Sometimes, when you are face-to-face with the reality of your own desperate and fallen heart, it can be hard to believe that Jesus would ever truly want anything to do with you. I know I have felt that way tons of times. Could He really love this big a mess? Does He really treasure a person like me with all of my problems and struggles? If you’ve ever felt that way before, there’s good news for you. At the very beginning of the New Testament, in the first chapter of Matthew, there is a list of names. The author tells us that it is the genealogy of the Messiah. This is Jesus’ ancestral line - the biological history of where the Christ came from. Now, when you start to read a list of names like that, you might assume that these would be the very pillars of humanity. Surely the line that brought about the Messiah would be holiest, most exemplary group of superstar people to ever walk the face of the planet, right? Well, it’s actually quite the opposite. This list includes liars, cheaters, thieves, adulterers, murderers, idol worshipers and scoundrels of the very lowest order. One man in this list is described as a person who committed more evil by himself than all of the pagan nations before him. Wow. There were desperately poor people in this list and people with deep emotional problems. The lineage of Jesus isn’t a hall of fame, it’s the manifesto of a rescue mission. Jesus didn’t just come from these people, He came for them. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, Jesus came for you. He came because you need Him and because He loves you.
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