Volume 5, Issue 11

Newsletter Date March 11, 2013

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Christian Worldview Weekly

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IS YOUR HERITAGE IMPORTANT?

Perspectives Is Your Heritage Important? Greggrey Cudworth God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, View the world in love, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than Gregg the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, Quote of the Week wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadHistory is the ows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but version of past God is the sun. These are but streams; but events that God is the fountain. These are but drops, people have but God is the ocean. Jonathan Edwards decided to One of the ironies of our time is the fascination with genealogy. What makes for the Continued Page 2
The Colson Corner Soul Searching
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agree upon.
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)

Headline Story of the Week

How Trustworthy Is Science News?
By Christine Dao
Humans were not made to be experts in everything. C. S. Lewis was a master wordsmith, yet biographer Alan Jacobs noted that the Oxford fellow and later Cambridge professor struggled to count change from even the simplest of purchases. Eric Metaxas wrote that William Wilberforce, the parliamentarian who helped spearhead the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire, was a great orator and yet chronically disorganized. Isaac Newton was a dreadful farmer.1 Particularly in matters of scientific research, those who are not experts rely on those who profess to be. But just how much can the lay public trust science news when it enters...
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Back To The Future http:// www.worldviewchurch.org/ wvc-digest/featuredarticles/19362-back-to-thefuture-renewal-awaits-a-returnto-first-principles Devotion of the Week Growing In Grace http://
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http://www.icr.org/article/howtrustworthy-science-news/

IS YOUR HERITAGE IMPORTANT? CONTINUED

irony is we have become a society ever more isolated through social media and yet at the same time we have a deep concern with our identity; i.e. where we came from and the protecting of who we are; and all this on a very personal level. But genealogies are fun, interesting, and can give the individual a sense of belonging. Another area of concern for someone of Jewish heritage has been the loss of family ties due to the Holocaust. Biblically speaking genealogy and heritage is significant because of the Abrahamic Covenant. The covenant reads, [2] And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. [3] I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:23 ESV). A superficial reading could lead one to come away believing God is promising Abraham a large physical family sometime in the future which He will greatly bless. For centuries Hebrews have believed salvation and social standing are directly related to their family heritage. We see this in the New Testament with Zacharias having special duties in the temple because he was a Levite. We also witness the importance of heritage in Matthew and Luke through the genealogy of our Lord. Jews kept extensive genealogies to establish a persons heritage, inheritance, legitimacy, and rights (cf. Josephus, Life of Josephus 16). Matthew likely draws on the genealogies of the OT, with some omissions he demonstrates Jesus legal claim to the throne of David, emphasizing Jesus legal descent from David and Abraham, while Lukes genealogical record (Luke 3:2338) emphasizes Jesus biological descent from David and Adam. But what about Christian believers today, are we to be concerned with our heritage? Is it important to know our family background and if a distant ancestor was a believer, or not? If my

A relative of mine did a study and took the family tree back to the late 1500s; taking us to England before the early settlers of New England. Reading his study I learned many fascinating details of my family history; but I never really felt connected to those people. Details about them could have been about anyone from that Cudworth House, Scituate Mass. era. There are religions and societies today which have more than a fascination with genealogies. There interests are concerned with who they are related to, hoping to improve their standing in life both now and eternally. Mormons believe baptism is necessary for salvation, and think you can baptize the dead by proxy. Thus the living Mormons go about the business of searching their genealogies so they can baptize dead relatives desiring to strengthen the family unit for eternity. Jewry is another group which finds significance in learning their family history. If you have every read the Old Testament you quickly learn the family tree is of great importance to a Hebrew. A Jew who is able to trace his family to one of the ancient tribes may garner special recognition in areas such as synagogue service.

