[0:00] Well, as we head into the Advent season, we're going to spend the next four weeks of our time together in Matthew 1 and 2.
[0:12] ! So I would encourage you, if you would please, to turn in your Bibles with me to Matthew 1. We'll begin there right at the beginning. If you're using a Pew Bible, you're going to find it on page 807.
[0:24] 807 there on your Pew Bible. Those of you who are familiar with the Gospel of Matthew know that it begins, the first 17 verses of Matthew, is just a list of names.
[0:38] So-and-so was the father of so-and-so, who was the father of so-and-so, and on and on it goes until you get to verse 17. And maybe you think, how in the world are we going to have a sermon on a list of names?
[0:51] How could it be any more boring than just a list of names? And what I want to encourage you, of course, is that the list of names is not only inscripturated.
[1:03] So it's God's idea to put that list of names there for us, and He thinks it's important. But my goal this morning as we look at this list of names, we're not going to just see the names that are going to show up for us on the page.
[1:17] But especially, I want you to understand there is a God that is in and around and through those names, creating His story, and using individuals to eventually lead to His promised Son, Jesus Christ, who was the Messiah.
[1:38] So as we work our way through Matthew chapter 1 and 2, we're going to just spotlight the promises of God in the way that God has answered those promises for us, and thus provides a measure of hope, a measure of confidence, and a measure of stability for us, recognizing that it's God who sees through history, God who brings history about, and because God is instrumental above history, we can trust Him.
[2:09] You can trust God who is over history. There has been a surge of public interest in genealogies, and I wonder, just as a show of hands, how many have done a family tree in the last several years?
[2:25] How many of you have been interested in a family tree, have done that for yourself? Okay, several of you have done that. There has been this surge of genealogies and finding ancestry that has kind of erupted across our nation.
[2:39] As a matter of fact, in 2014, apparently, doing family trees was the second most popular hobby of Americans, second only to gardening.
[2:52] Over 66% of Americans have reported wanting to learn more about their history, their family history. And a significant portion of those people are even unable to name their grandparents or great-grandparents.
[3:10] By the start of 2019, more than 26 million people were a part of a DNA test where they would send their DNA sample into a laboratory, and that laboratory would provide them with their ancestry as it relates to origins of where they were born and the kinds of people groups that kind of make up the composite of who they are in the various regions from which their ancestors came.
[3:40] And it's expected that more than 100 million people will have continued that process over the next couple of years. Ancestry and family trees have been a big piece of what has consumed a lot of people's time over the past several years.
[4:00] Maybe we can understand this, especially coming off the Thanksgiving holidays. I would expect that many of you had the opportunity to spend some time with family and the joy of sitting around the table with people that are part of you.
[4:15] Now, some of you may not have that experience. And so there has been a growing interest in the family heritage because of that very thing. Trying to discover, perhaps, their family secrets.
[4:27] Who are those individuals who were part of their family in the past, and how can I identify them? Or maybe even finding some long-lost siblings or long-lost relatives to be reacquainted with them because of the broken home nature of our society.
[4:44] Some people enjoyed doing this to gain an appreciation for the challenges and joys and struggles that their ancestors had and being able to work through those struggles and especially those stories of overcoming difficulty.
[5:00] We want to feel like we're leaving a mark in some way. And so individuals want to understand who they're related to.
[5:12] And do they have somebody in their past who has some significant contribution? And I'm related to that individual, so I am significant because of them. From a survey of 239 18- to 20-year-olds at seven different universities, researchers found individuals who had the healthiest identity development were those who had a connection and a sense of connectedness to their family.
[5:41] We understand the significance of family. We can appreciate that when we're connected to people, there is a sense of belonging. There's a sense of identity.
[5:53] There's a sense of accomplishment. And there's a sense that we are connected to an individual or a group of individuals. We're going to find in our passage today that there is this family tree that traces its way to Jesus Christ.
[6:10] It began and it traces back from Abraham. And the promise that we'll look at this morning is that this promise that was given to Abraham to make of him a great nation may include you.
[6:24] So while you may or may not feel connected to a specific physical family, because of the work of Jesus Christ, there is an invitation for you to belong.
[6:36] An invitation for you to belong to the greatest family of history. The family that includes Jesus himself.
