Heidelberg Catechism 3 Lord's Day

3. Lord's Day

Question 6. Did God then create man so wicked and perverse?

Answer: By no means; but God created man good, (a) and after his own image, (b) in true righteousness and holiness, that he might rightly know God his Creator, heartily love him and live with him in eternal happiness to glorify and praise him. (c)

(a) Gen.1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (b) Gen.1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Gen.1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (c) Col.3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; Col.3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Eph.4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; Eph.4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 2 Cor.3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Question 7. Whence then proceeds this depravity of human nature?

Answer: From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise; (a) hence our nature is become so corrupt, that we are all conceived and born in sin. (b)

(a) Genesis 3. Rom.5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Rom.5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Rom.5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (b) Ps.51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Gen.5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

Question 8. Are we then so corrupt that we are wholly incapable of doing any good, and inclined to all wickedness?

Answer: Indeed we are; (a) except we are regenerated by the Spirit of God. (b)

(a) Gen.8:21 The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Gen.6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Job 15:16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water? Job 15:35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit. Isa.53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (b) John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 1 Cor.12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 2 Cor.3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

Heidelberg Catechism 2 Lord's Day

The First Part - Of The Misery Of Man

2. Lord's Day

Question 3. Whence knowest thou thy misery?

Answer: Out of the law of God. (a)

(a) Rom.3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Question 4. What does the law of God require of us?

Answer: Christ teaches us that briefly, Matt. 22:37-40, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first and the great commandment; and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (a)

(a) Deut.6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Lev.19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Luke 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Question 5. Canst thou keep all these things perfectly?

Answer: In no wise; (a) for I am prone by nature to hate God and my neighbour.(b)

(a) Rom.3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Rom.3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Rom.3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (b) Rom.8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Eph.2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Tit.3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. Gen.6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Gen.8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. Jer.17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Rom.7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Matthew 4

Matthew Henry

Matthew 4:1-11

This is a great illustration for why I am doing this whole read and blog thing this year.  In a moment of temptation, Jesus was able to remember scripture clearly, and used it to fight off temptation.  If it is the weapon of choice for the Son of God, I think I should use it too.

When I find myself in a moment of temptation, I can't say that the first thing to pop into my head is a passage from the Bible.  It is usually my mind trying to justify whatever it is that I am tempted to do.  However, I have noticed that the more I read my Bible and the more I internalize it, the voice in my head trying to justify my actions gets drowned out by what I truly should be doing.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that

 by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2

This is what I believe Christ did by quoting scripture.  He was testing what Satan was saying against what He knew scripture to say.  That was how He discerned what God's will was.  Many times we over spiritualize trying to discern God's will.  

I don't think He always gives us a clear cut and dry path that He wants us to take.  Since He is our loving Heavenly Father, it may delight Him to place more than one option that He approves of in front of us.  We should test them against the Bible and then if there is more than one left and God has not given us clear direction, then we should just make the best decision that we know how to make.  

This is not what Satan was doing.  When he puts something in our path that is not right for us, it will contradict the Bible.  That is why we should be ready to test the options before us with scripture.  Not only will it help keep us from sinning, it will also help us discern the will of God.  

Matthew 4:12-17

We see two things that are import in Jesus' life.  First, He again fulfilled prophecy.  The reason this is important is the more prophecies that He fulfills, the harder it will be once He is resurrected.  

Second, we see that John's ministry ends and Jesus' picks up with the same message.  John truly was the forerunner of Christ.  Not only did he come before Jesus, he was preaching the message that Jesus would preach.  He began preparing the hearts of the people for Jesus, and gave Him a ready made following, in a sense.

Matthew 4:18-22

I cannot possibly count the number of sermons that I have heard on this passage.  It is always the same: We should have the faith that they did and not question Jesus, but just follow Him when He calls us.  

And yet, I still do not.  I am guilty of not following His every command and call.  He will call on me to do this or that, and I find and excuse, not obey.  It is quite pathetic.  And yet I continue to do it.  This is one thing that I desperately need to fix.

Matthew 4:23-25

One thing bothers me about this great crowd.  Here we have thousands of people following Jesus and seeing His miracles first hand.  Where did they go?  When He was on trial, where were they?  After the resurrection, why were there only 120 gathered together?  

