Jesus in 1 Chronicles: Legacy
1 Chronicles is a book of legacy. Jesus is revealed in every book of the Bible and this one is no exception.
John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! NLT
Jesus is revealed in the meticulous details ensuring the legacy if the Messiah have been preserved. Jesus is revealed in King David’s heart to build the temple and his sacrificial efforts to empower Solomon to complete the task. Jesus sacrificially positioned us to continue the work of building God’s Kingdom.
1 Chron 29:1-3 Then King David turned to the entire assembly and said, “My son Solomon, whom God has clearly chosen as the next king of Israel, is still young and inexperienced. The work ahead of him is enormous, for the Temple he will build is not for mere mortals—it is for the Lord God himself! 2 Using every resource at my command, I have gathered as much as I could for building the Temple of my God… 3 “And now, because of my devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected for his holy Temple. NIV
1 Chron 29:6 Then the family leaders, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the generals and captains of the army, and the king’s administrative officers all gave willingly. NIV
Generosity produces generosity.
If you think of somebody who you know is generous and somebody else you know who isn’t generous the comparison of their two lives will be very different. Research clearly reveals that generous people are happier, healthier people who live longer and more full lives.
For God so loved that he gave.
We are created in His image to love and love gives. This is why we’re told to love others as we love ourselves. We have no problem loving and giving to ourselves. The Bible doesn’t say this is wrong it simply says make sure you’re moving beyond yourself to learn to love and give to help others.
It’s natural to be selfish. “Mine” was one of the first words every one of us in this room used with whole hearted devotion! “Yes I’ll share my toys” is something we are taught and only maturity uses this phrase with the same level of devotion.
Giving beyond myself creates expressions of effective ministry. Giving beyond my life creates expressions of effective legacy.
If we’re not careful our materialistic society so captivates our attention that we find ourselves consumed with spending on ourselves feeling like we just can’t afford to be generous or giving.
Our society is so materialistic we have several successful TV series about storage units. Auction Hunters just finished its 5th season airing 26 episodes in each season. God’s plan isn’t to bless you so you can fill your life with junk and become distracted from the eternal purposes of God.
Luke 16:11 If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches? NIV
When we handle the temporal stuff well the parts of life that have eternal value can then be entrusted to our lives as well. World-changing, history-altering influence awaits those who get it right in the temporal things which can tend to consume and literally captivate us.
Giving never diminishes our lives. It increases our lives. Like a saturated sponge we can’t absorb more until we are squeezed out. God asks us to 1st give of what we have and then receive more of what He has in store for our lives.
True poverty is the inability to give.
Start somewhere! For your own well-being do whatever it takes to start somewhere and learn to give!
Don’t buy into the lie that you can’t take it with you. If you believe this then you’re focusing on the wrong stuff. True riches are relationships with people. Doing all we can to take as many people as possible into eternity with us is taking true riches with us.
I plan to spend all of eternity meeting and enjoying people that might not have made it to heaven if my family hadn’t been willing to reach out, love, serve and give.
Leonard Ravenhil said, “five minutes inside eternity and we’ll wish we’d sacrificed more, wept more, grieved more, loved more, prayed more and given more.”
GP4RL: Take some time this week to evaluate how you are giving into your church and directly into the lives of others. Renew your commitment to sacrificially devote yourself to a life that leaves a legacy pointing to Jesus.
Going Deeper
Scholars reference the anonymous author of this book as “The chronicler.”
Chronicles seems to focus on the advancement and progression of God’s Kingdom graciously neglecting to mention mistakes like David and Bathsheba.
Chronicles has extensive writings about genealogies communicating the importance of preserving the purity of God’s chosen people, the priesthood and the lineage of the Messiah. Where we tend to scan through these chapters Jewish readers pay special attention to these very important details prioritizing the preservation of true hope for all humanity.
We have 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings so why do we also need 1-2 Chronicles? Just as the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John each offer a different perspective on the life of Jesus, so the books of Chronicles offers a different purpose in regard to Israel’s history. The books of 2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings reveal the monarchies of Israel and Judah—in particular the sins of the nations that resulted in the exile. But the books of Chronicles, written after the time of the exile, focus on those elements of history that God wanted the returning Jews to meditate upon: obedience that results in God’s blessing, the priority of the temple and priesthood, and the unconditional promises to the house of David.
David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10–19 summarizes the themes the chronicler was communicating: glory to God, gratitude for blessing David’s family with leadership of the nation, and the desire that David’s descendants continue to devote themselves to God. This brings a challenge for all of us to consider our own spiritual heritage.
May we follow God’s direction and invite him to direct our sacrificial pursuit of Him so future generations will be blessed.
Deut 14:23 The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives (TLB)
God’s plan is to bring us face to face with his desire for us to give every time we gather to worship. Gathering at the temple never happened empty handed. Offerings, sacrifices and tithes have always been a part of God’s definition of worship.
The greater the sacrifice the more meaningful the offering. The wealthier we become the more difficult it is to give sacrificially. The tithe principle of 10% of our increase is very sacrificial for a modest income.
Jesus took everything in the Law and magnified it as a heart issue. Adultery isn’t the act of adultery it’s what goes on in your heart. Tithes are about sacrificially giving as an expression of the heart rather than a legalistic requirement.