Jesus, The Promised King

ADD

December 1st 2024

Series: Christmas Past, Present, and Future

Sermon Title: Jesus, The Promised King

Topic: Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in New Testament texts and applied to Now Testament living

Key Passages: Matthew 1:1-24

Sermon Blurb: Many prophecies in the Old Testament point to the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. Every single prophecy was fulfilled. This series will look at the quoted prophecies within Jesus’ birth story in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2.

Sermon

Family Moment

Hey Family Church!!!

It’s hard to believe… but it is that time of the year again!

Thanksgiving is behind us,

Colder weather is ahead of us,

Shopping sales are gearing up…

And Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” is everywhere! LOL!!!

That’s right…. It’s Christmas season!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to you all!

PAUSE

How many of you LOVE Christmas…

Or who is brave enough to admit they loathe Christmas?

Anyone want to admit you’re a Scrooge?

Why do we help the Scrooges out there…..

Turn to 2 people and tell them, “Merry Christmas and Welcome to Church!”

PAUSE

Welcome to Family Church… whether you are here in person or watching online…

We are a church that LOVES Christmas!

PAUSE

I thought we would start off this Christmas season with a bit of fun.

Try to spread some Christmas cheer through the gift of humor and laughter.

How many of you like to joke and have a little fun in church?!?

Here are a few humorous Christmas quotes….. and maybe you can even relate to some of them…

“Christmas is a baby shower that went totally overboard.” — Andy Borowitz

“My husband’s idea of getting into the Christmas spirit, is to become Scrooge.” — Melanie White

Any ladies relate to that?

“It’s that special time of year when your whole family gathers together in one place to look at their cellphones.”— Jimmy Kimmel

Have you been there? Anyone?

“I don’t want the Christmas season to end because it’s the only time I can legitimately indulge in one particular addiction: glitter.” — Eloisa James

All the artsy-craftsy people said, Amen!

“And you heard about The Supreme Court ruling… that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington D.C? This wasn’t for any religious reasons. They couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin.” — Jay Leno

LOL

PAUSE

All kidding aside… Merry Christmas!

This truly is the most wonderful time of year.

A season to celebrate and cherish.

This is the time when we reflect and rejoice that Jesus Christ came from heaven to earth on a rescue mission to save humanity from sin and eternal separation from God.

PAUSE

This year we’re calling our Christmas series…

“Christmas: Past, Present, and Future”

This month, we will look at the birth story of Jesus…or the REAL Christmas Story… as told by two people in the Bible.

Matthew and Luke.

We will focus on some specific Old Testament prophecies referenced and fulfilled in those books of the Bible.

And, as we ALWAYS do at Family Church, we will apply some truth nuggets to our lives today!

PAUSE

Grab your Bible… open to the Book of

Matthew 1

New Person Bible Connection:

If you do not have a Bible, that is ok!

After service, we will give you an AMAZING leather-bound study Bible!

Just go to ADD YOUR CAMPUS PLACE and get one for FREE!!

PAUSE

For those of you who are newer to church let me help with a little background information….

Matthew begins his book with the genealogy of Jesus.

Genealogy means origin…..

Or to simplify it…

Matthew starts out by telling us who and where Jesus came from.

It’s like the original ancestry.com!!!

Has anyone out there ever sent your blood in to figure out where your family lineage came from?

Anyone?

We do that for various reasons.

Maybe you're just curious and want clarity on where you came from.

Maybe you just want to gloat about possibly being related to someone famous or influential.

(ADD something personal if you have it)

In fact, my grandmother did some investigatory work for my family and claimed that a Cherokee Indian princess is somewhere in our family tree!

Not bragging, but I’m royalty friends!

PAUSE

So, Matthew begins with Jesus’ ancestral line…

I think he did this because there were ALL KINDS of super-specific prophecies about the coming Messiah.

Matthew wanted to make sure his readers knew from the start of his letter that Jesus was a legitimate candidate for Messiahship.

He’s laying an intentional foundation upon which to build.

PAUSE

So, let’s read

Matthew 1:1–25

And as we read all these names, feel free to underline or note any names that sound familiar.

