Genealogy and Advent: Blessing to the Nations, Part 2
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 39:28
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· 20 viewsSince Jesus is God’s blessing to the nations, we must believe on Him and receive the blessing.
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The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Prayer
Last week we discussed Christ being the one who will usher in the new creation.
We saw how Christmas is actually a dawning of the new creation coming.
This week we are turning the page to see God’s agenda in blessing the nations.
[Christmas and Blessing]
It seems especially apparent around Christmas time that society at large like the nostalgia for Christmas.
As one psychologist said…
"In a world full of stress and anxiety people like to associate to things that make them happy, and Christmas decorations evoke those strong feelings of the childhood,"
At Christmas time, unlike any other time of the year, we hear people pronouncing blessings toward one another.
But I wonder, of all the pronounced blessings is there any substance behind these?
What do most people even mean when we say have a blessed Christmas?
What do people mean even when they describe a blessing?
I would argue that most people mean with blessing some sort of physical blessing.
Being with family,
material gifts given,
or even a special feeling be upon someone.
Even the idea of giving gifts to others is meant to represent “blessing” them.
Now there is nothing inherently wrong with blessing one another during this season.
Is that all the substance there is to this season’s “blessing”?
This week, I want us to turn our attention to the next hyperlink within Matthew’s thinking.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
The next title I want to address is order of revelatory significance is Abraham.
His genealogy is seen in the first 6 verses of Matthew and it culminated in David.
The son of Abraham means that Jesus stands within the line of the Abrahamic promise.
Matthew is asserting it is through the Lord Jesus that all the nations will be blessed.
It is through the Lord Jesus that God’s covenant with Abraham will be fulfilled.
Since Jesus is God’s blessing to the nations, we must believe on Him and receive the blessing.
If a person was unclear on who Abraham is, it will be difficult to be amazed at a small phrase like, “son of Abraham”
But if you know the kind of promises that Matthew is referring to...
You will glory in Christ Jesus!
We need to go back to God’s initial promise to Abraham.
The Blessing through Promise
The Blessing through Promise
“Father Abraham”
In Genesis 12, we are introduced to a guy named Abram.
Abram was not a “good man”
He was a pagan who worshiped the stars.
He was 75 years old.
But God in a sheer act of unmerited favor comes to Abraham and calls him from his country.
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God’s promise to Abram was that he would bless him and make his name increase on the earth.
It will be through this promise to Abram that all peoples of the earth will be blessed.
The question is…how is God going to bless the Nations?
What isn’t entirely clear is the issue of character blemishes in Abram....
Promises In Spite of Blemishes
Promises In Spite of Blemishes
“Unmerited Favor”
Abram was not a “good man” and we see examples of this all throughout his story.
Idolator
Idolator
“Worship Disorder”
He came from a people who were known for worshipping the stars.
Character Flaws
Character Flaws
“Sarai in Egypt”
When there was once a famine in the land, they had to go down to Egypt.
Before getting there, Abram told his wife...
Genesis 12:11–13 (ESV)
“I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance,
and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live.
Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”
Abram was a real lowlife.
Rather than protecting and defending his wife, he told her to give herself up so he would be safe.
In spite of Abram’s character flaws, God protected Sarai and afflicted Pharoah.
Application....
This promise of blessing that God was giving was NOT dependent upon Abram.
It was NOT a result of how well he obeyed.
This is extremely important to catch because it means that God is going to accomplish this apart from human help.
This is also important for us to understand.
God’s promises are NOT dependent on US.
Now God is going to prove this in spite of the character flaws…
But also in spite of his age…
Abram was 75 years old.
This was far outside of child rearing age.
Through this whole story there is ONE MAJOR drumbeat…
How will God give Abram a blessing to the nations at his age?
God’s Promise to Abram
God’s Promise to Abram
“Blessing to the Nations”
God is still affirming His promise to Abram.
He is still affirming the fact that He is going to give him offspring that will bless the nations.
But Abram picks up on this tension when he asks…
But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
How can I have children when I’m old?
What will happen to the promise?
Will God be faithful?
Will God still provide?
Impossibility
Impossibility
“Old Age”
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Pay mind to the fact that God is going to accomplish this blessing in the face of impossibility.