I think the crowd that followed Him and ran to Him to get healed were the same kind of people that make up the church in America.  We will pack the stadiums to go to "faith healings" or worship with our favorite band.  Or maybe we are listening to our favorite speaker.  However, when it comes down to it, we really aren't following Christ.  We are just in love with the "high" we get from these type of things.  We feel good about ourselves and we go home to live our lives.  We aren't the ones that meet in the upper room to pray.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to not be one of the people in the crowd that follows You like You are just the next big thing, but instead I want to follow You as the Lord of my life.  You are not the new thing in my life, but are my entire life.  I live for You and for You alone.  It is you that I desire to know and love.  It is you that I want to be devoted to.  

Lord, I am not as obedient as I should be.  I should follow Your every command the moment that You give them.  I am disobedient and stubborn.  I repent of not following your path that You have laid before me.  I have not tested the options before me to make sure that they are Your will for my life.  I have fallen into temptation this way.

As I learn to walk in Your ways, Lord, please show me the correct path and direction that You would have me take.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Matthew 3

Matthew Henry

Matthew 3:1-12

John the Baptizer.  When I was a kid he seemed like some strange old hermit that ate really gross things and was completely crazy.  While not completely inaccurate, this is not a very fair portrayal of the man that God chose to prepare the way for His Son.

Matthew says very little about John, but Luke covers him better if you are unfamiliar with him.  Of all the prophets that came during Old Testament times, Elijah was considered the greatest by the Jewish people.  When it was prophesied that another Elijah would come, I am sure that many of the Jewish people imagined the scene on Mount Caramel and were excited to meet him.  And then John showed up.  He was not what they were expecting, but they still knew that he was different than the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The biggest difference was not his clothing, it was his preaching.  He was not preaching that the Kingdom of God would someday come, he was saying that it was here!  The religious leaders of that day wouldn't dare make such a claim.  In fact, they made the trip to go see him and try and figure out what was going on.  He didn't give them the respect they were used to, that is for sure.

When considering his clothing and appetite, it does begin to make sense.  He wore clothing that was tough and easy to find, even if it wasn't fashionable.  His found was allowed by the Law, but could be found around him in nature.

Also, I always pictured him in a desert, but wilderness and desert are different.  First, if there was water to baptize, then it was not a barren wasteland.  Second, when he took his ministry to the Jordan, we know that is not a barren area.  He preached in the country side.  This means that he was not preaching in Omaha, but was in Fremont, Wahoo, or even Hooper.  I personally find this encouraging.  Not everyone is called to minister to the large cities.

When looking at the big picture, I am guilty of being more like the Pharisees than John the Baptist.  I live life by a set of rules and guidelines and not with the truth that the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Living in light of this would be a completely different lifestyle for me.  I need to remember this in my daily business and not get caught up in my kingdom.

Matthew 3:13-17

What a sight!  Seeing as John probably had a decent sized crowd, can you imagine being there for that?  Also, what humility!  This was a man that truly understood his calling and also his place in the universe.  He wasn't the main attraction, he was just the preview.  With my pride and arrogance, I doubt that I would be able to do the same.  He is a far greater man than I will ever be.

When I read this, I thought, what would it mean to me to hear God say that he was well pleased with me?  Most days I have enough guilt for my sins that I can not even imagine that God would ever be pleased with me.  I fall short of my calling frequently.  How could God ever be pleased with me?

But I do know one thing.  Christ's blood has washed me clean.  When God looks at me, He does not see the sins and failures.  He sees one that His Son died for.  Christ died so that I may live.  Now, I must die to myself so that I can live for Him.  I need to die to my pride and selfish ambition and live as one that has received His grace.

If we have truly been called to repentance and accept Christ's sacrifice on our behalf, we can rest assured that God does not view us as He used to.  He sees His "beloved Son, in whom [He is] well pleased."

Prayer

Lord, I desire to have Your Kingdom come, now as it is in Heaven.  I desire to not just see converts, but disciples.  I want to see people living with Kingdom mentality.  The only place I can start is with myself.  Lord, I am sorry for not living in light of Your Kingdom.  I repent of my pride and turn to You and Your ways.  Your ways are greater than mine.

I am a sinful man that deserves Your wrath.  I do not deserve the grace and favor that You show me through Your Son.  While I rest on the promise that You will remove my sin from me as far as the east is from the west, I know that I will continually fall short, and must continually return to the Cross in repentance and humility.  I am incapable of living up to the standard of Your Holiness.  You are holy, and I am not.  You are God alone.  There is none like You.

Today, show me how to live for Your Kingdom and not my own.  I want to live with a Kingdom mindset.  I cannot do it without Your guidance.  Amen.

Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 1

1. Lord's Day

Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, (a) am not my own, (b) but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; (c) who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, (d) and delivered me from all the power of the devil; (e) and so preserves me (f) that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; (g) yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, (h) and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, (i) and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him. (j)

(a) Rom.14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Rom.14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. (b) 1 Cor.6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (c) 1 Cor.3:23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. Tit.2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (d) 1 Pet.1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 1 Pet.1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. (e) Heb.2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. John 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (f) John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 2 Thess.3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. 1 Pet.1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (g) Matt.10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. Matt.10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matt.10:31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish. (h) Rom.8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (i) 2 Cor.1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 2 Cor.1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 2 Cor.1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 2 Cor.5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Eph.1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Eph.1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Rom.8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (j) Rom.8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Question 2. How many things are necessary for thee to know, that thou, enjoying this comfort, mayest live and die happily?

Answer: Three; (a) the first, how great my sins and miseries are; (b) the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries; (c) the third, how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance. (d)

(a) Matt.11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matt.11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matt.11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: Luke 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 1 Cor.6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Tit.3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. Tit.3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Tit.3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Tit.3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; Tit.3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (b) John 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. (c) John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 10:43 To him (Jesus) give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (d) Eph.5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: Eph.5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Eph.5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. Eph.5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 1 Pet.2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 1 Pet.2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Rom.6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Rom.6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Rom.6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Rom.6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Heidelberg Catechism

On Sunday, my church, Coram Deo, announced that during 2011 we will be working our way through the Heidelberg Catechism.  Every Sunday we will be doing one of the Lord's Days and since there are 52, we will do it the whole year.  Coram Deo had a great explanation on their blog as to why they are doing this.  For those of you who don't do any type of liturgy during your service, I encourage you to check it out.  It is a bit new for me, but I am enjoying it.

In response to them doing this, I will be posting the portion that we read every Sunday for others to enjoy.  I will be posting not only the question and answer part that we do in church, but also the verses that explain it.  I hope you enjoy!

Matthew 2

Matthew Henry

Matthew 2:1-12

This is the kind of reception we would expect a royal birth to receive.  Most children don't get gold as a present.  Also, they tend to not get foreign dignitaries visiting them at home.  However, this small token of respect, almost the only respect given at birth, was very costly.

In verse 11 we see the wise men visiting Jesus in a house.  Notice this isn't a stable.  It appears that Joseph had decided to settle in Bethlehem.  This makes sense, seeing as Jesus was to fulfill the Davidic promise.  Receiving no further instruction, he simply stayed put.  Judea was the only land that the Jewish people of that time considered to be honorable.  Samaria to the north, and Galilee further north yet were considered Gentile and reprehensible.  If you were put in charge of raising the King of the world, where would you want to raise Him?

Something that is a sad statement of the lack of honor Jesus received upon entering our world is that the wise men came to the royal city, most likely expecting it to be a flurry of activity since the King was born, but instead find that no one has a clue what is going on.  What they do accomplish is to find the Messianic prophecies telling them where they could find the King.  And they alert Herod.

Matthew 2:13-15

Egypt has frequently been a shelter for Abraham and his descendants.  Abraham went there.  Jacob, renamed Israel, went there as well as all of the Israelites.  Later, many of the people that were left in Jerusalem during the Babylonian captivity went to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians.  Even though it is a place of idolatry and sin, God is still able to use it for His glory.

Matthew 2:16-18

Now we see the consequence of the little respect that was shown to Jesus as an infant.  Herod was only acting out of jealousy.  He was approximately 70 at this time, and most likely would be dead before any king would pose a threat, as it would most likely come when the child was 20 or older, according to conventional wisdom.  And he certainly wasn't acting on behalf of his sons, since he had three killed during his lifetime.  So what it really came down to was jealousy and pride.  I am guilty of the same things.

I frequently would be willing to kill the plan of God for my own pride and jealous nature.  I would rather do what would bring more glory to me than what would bring glory to God.  I care more about myself than I ever should.  As I mention in a previous post, it all comes down to heart idols.  The largest one for me is the idol of pride.  I don't want to look dumb.  I want to appear to have it all together.  I want to have people amazed at my knowledge and what I am capable of doing.  Nearly all of the sinful behavior in my life can be traced back to pride.

It is sad that many infants were killed just to make sure that Christ was dead, but one thing can be sure; because he lived and later died, all of those infants were able to go to Heaven.  Jesus' sacrifice didn't just allow those of us that lived after Him to go to Heaven, it allowed the faithful before Him also.

