Who Is This King

Messiah in Salvation History

Mt 1:1-17; Gen 12:1-3; 2 Sam 7:4-17 (HPC 6 Dec 20)

Confidence in God and his Promises!

The old missionary had reached her final day on earth.

She had spent time overseas in the past as a cross-cultural, overseas missionary.

But for the last several decades had been a faithful wife, mother, friend and member of her local church.

But her overarching purpose in all of those roles had been to serve others and share with them the gospel of Jesus and the hope he gives for eternal life.

But now her earthly life was over… almost.

A family member who she had witnessed to many times but was not a believer said to her… “so what if you’re wrong? What will you say to God if he denies you entry into glory?”

“Well” she said. I will be very disappointed… but God himself will lose far more than me. I will lose my salvation… but if he goes back on his word he will lose his good Name before every creature in heaven and earth forever”.

Wow! What confidence… and what a witness she has been to everyone for someone to think that they need to tackle her about that on her deathbed!

And what security she had in her reply!

Are you confident enough in the word of God to base your life, and your talk on what he says there?

Or… perhaps… are you more concerned that it’s a big old book with many things that are hard to understand… and…well… I just dunno!

I’m not sure what to believe.

I think sometimes I know God… but sometimes the stuff in the Bible is a complete mystery to me.

And I sure hope nobody asks me to explain what I believe at any time… let alone on my deathbed!

Be encouraged!

God wants his people to be more sure of our spiritual heritage than we are of our earthly heritage.

In the ordinary course of events, we are pretty sure of who are our earthly parents… but God wants us to be more sure of our spiritual heritage… and family line.

And not just based on (so called) “blind faith”… but rather a faith based on knowing God our Father personally through his Word, his work in human space/time history… and confirmed in daily personal experience.

God has been on a single minded trajectory for a very long time.

Jesus’ genealogy connects Jesus into God’s OT work and promises!

Mt 1:1-17

Today as Christmas approaches we open the very first page of the NT… to be greeted by a genealogy!

Once again we ask ourselves: What was God thinking?

The first word in Exodus was “And”… and the NT opens with a genealogy!

Many commentators consider Matthew’s gospel opens the NT because of this genealogy and the fact that so much of what he says about Jesus he tells us is to fulfil something from the OT.

Mt opens with v1 (read) and tells us why in v17 (read).

Mt 1:1 “1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:”

Mt 1:17 “17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.”

Many theories about what’s so significant about the number 14 but little consensus.

So what is significant is it is stylised and it focuses on two supremely significant OT characters and one OT event.

Jesus Christ… son of David, son of Abraham…; v14 from Abraham to David… David to exile and exile to the Christ.

Matthew in introducing us to Jesus, is directing us to Abraham, King David and the exile… Why?

Abraham was a 20thC (BC) man like us.

He is known for taking his God at his word because God promised him land, descendants and blessing.

God’s call to Abraham was the beginning of a new way that God would deal with mankind.

If you remember back to the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings, in Gen 11 we have

seen a good creation,

severely marred by the fall,

Suffer God’s judgement of a worldwide flood that killed almost everything in the time of Noah…

and suffer God’s judgment on the people building the tower of Babel.

After just 11 chapters of God’s word we’re left wondering…

Has God finished with mankind?

Is mankind’s wickedness irrecoverable?

Are we destined to inevitably suffer under God’s infinite justice?

Thank God… NO!

Gen 12 opens and God speaks to a Gentile idolater named Abram and offers him land, descendants and blessing… if he would leave his home and people and follow God.

Here is God offering salvation to humankind, through a man who would take God at his word and live in obedience.

Now, as always!… there were problems to seeing that realised!

Abraham and his wife were barren, they had no children.

Abram (blessed father) (Abraham father of nations) has no children…

Sarah, Abraham’s wife finally gives birth at age 90,

then God tells Abraham to take his son, his only son, Isaac, whom he loves… to Mt Moriah and offer him to God as a sacrifice.

Don’t forget: This is the son through whom the blessing will come to the nations.

At the last minute God stills Abraham’s hand, offers a substitute… and confirms his promises to Abraham with an oath!

Abraham dies with one son with Sarah and the only land he owns in Canaan is a burial plot for his wife.

In other words… Abraham dies having the majority of the promises God gave him unfulfilled.

Matthew says to his readers in his opening sentence/s… the days for the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham are here.

It is through this Jesus that the blessings promised to Abraham to all the nations will come to them.

It is through belief in Jesus that the promise of land, blessings and millions of descendants will finally come true for Abraham.

It is through Jesus that the descendants of Abraham will receive blessing and will inherit the land… not just a little country in what we know as the Middle East but the whole planet.

God worked for 2000 years to fulfil his promises to Abraham.

Matthew is going to tell us about a new thing God is doing through Jesus…

but the roots of what God is doing go back 2000 years through human history!

Are you a child of Abraham?

Well… do what Abraham did!

Take God at his word… walk with him… and trust him.