If it was through a means that seemed natural, there would be a human tendency to take credit for it.
If it was NOT special then people would dismiss it.
If it was NOT a “miracle” people would pay no mind.
But here like we have seen many times before, God is going to accomplish blessing through essentially death.
Notice too what Abraham’s response to this is…
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
It was by faith in God’s promise that He was declared as righteous.
His right standing before God depended on his faith.
Not only is there an impossibility…
Abram in an act of unbelief tries to get a son by another means...
Another Means
Another Means
“Through Ishmael?”
Genesis 16:2 (ESV)
And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Remember, we just saw an act of faith from Abram to believe God and be counted as righteous.
Rather than acting faith, he tries to accomplish this blessing through his own means.
He is going to gain a child through an alternative way than what God prescribed.
Hagar, Sarai’s servant gives birth to a son and they are despised.
Rather than believing God’s promises to him, he seeks to take control in his own manner.
Are God’s promises void now?
Will God keep his promise?
Promises Kept
Promises Kept
“Isaac Given”
“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
Miraculously Isaac is born!
Faithfulness
Faithfulness
“Isaac Given”
A sheer impossibility shows God’s hand of blessing upon Abraham.
Abraham can finally see the child that God will bless and make a nation come through him.
Abraham has a child and the blessing seems promising.
That is until God says to Abraham....
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Can you imagine what would be going through Abraham’s mind?
“You just gave me this child, how could I sacrifice him to you?”
“This child is the promise you gave me! Now you’re going to take him away?”
Obstacles
Obstacles
“Only from God”
Abraham in obedience takes his son three days journey away.
He goes to the place the Lord prescribes.
He is ready to kill his son in obedience to the Lord when the Lord thunders to Abraham...
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
The Lord saved Isaac and provided an animal to be sacrificed in his place.
It’s at this point again that God again reaffirms his promise to Abraham.
Genesis 22:16–18 (ESV)
“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
So for Matthew to say…
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew is picking up the idea that Jesus Christ.
The one for whom this good news account is about is indeed the son of Abraham.
The offspring long ago promised to Abraham is here.
He has preloaded all of this story in the minds of his readers.
You are meant to remember the promises that God promised to Abraham.
We know the blessing is coming because God has been faithful.
Since Jesus is God’s promise of blessing, we must believe on Him.
Now its important at this point to make note that Jesus is not just a promise from God.
This is the reason why some people are fine with celebrating Christmas even though they aren’t a Christian.
If Jesus simply remains in their mind “a baby” then everything is fine.
They are fine in the words of Ricky Bobby, to pray to “six pounds eight ounce baby Jesus.”
They are fine because this baby in a manger is just that “an ordinary baby.”
The promise is powerful, but what makes the message of Jesus all the more powerful is that Christ has fulfilled the promise.
But HOW?
How will the promise that God made to Abraham be fulfilled?
The Blessing through Fulfillment
The Blessing through Fulfillment
“Jesus, Son of Abraham”
We need fulfillment of God’s promises.
Without it, we are hanging up in the air with suspense.
Picture this with me...
If there was a man who continually robbed people in town.
Everyone experienced it.
Everyone knew it.
One day, the judge in the town promised everyone forgiveness if they would turn themselves in.
This robber being a shrewd man decided this would be as good of a time as ever to have a “get out of jail free card”
This robber turns himself in.
This robber stands before the judge.
The judge reads off all the accounts before this robber.
At the end of reading the accounts, the judge looks at the criminal and says..
“I am loving and gracious, I’ll forgive you and you can go free!”
“I want to bless you this Christmas season...”
What is our reaction to a judge like that?
Think about if you’re one of the people who have been robbed?
He is unjust!
He is not even loving because he is allowing this man to continue!
We know that this judge is unloving.
What is required for this judge to justly pardon this man?
But what if instead of just pardoning this criminal, the Judge stands up.
Takes off his robe.
Walks down the steps toward this criminal.
Looks the criminal in the eye.
And places the handcuffs on himself.
Rather than washing his hands of the crimes down to this robber.
He takes on the punishment for the robber.
It’s in an example like this that we get a much clearer picture of the gospel.
We get a much clearer picture of what Christmas means.
We get a much clearer picture of what Matthew meant when he called Jesus, “the son of Abraham”
Listen to how Paul describes the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham.
