As part of the “Rediscovering Christmas” Bible reading plan I read Matthew 1 yesterday. It includes the genealogy of Jesus which most of us at best usually skim through (you know who you are). Included in the list of people leading up to Jesus are a few “household” names such as Abraham, Isaac, David, and Ruth but also several you’re probably not as familiar with.
But I think this genealogy does more than just establish the connection between Jesus and David although that alone does fulfills prophecy about Jesus (2 Samuel 7:12-16 & Micah 5:2).
I also think there’s some other cool messages within this list of names. While each of these names don’t necessarily carry a whole lot of meaning to us, during the time of Jesus each one of these people and their life story would have been well known. Their stories had been told over and over throughout the years.
For instance the name Tamar found in the Matthew 1 genealogy doesn’t mean a lot to us. But to first century Jews this was huge when they came across this name being associated with Jesus.
She was a Gentile (a huge strike against her) but she also seduced her father-in-law by dressing up like a prostitute, then bore illegitimate twins with him. Now I grew up in church and they used to tell Old Testament stories on flannel graphs in the Sunday School. They never told that story.
Then of course he mentions Rahab. She wasn’t a Jew either, but a Canaanite. And while at least Tamar was just pretending to be a prostitute, Rahab actually was one.
Now all this is so important because you and I often want to define our lives and God’s ability to use our lives based on our past. It often sounds like this…
I don’t think God can really use me because I __________________.
We rarely say this out loud but it’s in the back of our mind.
This genealogy is just another reminder that my sin does not make me an embarrassment to God.
The other day I was listening to one of the songs on Taylor Swift’s new album (don’t you judge me…it’s my kids CD) entitled “Innocent.” She has a great line in the song which says, “Who you are is not what you did.” There’s a lot of truth there.
You are not what you did last week, month or year. That is not what is truest about you.
2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Don’t let your past dictate how He uses you in the future. The reality is God’s been using Davids, Tamars, and Rahabs for all of history. Using imperfect people is what He does.
And for that I’m so very thankful!
Pete,
thank you for sharing this! your post is very close to my heart…i found out a couple of years back that I have generation after generation of marriages that have been destroyed by infidelity. Team Sprad (me, Jodie and my kiddos WILL reverse this curse)…so thanks for the reminder…we are not our past!
I love it Chris. So proud of you guys and believe in all your doing! God is so using your family in powerful ways.
I want to see others as Jesus does. He sees them not for who they are but for who He knows they were created to be.
Thanks Pete, I needed to read this today.
I really appreciate you talking about this. There’s a Christian band called Tenth Avenue North that also talks about this. The song is called “You Are More”. It talks about how we are more than the choices we’ve made, we’re more than the sum of our past mistakes. I love the lyrics to this song. We all need to be reminded that our past is not who we are. It’s not about what we’ve done but what’s been done for us. If we open up to Christ and let him work through us, some incredible things can happen, more than we can ever imagine.
Treasures in jars of clay…
God seems to be interested in using the jar, despite its imperfections, as a way of witnessing to the world. When he does, the treasure inside retains its place of importance and beauty. Consequently, the holes and imperfections in the jar allow the treasure to ‘sparkle’ all the more, drawing attention to itself in the process. People then are drawn, not to the pot, but the treasure within.
And to think that a holy God lives in me by the Spirit and loves to use me as a vessel to speak and act in the world…in spite of my flaws, is an awesome display of grace. Our goal should be, not to draw attention to ourselves (like that would help anybody
, but to allow the treasure within to shine through our lives. Tamar, Rahab, and David (and everyone else included in the list), are beautiful examples this.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks……the perfect words at the perfect time from a perfectly awesome GOD…
I’m so thankful that God can use imperfect people or I’d be in real trouble.
Me too
This speaks directly to me. My husband and I were discussing this very issue last nite: being a new creature vs being a sinner who sins. I receive this as confirmation from the Lord that I am not defined by what I’ve done, but I’m a child of God washed anew by his redemptive spilt blood!
It’s been a really rough year of pruning and purging. Thank you for posting this…
Whenever I get frustrated by my limitations I try to remember that God loves my limitations because those are His biggest opportunities to make miracles happen. I think our history is another example of that… He can take my crazy history and make it into something Crazy Beautiful that shows His power to change, heal and restore us.
We were just discussing these very people and geneology in our Wed night Bible study on Ruth.
And Ruth was a Moabitess, not an Isrealite. But God used her in this very significant geneology. 
What hope we have through learning all these stories. I love that God uses the most unlikely of people to fulfill His purpose. 
I wish you could take all your daily writings and make a devotional book, I would read them over and over. Such great truths. Thanks for doing what you do.
Thanks for the great reminder that God is more concerned about the present & the future than he is out sketchy pasts.
Also, I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who things out of boring genealogies.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how God used murders, thieves, & prostitutes to accomplish his plan.