And just because you die without receiving all that God has promised, doesn’t mean God is untrustworthy, God works on a different timescale to us.

Jesus’ Genealogy shows that Jesus is God’s True and eternal Davidic King

Now in 14 generations Matthew moves on to another great development in salvation history.

King David.

Remember David was a ruddy faced shepherd boy whom God anointed king over his people and through whom God conquered most of Israel’s enemies.

David set up the capital in Jerusalem and built himself a cedar palace… then thought that God ought to have a better house than the tent in which was kept the ark of the covenant where God dwelled.

He shares his thoughts with Nathan the prophet, Nathan said, “Sounds like a wonderful idea”, chuffed off to bed… and that night God said to Nathan in a dream that he had a better idea.

God says to David… did you really think you carried me around in the ark and I lived in the tent, v6, 9.

It’s not that you have been carrying me; I have been carrying you.

I have given you victory over your enemies and made your nation prosper.

Then God says to David let me tell you how all this pans out!

I will make your name great, v9

I will provide a place for my people and give them security and safety and rest, they will be victors over the wicked.

I will build you a house/dynasty.

When you die I will raise up your offspring, (like Abraham) a seed from your own body… I will establish his kingdom forever.

Some of David’s descendants will be wicked… they will pay for their wicked ways… but they did not stop God’s promises from being fulfilled.

God says to King David that a son, a descendant from your own body will build a house for me… and I will establish his throne forever.

King Solomon was the son of David that built the temple in Jerusalem.

But God meant another Son of David, David’s great, great, great… grandson that would not build but be a far greater temple than Solomons because God himself dwells not in the temple in Jerusalem but in Jesus.

The temple was the symbol of God dwelling among his people.

Jesus is the reality of God dwelling among his people.

And Jesus will build a glorious temple of living stones 1 Pet 2 “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5, NIV84)

Matthew says: Jesus Christ is that Son of David through which all the promises made (not just to Abraham) but to David will come true.

Now king David is said to be God’s son and firstborn (not Israel) and with king David a new chapter begins; the King will represent his people.

If the king is faithful the people will do well; if the king is wicked; the people will suffer.

In Jesus the promises God made to David are fulfilled.

This time it only took a thousand years. God keeps his promises!

Abraham – an obedient and faithful Gentile who despite myriad challenges trusts in God and becomes the father of the faithful and ancestor that will being land, millions of descendants and myriad blessings to the nations.

David – a Jewish King, a man after God’s own heart; and the standard of kingship whose Son will establish the Kingdom of God, be the King over God’s people forever and who will be the faithful representative for God’s people so that to the degree he is faithful to God will merit the blessing for God’s people on their behalf.

Jesus’ genealogy reminds us that God’s people were suffering the consequences of their sin

And that’s just what Matthew alludes to in the next group of 14.

V11-12.

The kings from Solomon to Jeconiah were a mixed bunch of good and bad… but despite God’s pleas and warnings from the prophets the people of Israel just became increasingly wicked until the curses fell on them and they were decimated and sent into exile.

It is an unusual aspect of this genealogy that there are four women included; and three of the four are foreigners, and three of the four were either prostitutes or adulteresses.

What will become of God’s promises and victory?

Here we are almost back at Gen 12!

This has been the constant OT pattern.

Will God’s people ever be free?

Lord will we always be under pagan rulers?

Lord where are the promises of land, millions of descendants of Abraham, the faithful and obedient Gentile who entered into covenant with you?

Where are the blessings you promised?

Will this exile ever end?

Jesus’ genealogy starts a journey to discovering the Christ… God’s anointed Saviour and the hope for his people!

We find God’s answer to that in v17… fourteen from teh exile to the Christ.

Christ is not Jesus’ surname (Mr Christ) but his title. It means anointed.

In Israel’s history priests and kings and sometimes prophets too were anointed and set apart to serve God among his people.

As the NT opens God’s people were straining their necks looking for this Christ/Messiah talked about in the OT.

They were looking for a man who God would anoint to throw out the hated Romans who had once again enslaved God’s people.

But Matthew will go on to tell us that Jesus have far bigger fish to fry than the Romans.

Jesus was anointed by God to to be our king and overthrow sin and death.

Jesus was anointed by God to be our priest and offer a sacrifice to remove the guilt of sin.

Jesus was anointed by God to be our prophet to tell us the truth about God, humanity, and sin.

Like that missionary lady I mentioned at the start, we too can have confidence in God, in how God will treat us, what he has in store for us… and indeed what he has in store for all who curse the Son of Abraham.

We can tell them about the God of infinite love and justice, we can offer them the kingdom, because the son of Abraham and Son of David was found faithful in every respect.

And God never deviates from his promises! Bet your life on it!

We bless him, we follow him, we worship him and sing of his goodness and love and mercy and walk in his footsteps because God has not deviated one mm from the promises he made to Abraham 4,000 years ago… or David 3,000 years ago or Jesus 2000 years ago.... and us today.