A NEW YEAR WITH JESUS 2 Chronicles 7:14

 A NEW YEAR WITH JESUS

2 CHRONICLES 7:14

14 if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

BACKGROUND

In 800  BC  God commissioned King Solomon to build a temple in Jerusalem

The temple was designed by God. All the material to build the temple was

Provided by Him. It took 7  years to build the temple. Solomon dedicated the completion of the temple for  7 days. 

In response to Solomon's faithfulness and prayer of dedication, God appeared to him  at night and confirmed His covenant to Israel stated in

2 Chronicles 7:14.  

All believers are the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a covenant that applies to church today. Each part of the verse speaks to us today. 

God’s response to Solomon’s prayer begins with this: 2 Chron 7:13

 If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

This indicates to me that God knew Israel would sin again, be judged and punished by Him. But God gave them the way back to Him in the next verse:   2 Chron 7:14  if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

REVIEW OF THE TEXT

The verse starts with “If”. We have a choice to make every day in our lives. What we do after the if determines the direction we take. The first six statements in the verse are His mercy on us for our sins. Followed by

His grace or favor to us.

GOD’S MERCY

“If my people”  God has chosen you as His people (Ephesians 1:4). We had nothing to do with His choice. We don’t deserve it, can’t earn His choice. God sees in us what He created us to be. He is the God of many chances.  He does not give up on us 

“ who are called by my name”  Not only did God choose but He set us aside for Himself. We have a special relationship with Father. 

•  Yahweh    The Self-Existent One

• Elohim       The mighty Creator

• El Shaddai  Lord God Almighty

• El Elyon     The Most High God

• Jehovah Jireh  The Lord Will Provide 

He is Omnipotent   All powerful

He is Omnipresent   Everywhere all the time

He is Omniscient    Knows everything There is nothing For God to learn 

The special relationship comes with responsibility. It comes with privilege and obligation.  We are called by God’s name. That name has power, it has worth, it has purpose. Our job is to be the light to the world.

“Shall humble themselves”  God hates the proud. We  cannot communicate with God with a proud heart.  We must be submissive to God with total reliance on Him. Jesus in the flesh on earth said I can do nothing without the Father (John 5:30). 

Humbleness pleases the Father. Matt 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It is an attitude born in heaven.

Humbleness sees ourselves at the feet of Jesus in need of His mercy.

It is a state of gratefulness for what God has done in our lives

“And pray”  Prayer is time well spent. It is our way of communicating with God. Prayers of a humble spirit gets God’s attention. 

James 5:16-17

 The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. 17 Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months.

Don’t ever think your prayers are not important to God. He sometimes answers yes, sometimes wait, sometimes no, sometimes better and

More powerful than you can imagine. When Peter was jailed by Herod Agrippa (Acts 12), the whole church prayed and chains fell off and jail doors were opened and angel led him out set him free,

“Seek My face”  This goes beyond prayer. It is a desire to be in the presence of God at all times. It is the pursuit of God in praise, worship and devotion. It is to prioritize God above all others and align yourself with the teaching of Jesus. It is stepping out on faith to serve God.

Matt 6:33 But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

God gives us the way to His blessing. Don’t worry about what you don’t have. Give all you got to God and watch Him multiply it.

Each of us has a history with God. He chose us, set us apart

Ps 27:9  Thou hast been my help; cast me not off, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

How did you get here today?  What doors did God open for you?

“Turn from their wicked ways”  All of us at some point in time, in some way have turned from God. It's not a big sin, it's all sin. God does not have a sliding scale on sin. All sin big or small carry the same punishment, death.  Repentance is turning away from sin and not looking back.

I used this example with my own 11 year old grandson of my own wickedness. He went out trick or treating on halloween and came back with a big bag of candy which he left at our house. It had been several months and he had not been back to the house or asked for the candy. So I found the bag and started eating it thinking he had forgotten about it.  

He came back to the house several months later looking for his candy.

I had to confess to my 11 year old grandson my sin. Of course he forgave me, but it was my sin.  

The first six statements in 2 Chronclies 7:14 is God’s mercy. The following three are God’s grace toward us. Six is the number of time frames God used to complete His created work. God gives us six steps to bring back in fellowship with Him.

GOD’S GRACE

“ then will I hear from heaven,”God transcends time and space to engage with us in our human failures. He brought Jesus to our level to

In a show of compassion for us. In the Old Testament atonement for sin was made by bringing an acceptable sacrifice to the altar. Upon repentance

Jesus is our acceptable sacrifice.

