Jesus: Son of Abraham

the world’s view of Christmas: Santa Claus, reindeer, elves, presents, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas TV shows and movies, Christmas stockings, turkey, sweets, eggnog, Frosty the Snowman, the Grinch

celebration of Christ’s birth was unknown to the early church

Jesus’ birth is unknown

The celebration of Christ’s birth was not practiced by the church until the 4th century!

The word Christmas comes from two words, “Christ” and “Mass”

Greek “Christ” a translation of Hebrew “Messiah”

Mass = the celebration of the Lord’s Supper

Christmas celebrates the ending of enmities between God and man through Christ’s sacrifice.

focuses on Christ’s coming into the world as a man to atone for the sins of his people thereby reconciling those who believe to God

there are many things we could look at in the birth narratives in and & 2 to help us understand the meaning of Christmas

I’ve chosen to look at the names and titles ascribed to Jesus in the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke to give us insight into the meaning of Christ’s birth

last week:

Jesus, from the Hebrew Joshua = God saves

he will save his people from their sins ()

Immanuel - God with us

the incarnation - God taking on flesh - ,

the curse of sin is death - , 6:23

the need for a sinless human substitute -

God the Son comes to us by taking on flesh in order to provide salvation from our sin

this week we will consider the titles: Son of Abraham, Son of David & Son of God

sonship in the bible is more than just biology

the vast majority of sons in the bible ended up doing what their fathers did

our culture: you can be anything you want

not so of the culture of the bible

if your father was a baker you became a baker

if your father was a farmer, you became a farmer

if your father was a musician you became a musician

sons did not go to agricultural college or an apprenticeship school, they learned everything from their fathers

sonship in the bible is therefore much more about family identity and vocation

example: son of the devil

not an insult to your father

you are acting so much like the devil you are like his son

example: peacemakers are called sons of God ()

when we make peace we are like God

today we are going to discover that in the birth narratives Jesus is called Son of Abraham, Son of David & Son of God/Son of the Most High

want to say something about genealogies

titles Son of Abraham and Son of David come from Matthew’s genealogy in

Genealogies were used to legitimize priests and kings.

records were kept in the Temple

Matthew’s genealogy identifies Jesus as Messianic King.

Luke’s genealogy links Jesus to Adam revealing him as the brother of all humanity.

all humanity can claim Jesus as their brother

Jesus, Son of Abraham

ESV1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

ESV16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

ESV13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

Jesus is the one through whom the promises made to Abraham would be fulfilled. “Abraham, ... heir of the world”

ESV18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

ESV5 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.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Abraham received the promise of God on the basis of his faith in God.

God said to Abraham “so shall your offspring be” and he trusted God to keep his word

God responded by declaring him to be righteous (justification)

God responded by promising to be his God ()

to work for him with all of his power with mercy and faithfulness

God’s justification of Abraham on the basis of his faith means that he was forgiven and freed from condemnation, that God was his God, that God would bless him in this life, and that God would give him eternal life.

did God make this promise only to Abraham?

ESV23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

the promise is to all who share Abraham’s faith

Abraham believed that God would bless him

Sons and daughters of Abraham believe that God will bless them through Jesus, the Son of Abraham.

the blessings of justification are available to all the families of the earth

God’s purpose to bless everyone in the world with the faith of Abraham

Abraham to be a conduit through whom God’s promises will be experienced by all the families of the earth

when God saved Abraham he had the world in view

his plan reaches even to us

our sins are forgiven, God is our God, he is for us with all of his power, goodness and mercy, he will raise us from the dead, our name will be great, we will be more numerous than the stars, we will possess the gates of our enemies, God will curse those who curse us, the land of Israel and the earth will be our inheritance, we will fill the new earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord

The promises to Abraham were conditional upon his obedience.

- “because you have done this … I will indeed bless you”

promises are fulfilled because Abraham obeyed God

Abraham’s obedience in sacrificing Isaac was not an act of self-reliance but motivated by his confidence in God’s promise to bless him in Isaac ()

because he trusted in God’s promises he obeyed the command to sacrifice Isaac

Abraham’s obedience was the outcome of trusting God

so it is for NC believers (; )

The covenant with Abraham and the New Covenant are similar in that gracious promises are made which are received by faith.