Jesus: Savior, King, Immanuel
Notes
Transcript
1 The record of 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, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. 6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. 8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. 9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. 11 Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. 14 Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. 15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. 16 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Introduction
I’m in a season of life as a dad where I get to start asking my boys, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Even at three boys start having dreams of what they’re going to do, and what they’re going to be. It’s pretty clear even at 3 the things they enjoy and you can’t help but wonder, is this a long-term endeavour or just a phase? I don’t know of many parents who know without a doubt what their children are going to become when they grow up, but imagine for a moment what it was like for Joseph. Before the baby is even born, you know exactly what he’s called to do and why he’s here. It’s kind of an odd question to ask of a newborn baby? Why are you here? What’s your purpose in life? … but that’s exactly the question Matthew is going to answer as he starts his gospel.
Not simply who is this baby, but why has he come? What’s his purpose?
Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus. That might be one way to answer, “Who is this Jesus?” Well he’s the son of Abraham, the Son of David.. so on and so forth, but I’d like us to see his purpose even in the genealogy. A purpose that becomes very clear in the words given to Joseph. Our main point this morning is a summarized answer to that question, “Why has He come?”
Jesus Christ has come to save His people from sin, to establish a unified, eternal kingdom, and to dwell among His people.
Jesus Christ has come to save His people from sin, to establish a unified, eternal kingdom, and to dwell among His people.
As we work through the text I want to identify
3 promises of God
3 problems with the people
3 provisions in Jesus Christ - Immanuel (3 titles)
You might say the genealogy sets the plot. God from the before the world began has determined to redeem His people. This plan of redemption becomes more and more clear over the course of Israel’s history in the promises God gives to some prominent people in the history of Israel. But as we go through the genealogy the problems are right there! They’re not hidden. This isn’t one of those genealogies with only the highlights. The truth is as God’s plan of redemption is become more and more clear, the problem with people, especially the prominent people is also becoming more and more clear. The tension at the end of the genealogy should be evident which is why we need verses 18 to 25.
When Jesus is born, Matthew is identifying Jesus, this baby born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit, as the fulfillment of all these promises and the provision for all Israel’s problems all in just 8 verses.
3 Promises of God
3 Promises of God
The very first verse gives us clue of what we’re looking for here in this genealogy and what it’s purpose is.
1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
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There’s a lot of names in this list. Why pick out these two to start? They’re certainly the most notable. Abraham was the first! Seems appropriate he would be mentioned in this summary. Then there’s David. He was King of Israel. We can see this is a royal lineage as we follow David’s name, but more important than the men themselves is what God was doing through these men, specifically what promises were given to these men.
We can look back to Abraham after He was proven willing to offer His son Isaac as a sacrifice and God gives Him this promise:
18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
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God has promised Abraham that all the earth will be blessed through one of Abraham’s descendants. Matthews audience is no doubt familiar with the promises given to Abraham, so when Matthew introduces Jesus as the “son of Abraham.” ... “The descendant of Abraham.” there’s a subtle reminder here. Remember that promise God gave to Abraham so many years ago! Remember that God’s plan from the beginning was always to see all the nations blessed not just Israel.
This introduction is answering more than just, “Who is this baby?” it’s answering that question, “Why is he here?” He’s here because a promise has been made by God and God fulfills His promises! In this case God has determined by means of a promise that the nations will know the blessings of God.
That’s good news for us isn’t it! Perhaps we don’t think about it that way: How often do we think of the nations as everyone else? There once was a time when we were the nations far off and ignorant of the goodness and mercy of God and lost in our sin. In many ways we ought to look at this simple introduction: Jesus Christ, son of Abraham and rejoice. God did not need to extend his grace and mercy to the nations but he did, and by His sovereign grace we stand here today because God determined thousands of years ago to see His grace spread to the far reaches of the earth. Praise be to God for His gracious and glorious promises.
Another promise evident here in the genealogy.
Jesus is introduced as Christ or the Messiah (depending on your translation), the son of David. This title Christ literally means anointed one. It’s a very kingly title and pairs with that introduction, “Son of David.
You can see David appear in the genealogy there in verse 6 as the beginning of the second group of 14 as explained in verse 17. He’s the first of a new era in the genealogy of Jesus, but he’s also the recipient of another wonderful promise.
