Series: “DNA Of Christmas” — Sermon #1 “The Good The Bad And The Ugly”

Series: “DNA Of Christmas” — Sermon #1 “The Good The Bad And The Ugly”

John Stott   “We often come to the Bible looking for some wonderful (i.e. nice things) but often God wants to show us disturbing things.”  

Disequilibrium – Being knocked out of your comfort zone (RUT) in order to realize another stage of growth. 

Hebrews 1:1-3   “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,  … ; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person…”

Colossians 1:15 NKJV  “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” 

AMP  “[Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible];”

The Scriptures ultimately bear witness to Christ, and Christ perfectly bears witness to God. While we are searching the Bible to find out what God is like, the Bible is all the while resolutely pointing us to Jesus.   Brian Zahnd

“Jesus Christ is perfect theology”: means that we have a perfect revelation of what God is like in the person of Jesus. And any belief we have about God that we cannot find in the person of Jesus is a belief to be questioned.   Bill Johnson

Matthew 1:1-3, 16 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, … Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar,… Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.”

Jesus Family Tree: Christmas Table

A girl involved in incest. /  A hooker who ran a brothel. /.  A pagan idol worshipper.

An adulteress who’s boyfriend killed her husband.  /. A teen girl pregnant and unmarried. 

Genesis 50:20 (CEB) “You planned something bad for me, but God produced something good from it, in order to save the lives of many people, just as he’s doing today.”

Genesis 37:26-27 “So Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites,…’”

Genesis 38  “It came to pass at that time that Judah departed (Went Down KJV) from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and went in to her.”

So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.

Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him.  And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, (Levirate) and raise up an heir to your brother.”

But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother.  And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also.

Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house. Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died …

…and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.  And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”

So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face. Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

And he said, “I will send a young goat from the flock.”  So she said, “Will you give me a pledge till you send it?” Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” So she said, “Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.  

So she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood. And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her. Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was openly by the roadside?”

And they said, “There was no harlot in this place.” (Temple Prostitute)

So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.”

Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”

And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; furthermore she is with child by harlotry.” So Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”

When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And she said, “Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.”

So Judah acknowledged them and said, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he never knew her again. Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, … 

… that behold, twins were in her womb. And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”

Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” Therefore his name was called Perez. Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called Zerah.”

Genesis 44:33 “So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see the anguish this would cause my father!”

Genesis 45:1 “Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, … Joseph made himself known to his brothers.”

Judah’s Recovery

1. He Came To His Senses

2. He Forgave Tamar and Himself

3. He Returned Home

4. He Walked In Light

5. He Honoured His Father

6. He Restored His Brother

We are most like beasts when we kill. We are most like men when we judge. We are most like God when we forgive. William Arthur Ward. (Thoughts of a Christian Optimist)

Genesis 49:10 “The scepter or leadership shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh [the Messiah, the Peaceful One] comes to Whom it belongs, and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”

Many approach the bible looking for moral examples.

How to be a good person.

The point of the bible is to be a mirror to show us the human condition.

From cover to cover the bible points to our need for a saviour.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus came for Judah and for Tamar

Matthew 1:21 “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”