A Man of Purpose

INTRODUCTION

I can remember, at the beginning of 2009, when Kristy and I found out she was pregnant. We were so excited to be parents. I’ll never forget some of the advice my dad gave me, though. He said, “Son, when you got married, you became #2. Now that you’re a dad, you’ve moved to #3.”

Y’all, I’m all the way down to #5, now! But that’s ok. Dads, we’re called to put our families first, right?

Well, there’s a dad in the Bible that kinda falls into obscurity. Mary gets so much of the attention—and rightfully so.

She’s got songs that include her and are written about her!

“The babe, the son of Mary…” // “Mary Did You Know”

Just Friday I even saw a commercial for a new Netflix series called “Mary.”

For the next few Sundays, leading up to Christmas, I want us to take a look into the life of the man that God chose to be the adoptive earthly father of Jesus.

So, if you’re familiar with the Christmas story, there are some things you probably know about him/think about him and then there are some things that may go overlooked.

First, we know that Joseph was a carpenter from a small town called Nazareth (Matthew 13:55)…a blue collar guy.

We know that, after Jesus was born and he and Mary were married, he went on to father 4 sons and several daughters.

After the incident in Luke 2, when Mary and Joseph lose Jesus and then find him in the temple, we don’t see Joseph in the New Testament again.

We know that he died at some point in Jesus’ life because, as he was hanging/dying on the cross in John 19, he gave the disciple John the responsibility of caring for Mary.

But…did you know…

There are no RECORDED WORDS of Joseph in the Bible.

Joseph was a man of quiet FAITH, quiet INTEGRITY, and quiet LEADERSHIP.

Joseph was a man whose ACTIONS SPOKE LOUDER THAN WORDS.

As we begin this deep dive into Joseph’s life, the first thing we need to understand is…

1. God's PURPOSE for Joseph.

God didn’t NEED Joseph (physically). Remember, this wasn’t your typical “conception” of a baby…but that, in no way, makes his role in God’s plan insignificant.

He isn’t just a symbolic father figure so that Jesus didn’t grow up in a single-mother home…so that Jesus would have a squeaky clean traditional upbringing.

No! As we’re going to see in more detail in just a few minutes, Joseph would play an integral role in God’s plan of redemption.

Joseph was also given the responsibility of raising Jesus. You may be tempted to think, “Well, Jesus was God so wasn’t he just born perfect and would just do everything perfectly? I mean…he would live a sinless life…obviously, you don’t need a disciplinarian!”

Be careful not to diminish the HUMANITY of Jesus. Luke tells us that as Jesus aged he matured in every way grew in wisdom and favor with God and man. The boy/adolescent Jesus needed a godly father in his life.

We see Joseph regularly taking Jesus to the temple.

RECAP—God's purpose for Joseph was to protect, provide for, and nurture Jesus, fulfilling his role as a righteous and obedient earthly father to the Messiah…but, more importantly, to be a link between Jesus and the OT prophecies about the Savior/Messiah.

2. God's PREPARATION of Joseph.

Joseph wasn’t just the “right guy” who was in the “right place” at the “right time.”

I’ve said this several times before—God is preparing you NOW for what He has prepared FOR you in the future.

To see God’s preparation of Joseph for His purpose, we’ve got to dive into Joseph’s family history. Where/who he came from matters.

Matthew 1:1–17 (ESV)

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Where you come from/who you come from/where you’ve been matters. Your past—no matter how difficult, no matter what your story—God wants to use that/redeem that for His glory and for bringing His love and salvation to others.

A couple of years ago, for Christmas, Kristy got me a subscription to Ancestry.com and a DNA kit. Let me tell you something…I found some pretty “questionable” characters in my family tree.

Talk about coming from a questionable family tree—Joseph came from a pretty messed up family. You’ve got prostitutes, you’ve got idolators, murderers, sexually immoral, good, bad, etc. And, here’s the crazy thing—this is the family Jesus is born into.