The moment we turn from our wicked ways we hear from heaven. Jesus our Savior intercedes for us. 

Ps 34:15

 The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous, and his ears are (open) unto their cry.

Ps 34:17

 (The righteous) cried, and Jehovah heard, and delivered them out of all their troubles.

“and will forgive their sin”

Forgiveness is an aspect of God’s love attributed only to man. Sin began in the angelic realm when Satan in pride decided to lift himself above God.

Satan and his demons will not be forgiven. When Adam sinned, God immediately put Jesus to work as our savior. In Genesis God set in place

The consequences of sin and the redemption from sin. 

Ps 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear him.

 God never called angels his children, but His messengers. Plants, animals and angels were spoken into existence. God took to make man in his own image and likeness.

Heb 9:22 And according to the law, I may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood. 

28 so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many,

“and will heal their land.”

God restores us physically, psychologically and spiritually to make us whole again. We are placed back in the right fellowship with Him. The plan of salvation Restores back to the image and likeness of Him that made us.

In summary, you God’s children. Because of His love for you, set in place

A way back to Him when you sin. The six steps are training ground in righteousness.

The three promises of grace are God’s reward for you faithfulness

GROWING UP WITH JESUS Matthew 3:17

 GROWING UP IN JESUS 

Matthew 3:17

In the life of Jesus we focus on two events, His birth and His death

We know little about His early life.

We see Jesus in Bethlehem on Christmas morning, We see Him at 2 to 3 years old when the Wise men visited Him in Bethlehem 

We see Mary Joseph and the child Jesus directed by an angel of the Lord to Egypt to escape the murder of babies by Herod in an effort to kill Jesus

Matt 2:15 and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt did I call my son (Hosea 11:1).

We see Jesus at 12 years old in Jerusalem questioning the teachers of the 

WHAT SCRIPTURE TELLS US ABOUT JESUS LIFE FROM 12 TO 30

The story begins afresh at 30 years old when Jesus is baptised in the Jordan river by John the Baptist. We hear the voice of the Father giving

Him approval

Matt 3:17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

From the verse we get three pieces of information

  1. Jesus lives a life pleasing to the Father

  2. His life was one of obedience

  3. He is the eternal son of the Father and step down from heaven and was 

      Born in the flesh full human.  He had a divine nature and a human 

      Nature, yet never sinned.

HIS EARLY LIFE ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE AND JEWISH CUSTOMS

At 12 Years old   Luke 2:39-51 He went with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem to observe the Passover festival commanded by the Lord

Deut 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles; and they shall not appear before Jehovah empty.

Like any normal Jewish child He grew in spirit and wisdom

He was found in temple Asking question of the teachers for 3 days

God stripped Him of all his wisdom and knowledge to be born in the flesh.

Luke 2:46 And it came to pass, after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both hearing them, and asking them questions: 47 and all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 52 And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and Men.

BORN IN HUMBLE CONDITIONS

In His early life Jesus was learning humility , responsibility and service

Born in a poor conditions with  poor parents , He learned the trade of carpenter from Joseph

Galilee was considered one of the worst areas

John 1:46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

DILEGENT STUDY OF GOD’S WORD

Jesus spent time studying the Word out of obedience to His earthly parents and the Jewish custom. Jesus knew that the best place to find the best teachers of the Word was at the temple in Jerusalem

He spent  3 days in Jerusalem  asking questions from the

Teachers . Luke 2: 47 and all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

Lean to write, He  wrote in the sand when the Jewish leaders brought Him a woman caught in adultery,  John 8:6 And this they said, trying him, that they might have (whereof) to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground.

ASV

 

JESUS WAS A SKILLED LABORER 

In Obedient to parents and the Jewish custom, Jesus Learn the trade of Joseph   a carpenter

Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended in him.

He was Obedient first to God the Father. He became aware early as a child that He had a higher calling. All His focus was on the Lord's work.   

Luke 2:49  And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be in my Father's house?

Jesus Never spoke or acted on His own 

John 5:30 I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works.

Jesus was an image of the Father 

John 14:9  Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father?

Jesus was the oldest son of Mary and Joseph 

Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended in him.

JESUS BROTHERS AND SISTERS WERE KEPT IN THE DARK

After Joseph death, by Jewish law He became leader of the family.