Matthew 2:19-23

Once again, we see Joseph doing exactly as he is instructed.  He quickly arose and took Jesus and Mary out of Egypt.  I see a couple examples I need to follow in this short passage:

• When God commands, I follow immediately
• God may not always give every explicit step for me to take, but He will give guidelines and trust me to make the best decision
• If I prove myself faithful, God will continue to give direction to me

I need to have faith to follow quickly and not wait.

One thing I love about Matthew is that it was written to primarily the Jews.  Because of this, he would frequently point out where Jesus fulfilled scripture.  We see it multiple times in this chapter.  While there are many faiths in the world, only was has been proven by prophecy time and time again.  Christianity is a faith rooted in history, able to be proven by archeology, never dis-proven.  What a glorious God we serve!

Prayer

Heavenly Father,  I am not deserving of the sacrifices made by others for our faith.  You, in Your mercy have taken extraordinary measures to save sinful humanity.  When You came into this world, we neither received You nor praised You as you deserved.  Your creation does not deserve such a loving and wonderful God.

Lord, I desire to obey like Joseph did, and not have the foolish idol of pride like Herod.  I am more like Herod than Joseph.  Please forgive me for not putting You first in my life, but putting my selfish pride on a pedestal and worshiping it by showing You that it was more important to me.  

You are the greatest love in this universe, and I thank you for the sacrifice you gave on my behalf.  Amen.

Matthew 1

Matthew Henry Introduction and Chapter 1

Matthew 1:1-17

I always found genealogies to be a bit boring when I was younger.  I didn't really care about them because I could find no relevance to my daily life, or so I thought.  I find that the older I get the more I appreciate them.  Looking at the list, there are some amazing guys in it.  David.  Solomon.  Hezekiah.  Josiah.  But then there are guys like Manasseh.  It's not the guys like David and Josiah in the list that I have come to appreciate, its the Manasseh type guys.

God, in all his sovereignty and glory, came to Earth as a man, Jesus Christ.  Yet in the family tree are guys like Manasseh.  Often as a kid, I thought that Jesus came from this long spectacular line of kings.  All of the men were most likely amazing, like David, who I knew.  God honored their obedience and passion for Him by bringing forth the Messiah from them.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

This list of ancestors to Jesus gives us a good look at the nature of God.  It is not the religious and self righteous that are the only ones that God can use.  But on the contrary, He delights in using men that are sinners and it makes no logical sense to call.  That is where I belong.

I am more like Manasseh than David.  I turn my heart to idols and away from God more often than I delight in Him and sing praise.  I turn to politics, money, the American Dream, and a host of other things.  What gives me hope is that God can still use me, much like Manasseh.  If the Messiah can be a descendant of Manasseh, God may just use me for His glory, despite my sinful nature.

Matthew 1:18-25

This is a great passage.  It is what the Old Testament was pointing to.  It is what the New Testament taught about.  Jesus the Christ, God Incarnate, came to Earth as a man and lived among us.  This alone was just a tip of the iceberg of what He would later do, but this is the beginning.

While we frequently hear about Mary around Christmas time, we hear very little of Joseph.  But I have admiration for the guy.  First, he could have publicly humiliated Mary, as would most of the men in his society.  But he doesn't do that.  He considers divorcing her quietly.  Considers.  This, in my mind, is a display of love. The woman he was going to marry, and most likely was in love with, suddenly becomes pregnant.  He considers divorcing her.  I don't know that I would have been as calm and collected as he appears to be in this passage.

Second, he doesn't doubt the angel.  Zechariah was also visited by and angel, and told his wife Elizabeth would give birth to John the Baptist.  However, unlike Joseph, he doubted.  Joseph believed and obediently follow the instructions he had received.

Chapter 1 ends with the Messiah living on Earth.  This is the beginning of the greatest story ever told.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for being so compassionate and caring for sinners.  Thank you for caring enough about us that you would remove Yourself from the glory of Heaven to live among us.  You are more gracious than we deserve, and more loving than we can possibly fathom.

Lord, please strengthen me to be more like Joseph, and less like Manasseh.  I desire to follow You, but my foolish heart desires to chase after the temporary things of this world.  I love you Lord and desire to bring You glory through my life so that You will not be ashamed to have me known as one of Your followers.

You are glorious Lord, and worthy of all my praise.  I can not praise you enough.  You are marvelous.  In Jesus name. Amen.