… the story of god’s grace… five women. five stories. all had questions surrounding them

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the story of God’s grace… Five women. Five stories. All had questions surrounding them.

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…the story of God’s grace…

Five women.

Five stories.

All had questions surrounding them.

…the story of God’s grace…

All of their stories resulted in the glory of God.

All of their stories emphasize one word…Grace!

The story of Christmas is a story of God’s grace!

…the story of God’s grace…Story #1: Tamar

Matthew 1:2-3 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot

Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah

by Tamar…

Some background…

…the story of God’s grace…Notice where Matthew starts, with

Abraham.

This is a book written to believing disciples.

…the story of God’s grace…If we know our Bible, we know that the

story of the coming of Christ began with Abraham.

…the story of God’s grace…The Baby in the manger fulfilled

centuries of prophecies and anticipation for Israel about the

coming of the Son of Abraham, the Son of David.

…the story of God’s grace…A nation in trouble

Genesis 34 = Simeon and Levi

Genesis 35 = Reuban

Genesis 36 = Esau strong… and pagan

…the story of God’s grace…A nation in trouble

Genesis 37:26 = “He ain’t heavy, I’ll just sell him…”

“The Lion of the tribe of.. Oh,oh…”

Genesis 38 = Get them outta there!

…the story of God’s grace…Tamar

UnbeliefImmorality

Self-righteousness

…the story of God’s grace…Grace!

Great shame to great blessing!

Ruth 4:12“May your house be like the house of

Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young

woman.”

…the story of God’s grace…Story #2: Rahab

Matthew 1:4-5…Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon

begot Boaz by Rahab…

…the story of God’s grace…Nahshon was…

• the brother-in-law of Aaron, the High Priest (Ex. 6:23)

•the leader of Judah, the largest tribe in Israel (Num. 2:3)

•When Israel moved out, Judah went first, led by Nahshon (Num. 10:14)

…the story of God’s grace…Nahshon was…

• Nahshon may well have been regarded as the third most powerful man in Israel, behind Moses and Aaron

• His son’s name was Salmon…• …which sounds fishy to me…

…the story of God’s grace…His parents now dead, Jericho now destroyed, the son of this powerful

man chooses a wife…

… a Gentile…and…

…known by everyone with the title…

“the harlot”… Rahab.

…the story of God’s grace…Grace

But… Rahab is a woman of faith.

Her son learns that even living with a Gentile can be alright and honor God.

To Rahab and Salmon is born Boaz.

…the story of God’s grace…Story #3: Ruth

Matthew 1:5…Boaz begot Obed by Ruth…

…the story of God’s grace…Ruth is questionable in the genealogy due to her place as another Gentile, a

Moabites.

Yet, few stories in Scripture highlight the godly character of a person more

than the story of Ruth.

…the story of God’s grace…Grace

Ruth, a Gentile woman, ends up being the grandmother of King David.

…the story of God’s grace…Story #4: Bathsheba

Matthew 1:5b-6Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot

David the king.

   David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.

…the story of God’s grace…Rather than using her name, Matthew

simply refers to her Bathsheba as “(the one) who had been the wife of

Uriah”.

Her story, along with David’s, is famous for immorality, for betrayal of a

noble man, and for mass murder.

…the story of God’s grace…It marked a turning point in the life of

David.

Grace

Solomon = Peace!

…the story of God’s grace…Story #5: Mary

Mary stands as the fifth woman in this story.

To many, it was assumed that Mary had sinned (John 8:41b, 48).

…the story of God’s grace…After all, without the revelation of God,

what else would they assume?

But, they would be wrong.

…the story of God’s grace…Grace

Through Mary came the Savior of the world!

QuestionWhy does the New Testament begin

this way?

Of all people, disciples of Jesus Christ should be the most gracious…

And we are often the most legalistic, unforgiving, unkind, demanding

people.

It’s not altogether surprising.

People who understand and value holiness, like the Jews did, can fall

into a trap.

We can create our own systems, our own “checks”.

And, we forget what God is like.

We forget what we are like.

Self-righteousness is subtle.

Our memories are short.But…

We serve a God who is gracious.

We serve a God who can “fix” life.

The story of Christmas is a story of God’s grace.

That should be our story

…for the New Year…

…for every year!