12 “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
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Again, God in His grace is revealing his plan of redemption to His people, and it adds another facet in this promise given to David: a descendant will come whose kingdom will have no end, and He will build a house for God to dwell in. We can immediately look at Solomon and see how some of that is true, but Solomon died. He did not sit on an eternal throne. Israel still waits for their Messiah. That simple title alone is packed full of anticipation, purpose, and promise in the ears of Matthew’s audience
We can turn to Psalms briefly to see how this anticipation would have been renewed time and again as the Jews sang together.
1 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”
6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” 7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
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This coming Messiah is going to be mocked by the nations and opposed, yet he will be installed as ruler over all. He will be given the nations as an inheritance, and the the ends of the earth as His possession.
Hear the echo there?
The nations of the earth will be blessed through the descendant of Abraham.
The nations and the earth will be inherited by the descendant of David, the Anointed one the Messiah. His kingdom will have no end!
Again this genealogy is establishing more than who Jesus is, but what he’s coming to accomplish. He’s coming to inherit an eternal throne which reigns over all the earth!
The Psalm concludes with the good news:
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
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For hundreds and hundreds of years Israel has been waiting for a king, the Messiah, who will rise and be victorious over the enemies of Israel. A king who will unite His people, granting them real and true blessing in a kingdom that will never end.
Matthew isn’t easing into this. He’s coming out swinging. Genealogies might seem drab to us. In years past I’ve certainly struggled with what to do with this. Maybe it feels like less than ideal devotional material, but when we understand how loaded that word Messiah is, Matthew 1:1 is Babe Ruth pointing over the fence line. “This is the one you’ve been waiting for!”
Two promises,
The nations will be blessed
A king is coming to sit on an eternal throne
Ok where’s the third?
If you look there at verse 12 Jeconiah is the leading name in the final stanza, and if you turn to Ezekiel 1 you’ll see Jeconiah’s name there (also called Jehoiachin). Ezekiel is prophesying while Judah is in exile in Babylon, that’s explicitly stated in the genealogy, and God through Ezekiel mentions another promise pertaining to this Davidic kingdom that’s coming. This is years after David has died of course, but he says, “My servant David will be king over them, and they will have one shepherd...
He goes on to say this:
26 “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 “And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.” ’ ”
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Three times God says, I will be with them! They will be holy and the sanctuary of God - the dwelling place of God will be with them forever.
God isn’t going to bless His people and rule His people from afar. He’s going to be with them. After all God Himself is the blessing! You might recall how Exodus concludes with that giant step which God takes toward dwelling with His people again like He did in the garden. Ezekiel while in exile in Babylon, miles and miles from that place where God once established His dwelling says a new covenant is coming. One of peace. Where God’s people will be holy. They will be righteous, and God Himself will dwell among His people forever.
There’s another echo there if you didn’t notice. Remember the promise to David: David’s descendant would build a house for God. Here we have a king like David, a Shepherd King who will preside over the establishment of the sanctuary of God among His people forever.
We have a third promise: God will be with us… forever.
Might I ask,
Where do we look for our blessing?
Where do we look for a lasting and enduring kingdom?
Where do we look for belonging, comfort, or companionship?
These are all fundamental desires of humanity and if we forget the good news it’s likely we’ll begin shopping for it rather than waiting for it.
Even we who are in Christ with all the blessings of the kingdom and comfort of the Holy Spirit are called to wait for the fullness of the promises to come to fruition. Might we be counted among those who are truly waiting for those glorious promises to be fulfilled like those who knew the promises and anticipated the first coming of Christ. Might we be warned by those who ignored the promises and went shopping for their provision - man-made provisions which never really fixed the problem.
That’s the thing about God’s promises! God’s promises actually tell of a time when we will be delivered, once and for all, from the human problems which plague all of us.
3 problems with the people
3 problems with the people
The genealogy begins with that reminder of God’s promise to bless the nations through Abraham’s descendant, but it only takes a couple names to be reminded that curse of sin still runs through Abraham’s line.
Abraham himself was unfaithful to his wife Sarai. You might say he went shopping for the fulfillment of the promise and was unwilling to wait. Jacob deceived his brother for his birthright. Judah the forefather of kings and the line of the Messiah sold his brother into slavery. Judah’s immorality with Tamar. This genealogy isn’t hiding anything! Not to mention David’s murder of Uriah and his infidelity with Bathsheba who would bear Solomon.
From the moment Adam and Eve sinned in the garden the curse of sin has been problem number 1 to the people of God. Time and again they’re reminded through the law of their condition and it’s consequences!