[6:46] To be a brother to Jesus. And to have God the Father as your heavenly Father. So if you're there with me in Matthew chapter 1, let's begin our journey as we look through this genealogy together.
[7:01] And we're going to see right at the outset that it is God who sets his plan in motion. God is the one who takes initiative. God is the one who sets this course in action.
[7:13] It's God himself who has a plan and puts that plan to work. Notice with me if you're there in Matthew chapter 1, verse 1, it says, The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
[7:31] This word for genealogy is the word for beginning, the word for origin. It's kind of like the word Genesis, which is the book of beginnings. This is the start of Jesus Christ.
[7:41] At least the introduction to him in the New Testament. As we turn the page to the beginning of this New Testament, we find this new figure that emerges, Jesus Christ.
[7:53] He becomes the epitome, the supreme figure that marks itself throughout the New Testament. Matthew begins this gospel. He wants his readers to understand something significant.
[8:08] That God's plan in history is a plan that involves people. That's our first sub-point this morning. That God does fulfill his plan, but he fulfills his plan through people.
[8:20] That should be an encouragement to all of us in this room. Regardless of where you are, regardless of your history, regardless of how adequate or inadequate you might feel, how sufficient or insufficient you may feel, God delights in using people to carry out his plan.
[8:43] Matthew lays out this history. It's a history that's actually rooted in the Old Testament. A history that is established on a foundation of God's promises that we'll look at this morning briefly.
[8:56] A history that's built on people and on a nation. But God is the one who takes the initiative here. It's God who sets things in motion. It's God who chooses from among the nations and establishes his purposes.
[9:10] It's God who will set those purposes in action, in motion. And that purpose that God has fundamentally is a purpose not just of salvation, but salvation that comes through relationship.
[9:26] Through a people. God is interested in people and relationships. We'll see this as we move through our passage today. That standing as prominent members on this list, Abraham and David, they represent distinct moments in history where God showed up to initiate a relationship.
[9:46] Not just a promise, but a relationship with them and to them. He's gonna provide, we're gonna provide more clues as we move through this that that relationship would help to invite them into deliverance and salvation.
[10:01] Even now, God is taking initiative. We understand from 1 John 4, verse 19, this initiating work of God. We love him because he, what church?
[10:15] He first loved us. If you love God this morning, it's because of God's initiating love for you. He drew you in. He welcomed you.
[10:26] He invites you. And if you haven't participated or enjoyed or experienced that love of God, God is inviting you into that experience of relationship with him that comes through the apex of this genealogy, Jesus Christ himself.
[10:45] He invites you to participate in that community of faith, that family of God. God initiates also in John 3, 16, you know this verse. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[11:04] That initiating work of God has a purpose. That purpose of sending his son, Jesus, is to draw you into salvation and forgiveness. God took that initiative.
[11:16] But that plan of deployment, the plan of getting the message to the nations, that plan of gospel propagation, is also a plan that involves people.
[11:29] Matthew chapter 28, Jesus is telling his disciples, he says, go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
[11:48] God's plan involves people. And that's encouraging because the people and the lives that we're gonna look at in this genealogy are full of broken, sinful, wicked, rebellious individuals.
[12:03] And I imagine that if you're honest with yourself, you can identify it. But you're not disqualified if you put your faith in Christ, that God delights in forgiving, in cleansing, in making you one with him, and then deploying you in the work of gospel mission.
[12:23] This plan of God that involves people. In verse 2, we come to understand that God delights in fulfilling his plan by his power. It is by God's power that we come to experience and enjoy this plan that he has put in place.
[12:41] Verse 2 of Matthew chapter 1 says, Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah, and his brothers. I think we often take for granted the natural things that happen in life, especially as it relates to childbearing.
[12:59] And we think that since these things just seem to happen, that promises that are made, and names that are listed, and fathers of sons that continue to propagate themselves is just natural.
[13:13] But throughout the story of Jesus' family line, natural things like childbearing proves to be a work of God, and a work of God alone.
[13:25] The three men listed in verse 2 had wives that were barren. Any hope of establishing a legacy, a family, a nation, was entirely up to God from the very beginning.
[13:38] And God did that by design to help these forefathers to know that if any nation was going to be established, it was going to be established under His power and His power alone, not the power of men.