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,

4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,

5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,

6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,

8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,

11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12 After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,

14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud,

15 Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

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 Messiah.

Pause here.

I know that is a LOT of names and can sometimes be overwhelming or even downright boring to read…

But let’s try to understand the significance of this list.

This passage is not a waste of words…it is an intentional, prophetic connection to facts that HAD TO line up.

In fact, this list is connected to a list found in 1 Chronicles 1-2….you can read about that later today….

PAUSE

Matthew further breaks down Jesus’ genealogy into three groups of 14.

Why?

Why did Matthew take the time to create such a list?

Well…

First, we need to note that bloodline and genealogy are HUGE deals in the Bible.

In most ancient cultures, who you were related to mattered greatly.

In Jewish culture, it was a big deal as well.

For Jesus, He HAD TO be related to certain people to be a candidate for Messiah.

PAUSE

So, the very first part of Matthew’s presentation about Jesus…is all about how his lineage aligns with his claim of being the Promised Messiah.

Matthew was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience.

So, he is very strategic in introducing Jesus’ lineage and building the case for his legitimacy.

PAUSE

Now, why are there 3 sets of 14 generations listed here?

You will notice that King David is the central figure in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus as the Messiah.

That’s why his name is mentioned twice in vs. 17 and is the border of both sets of 14 generations.

Matthew stressed to his Jewish audience that Jesus was the heir of King David… which was a BIG deal to them.

PAUSE

Matthew’s genealogy is also organized according to the significance of key events within Jewish history and their symbolic meaning for establishing who Jesus is….

For example…

Jesus was a son of Abraham, who God said would bless all nations.

Jesus was in line with King David, who God said would have a kingdom that would never end.

But here’s the point, write this down:

Christmas Past: Jesus was a legitimate candidate to be the promised Savior and King.

Repeat

Matthew is looking back.

Back in history…

Back in the story of God.

Matthew is looking to the past to declare a present reality for his readers.

He was validating how Jesus was a legitimate Savior and King from the past.

How his PAST allowed him to be the Promised King they have been waiting for.

PAUSE

Let’s keep reading, verse 18

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about:

His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph,

but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Stop here.

Why did the God, the Holy Spirit, impregnate Mary?

This is what scholars call immaculate conception.

God impregnated Mary with the seed of His Son Jesus.

And you will see that Mary was a willing and enthused servant of God… who was highly favored because of this!

She welcomed the opportunity to be a mother to the world's Savior!

PAUSE

And note that this is a one-off moment… it never happened before and will never happen again.

So, if your teenager ever says, “I’m pregnant but I didn’t do anything…” well, they are lying!

LOL

PAUSE

Jesus was, is, and always will be God.

He is the second Person of the Trinity: father, spirit, and son…

He chose to leave His perfect heaven and come to our imperfect earth to become the spotless sacrifice for the sins of humanity.

To do that, something radical had to happen.

So, God became like us, Jesus became human, and the Creator became like one of His creations.

He HAD TO be both man and God.

Not just man and not just God.

Not partially man and partially god…

… but fully man and fully God; fully human and fully divine!

Write this down:

Christmas Present: Jesus had to be fully God and fully man to be the perfect mediator between God and man.

Mediator means go-between.

From the very beginning of his letter, Matthew wanted to make it abundantly clear that Jesus was NOT like everyone else.

He is telling his contemporaries that Jesus is GOD.

He is NOT just some newborn baby who might be a good priest one day.

He is telling them that Jesus is God with us… and the One Who can mediate between us and God…, between our sin and God’s holiness.

PAUSE

Now for all of you theologians who LOVE to go deep in the Bible……this introduces two other concepts that theologians can help us with.

The concepts of incarnation and hypostatic union.

And I don’t want to pull us into the ‘theological weeds’ today…

So, I’m going to encourage you to study those two truths later this week…..

The truths of incarnation and hypostatic union…

BUT… in a nutshell… here’s what they mean…

Incarnation is Jesus coming to dwell with mankind.

Hypostatic Union is how Jesus simultaneously possessed two natures as God and man.

PAUSE

And again, the point Matthew is making is essential.