Moses gives them a sobering reminder as they enter into the promised land:
15 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 “Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. 19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
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16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
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Over the course of Israel’s history there are a lot of problems! A lot of those problems come from the enemies that surround them, at Matthew’s writing Rome is in view, you can go back to their exile, the destruction of the temple, the threat of the Babylonians and the Assyrians. There were enemies from within at one point. There was hunger and thirst in the wilderness. There was slavery in Egypt. There is no shortage of very real problems in the history of Israel, but at the heart of them all is the problem of all humanity: The curse of sin and death.
God’s promise of blessing to the nations given to Abraham is the one hope the world has to be freed from the curse of sin and truly blessed of God. I would argue that Matthew needs to go back to Abraham because without the promise of blessing which overcomes the curse of sin there can be no united kingdom, there can be no God with us because we will still be a cursed people.
Practically speaking, let’s be careful with our diagnosis of the problem.
When we look at at the world we probably see a lot of problems like Israel did...
We may have relationships with unbelievers or even believers who maybe don’t have it all figured out yet...
In both cases if we’re not careful we can be quick to diagnose and provide prescription...
Well here’s what really needs to happen...’
Here’s what you need to do...
There may very well be a time for wisdom and action, but let’s make sure we address the fundamental problem first.
Is there a sin problem? Has it been addressed?
We can add every wise and reasoned prescription to the problem, but until we address the heart of the problem, sin, we haven’t really begun to address the problem.
I really like my weed eater at home. It really gets the job done. I’m going to have get it started soon cause with all this rain because the weeds are coming! I’ll admit it’s really satisfying to see a well-trimmed yard, but what have I really accomplished at the end of the day? All I’ve done is trimmed the weeds. They’re not actually uprooted. They are going to keep coming back until I get to the heart of the issue the root of the problem.
God did not promise that he would come to suppress the curse of sin - to trim the weeds. He promised to bless! He promised to address the problem at it’s heart.
Let’s be living according to the promises which God has delivered to us, and a clear understanding of the problem. What the world needs is to be freed from the curse of sin!
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Another problem presented in the genealogy!
God has promised David this eternal kingdom established by God - an enduring and everlasting throne.
You just need to follow the names to the next line to see how the kingdom begins to fall apart.
6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa.
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Rehoboam, grandson of David, the first king of Judah after the nation was divided. The northern kingdom, Israel, ran off under Jeroboam to go worship not one, but two, golden calves.
Not only was Rehoboam’s kingdom divided under his rule, it was invaded and nearly overthrown because he forsook the LORD.
1 When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the Lord. 2 And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem
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When the Egyptians come knocking on the door of Jerusalem only then does he turn to God, and by God’s grace Jerusalem is preserved. Rehoboam isn’t the first of Judah’s kings who will lead the kingdom into difficult times, but Judah does have a fair share of good and righteous kings.
Josiah for example is well known to have led the people into a time of reformation and returning to God in repentance.
When you look back at this section of Matthew’s genealogy the problem may be apparent at first. “If only Rehoboam had been more like Josiah then this whole divided kingdom thing would have never happened.”
No doubt Matthew’s audience look forward to the day when the Messiah will come and gather his people again under this new and enduring throne, but the Messiah will be much more than what Josiah ever was.
Remember the nature of the promise God gave to David.
The throne of his kingdom will last forever!
Remember what the Psalms say of this Messiah’s reign.
8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
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As much as there were some kings who were righteous leading to peace and some who were wicked leading to division and destruction before their enemies... all of them died, and none of them had the means to rule the nations.
A simple question we might ask ourselves.
Are we looking for another Josiah are we looking for Jesus the Messiah? If we don’t recognize the heart of the problem we’re probably going to settle for a temporary solution.
You just have to turn on the news to find a Rehoboam somewhere. It only takes a few scrolls on social media or the news to find all the wickedness he’s guilty of, and then a few more scrolls to find all the people just waiting for a Josiah to take his place.
It might go the other way. We think we’ve found the Josiah who’s going to bring about reformation. And we can be thankful for just leaders certainly, but what’s the real problem? These men are still sinners who die.
It only takes a couple generations before Josiah’s reformation fades away with his death, and a whole new problem is introduced: Exile.
11 Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12 After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.