[13:53] Beginning with Abraham and Sarah, in this formation of a people of God, we come to Genesis chapter 12. And I know we've talked about Genesis chapter 12 several times over the past couple of years, but it's important for us to be reminded again of the work of God and His power in establishing His promise and carrying it through.
[14:14] In chapter 12, verses 1 and 3, it says, Now the Lord said to Abraham, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation.
[14:26] I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whom who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
[14:39] In these first three verses, notice that it is God who takes the initiative. It's God who calls Abraham and Sarah out of Haran. It's God who establishes a promise and the promise that rests on His power alone.
[14:56] I will do this. I will make. I will show. I will bless you and make your name great. I will make this promise and the fulfillment of this promise depends on the power of God and the power of God alone.
[15:13] From the account, there's no indication here that Abraham had any inclination of who God was. What we find in Joshua 24, verse 2, that Joshua said to all the people, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, long ago, your fathers lived beyond Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham, and of Nahor, and they served other gods.
[15:38] It wasn't that Abraham's heart was inclined to God. It wasn't that Abraham was searching for God or pursuing God or wanting God in any way. His heart was distant.
[15:50] His heart was opposed to God and moving in the direction of idolatry. And yet, God takes the initiative and God draws Abraham and Sarah to Himself to establish a nation.
[16:01] And the amazing part is this, that God makes this promise in the worst possible time, where every human potential of producing offspring was all but gone.
[16:15] We find in Genesis 12, verse 4, So Abraham went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.
[16:29] Abraham is an old man. His wife Sarah is 10 years younger, but at 65, and as a barren woman, there is no human possibility of fertility in her womb of bearing children.
[16:44] Two aged people, a barren woman, both way past their prime, and this is when God initiates His promise. Why? So that what would be at the front of the fulfillment is the power of God, not the power of men.
[17:04] So about 10 years go by, and Abraham is beginning to wonder, is God, did I hear God right? I thought God promised me a seed. There's no son yet.
[17:15] And so in his wonderings, God shows up to him again in Genesis chapter 15. And it says this, After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham, or Abram, in a vision.
[17:27] Fear not, Abram. I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. But Abram said, O Lord God, what will you give me? For I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus.
[17:42] And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, This man shall not be your heir.
[17:53] Your very own son shall be your heir. And he brought him outside and said, Look towards heaven, and number the stars, if you're able to number them.
[18:05] Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. God reaffirms his promise to Abram.
[18:17] Don't worry, Abram. I will accomplish the word that I gave you ten years ago. You will have a son. It will be from your very own loins.
[18:28] And I will give you a descendant. Descendants that are more than the stars of the sky. You can count on it. In the midst of the impossibility, it says that Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
[18:42] So that Abraham becomes a model of faith. And we're going to find from this story that Abraham is not just to be a father of nations physically, but that he's also to be a father of nations spiritually.
[18:58] And so to be part of Abraham is not just to be a descendant of Abraham in a physical way, but to be part of Abraham in embracing the faith of Abraham.
[19:09] Being a son or daughter of Abraham through faith in God just the way that Abraham believed. Those who would be true Israel would be sons and daughters physically and spiritually.
[19:23] And as you probably remember, Abraham and Sarah thought they needed to help God out. It had been a while, and so Sarah gives Abraham her maidservant, Hagar, and Abraham has a son through Hagar named Ishmael.
[19:43] But it would serve as another spiritual lesson. Hagar's son, Ishmael, would represent those born under spiritual bondage. A physical descendant wasn't all that God had in mind.
[19:56] He had a physical and a spiritual descendant in mind. Those who were sons of Abraham physically and through faith in him spiritually, faith in God spiritually.
[20:08] Finally, after 15 years, Abraham was now 99 and Sarah was 90. 25 years after the original promise and God shows up to Abraham again in Genesis chapter 17.
[20:24] It says, When Abraham was 99 years old and the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him, I am the God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless that I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly.
[20:40] Then Abraham fell on his face and God said to him, Behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abraham but your name shall be called Abraham for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
[21:00] I will make you exceedingly fruitful! And I will make you into nations and kings shall come from you! And God said, Abraham, As for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai but Sarah shall be her name.
[21:18] I will bless her and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her and she shall become nations. Kings of peoples shall come from her.