This implies that Jesus’s brothers did not know that He was the Son of God and the long awaited Messiah, It indicated that Mary and Joseph kept the secret of Jesus virgin birth. This may have been to protect the family from

Perfection or death 

 

The parents could not reveal who Jesus was for fear he would be killed

His brothers and sisters  didn’t believe in His message,  thought He was crazy.

Matt 2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither; and being warned (of God) in a dream, he withdrew into the parts of Galilee, 23 and came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that he should be called a Nazarene.

According to Joscephus, After Herod’s death, his son Herod Archelaus took the throne To consolidate his power and  put down the uproar in Jerusalem, He sent An army into Jerusalem killed 3000 insurrectionists and canceled 

the passover

While Jesus lived his brothers and sister were not part of His ministery

His brothers and sisters  didn’t believe in His message and   thought He was crazy.

Mark 3:21 When his family heard this, they went to get him because they thought he was out of his mind. 22 But the teachers of the law from Jerusalem were saying, "Beelzebul is living inside him! He uses power from the ruler of demons to force demons out of people." 

THE EARLY YEARS OF JESUS LIFE WAS SPIRITUAL PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY

Jesus early life was set and followed normal Jewish values

Deut 6:7 and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

• The Father gave Jesus 30 years of on the job training

• 30 years of listening to problems. 30 years of listening to deception of men

• 30 years of obedience. 30 years of studying the scriptures. 30 years of communication with the Lord

• 30 years of spiritual growth and development. 30 years of growing in wisdom and favor with the Father and man. . 30 years of perfection to become a Rabbi 

• You and I ought to graduate from student to teacher 

• Heb 5:12 For when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers

• 30 years of role modeling righteous living before a sinful world

• Listen and observe, Jesus fought every temptation with Word

• Satan is never finished. He will come back with another temptation. 

JESUS GROWTH FROM CHILDHOOD TO MANHOOD IS A ROLE MODEL FOR US

Luke 2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be in my Father's house?

1. Jesus was raised in a working family and lived in a poor neighborhood

2. Luke 2:52  And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

3. Jesus lived a life like you. He was focused on the will of the Father, as we should be

4. He experienced what you experienced . He can identify with your problems

5. He knows your past and used it to grow your future 

6. Every event in your life has prepared you for good work in the Lord 

7. Your life with Jesus is assured and will be blesse

GOD CHOSE A FAMILY FOR YOU, Matthew 1:1-17

 GOD DESIGNED A FAMILY FOR YOU

Matthew 1:1-17

Family is God’s first divine institution. I believe His most joyous creation. 

There is a mad rush to know our genealogy. Ancestry.com has a DNA kit

To identify past members of your family history. 

When you go to a doctor they want to know your family history. Do any one in the family have a history of heart trouble, high blood pressure, arthritis.

Cancer and other illnesses?  It all in your DNA, and can be transferred to you. 

You have a permanent human DNA. It is in you from birth and is a combination of your family history, Once we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior we have spiritual DNA with Him. 

The Bible lists two Jewish  genealogies of Jesus, one in the gospel of Matthew and one in the Gospel of Luke.  The Gospel of Matthew is the public record of Abraham to Mary. The genealogy in Luke is the private record from Joseph to Adam.

JESUS FAMILY LIFE

You would think that Jesus our Lord and Savior, the author of our faith,

The giver of undeserved grace and mercy and the Father of righteousness would choose the best genealogy for Himself.  But He did not.

Jesus is related by blood to Mary, his earthy mother. Jesus is the adopted son of Joseph and is related by the private record. Mary and Joseph were first cousins. Their fathers were brothers. Jesus is related by private and public record to Adam the one who created Him. Jesus is both father and

Brother to us by adoption. 

THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS

Family is made up of  collection people and event through time.  Matthew

Traces Jesus human genealogy back to Abraham around 2200 BC. Luke traces Jesus genealogy back to Adam around 4000 BC. Spiritually Jesus always was and always will be, from eternity past to eternity future.

In the genealogy of Jesus are two non Jewish women who married Jewish men, Rahab and Ruth.  Rahab was a Canaanite, a  prostitute who ran a house of prostitution.

 Ruth was a Moabite who married Boaz , the great grandfather of King David (Ruth 3:14) The Moabites were known for incessual relationships. So we have  non Jews  related to Jesus by both Public and private record.

