Let’s begin with the oldies: Women in the New Testament

The New Testament presents the life of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. His birth, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension to heaven, the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the birth of the church, the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the church, Apostolic letters to the churches, the signs of the end times among many others. The New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old Testament and thus very important for believers to read both Testaments. In continuation of our study of women in the Bible, it is important to understand that the New Testament mentions women in the Old Testament that significantly impacted their societies and whose stories culminated in God’s bigger agenda.

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife (Matthew 1:5‭-‬6).

The four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) would be studied concurrently. The gospels culminate the life and ministry of Jesus on earth. Let’s begin with the Old Testament women who formed part of Jesus’ Family line. The gospels of Matthew and Luke begin the life of Jesus with His genealogy. Matthew (chapter 1:1-17) traces Jesus to Abraham and Luke (chapter 3:23-38) traces Jesus to Adam. Matthew’s account of the genealogy of Jesus included three women from the Old Testament. Matthew 1:5-6 goes like this:
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife (Bethsheba).

If you had followed this study, you would know that all these women had issues. First Rahab was a foreigner from Jericho, a land the Israelites conquered. Rahab’s trade before the Israelites took over Jericho was prostitution. Ruth was a foreigner from Moab. Ruth was the widow of Mahlon, the son of Naomi. Uriah’s wife, Bethsheba was an Israelite woman. King David slept with her while she was still married to Uriah. When she became pregnant, the king killed her husband Uriah and married her. God was appalled by their actions and even the child from that adulterous relationship died.

These three are women society would have stigmatized. They had past lives that were unpleasant. They had experienced pain, rejection and discrimination, yet, through their wombs came children who contributed to God’s bigger plan. We might not fully understand God’s way but we know that whoever comes to the Lord will not be rejected. For example, when Rahab joined the people of Israel, she abandoned her past profession and married an Israelite man named Salmon (see Matthew 1:5; Ruth 4:21 and 1 Chronicles 2:11). Salmon through Rahab fathered Boaz, and Boaz married Ruth and fathered Obed who became the father of Jesse. And, Jesse was the father of David, the king of Israel. David married Bethsheba and had king Solomon. Jesus Christ is the great grandson of David.

These women did not just rise to glory. They knew their past and worked through obedience and submission to overcome their past failures. God’s plan was fulfilled through their obedience and willingness to align with God’s purpose.
Dear woman, coming to Christ is just not enough. Be ready to be transformed and renewed. Your story is bigger than you see now. Be intentional about spending time with God and forsaking every past sinful life or living beyond past failures. If it didn’t work yesterday does not mean it will not work today.

The children of God are those led by the Spirit

God created humans in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). After the fall in Eden, humanity lost that divine connection with God. Adam and Eve saw for the time that they were naked. The glory of God that clothed them was taken off and they had to use fig leaves to cover their nakedness. In God’s eternal plan, God wanted all humanity to reflect the image of His Son. Jesus’ death and resurrection paid for the sin that was committed in Eden and “all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Adam and Eve allowed the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life to lead them to the “forbidden fruit”.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.(Romans 8:14)

When we come to Christ, our senses do not die away. We still have the same feelings and desires but these do not lead us to do what we want. We are led by the Spirit of God. Yes! For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. Our conduct is influenced by God’s Spirit. We do not live anyhow. We are careful of the things that do not have eternal value. Our focus is eternity. We do not live according to the flesh (our passions) but we live according to the Spirit (God’s way). “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). We are no longer slaves to sin, fear, guilt, shame, pain, etc. We are the children of God.

Our knowledge of this should lead us to follow our Lord in obedience. Children of the king do not misbehave. We are royals as 1 Peter 2:9-10 quote: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9‭-‬10). Each day is an opportunity for us to show the world our transformation from darkness to the light. We have been shown mercy and out of love, we should share the love of God with as many as possible.

Remember, those who are led by the Spirit are children of God. Who is leading you today?

Prayer: Dear Holy Spirit, lead me today, tomorrow and always. Guide me into all truths and show me the way to righteousness. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

They only heard the report.

Once upon a time, there was a man who persecuted the church. He encountered the Lord and he was converted to the faith. He worked for the Lord and established more churches in Asia and Europe.
This could have been the narrative about Paul, the apostle. The Lord turned his life around in a short while and he was turned from a persecutor to a builder of the church. No one is useless in the sight of God. God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Cor. 1:27). And the world heard such reports of how Paul’s life has been changed by God.

They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” (Galatians 1:23)

There are many reports we hear daily. Some of these reports are encouraging and others can be depressing. Whose report do you believe? The fact of these reports whether good or bad is verifiable and we tend to live in fear of our lives. When God does a miracle in the life of a person, the world can choose to report on the bad side of the story ignoring the good parts. Paul was operating in the gift of the Spirit, he was in the ministry gifts and working tirelessly for the gospel. I believe many were shocked to hear the report about Paul. Do you know that God is able to change the narrative about you?

When we come to Christ,we become a new creation and the old order of things (our former lifestyle) passes away. Our newness of life in Christ should reflect in our lifestyles and those around us should be able to report that we have truly changed. However, when our life in Christ is not reflecting Christ, the world will hear the report as well. We are not campaigning for people to say good things about us. But, when we encounter Christ, it should be possible for others to identify it. For some people, the only Bible they will have access to is the lives we live. Therefore, let our conversion be seen by all men. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt.5:16).

The world is hearing so many reports but our lifestyles may be a better report to calm the storms in the world.