[21:30] Abraham, this should have been abundantly obvious to you from the beginning that when I promised you a son, I promised you offspring, it was for you and your wife Sarah not you and some other random stranger.
[21:45] But let me make this clear. This promise is to you, this promise is to your wife Sarah, I will make you into nations and I will bring you kings. As you know the story, in the midst of human impossibility, God shows his power to provide for them a son named Isaac.
[22:07] It was completely dependent on the power of God and not the power of men. 400 years would go by and the people of Israel would make their way to Egypt and after 400 years, God would send a deliverer, Moses, who would lead the people out of Egypt and they would wander for 40 years in the wilderness awaiting the time to go into the promised land.
[22:32] Once they entered the promised land for 300 years they would be delivered and governed by judges who God would raise up and provide as those who would help provide both spiritual and physical deliverance from the various trials they experienced as people.
[22:52] But the moral decline during this period of judges is summed up at the end of Judges chapter 21 verse 25 in this way. In those days there was no king in Israel.
[23:04] Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. A king had not yet come. And so the people decided that they were going to take initiative and they were going to do for themselves what this promise to Abraham had included.
[23:20] Let's have kings. So they took the initiative and they sought out Samuel. They demanded a king and God gave them Samuel. Excuse me. God gave them King Saul.
[23:30] As you know Saul had a heart that was divided. Saul was not committed to the Lord. Saul was not God's original plan for king.
[23:43] And so this anointed man because he was tall and handsome was not God's selection for his people and the people did not flourish because of his leadership.
[23:54] So God would take initiative again and God would raise up a king for himself King David. And that's what leads us to our next point this morning that God will fulfill his plan by his purpose.
[24:08] By his purpose, his plan, his design alone. Verses 3 to 6 we're back in Matthew chapter 1 it says and Judah the father of Moriah.
[24:47] If we had time to follow the twists and turns and ups and downs of this genealogy and pursue the stories that are laid out for us throughout the Old Testament we would come to see that what was the plan of the people as it related to birthright and blessing and that being established through the firstborn was not the plan of God for his people.
[25:13] God's plan would not follow that normal course. God had a design of his own at least as it relates to Judah who ended up being the fourth son of Jacob.
[25:25] He stuck towards the end of the first group of kids that were born to Leah his wife. Judah whose story is marked with blatant sin against God and yet Judah was the chosen one the father of this future king.
[25:44] Then the twists and the turns of David this shepherd boy this youngest son in a family of eight sons the smallest in stature the least likely candidate to be king yet the one that God chose by his design it was according to his purposes his design as God being the master planner.
[26:09] The centuries old promise that God made to Abraham and Sarah would finally come true God would raise up a king through Judah and David as you know would be this man of God a man after God's own heart a man of faith a man of worship a man of devotion and a man of patience Samuel would anoint David king but it would require David to wait for God's ultimate fulfillment of that promise faithfully serving King Saul but constantly on the run in danger of losing his life yet trusting in God and waiting for his timing and not taking matters into his own hands David trusted in God God's master plan to see it through nearly a thousand years has transpired now since Abraham and that original promise for there to be a king and now finally David is here and David is waiting and now
[27:12] God brings a promise to David we find in 1st Chronicles chapter 17 verses 7 to 14 now therefore thus shall you say to my servant David thus says the Lord of hosts I took you from the pasture from following the sheep to be the prince over my people Israel and I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from excuse me from before you and I will make for you a name like the name of the great ones of the earth when your days are fulfilled to walk with all your fathers I will raise up your offspring after you one of your very own sons and I will establish his kingdom he shall build a house for me and I will establish his throne forever I will be to him a father he shall be to me a son I will not take my steadfast love from him as I took it from him who is before you but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever and his throne shall be established forever
[28:17] David don't forget where you came from don't forget I took you from the pasture I was the one who took initiative as a lowly shepherd the youngest of your family you were the least likely candidate to be king but I took initiative by my design I drew you out and by my power I'm making you king I put you in place you were merely a shepherd but I raised you up and I fulfilled my purposes and my promise to you by establishing you as a priest and protecting you from danger and preserving your life by cutting off your enemies and so because of the way in which I've been able to fulfill my promises to you you can trust that the promises that I'm making about your future offspring your future son it will be true you can trust me because I will raise up a seed verse 11
[29:20] I will establish his kingdom verse 11 I will establish his throne forever I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me I will not take my love from him I will confirm him his throne will be established forever this is my design you can trust it I will see it through and throughout the Old Testament Israel awaited this king they anticipated the promise they knew that God was faithful to carry it through and as God took the initiative and as God demonstrated his power they knew that the promise keeping God was going to fulfill!
