Jesus Thinks in Families & Legacies
Did you know the Old Testament closes with a verse on legacy and the New Testament opens with a verse about on legacy? How intentional!
The very last verse in the Old Testament: Malachi 4:5-6 says, “But also look ahead: I’m sending Elijah the prophet to clear the way for the Big Day of God—the decisive Judgment Day! He will convince parents to look after their children and children to look up to their parents. If they refuse, I’ll come and put the land under a curse.”
Then the very first verse in the New Testament: Matthew 1:1 says, “The family tree of Jesus Christ, David’s son, Abraham’s son:”
This is why Jesus thinks in families and legacies…
God thinks relationally and generationally.
He said, “I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Joseph”.
He thought about you as a son or daughter with a mother and a father and how that would impact you.
He thought about you as a parent of a son or daughter now and in the future….and how you can impact your children starting now. It’s never too late to begin again.
From the beginning, God took a great risk! This was done in the hopes that there would be a generational transference of who He is. He plants a seed in us in the hopes that it will move from one generation to the next. What a blessing!
But where there is a generational blessing, there can also be a generational curse. Logically, we can’t have one without the other option when we live in a fallen and broken world.
Enter Jesus on the scene. He breaks the curse of sin and division, and He leaves His Holy Spirit as our comfort when we don’t have a godly generational legacy to pull from.
We have to make relationships work, but that’s not uncomplicated. It is imperative that we get personally healthy and whole to make relationships work, because we can’t just cut everyone off and keep everyone out of our life.
I look to the Holy Spirit to comfort me when I feel alone or confused on how to change our family legacy for future generations. I look to the Holy Spirit when I need to stand firm on passing on the seed God has given me instead of just keeping it for myself, or giving up, or cutting someone out of my life during a difficult season.
In Matthew 28, Jesus said, “Go and make disciples.” He’s basically saying, “Go write a legacy!”How do I wrap my mind around that? How do we disciple in our modern world?
Discipleship, and writing a legacy, is all about teaching and pouring into someone. The Hebrew style of teaching lent well to being able to transfer knowledge and seeds of faith from one generation to another. But today, we live in a Greek style of learning, so we have some hurdles to overcome.
Look at the differences here:
The Greek model says, “You sit in chairs and face forward.”
The Hebrew model says, “Hey, get in a circle and now come follow me!”
The Greek method focuses on CONTENT.
The Hebrew method focuses on CONTEXT.
The Greek model says, “You get a degree in what you study - maybe a degree in Business or Medicine”.
Hebrew model says, “I FOLLOWED AND WATCHED and got a ‘degree’ in Aunt Judee”
The Greek method sees minds as empty jars that need filling, using an impersonal curriculum.
The Hebrew method sees minds as clay needing to be molded, personalizing the education process by daily interaction
Doesn’t the Hebrew way sound a lot like parenting and mentoring? That is discipleship! Discipleship happens daily and is the way in which we write a legacy. I want to develop healthy disciples by being a healthy discipler.
I can only fix me. I can’t fix the relative that hurt me, I can only stop the generational transference of that hurt by getting myself spiritually whole and healthy.
But how do I get spiritually healthy, you may ask?
Step 1: Are you plugged in to a local Jesus-loving, Bible-believing church? Are you committed and connected to other Jesus people to be positively influenced and accountable to grow spiritually?
Step 2: Will be in my next blog where I break down each of Jesus’ roles in our daily lives and our response to Him.
Stay tuned!
Pastor Sonny