God’s Story Is Our Story: From Genesis To JesusSample

Reflecting on the last week: The LORD was supposed to be Israel’s king, but by the end of Judges, Israel not only looks like the nations, it is worse than the nations. Every man and woman redefined good and evil according to his or her own interests/desires. Do we not see the same temptation today? Is this not at the heart of modern secularism: my right to define myself and do what I want to do? This story has a tragic irony: Israel was rescued by God for the sake of blessing the nations, not becoming like them! We, as Christ’s church, face the same risk of being absorbed into the ways and patterns of our world, rather than blessing it. Israel only has one hope if they want to escape this temptation: a king. They needed a king who was like the LORD, or even better, who was the LORD. Who could this be, but Jesus? Jesus is the offspring promised to Abraham who would reign over heaven and on earth, restore Israel, and draw the nations to God. Through Christ’s reign, God is unleashing his blessings of life, love, justice and mercy onto the world. We know who Jesus is, so we need not conform our lives to the patterns the world sets. We do not need to redefine good and evil for ourselves. We ought not settle for self-definition and self-identification, when we know the True King knows our name and made us for a unique role in his story.