Let’s look at an imaginary man named Mr. Al Phabet. He
exists in this world because his ancestor Z married U and one of their
offspring P married E and one of their offspring Y married W and so on for
thousands of years. In addition to who mommies, daddies and their offspring
were in our ancestry, the circumstances and time of all the conceptions leading
up to our own make a difference in how we came to be who we are. In the Gospel
of Matthew we learn the lineage coming through the centuries up to Jesus:
Matthew 1:1-17: “The
book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 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.
So 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.”
Wow! Do you think God’s hand is in all of this for
His purposes? Can you imagine how
involved it would be if you could do something like this lineage leading up to
Jesus, for each one of us alive today? Think of all the people of the past that
have inspired and changed the world through their lives. Could we have done
without them? What if somewhere in the linkage something went a different way
and they were not born to us?
The question becomes, is this a random thing in how
we have come to be or is this according to God’s plan? Are all of us His
children even if He didn’t set out a plan for our existence? Maybe this is all
God’s plan on God’s time and we are all eternal spirits whom are God’s children
when we turn to Him and recognize Him. Without Him we lose our purpose and His
purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11 reflects God’s message in saying,
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us, “Trust in the Lord with all
your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” In Romans 8:28 St. Paul says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
In summary maybe we can believe that God is in charge and brought us to this life for a purpose that is His desire for us. We cannot fully know how He managed to get us here and why He chose us to complete His work in our time. We can be sure that He does not force us to fulfill His purpose for us. We can see within ourselves and all around us how His children ignore Him quite often. Seeking Him is our sure bet to be who we should be according to His purpose for each of us.
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