From the beginning, God had a plan to redeem us from evil. In Genesis 12, when God gave the ‘Blessing of Abraham’, He made it clear that Abraham was part of the plan. The Lord told Abraham:
Genesis 12:2-3
“I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
The promise given to Abraham wasn’t intended only for Abraham. In Genesis 15 the Lord promised Abraham that an heir would be born of his wife Sarah. Genesis 15:5 (NKJV) “Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
It’s difficult to imagine what Abraham could have been thinking at that moment. According to Genesis 12, Abraham would have been around 75 years old when he settled in Canaan. (https://www.harpscrossing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Timeline-From-Abram-to-Exodus.pdf). Sarah would have been around 65 years old and she was well past child bearing years. Yet, Sarah didn’t conceive Isaac until she was 90 years old.
When we do the math we know God told Abraham when he was 75 years old he would have a son, but Sarah didn’t conceive Isaac for another 25 years! Abraham and Sarah waited for 25 years for the promise to be fulfilled. (The next time we remind God He made a promise to us 10 years ago, we need to remember how long of Abraham and Sarah waited.)
In addition to the promise made to Abraham, according to what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Galatia, it was for us today. It was a seed, one seed. Galatians 3:16 (NKJV) says, “Now to Abraham and his SEED were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.”
God had a plan all along.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise of Abraham. Jesus is the one the prophets spoke of according to Acts 3:24-26 (NKJV), “Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
Another component that is important is that Jesus was part of the line of King David. In 2 Samuel, The prophet wrote about a Covenant God made with David.
2 Samuel 7:12-17
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ‘According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.’ ”
God had a plan for David.
In the line of David we find the harlot Rahab in Joshua 2:9-13 was not a Hebrew by birth, but because she chose to help and protect Israel in the Promised Land, she is part of the line of Christ. That wasn’t the only time a woman was part of ‘the seed’. Ruth was from Moab and the Moabites were a people despised by Israel. However, because Ruth chose to stay with Naomi, she married the Hebrew man Boaz and she became part of ‘the seed’ as well.
Rahab and Ruth were part of ‘the seed’.
And what about David? David was King of Israel and he was an adulterer and a murdered (see 2 Samuel 11-12) and God forgave him.
HE was part of ‘the seed.’
When people come to me and tell me they have sinned and God can’t forgive them, I tell them the story of David. God not only forgave David, he included him in the lineage of Christ! In Matthew 1:1 we read about “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”
Those included in the Line of David listed in Matthew 1:2-16 (NKJV) include:
“Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.
David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.”
According to Matthew 1:17 (NKJV), “all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.” All the people in the generations were chosen because they were chosen. They weren’t chosen because they were perfect or because they deserved it. They were chosen because they were chosen.
Now we come to Jesus. In Luke 1:30-33 (NKJV) we read, “Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Notice scripture didn’t say Mary was chosen because she was perfect. Scripture says ‘she found favor with God’. She was chosen to carry the Holy Child in her womb. Jesus IN her brought holiness to her.
It’s the same with us. Jesus IN us brings holiness to us. Over and over again, Jesus brings holiness to us. There are no limits to God’s grace for us.
Grace is limitless. God’s Grace is real. Jesus IN us makes grace real. Turning to God and surrendering (just one time) gives us limitless grace. I believe (as I read scripture) that is forever...
By turning to Jesus, we BECOME part of the PLAN of ‘the seed’ because Jesus is IN us!
Today’s Spiritual Practice is: Contemplate God’s Grace
As you go about your day, remember and receive God’s grace. Remember Jesus is IN us.
In Jesus/Jesus IN, Deb
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