The family of Jesus, the history, the occurrences that got us to this point in the story are all quite significant. 

The book of Matthew then continues right into the birth of Jesus Christ.  We have the beautiful story of the parents of Jesus being told of the importance of the child to be born.  This story is told also in the book of Luke.  And in fact, the book of Luke gives an account in chapter 3 of the genealogy also.  The genealogical record is a little different in Luke, thought by most scholars to be due to following some of the family of Mary rather than the family of Joseph as recorded in Matthew. 

While most genealogies are not so interesting to most of us, this one is the greatest of them all.  And it is a powerful and meaningful beginning to the last part of the Bible. 

Thank you for reading..and for being a faithful follower.

God is in Control

I was reading the end of Psalm 9 where it says, "Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail.  Let the nations be judged in your sight.  Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men."

Sometimes we become concerned about the state of our world, the state of our nation, the direction that our society is taking.  But when we read what God tells us in His Word, we see that He is in control.  We may feel out of control....like, we can't control the condition of our environment.  We may know that we are usually too small to change the direction of our nation.  But God is still in control.

Psalms is full of instruction about the power of God and the fact that He has dominion.  Psalm 22:28 says, "For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations."

And Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."

So if God is in control, what are we to do?  Romans 13:1 gives us clear instruction: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.  Do you want to be  unafraid of the authority?  Do what is good , and you will have praise from the same."

Of course God knows that authorities and nations can be evil.  But God is still in control...and He expects us to be obedient as long as we are not violating what God wants from us.

And we can always remember that "All things work together for good to those who love God..."  (Romans 8:28).

Thanks for reading.  Feel the love......

Psalms

The very first Psalm begins in a powerful and clear way.  It draws a distinction between the person who is a true follower and he who isn't. 

"Blessed (or happy) is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord.  And in his law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."

This is a very positive start, showing how things go well for the person who follows God in his life.  He reads his Bible....and he knows God's will for him.  He is like a well watered tree that prospers because it is being well fed with what it needs for life.  And, of course, we know that God provides real life to those who are committed to Him.

Reading on:  "The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

We see the reference here of ungodly people being like "chaff."  Chaff is growth that is useless, like the shuck from an ear of corn.  And the teaching here is that there will be a judgment by the Lord.

We see here and throughout the Bible that God doesn't accept middle ground.  There are only two positions.  We are either for Him or against Him; following Him and serving Him....or not.  We like to deal in shades or variations of position.  But God doesn't teach it that way.  We must be truly committed to Him

"For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

This is strong teaching, but teaching that is critical to our salvation.  Let us all heed it.  Have a great week....and keep the faith.