FAMILY HISTORY

Recently, the archives of Ellis Island were opened to the public through the internet.  It 
was through this Ellis Island port that millions of immigrants poured into the United 
States.  

The very first day saw thousands upon thousands of hits as people searched for some 
piece of history that might give an insight into who they are and from where they came.  
Family genealogy has become a pastime for millions of Americans.  The world-wide-web 
has thousands of sites where family histories can be explored and information obtained.
	
This field of study exists because there is something within us that yearns to connect with 
the past.  We need to know that we are a part of a larger picture, heirs of a piece of 
history stretching back through the ages.  

Genealogies, however, are nothing new.  The Bible is filled with genealogical data, 
chapters and chapters of family trees listings the heirs of God's spiritual promises.  
Interestingly, only one family line is traced back all the way to the beginning of time—
Jesus, the son of Joseph, the son of Jacob, the son of …..  You get the point.

God wanted us to realize that His Son was fully human, tracing his lineage back to Adam 
himself (Lk. 3:38).  Through Jesus' veins flowed the genes of both hero and villain.  He 
descended from both Jewish and Gentile blood.  Within his family tree were both kings 
and peasants.  In fact, to study the bloodline of Jesus is to study the history of mankind 
itself—the good, the bad and the ugly.

By tracing the family line of Jesus, one realizes that just perhaps, just maybe, we do have 
something in common with the King of Glory.  He who sits on the right hand of God 
Most High can relate to us because he was so much like us.  The Hebrew writer stated it 
this way, "Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the 
same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers" (Heb. 2:11).

So the next time you work on your family tree, don't forget to include your spiritual, 
elder brother.  Because it is Jesus who helps us see most clearly where we came from 
and, even more importantly, where we're going.

God Bless,

Leslie S. Chapman