Talking about the promises
One of the most marvelous verses in the whole Bible is Mat
1:1.
"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham."
Think about it for a minute. There it sits, at the very
beginning of the New Testament. Anybody can find it. Anybody can remember where
it is. No searching the memory banks for a "good verse" to use. No flipping
through pages, muttering, "Now where WAS that verse?"
When you think about it, this IS pretty much the beginning for
most everyone except Christadelphians: "I don't bother much with the Old
Testament, of course," they say. "Too much dull history, and lists of names. The
New Testament is all I need!"
"Fine," we say, "Let's go there!"
And now that one has begun at the beginning, the message of
this single verse -- at the very crossroads of the Bible, the bridge between Old
and New -- is... breathtakingly simple:
Here, at the very beginning -- the jumping-off place -- of the
New Testament, the reader is actually directed to look back at the Old... "HALT!
Proceed no further until you look back and understand WHY it is important that
Jesus Christ is the son of Abraham and the son of David."
And right away, the reader can be introduced to the promises
-- resurrection and eternal life on the earth, the Kingdom of God, and the
throne of David, and the Second Coming. Some of the most positive, and
fundamental, teachings of the Bible.
And -- if you have a memory like a sieve, or can't remember a
single thing under pressure -- how do you get to those promises? No problem.
Alongside Mat 1:1 in your Bible margin, simply write
* "Abraham": Gen 12 and Gen 13 (and Gal 3:16,27-29 if you want
to be adventurous!); and
* "David": 2Sa 7 (and maybe Isa 9:6,7 and Luk
1:31-33).
Now you are off and running!