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Big problem number 3: exile! The people are now returned to where their whole journey started, their servants and subjects to a foreign king like they were in Egypt in slavery. There is no temple for them to worship at. The presence of the glory of God has left the temple in Ezekiel, and the people themselves leave the temple behind as they’re taken away. Talk about problems!
The list of problems is long if we were take the time to read through books like Esther and the prophets, but what’s the root problem here?
For those of us who worked through exodus, Israel’s problems weren’t over when they came out of Egypt and crossed the red sea. The goal of their deliverance was so that God could be among His holy people!
I believe Ezekiel is bringing good news to the exiles much like Moses was when he came declaring God’s coming deliverance.
26 “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 “And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.” ’ ”
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For a people who may look around and see a Babylonian problem, Ezekiel identifies the real problem with a real hope. God is distant from you, but he will come and dwell among you again, his sanctuary will be in your midst forever under a new covenant.
The exile was a tangible problem that had at its heart a very real spiritual one, and it all comes back to that original problem. The problem of sin. “You are distant from God.” You cannot fellowship with God. You’ve been cast from the garden - cast from the promised land because of your sin.
All of God’s promises address the real heart-level problems that Israel has.
A descendant will come bringing blessings which will overcome the curse of sin
An eternal king and His kingdom will come taking the place of dying kings and crumbling kingdoms
The very presence of God Himself will come as a shepherd restoring fellowship with those who were once scattered and cast out of the garden.
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The promises and the problems in the genealogy all point to this one Savior.
3 Provisions in Jesus Christ - Immanuel
3 Provisions in Jesus Christ - Immanuel
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
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As we close the chapter looking from verse 18 to 25 notice the names of our Savior and the provision associated with each.
Jesus: for He will save His people from their sins.
Christ (The Messiah): The king coming to sit on an eternal heavenly throne to whom all the nations will run to find refuge and find their blessing as the Psalm says.
And finally, Immanuel “God With Us”: The very presence of God among His people, the sanctuary which will be torn down and rebuilt in three days that God may once again dwell among His people in a new kingdom, a new garden.
Let’s look at each of these for a moment:
Jesus
Jesus
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
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As we begin the narrative Matthew wants to set the record straight from the get go. This Messiah does not bear the curse of sin! He is conceived of the Holy Spirit. He is the Son of God. He IS GOD!
He is not like David who openly confessed:
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
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No, not this king. If Jesus had been like David or any of the others who came before he would not be a Savior.
Who bearing the curse of sin themselves can deliver others who are cursed?
Who finding themselves in a pit can help his brother get out of the pit?
Who finding himself in debt can help redeem his brother?
Jesus was free from the curse of sin and holy at His conception and needed to be so if He was to save His people from their sins.
Does this mean that Jesus was any less a man? No, certainly not. He was born of the woman, a very real birth, and very much human.
Does his humanity mean He was any less God? No, certainly not, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Of the same substance as God.
This is the God-man coming to save His people from their sins - Coming to be the price of redemption, bearing the curse of sin upon Himself, that the cursed of every nation, tribe, and tongue may count themselves blessed in Jesus their Savior King.
Matthew’s conclusion here is, “Look no longer for the seed of Abraham! Here is the one who can free you from your sins. Here is the blessed and righteous one who can count you righteous, the one who can count you blessed should you come and find your refuge in Him.”
Furthermore, His salvation will reach beyond even the people of Israel. Even Rahab, a foreigner and a prostitute under the curse of sin would count herself blessed for seeking her refuge among the people of Abraham. How much more will the nations find their blessing in the THE descendant of Abraham, the Son of God!
Friends, we have blessings beyond compare in the salvation which we have in Jesus Christ. We no longer need to fear the curse of sin. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Knowing what we have in Jesus Christ as His church let’s never forget what we’ve been delivered from - Let’s never forget what the world’s deepest problem really is.
The world has tons of problems and if you can mow your neighbors yard because they can’t, go do it, but at the end of the day the world’s problem is sin, and the world needs Jesus to save them from their sins. Let’s be people who look like Jesus, love like Jesus, but let’s not forget to be witnesses of Jesus … proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins to all who will listen.
Let’s look at the provisions found in Christ, the King
Christ
Christ
There are two simple mentions there in those closing verses.
Verse 18: Now the birth of Jesus Christ (The Messiah)
, and also there’s an interesting address there in verse 20. Notice how the angel addresses Joseph. He doesn’t merely address him by name, He includes the royal family of which he’s a descendant.
“Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
I can only imagine the shock Joseph must have been in at the point. That simple sentence right there alone needs time to consider. The people of Israel have been waiting for their Messiah King for hundreds of years an in this moment God has declared a child conceived of the Holy Spirit born into the line of David is coming. A child untouched by the curse of sin. Death will not be able to hold Him!
Who knows whether Joseph put all the pieces together, but there is none other than God Himself who can hold the eternal throne promised to David. Every other ordinary king dies under the curse of sin. Not this King!
Who, but God Himself in Jesus Christ could inherit the all the nations of the earth? What ordinary man could take such a throne? What ordinary king is deserving of such an inheritance?
Who, but this Christ coming to save can bless all who come to find their refuge in Him? No ordinary king is given the means enough to grant such promises to all people!! Unless that King is God.
...
At this moment as the angel speaks to Joseph, He’s given but a glimpse of the fulfillment and provision that’s going to come through the Christ, but it doesn’t take long for the people to see it.
His disciples will witness the risen Christ overcoming the enemies of the kingdom, the enemies of all humanity: sin, death, and the devil have been overcome.
Jesus will ascend into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the father as King over all creation, and yet that doesn’t mean we need to wait for the kingdom.
Today we are a united kingdom, we are united in Christ, with real power in the Spirit to overcome the enemies of sin and the devil. Even death with not hold us.
As much we might wait and pray for a future provision in Jesus’ return let’s not overlook the king and the kingdom which is now.
The power and the unity we’ve been given today to do battle with the enemies of Christ.
We have a king who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth sitting on His throne just waiting to hear the prayers of his saints.
We’ve been given the Holy Spirit who unites us together in a way that Israel never was.
What we have today in this gathering of Two Rivers Community Church is enough to sustain and advance the kingdom of Christ. We don’t need to wait. The provision we have in our risen king is more than sufficient for the work.
Which leads us to
Immanuel “God With Us”
Immanuel “God With Us”
If this baby is God, doesn’t that mean he should be behind a veil in the temple. That’s where God has made His dwelling in the past. Is this baby safe? Or will His presence bring death to the unholy in the room with him?
In the grand scheme of Israel’s history, God with us, would have been a comforting thought at times, but God with us in the room, that is another thought entirely!
And yet we shouldn’t be surprised as the whole trajectory of Redemptive history is to restore fellowship between God and man. For God to be with His people. We’ve seen it in part as God makes His dwelling place in tabernacles and temples, but here we see a provision unlike any before.
Ezekiel’s promise is coming true. God’s dwelling place is going to be with His people once again, and His sanctuary will be with them forever, but this baby, this Immanuel is not exactly a sanctuary like Israel has known in the past.
Nevertheless, God with us in human flesh is better than any earthly temple, better than any earthly priest and better than any earthly sacrifice. No temple or tabernacle can compare with God Himself walking among His people.
Wasn’t it the mission of the temple and the priests to provide a means for the sins of the people to be atoned for that they may dwell with God as His Holy people?
Isn’t it the mission of Immanuel to be the great High Priest providing a means for the sins of the people to be atoned for in Himself that they may dwell with God as His Holy people?
Friends the goal is to be with God glorifying Him as His holy people! That’s what Jesus came to accomplish, and the striking thing is after coming in the flesh, dying and rising bodily you’d think it couldn’t get any better, but he openly tells His disciples, “It’s better that I go.”
Why?
Because His presence would dwell among and in us by the Holy Spirit.
28 “And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.” ’ ”
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We have the presence of God with us forever. We have been made holy else the sanctuary of God would not be in our midst. The blood of Christ has washed us clean and now we know real fellowship with God. We know His presence. We know HIs power all by the Holy Spirit.
All in all Jesus Christ - Immanuel has given us
Salvation from our sins
An everlasting kingdom
, and His very presence in the Holy Spirit.
As we close I’d like to look at the Great Commission again.
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
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The king in all His authority commissions his disciples to advance the kingdom… How?
The proclamation of the gospel for the forgiveness sins. That salvation portrayed in baptism for all who believe.
And in all this we are given a great comfort, his presence to the end of time.
All that has been promised, all the problems of Israel culminate in who Jesus Christ is for His people, Who he is for us!
Who Jesus is… is the fuel for all we do as disciples in the kingdom.
He is our Savior
He is our King
He is with us.
Let’s Pray.