parents were or were not saved what are the implications for my personal salvation? Are there people sitting in church today raised by a Christian family, always attending church, thus thinking they are saved by proxy? Are there answers to these questions found in scripture? There are several verses which speak directly to these issues. One of the most clearly stated passages is found in Chapters 8 through 11 of the book of Hebrews. The point is, people are saved by faith and not by their physical genealogy; [11:1] Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. [2] For by it the people of old received their commendation. (Hebrews 11:1-2 ESV) The people of old, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob etc, were saved by faith and not because of their ancestral relationships. This teaching starts with chapter 8 where Jesus is portrayed as the High Priest of the better covenant. He is shown to be the eternal high priest fulfilling the promises of a new covenant of salvation by grace. Another passage addressing the salvation of Abraham is Romans 4; 22 that is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. 23 But the words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Once again scripture makes

no reference to anyones physical heritage. These passages, and many others, clearly point out physical birth has nothing to do with our personal salvation. The heritage we are to be concerned with is our spiritual relationship to Christ. The most graphic passage depicting the need to be born of spirit rather than how you were born of flesh is found in the Gospel of John, [5] Jesus answered (Nicodemus), Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. (John 3:5-7 ESV) Genealogies are enjoyable and can be important in certain legal situations; but the only genealogy which has eternal consequence is our relationship to Christ. This relationship is a personal one; it makes no difference whether your mother and father were or were not saved. It is all about us and whether or not we have received Christ as our Savior and Lord. Heritage is important, but not the physical heritage which is the concern of this world. Salvation and eternal life with God the Father is a spiritual connectedness where all believers will find the fulfillment of belonging which burns in the hearts of mankind.
Gregg is a contributing writer for the Colson Center

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tic, historical truth. An actual man named Adam had actual descendants (and, therefore, his actual sin has actual consequences). The genealogies also confirm prophecy. The Messiah was prophesied to come from the line of David (Isaiah 11:1). By recording His lineage in Scripture, God confirms that Jesus was descended from David (see Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23 -38). The genealogy is yet another attestation of Jesus Christs fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. The lists also demonstrate the detail-oriented nature of God and His interest in individuals. God did not see Israel vaguely, as a nebulous group of people; He saw with specificity, with precision and detail. There is nothing detached about the genealogies. They show a God involved. The inspired Word mentions people by name. Real people, with real histories and real futures. God cares about each person and the details of his or her life (Matthew 10:27-31; Psalm 139).

Question: "What is the relevance of the genealogies in the Bible?" Answer: The Bible contains multiple genealogical records. Many of us either skim these sections or skip them altogether, finding them largely irrelevant and perhaps even boring. However, they are part of Scripture, and, since all Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), they must bear some significance. There must be something we can learn from these lists. First, the genealogies help substantiate the Bibles historical accuracy. These lists confirm the physical existence of the characters in the Bible. By knowing family histories, we understand that the Bible is far from a mere story or a parable for how we should live our lives. It is authen-

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Finally, we can learn from various people listed in the genealogies. Some of the lists contain narrative portions that give us glimpses into the lives of the people. For instance, the prayer of Jabez is found within a genealogy (1 Chronicles 4:9-10). From this, we learn about Gods character and the nature of prayer. Other genealogies reveal that Ruth and Rahab are in the Messianic line (Ruth 4:21-22; Matthew 1:5). We see that God values the lives of these individuals, even though they were Gentiles and not part of His covenant people. While genealogies may at first glance appear irrelevant, they hold an important place in Scripture. Genealogies bolster the historicity of Scripture, confirm prophecy, and provide insight into the character of God and the lives of His people.
Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/Printer/Bible -genealogies-PF.html#ixzz2N3juUszf Copyright 2002-2013 Got Questions Ministries.

His magician uncleWherediddy Gogh His Mexican cousin.. AhMee Gogh The Mexican cousins American half-brother .Gring Gogh The nephew who drove a stage coach ....Wells-far Gogh The constipated uncle...Cant Gogh The ballroom dancing aunt...Tang Gogh The bird lover uncle.Flam-in Gogh The little bouncy nephew..Poe Gogh A sister who loved disco..Go Gogh His niece who travels the country in an RV ...Winnie Bay Gogh I saw you smiling...There ya Gogh

Family Tree of Vincent Van Gogh

His dizzy auntVerti Gogh The brother who ate prunes..Gotta Gogh The brother who worked at the convenience store.Stop N Gogh The Grandfather from Yugoslavia...U Gogh

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