O Come Let Us Adore Him

Matthew 1 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. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Introduction: Exaltation Begins with Adoration

The Westminster Catechism begins with this declaration,

“Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

Which simply means we were created to worship God. Not just to believe in Him, but to adore Him.

And in Scripture, adoration is never passive.

It always looks like:

bowing down

kneeling in reverence

bringing an offering

and lifting your voice

All of which are slow, deliberate actions.

Which tells us something… worship begins by slowing down.

And that’s where this season can actually be at work against us.

Because if there is one word that sums up December for my family, it’s hurry.

We are:

rushing to finish school and work

rushing to buy gifts

rushing to travel

And when we sprint through the season, we can easily miss the One the season is about.

Which is why I believe Matthew chooses to open his gospel account with something that refuses to be hurried…a genealogy.

Not angels or shepherds or a blazing star in the east…just a long list of names.

The Story Matthew Is Telling

And Matthew opens with these words:

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

And that opening phrase—“the book of the genealogy”—is intentional.

It echoes back to the opening pages of Genesis.

Which tells us something:

That this is not just the story of a baby. This is the story of a new beginning. A new creation. A new chapter in God’s redemptive work.

And Matthew anchors that story in two significant promises for his Hebrew audience:

Jesus is the son of David — the one known as the true King of Israel

And Jesus is the son of Abraham — the One through whom God’s blessing would come to all the nations

And from the very first verse of his gospel, Matthew is saying:

Everything God promised, everything God planned, everything God was doing… is fulfilled in Jesus, the Christ.

And then Matthew walks us through the family line.

Name after name. Generation after generation.

And what immediately stands out is this:

God’s story is messier than we expect.

He sees what we so often tend to overlook.

Matthew includes names most genealogies would leave out, especially at this time in history.

He names women—which was unusual. And not just any women.

Tamar — whose story is marked by injustice and desperation at the hands of Judah

Rahab — who is a Gentile prostitute

Ruth — who is a foreign widow from Moab, a nation considered an enemy of Israel

“The wife of Uriah” — Bathsheba, whose story includes betrayal and abuse by King David

These are not polished stories. In fact, these are stories that other men in the geneaology would love to have kept hidden.

But Matthew is making this point by including them:

God uses stories we would hide. And through them, He creates beauty out of brokenness.

Which means:

Your past does not disqualify you. Your story does not surprise God. And your pain has a purpose.

Adoration grows when we realize— this King did not come from perfection… He came from redemption. He came through brokenness. And He came for people like us.

God Uses What We Dismiss

Then Matthew continues by listing the kings. And not just the good ones.

But the proud ones, and the rebellious ones. The ones who split the kingdom. The ones who led people into idolatry. And the ones whose failures created generational pain.

And yet—God keeps writing.

Next is the deportation to Babylon.

The Jewish people become exiles as their nation collapses. All hope seems gone.

And yet the genealogy continues.

Name after name after name.

And it is proof that God’s purposes are not ruined by human failure.

Even in seasons where everything feels lost, God is still moving the story forward.

He is faithful even when His people are not.

The Genealogy Climaxes in a Name

And then the genealogy lands here:

“Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”

Notice that Joseph is not called the father of Jesus. He is called the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born.

And Matthew explains why in verse 23 by quoting the prophet Isaiah:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel (which means, God with us).”

This is where everything comes together and why the genealogy matters.

Because God did not stay distant or wait for better people.

He came down from glory to enter our story.

He became with us.

God with sinners. God with outsiders. God with the broken.

This is the hope that does not fade on December 26.

And I remember as a kid feeling sad the morning after Christmas because it signified that the season was over. But our hope is not in a season.

Our hope is eternal.

And He promised to be with us always to the end of the age.

God with us.

A BABY FORCES US TO SLOW DOWN

And isn’t it striking that God came to be with us as a baby?

As I was preparing this sermon I asked my family if any of them would like to be a baby again, and all of them said no.

Why?

Because they understood that would mean returning to a helpless state, and becoming utterly reliant on others again.

And yet this is how He came…and He did it for us. Because nothing slows us down like a newborn.

We have to feed them and rock them and hold them.

Life bends around the child. Schedules slow. Busyness fades.

God chose this form on purpose. To remind us to continually stop what we are doing and to gaze upon Him.

Adoration begins with attention.

You cannot adore at a sprint.

So Matthew begins with a genealogy— to slow us.

And God arrives as a baby— to still us.

So that we might stop long enough to see Him… to hear Him… to adore Him.

2 PETER 3:8–9 — WHY GOD MOVES SLOWLY

Why does God work this way? Why take centuries to move, and then come as a baby?

Peter tells us:

2 Peter 3:8–9 ESV

With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

His pace is not indifference. It is compassion.

He delays judgment to extend mercy. He slows the story so more can enter it.

He waits— so we can repent, return, and receive.

Repentance is a change of direction, which is impossible to do at full speed.

And it is something we are invited into daily.

Slowing down is not laziness.

It’s attentiveness. It’s discipleship. It is the pace of adoration.

Application: Come, Let Us Adore Him

And when we see all that He has done, adoration begins to make sense—when we really understand that the eternal creator God chose to enter a genealogy full of brokenness as a baby—we can’t help but adore Him.

Not out of obligation. But out of wonder.

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Which means Jesus is fully human— He knows our weakness, our pain, our temptations—but He is also fully God, unstained by sin, and able to save.

If Jesus were only human, He couldn’t rescue us. If He were only God, He couldn’t relate to us.

But because He is both— He can stand in our place and carry our sin.

We adore Him because He came near while we were still sinners.

What kind of God is this we worship and adore? He is Emmanuel. God with us.

And if He is with us, who can be against us?

We were created to glorify Him and adore Him forever. We just need to slow down and remember.

And that is the entire point of Christmas church. Remembering that the eternal God who holds everything together with a Word of His power became a human. And not just any human, but a baby born in a manger so that you and I would know that He hears us, sees us and has come down to lift us up.

D.L. Moody said,

“He passed by the mansions and went down into a manger, that he might sympathize with the lowly.”

Saint Augustine said,

“He was created of a mother whom he created. He was carried by hands that he formed.”

And the apostle John said that,

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father full of grace and truth.”

Christmas is a reminder that God has been moving toward us from the beginning.

He has not been absent through generations of brokenness and tragedy.

And He has not shied away from our pain.

But rather He stepped down from glory to enter our story.

Christmas is a reminder that God is with us. And if He is with us, who can be against us?

CHRISTMAS EVE: AN INVITATION TO RESPOND

So what do we do this evening?

We slow down. We make room to adore.

And we respond with whole-life worship.

There are many ways that can look, but let me give you three tangible ways:

First, we can give—not because God needs our money, but because generosity is worship. It is actually a proclamation in this season that says, “I trust Your provision more than my possessions.”

Next, we pray—to admit our dependence on the Lord. His nearness is our good.

Finally, we can take communion. This is not performing an empty ritual, but it’s placing our lives in the hands of God with us. By saying, “I trust Your body. I trust Your blood. I trust Your salvation.”

These are not random activities. They are acts of adoration.

So let’s take some time to respond to the Lord.

Then Toby will sing and He will send us.

BENEDICTION

John 1:1–5 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.