Generation to Generationنموونە

God introduces Himself in scripture as a generational God. He describes Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

All throughout scripture we see God displaying His love and faithfulness from one generation to the next as He works out His purposes in the earth.

In the opening verses of Matthew we see a list of names. Name, after name, after name. This person was the father of this person, who was the father of this person. At first glance, they can just look like names on paper, but when you stop and consider each name, they each represent a person who played a part in what God was doing in the context of history. Each name represents a story of God’s faithfulness, and each one of those people played a part in God’s plans for humanity.

In the first chapter of the book of Matthew, you’ll see the genealogy of Jesus – the Messiah Himself. Once again, here you’ll find name, after name, after name of the men and women who were playing a part in the purposes of God’s ultimate and divine plan for humanity.

Woven throughout their stories it's so clear that God was working - through their trials and their shortfalls, their challenges and their triumphs - He was working to bring about His purposes into the earth. Now, with the benefit of hindsight and as we look through these genealogical records, we see the faithfulness of God from one generation to the next. He placed on the inside of one generation, something that was needed to bring about the purpose for the next, until the day Jesus entered the scene 1000's of years later.

In and amongst these records are listed five women – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary.

Within this devotional we are going to look at these five unlikely women that God chose to be listed in the genealogy of Jesus - the stories of five incredible women who impacted eternity.

Their stories are ones of God’s grace, of God turning situations around to use them for His glory. What’s inspiring about these women’s lives is that they all had a past - they weren’t perfect, they made mistakes, and they went through trials. Almost all of them, because of their mistakes, their backgrounds, their gender, their ethnicity, could have been seen as the most unlikely people for God to choose to bring the Messiah into the world.

But maybe, in choosing them, God is trying to tell us something – that no matter what your past, your mistakes, your challenges, your family background, the things that you think should disqualify you – God desires to use your life to bring about His purposes for our generation, and for the generations to come.