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A Post To Visit For The Day Called Christmas

Posted in Education, Shared Blog Pages, and Video

Last updated on December 25, 2016

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Picture Credit Gust MEES

Here Are Few Sweet Audio Christmas Wishes For The Day Called Christmas!

This article is the initiative of Knol author Gust MEES.**

This was first created for Google’s knol pages on December 20, 2010 and was migrated to WordPress on December 19, 2012. I am so glad to present this information here for my readers in this holiday season.

I am sure the visitors will get lot of information required in relation to the season.
It’s a multicultural and multi-author creation.

I am glad that Philipscom too could associate in creating this wonderful post.

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Gust MEES

I appreciate Gust MEES for the wonderful initiative taken to develop this post.

I am happy to make a note here in this page about this educative post.

Here is the link to visit the page:Education: Digital CitizenShip, CyberSecurity by Gust MEES

 

 

Also please visit this page to get more information about the Christmas & New Year Gift Offers ChristmasGiftsForAll

Jesus’ Family Tree

by Dr. Woodrow Kroll

Published on December 24, 2010

Here is an interesting and informative write-up on Jesus Christ and his genealogy, Dr. Woodrow Kroll, President Back to the Bible, Lincoln Nebraska describes that in this short account..

This is originally published in BTTB’s Official organ “Bible teachings for ‘CONFIDENT LIVING’ bi-monthly, Published from Secunderabad, A.P

 

Some years ago Alex Haley engrossed the world with his novel Roots,  The story, which began several generations ago in Africa, recounted the lives of Haley’s ancestors.  The release of the novel, and later the TV mini – series sparked renewed interest in tracing the family tree.  Everyone seemed to be doing it.

 

Perhaps you have done a genealogical search of your ancestry.  Or maybe you have resisted the temptation because you were afraid of what you would learn about your ancestors.  After all, we can’t choose our great-great grandparents.  A friend once told me he wasn’t as embarrassed by those in his family tree as he was by those hanging from it.

 

All of us have a family tree, and our Lord Jesus had one also.  Since family trees are important to royalty, and because Jesus was born a King, the account of His birth in Matthew 1:18-25 is immediately preceded by His genealogy.

 

Some people say they gain a little insight by reading the genealogy passages of the Bible, but Jesus’ family tree reveals some very interesting characters.  Much like ours, His family tree contains both saints and scoundrels.

 

Some people say they gain a little insight by reading the genealogy passages of the Bible, but Jesus’ family tree reveals some very interesting characters.  Much like ours, His family tree contains both saints and scoundrels.

 

Saints in the Family Tree

The first ancestor in Jesus Family tree is Abraham (Matt. 1:2).   Surely he is a saint for he was a man of faith.   At God’s command and without questioning or hesitating, Abraham left home and family behind (Gen. 12:1-4).  He forever became the prime example that “the just shall live by faith” (Gal. 3:11; cf. Gen. 15:6).  He would become the father of a new nation, a great nation.  He was just the kind of ancestor any of us would like to list at the head of our family tree.

 

Another of Jesus’ ancestors is Boaz (Matt. 1:4).  Boaz was a man of honor.  When widows’ Naomi and Ruth returned to Bethlehem from Moab, Boaz honored his role as the near kinsman.  He married Ruth (Ruth 4:9-11), and from that union, the line of Christ became more clearly defined.   This marriage was in God’s plan, of course, but it took an honorable man to fulfill God’s plan.  Boaz was a saint.

 

The great-grandson of Boaz and Ruth was also a saint in Jesus’ family tree.  He was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14). Although David was not sinless (saints never are), any of us would still be proud to claim the giant-killer as one of our ancestors.  More than this, David conquered Jerusalem, the city of God.  There his throne was established forever through the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Saviour.

 

One of the youngest saints in Jesus’ family tree was Josiah (Matt. 1:10).  He was a man of revival.  After ascending Judah’s throne at the tender age of eight, the young Josiah, within ten years, sparked a revival among God’s people that has been unparalleled in Israelite history (II Kings 11).  Although he was a young star, Josiah was a bright one.