Because of His dual nature, Jesus can serve as the perfect mediator between us and God…the perfect “go-between” for our sinful nature and God's holy nature.

So, for people living in that present moment… that Christmas-Present-moment…

PAUSE

Let’s keep reading

19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,

“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Pause here.

Here, Matthew again directly references an Old Testament prophecy.

Write Isaiah 7 next to verses 22-23…

Those words are a direct quote from the Prophet Isaiah… in Isaiah chapter 7.

Isaiah 7:14 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

That sounds EXACTLY like how Jesus came into the world!

PAUSE

You see, we need to understand something about the prophecies in the Old Testament.

We need to note that every prophecy has an immediate AND postponed fulfillment.

For example…

When we meet a guy named Abraham in the Old Testament.

Abraham and his wife, Sarah, are far beyond child-bearing years.

But God comes to them and says, “I am going to make you the “father of many nations.”

And MANY years later, Abraham does get a child…

In fact, Abraham gets more than one child.

BUT… in NO WAY… did Abraham become the “father of nations” in his lifetime.

HOWEVER… Abraham’s descendants DID became as numerous as the sand at the sea.

God…

In His time…

Fulfilled the promise and prophetic Word over Abraham.

There was an immediate response to the promise… and a delayed, later-on response.

An immediate and postponed fulfillment.

PAUSE

The same holds true with the prophecy found in Isaiah 7.

…the passage Matthew is quoting here.

God spoke a direct message to the current events happening in Isaiah’s time.

He spoke to and about kings and kingdoms…

Events and things that would happen…

And gave a specific foresight of things that would come to pass in that moment and time.

God ALSO gave a prophecy for a future-coming event and Kingdom.

He told the people of a soon-coming solution to their dilemma.

… a Savior

… a child to be born unto a virgin

… and He would be named “Immanuel… which means GOD IS WITH US”.

PAUSE

And let me be clear… EVERY PROMISE and EVERY PROPHECY God gave came to pass.

Not partially, but entirely.

And this promise, this prophecy of God literally dwelling with people…

That actually happened, and Matthew acknowledged this truth!

PAUSE

So, let’s think about this as we close.

Every promise of God is certain.

Every prophecy God gave came to pass.

So, what does this mean for us?

What does this mean for people today…

Not people who were present when Matthew wrote this Gospel…

But people way in the future for Matthew…

AKA you and me, today, here and now.

Here is what it means…write this down…

Christmas Future: Jesus will always be available to help anyone who calls on His Name.

Repeat

And this truth, this reality, can change your life!

Many of you have already embraced this truth for yourself.

You are spiritually born again… a child of God… redeemed by the grace of God, and saved by His mercy.

You have accepted the gift of heaven.

You have responded to God’s beckoning and have invited Jesus to lead your life.

And we praise God for you!

PAUSE

We also know that some of you have NOT YET embraced Jesus.

You might think of Christmas as a fairy tale, like the Easter Bunny, or a myth, like Leprechauns and four-leaf clovers.

Maybe you don’t believe in Jesus.

Maybe you have a hard time understanding that God is real and God would even want to be with you.

Can I talk to you for a moment?

PAUSE

ADD PERSONAL JOURNEY….

That was me once.

I did NOT always believe in this Jesus stuff.

I grew up around it, but I did NOT believe it for myself.

But one day, everything changed.

One day, I came face-to-face with Jesus.

I was completely aware and I KNEW Jesus was present.

His love was rich… His mercy was convincing… and He invited me to confess my sins to Him and allow His grace to cover my guilty.

I have NEVER been the same.

PAUSE

I pray that this Christmas season, you will truly seek God.

And I want to encourage you to keep coming back here, to church.

To keep listening to these promises, these prophecies, that we are going to be looking at each week this month.

Because they ALL came to pass.

And that is GREAT NEWS for us.

That means God is real and reliable.

That means God can be trusted.

That means that God wants to dwell with and in us!

That means God wants you to know, that He loves you and came for you.

PAUSE

Life Application: Jesus wants to be your personal savior. What is one area of your life that you need to surrender to Jesus as Lord over? As a result of today's message, I will _____________