In every family there are some good people and some not so good people. There are some honest, hard working people and some lazy folk. There are

Some thieves, liars, drug abusers and may some in jail.  We all have some

Family members we want  spend too  much time talking about.

Jesus genealogy includes a prostitute, a rapist, a murder, a polygamist

And some non  Jews.  One of His chosen Judges of Israel was a wild man, a violent man, an irrational man and a womanizer.  Jesus' genealogy also includes some righteous faithful men and women. 

Rehab ran a house of prostitution, made a deal with the Israelite spies

By hiding them from her king of Jereico in turn for the life of her and her family. She married Salmon one of the great great grand fathers of David Matthew 1:5

Ruth was a Moabite woman, whose love for Naomi brought her to Israel,

Where she married Boaz the great great grandfather of David  Matthew 1:5

King David a man after God’s own heart was a rapist and murder, He raped

Bathsheba and had her husband killed in battle to cover his sin.

King Solomon the son David and Bathsheba is considered the wisest man of all times, David son was a polygamist. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He was also disobedient to God by marrying women who worshiped idol gods,  

Manasseh King of Judah , southern Israel did evil in the site of God, building idol altars  in Israel including in the temple  Matthew 1:10.

Jesus is from the line of Judah.

Samsom  one of God's judges of Israel was a man of unusual  physical strength. He was a wild , violent, irrational man, He slept with Delliah a Philistine woman, the enemy of god who tricked Him to reveal the sources of his strength. In  the end  blinded and chained appealed to God to place him on support post of a building doing a Philistine party of all the kings and warriors which he pushed down killing them all

The point of all this is our family line, like Jesus includes all types of people, It is a story of repentance and redemption. It is a story of our adoption into the family of Jesus by faith in  His atoning blood on the cross.

It is a story of family that God chose for us. God chose to bring Jesus in the

Flesh though 42 generation of Israelites. He chose us before the foundation

Of the earth to be in that family Ephesion 1:4,  He spiritually adopted us as

Sons and daughters Ephesians 1:5, Romans 8:15.

We are included in the public record and the private record of Jesus Christ. We are in His family line by His grace and mercy, We don’t deserve it and

We cannot earn  a place with Jesus,  

Jesus made up his family to look like ours. A family of sinners in need of a Savior.  God is no respecter of person,

FIVE WOMEN IN THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS

There are some interesting things about some of the women in the Genealogy of Jesus. They were smart and used their sexuality to marry into the Jesus’s genealogy. 

      

              Tamar married one of the sons of Judah (a son of Jacob)

               Her husband died. She tricked Judah her father in law that she   

               was a prostitute and got impregnated by him. Her and her son   

               Perez are in genealogy.  Gen 38

              Rahab ran a house of prostitution. She hid the spies of Joshua

              And made a deal with them to save her and her family doing

              The fall of Jereco. She married Obez, her and her son are in

              Genealogy.

              Ruth  was a moabite whose culture was known for incestial  

              relationships. She Followed Naomi , her mother in law from Moab 

              to Israel. She married Obez.  

              Under the direction of Naomi she uncovered Obez while he was  

              sleep and laid at His feet.   The Hebrew word for feet is a  

             euphemism for genitalia. By laying next to his feet/genitalia she 

             was offered herself to him as His wife.  

              

              Mary a teenage virgin conceived Jesus by the power of the

              Holy Spirit. 

    The genealogy of Jesus is broken into three sections. 

1. FAITH   From Abraham to David                              14 generation      

2. MERCY From David to the deportation to Babylon  14 generations 

3. HOPE     From the deportation of Israel  to Jesus    14 generations

One additional note about the number 14.  In the Hebrew Bible language    7 is the number of completion. 14 is 7 twice meaning the genealogy is 

Very important information. The genealogy of Jesus shows us that He gave up his crown and became nothing so you I could be everything. The genealogy includes Jews and Gentiles, good people and bad people in all types of situation, sins of every imaginable type that Jesus came like us

To reconcile to Himself in His shed blood.

God used the members in your genealogy to position you in places  that He can use you.    

YOU WERE CHOSEN FOR THE FAMILY OF JESUS

Eph 1:4  He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: 5 having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved:

The genealogy is a story of God’s unending grace and mercy

A story of forgiveness and redemption

A story of God’s  love grounded in faith

A story of a well executed plan 

A story that you can see your life in

THANK GOD JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON 

WE OUGHT TO BE GRATEFUL THAT WE ARE HIS FAMILY

UGHT