Joseph—fulfillment of three particular OT promises/prophecies.

“The son of David and the son of Abraham…”

Not—“the son of Joseph” or even the “son of Mary.”

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s covenants with Abraham and David.

A) Abraham

Genesis 12:3 (ESV)

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.”

B) David

In 2 Samuel 7, God made a covenant with David and promised him that David’s “throne”—his descendants of kings would never come to an end.

C) The place of Jesus’ birth

Micah 5:2 (ESV)

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose coming forth is from of old,

from ancient days.

And, so, it is this man—Joseph of Nazareth—descendant of Abraham, from the royal line of David—who is chosen by God for the appointed time in history to fulfill the OT prophecies of the Savior.

Luke 2:1–7 (ESV)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

3. God's PLEASURE in Joseph.

God’s choosing of Joseph was purely by His grace. Joseph didn’t have an impressive resume. He wasn’t a leader in Judaism…he wasn’t a 4.0 GPA student at the synagogue.

God didn’t look at Joseph and say, “Well, if anybody deserves this role and responsibility, it’s this guy.”

God’s pleasure in Joseph was purely because of His grace.

God allows us to participate in His plans and purposes—because of His grace.

Big Idea: Joseph was not a PERFECT MAN but he was the perfect man for God's PURPOSE.

So, what did Joseph do with the gift of God’s gracious purpose and preparation of him?

Over the next few weeks leading up to Christmas, we’re going to look at what the Bible tells us about Joseph—oftentimes, the forgotten character in the Christmas story. We’re going to see that Joseph was a man of integrity/godly character. We’re going to see that Joseph was a man of faithful obedience. We’re going to see that Joseph was a godly man.

And, as we look at all of these aspects of who Joseph is, I think his story simply boils down to one thing—STEWARDSHIP.

Stewardship is the care and management of that which belongs to another.

Joseph took what God gave him and was a faithful steward.

Joseph stewarded the calling on his life.

I can guarantee you something—you will never be chosen by God to be the earthly father of the Messiah. That’s probably the biggest responsibility any human has ever carried.

God calls “normal people.” He doesn’t call the equipped…he equips the called.

He calls blue collar people to carry out His will. On the surface, there’s nothing “special” about Joseph. There’s nothing that just jumps off the page about his credentials or resume. He’s a quiet man.

Ignore/run from the call and forfeit the blessings. This was a hard call on Joseph’s life. This wasn’t easy for sure.

God calls us to do hard things/uncomfortable things.

But God’s call isn’t always to things that we would label “big” things—like Joseph. That’s a pretty “big” call.

If you’re saved, God’s call is on your life every single day.

Called to…

Be a steward of the gospel.

Think about this—Joseph literally had the gospel under his roof and care every single day!

You and I, as followers of Christ, are called to steward the gospel in our lives.

We’re called to live on mission—introducing people to Jesus…sharing Jesus…witnessing.

Steward the grace—GIFT—given to you.

1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

Parable of Steward—Luke 16.

Joseph was a good steward of his family.

As we look at the life of Joseph, what we see is a man who faithfully stewarded his family. He led his family well. We’re going to dive into this aspect a little deeper in a couple of weeks but Joseph was an example of godliness in the life of the young Jesus. He nurtured and protected and provided for his wife and young son. He led them spiritually and in obedience to the law of God. He walked with God and followed God’s leading in his life.

Husbands—a lot can be learned from the life of Joseph. Parents, what kind of stewards are we of the gift of God—our kids?

In 18 years, you’ve got (on average) 940 Sundays. Don’t just take them to church, though. Your home is a

CONCLUSION

The point of this series—this message today—is NOT “Joseph is a great guy…be more like Joseph.” Joseph WAS a great guy. He WAS a faithful guy. But…Joseph needed a savior just as much as you and I do.

He was a man, who by God’s grace, was used for God’s glory.

GOSPEL