100 Days of HopeSample

Redeeming History

Most of my recent ancestors were believers and included pastors or Sunday school teachers. But I am not proud of other ancestors who were horse thieves and drunkards, one who fought in the American Civil War to keep black people enslaved, or another who was set free for murdering government tax collectors while his black accomplice was hung on the gallows.

In Matthew we see the human lineage of the creator God take human form. Abraham was an immigrant nomad, later a refugee in Africa, and fearfully lied and allowed his wife to join Pharaoh’s harem. Rahab was a prostitute. David, the man after God’s own heart, was an adulterer and murderer.

Why does the creator and sustainer of the universe want us to know so much painful detail about the shameful people in His human lineage? Could it be true that:

This God is willing to bear the shame for those He loves—the shame of a fallen lineage and the shame of their sins, and ours, heaped upon Him at the shameful cross?

Just like us, Jesus faced the accumulated sins of His ancestors as His parents and relatives sinned in various ways?

We are not alone in our struggles with sin? Jesus, the divine logos at the miracle of creation, is with us and understands our struggles and promises to empower us through His Holy Spirit?

Yes, it is true! No matter how shameful our past, how deceived, selfish, and ungodly our ancestors, God has still sought us out and chosen us to join His eternal family. His Spirit empowers us daily. This message of hope and good news that we bring to our families, friends, and people we work with is no ordinary religion.

Prayer: Father, thank you that you have redeemed us and have invited us into your eternal family.