Alice Capen

From Days of Praise: February 7, 2023 The Book “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” (Matthew 1:1) This verse about the book begins the New Testament. This book and Scripture from Genesis to Revelation contain not the words of mere men but of God Himself. Every word was written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It’s appropriate to thank God daily for giving us His Book and the life-encompassing trove of wisdom it contains that we need for salvation and daily living. The famous 19th-century preacher J. C. Ryle said, “The poorest Englishman who understands his Bible knows more about religion than the wisest philosophers of Greece and Rome.” How we approach this book is no light matter. We must read and study the Scriptures diligently, having a sound determination to believe and practice all we find in them, praying for the instruction and power of the Holy Spirit in all of it. After this introductory statement to Matthew’s gospel are 16 verses tracing the lineage from Abraham to David to Christ’s family. We shouldn’t think that these verses are useless or less inspired than the others. From these we learn that the sovereign God always keeps His word and promises. The almighty God promised that in Abraham’s seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed and that He would raise up a Savior of the line of David (Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 9:7). True Christians should acknowledge this lesson and take comfort that their Father in heaven “which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6) and that “God is not a man, that he should lie” (Numbers 23:19). JPT