Who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

Acts 8:33

My paternal grandmother, in her spare time, gathers pieces of our family’s heritage from wherever and whomever she can. One of her references is a book connecting names and stories of the ancestors of her mother.

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Deep into the pages of the history of this family, the life of son of the 1800s is briefed in a sentence or two. He died in early adulthood, leaving behind neither wife nor children, neither explanation nor legacy. Only a few words among thousands.

Had those sentences described the life and death of my great-grandmother, I would not be writing today, or any day for that matter. Vera Prince’s seed was preserved when she married and birthed her family.

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What about Jesus? He was of whom the prophet Isaiah wrote and the Ethiopian read.

At the end of hours of torture, Jesus’ life drained from His limp body. From the view-point of secular men this man’s line was cut off, for His death left behind neither widow nor orphan.  ”Who shall declare His generation? for His life is cut off out of the land of the living.”

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Yet, the prophet’s question wasn’t rhetorical.

You see, it pleased the Lord that His Son yielded to the killers. Jesus’ death was but a close-up of a panoramic view of eternal life. It was all part of God’s redemptive plan.

Unlike the hopeless end of my ancestor, Jesus’ story didn’t end at His death. It was through His death that He welcomed His children.

When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Isaiah 53:10

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It is this spiritual seed that is chosen to carry His name. We are His children if we believe and obey the Heavenly Father.

Who shall declare His generation?

Of the Apostle Paul and all believers Jesus says -

he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name…

Acts 9:15

Through the centuries, the surname we now bear was passed down by our ancestors who lived, gave life, and died before us. But who will choose to bear the name of our Lord Jesus? Who will declare His generation?

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

1I Peter 2:9

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In what ways can a child of God best declare the name of Jesus?

Please comment with your perspective!