God's plan

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

GOD’S PLAN

Matt 1:1-17

1:1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife, 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12 After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud, 15 Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.  

NIV

Having done every other book in the New Testament over the last six years, plus Genesis and now just having finished Exodus, it is time to return to the New Testament and complete it. The Gospel of Matthew remains the last of these New Testament records and so we begin. What we learn from this genealogy of Christ is very interesting. The purpose of us being told is not to bring us all these names which we might have difficulty pronouncing. We are told the purpose at the end of all this list of names. First we have to understand this record begins with Abraham, not Adam. Abraham was the man God made this covenant with. Of course there was a covenant of sorts with Adam as well. He told him have fun, eat everything but from one tree and live. Eat from that tree and die. Nevertheless God made the main covenant of covenants with Abram, changing his name to Abraham. As we discovered in our studies of Genesis, we saw that God took a letter from his name JHHW and placed in the middle of Abram’s name making it AbraHam. The first time God made this covenant with Abraham was in giving him the Promised Land. He promised he would be the father of many nations. So it is fitting the genealogy of Jesus starts with Abraham. Jesus is the source of our attaining the Promised Land. Jesus is the Savior for, not just many nations, but every nation. We are also told it was fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen generations from David the exile in Babylon and fourteen more generations from the exile to Christ. The reason for this being those exact number of generations is so we will know that God had this planned to the very detail which he would send his son to the earth as an infant. It also shows us he had it planned as to who would marry who and have which son that would bring about the next son and the next and on and on until it was time for Mary to be born so he could send the Holy Spirit upon her bringing forth Jesus. Because God was that precise in the timing of bringing Jesus to earth to be the Savior, we can be sure we too are living in the exact time and place of God’s design. Some of us spend time researching our genealogy to find ancestors we did not know about. As interesting as that is, it but proves that we have been born at the exact time, through a line of ancestors in which God determined. None of us are just happenstance. However it does raise the question about women intervening in the plan of God by ending the life of their unborn child. Was that part of God’s plan all along? That is very doubtful, but how has that, if any, changed the course of human history? We would then have to wonder if others, such as Adolf Hitler who destroyed so many Jewish lives was determined to be who he was by God. Did God use him as an instrument to prove to the Jews their refusal of Jesus was their destruction? There are so many other events throughout the history of mankind that we could see as man’s interference with God’s plan for man. Yet if he was that precise throughout the fourteen generation periods including the exile of the Israelites into Babylon, then we have to know he is precisely involved in the human history and events which brought about our birth in the time and place we are in, with all the history of wars, violence and evil that abounds. God is still on the throne and we have been brought to the knowledge of his salvation through his designed plan. It is not by chance that we are who we are or live when we do.

Ps 139:13-16

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

NIV

It was also his plan that our salvation would be through Christ, that was his plan from the very beginning, before he even created the earth and formed Adam from the dust of the earth.

Eph 1:3-10

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment — to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

NIV

What we can be sure of, is that God ordained the right time and place for Jesus to be born so that he could be the Savior. That was his plan, which we should be saved through Christ. He predetermined our way to be able to attain the Promised Land. Nothing has been left to chance. God has everything under his control. Although mankind may think they are in control of their own destiny, their thinking is futile. God is in control. So then, if all these men of the Old Testament were in the genealogy to bring Christ to earth when God determined, then we too must figure out why God has us living in the time we live and where we live. Just as he directed or called Abram from Ur, and directed him to the place he should be, along with so many other men of the Old Testament, he directs our paths as well. God does not simply join us on our journey through life as we determine it should be. We join him on the journey he intends our life to be. It is up to us how to figure out what he wants us to be and do. He has given us the Spirit to lead us into all that truth. So then we live and walk by the Spirit. We are part of God’s plan.