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.
This is where the Jewish people were.
They were held captive by the law of God.
They and all humanity as Paul says in Romans 2.
They were imprisoned or hemmed in by the commandments of God.
Galatians 3:24 (ESV)
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came,
The law acted as a kind of leader or guide for the people of God until Christ came.
But listen to what Paul says the purpose of the law was…
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
The purpose of the law was to be a guardian over the people until we may be justified by faith.
But like we saw with the example of the judge and the robber.
In order for someone to have a right standing, there needed to be justice done.
In Christ Jesus…
The Blessing is Purchased for You!
The Blessing is Purchased for You!
The blessing of God has been purchased or redeemed for you.
And its been redeemed upon the head of Christ.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
When Jesus was nailed to the cross, He became a curse for us.
He became one who was despised and rejected.
So that we might have the blessing of God purchased for us!
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
Paul goes on to say the second fulfillment....
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
This is Pauls way of saying that if you are a Christian this means that you have died.
Your former life is one that has been crucified with Christ.
When Jesus died on the cross, it was your death as well.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
In Christ Jesus...
The Blessing is a Gift for You!
The Blessing is a Gift for You!
And the gift of God is the Christ’s atoning and liberating death for all those who will believe in Him.
This is a gift because it frees us from all other forms of finding life outside of him.
Our life is no longer about our job or our profession.
We are free to do as Paul says in another place…
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
The blessing of God is as Psalm 16 says..
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The last element of the blessing through fulfillment is…
In Christ Jesus...
The Blessing is Your Inheritance!
The Blessing is Your Inheritance!
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Paul’s whole point here is that we, by faith are heirs of the promise that God has made to Abraham.
We heirs, meaning that our inheritance is what God has poured out to us in Christ Jesus.
I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything,
but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.
In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
John Owen on the meaning of this cry of Abba…
“Take an instance of the prayers of wicked men under their convictions, or their fears, troubles, and dangers, and the prayers of believers.
The former is merely … an outcry that distressed nature makes to the God of it, and as such alone it considers him.
But the other is … the voice of the Spirit of adoption addressing itself in the hearts of believers unto God as a Father.”
Since Jesus is God’s fulfillment of blessing, we must believe on Him!
Jeremiah & Brittany, if you agree with the following vows, would you be willing, as promises to God and promises to your children to signify such by saying, “We do” after each one?
· Do you today recognize Beau & Wells as a gift from God and give heartfelt thanks for God’s blessing?
· Do you dedicate Beau & Wells to the Lord who gave them to you, surrendering all worldly claims upon their life in the hope that they will entirely belong to God?
· Do you pledge as parents that, with God’s Fatherly help, you will bring Beau & Wells up “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord,” making every reasonable effort, with patience, grace, and love, to build the Word of God, the character of Christ, and the joy of the Lord into their life?
· Do you promise to provide for Beau & Wells, through God’s blessing, nurture, and support for the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual care of their soul, looking to your own heavenly Father for the grace, wisdom, and strength to serve, guide, & love them?
· Do you promise, with God’s help, to make it your regular prayer that, by God’s grace, Beau & Wells will come to trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins and for the fulfillment of all His promises, even eternal life; and in this faith follow Jesus as Lord and obey His teachings?
If you agree with the following vows, answer “We will”
· Will you obey the biblical commendation to come alongside the Saints of God in the visible church and will you remain connected to, serving in, worshipping with, and accountable to the people of God in a local church?
Will you purpose by the grace of God to make it your ongoing practice to demonstrate to your children a love for the bride of Christ, His church?
Will you make every attempt to be in close fellowship with the saints and seek to love the church as Christ loves the church?
To the Church & witnesses:
Do you Church promise to pray for God’s grace to work in the life of Beau & Wells, and promise to help guide them in the authority of the scriptures, and love them unconditionally, trusting the Master to use them to reflect His glory?
If so answer, “We will”.
Beau & Wells, together with your parents, who love you dearly, and these people who care about the outcome of your faith, I now dedicate you to God, surrendering together with them all worldly claims upon your life, in the hope that you will belong wholly to God, finding your joy in Him, and live for His Glory! - Prayer for the child by Elder