 

Jesus certainly has as glorious, saint-filled family tree.  Perhaps your family tree also has many outstanding ancestors.  What does that mean for you? Probably little.  Even though our Lord possessed a star-studded family tree, that was insufficient to keep the howling mob from clamoring, “Crucify him, Crucify him”  (Luke 23:21).

 

You and I may have distinguished ancestors in our family tree, but that is no guarantee our lives our lives will receive either divine approval or public acceptance.  Jesus had many saints in His genealogy and, while He had divine approval, the crowd rejected His life and ministry.  Should we expect the world to act any differently toward us?

 

 Scoundrels in the Family Tree

 

In every family tree, there are some scoundrels, some ancestors who do not grace the tree but swing from it.  The same is true of our Lord.

 

Jacob was one of the patriarchs (Matt. 1:2), but not a patriarch without problems.  His shrewdness and skullduggery were exceeded only by that of his father-in-law, Laban.  Like cat and mouse, they attempted to outmaneuver each other.  Not only was this ancestor of our Lord a deceiver (Gen. 27:12) but he was a lair ( v. 19) and a scoundrel as well.  Yet he was a big branch in Jesus’ family tree.

 

Thamar (Matt. 1:3) was also the ancestor of our Lord, but she chose the role of a prostitute (Gen. 38: 1-30).  She was quite a surprise for a family tree.  Too impatient to wait for God’s timing, Thamar (Tamar) took matters into her own hands and in so doing involved her father-in-law in a heinous sin.  Still, she played an important role in Jesus’ ancestry.

 

Rehoboam was the son of the wisest man who ever lived (Matt. 1:7), and yet no one acted more foolishly than did he.  When he ascended to his grandfather’s throne, his own people begged him to lighten their tax burden in exchange for a promise of loyalty (1 Kings 12:1-2).  Yet do you remember what that scoundrel did?  He increased the public burden.  As a result, the kingdom was divided and was conquered again and again.

 

Can there be any worse scoundrel in Old Testament history than Manasseh?  He “seduced them [God’s people to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel” (II Kings 21: 9).  Manasseh was worse than a pagan.  He built altars to Ball in the Lord’s house (vv 3,4) and sacrificed his own son in the fires of Molech (c 6).  Still, this scoundrel is one of the Lord’s ancestors (Matt. 1:10).

 

If your family tree isn’t exactly filled with stars, if you can name more scoundrels than saints in your ancestry, take heart.  Jesus’ family tree wasn’t any better.  But did that matter?  Not at all.

 

Even though our Lord’s family tree contained many scoundrels, that didn’t prevent His being acclaimed as Saviour and Messiah by multitudes of people (Acts 2:37-41).  Having notorious ancestors in our family tree is no guarantee that our lives will be rejected any more than having noble ancestors is a guarantee that our lives will be accepted.

 

Our usefulness to God is not enhanced by our ancestors’ nobility, nor is it deterred by their notorious ancestors in our family tree is no guarantee that our lives will be rejected any more than having noble ancestors is a guarantee that our lives will be accepted.

 

Our usefulness to God is not enhanced by our ancestor’s nobility, not is it deterred by their notoriety.  At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Jesus, not the merits of His ancestry.  We honor the One whose very name means salvation (Matt. 1:21), not those who preceded Him.

 

Likewise, God is much more interested in our character right now than He is in the character of our ancestors.  You may choose to treasure your family tree or you may try to hide it.  But regardless, it was for you Christ was born to die, and it is for Him you were saved to serve.

 

Our Savior is interested in us—you and me.  He is more interested in your person than He is in your ancestors.  He is more likely to examine your fruits than He is your roots.  This Christmas, Let’s return the favor and focus our attention on Him and what His birth means to us.  CL

 

Source:

Confident Living Bi-monthly

http://backtothebible.in

 

Dr. Woodrow Kroll
Dr. Kroll

 

** Gust MEES is an ICT course instructor, IT-Security Thought Provoker, and an Educationist.

Source:  Gust MEES

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