Ha! You were pointing the finger at me (guilty of skimming the genealogy)
I never get tired of reading story after story after story in the Bible of God using imperfect people. One of my favorites is when He calls Paul (once a murderer and persecutor) his “chosen instrument” God’s grace and his ability to redeem us is amazing!
Thanks for this blog. It’s a great reminder that I am more than my past … God’s grace is so amazing!
LOL at the boring genealogies. Maybe I should look at them a bit more seriously
The one that caught my attention was Zerubbabel who centuries earlier was promised by God to be like a signet ring (Haggai 2:23). I just so “happened” to read the passage in Haggai before reading the passage in Matthew the other day. Love every wonderfully knit story and circumstance that makes up God’s plan! Every little detail and promise…AMAZING!
This is my toughest issue. I KNOW what’s true, but in the back of my mind a little voice keeps telling me it’s all about my performance…present AND past. Me knowing that voice is from the dark side doesn’t silence it, but the degree to which I’m able to ignore it is directly related to how much I’m involving God in my life.
Thanks to @Chelsea for reminding us of the Tenth Avenue North song, “You Are More.” The lyrics include:
Well she tries to believe it
That she’s been given new life
But she can’t shake the feeling
That it’s not true tonight
It is – this wonderful grace given us – completely counter-intuitive. We live in performance-based culture where performance = worth.
But as you say, Pete, “my sin does not make me an embarrassment to God.” We are so loved and treasured by Him that not only has He made our past, present and future sin moot, He welcomes us to shine like perfect stars. Wow. Diamonds from lumps of coal. What an awesome God we have!
I have learned that there is a key struggle in this topic. It is standard to believe that when you accept Christ and become a Christian, you become a new creation and your past is removed. It is what happens after that point that many continue to carry and wrestle with. Some feel that if we fail and falter as believers who are already made new, then our failure is worse or the forgiveness isn’t there. This is something The Church doesn’t really address and I have encountered many who are living in great shame, guilt, and brokenness because they don’t understand what Christ has really done for them (some days I don’t get it either!)
The line from Taylor Swift’s song reminds me of Tenth Avenue North’s new song, “You Are More” :
There’s a girl in the corner
With tear stains on her eyes
From the places she’s wandered
And the shame she can’t hide
She says, “How did I get here?
I’m not who I once was.
And I’m crippled by the fear
That I’ve fallen too far to love”
But don’t you know who you are,
What’s been done for you?
Yeah don’t you know who you are?
You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.
Well she tries to believe it
That she’s been given new life
But she can’t shake the feeling
That it’s not true tonight
She knows all the answers
And she’s rehearsed all the lines
And so she’ll try to do better
But then she’s too weak to try
But don’t you know who you are?
You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.
You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.
‘Cause this is not about what you’ve done,
But what’s been done for you.
This is not about where you’ve been,
But where your brokenness brings you to
This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved.
You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.
You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.
You’ve been remade
You’ve been remade.
You’ve been remade.
You’ve been remade.
Thanks ‘careless man’. Awesome words to think about as the year closes…
“Don’t let your past dictate how He uses you in the future.” …Instead let your past motivate you for the future. We have all had our trials and times where we have failed. We say it’s in the past, but the reality is, it’s in our future too. As I reflect on my past, I see so many areas that were dark moments where I have fallen. I feel worthless and I hate feeling as if I have been disobedient to God. One thing that God has spoken to me is this: We will all fall into Gods grace, but the action of getting back up is the obedience that Christ has called us to. Our past should NOT dictate our future-but when we look back on the times we have fallen, it should motivate us to get back up again in obedience and embrace the future.
I have been saying this very thing for the past year or so… When I realized that the genealogy of Jesus wasn’t just the “heroes” of the bible that I knew about.. it freed me in a way that I can not even begin to explain. When you get a hold of this knowledge, that God wants relationship with us so badly, that as time proceeded it is scattered with characters, (who many Christians wouldn’t even dare speak too, much less claim in their family tree) who not only make up His past… but were PART of the PLAN…
If more people only new these stories.
Sounds like a cool series to me.
Bathsheba still blows my mind.. How God turned that sin, in a huge way, with Solomon. Even though I know there was still a cost.
Side bar to that, reading Mathew yesterday, also. It was the first time I noticed that she was referred to as Uriah’s wife. Instead of her name. Interesting..
For his Glory
Thanks Pete! I really needed to hear that right now. I have really been struggling with doubts I am having about God using me. It is good to be reminded that past failures no longer matter, have been wiped clean and I no longer need to doubt my ability to work through God’s plan for me. Just because I failed in the past is now reason or excuse to fail now!
I meant to say no reason…oops!
I came to very similar conclusion when I read Matthew 1 too. I am so thankful that God uses broken people to fulfill His purposes!