[30:02] His promises to David and so they waited God is one we can trust to keep his promises we see not only this initiating God in this genealogy but we also come to understand he is a God of mercy a God who includes the nations we see that here in verses 3 to 6 there are three names of ladies that stand out in these verses and as we read these key women in these verses we come to understand these are women of faith but they're also women of the world they're women outside the people of Israel who've been drawn in although two of them had a dark history providentially God incorporated them into his genealogy to make a statement and that statement is that he would be faithful to answer the promise to
[31:03] Abraham and Sarah that he would bless the nations through them all the families of the earth would be blessed not just those of Israel this first woman on our list her name is Tamar Judah and Tamar we find their story in Genesis 38 Tamar is a Canaanite woman who was first given to Judah's firstborn son named Ur Ur was wicked and so God killed him so then Tamar was then given to his brother the second oldest named Onan Onan too was wicked so God killed him now Tamar is left without an heir and without a son and at this point Judah is beginning to wonder if it's wise to give Tamar to his youngest son so Tamar begins to take matters into her own hands she tricks her father-in-law and then gives birth to a set of twins named
[32:08] Perez and Zerah we find their names listed for us in this passage this twisted story of sordid wickedness and the details that come that help us understand that God he overcomes sin God is drawing the nations and God uses broken people to accomplish his purposes God delights in using brokenness to demonstrate that his plan can continue to move forward not on our strength but on his strength alone the next woman that comes in our list we find her name in verse five Rahab we discover is the mother of Boaz if we remember the nation of Israel here they are they've left Egypt and they're on their way through the wilderness and they're just on the verge of the promised land and they're waiting and looking over the
[33:10] Jordan and the first city they see is this city of Jericho this foreboding city that had a double walled system and those walls would tower over the landscape and the people within those walls were giants their military might preceded them but before crossing the Jordan Joshua sent two spies into the land to scope things out and providentially the spies were met by this prostitute named Rahab who took the spies into her home and hid those spies on her roof among the flax she tells them what actually was on the hearts of everyone in the land we find her account in Joshua chapter 2 verses 8 to 11 here's what she says before the men lay down she came up to them on the roof and said to the men I know that the Lord has given you the land and that the fear of you has fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you for we have heard how the
[34:18] Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to Sihon of Og whom you devoted to destruction and as soon as we heard it our hearts melted and there was no spirit left in us any man because of you for the Lord your God he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath so Rahab asks for an exchange of kindness she asks that when the people of Israel come and conquer Jericho that she and her family would be delivered she becomes for us a model of faith she represents the fear that was on the entire land of Canaan because of the testimony of God's work in leading the people out of Egypt and then Matthew here records the prominence of Rahab's faith in making her part of the line of
[35:20] David ultimately in the line of Christ the lesson for us is that regardless of our background whether you're an outsider whether you're a prostitute whether you have done other sins that you are ashamed of whatever your history God is strong enough to forgive he overcomes your sin by sending Jesus who can forgive your sin if you ask for forgiveness if we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness he did that for Rahab Rahab who was marked out for destruction everyone in Jericho was going to die and yet God rescued Rahab because of faith a model for the entire land of Canaan if they too had come to God in faith and had trusted in him like Rahab they too would have experienced and enjoyed deliverance the question for us for you this morning have you believed have you come to a place of acknowledging your sin of asking for forgiveness and giving your heart and life to
[36:34] Jesus Christ God inserts into his genealogy this record of amazing rescue and salvation and forgiveness and faith then we come to Ruth Ruth we find there in verse five as well Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth Ruth who is one of my favorite characters in the Old Testament this young Moabite woman who for all intents and purposes had no right or opportunity to even be married by anyone in Israel this young Moabite woman who was loyal to her mother in law who left her family who abandoned her idols who embraced the God of Israel she like Abraham and Sarah continue to be this example for us of what it means to leave the things behind and to pursue God in many ways she becomes this continuing example of commitment to the
[37:37] Lord knowing that she was leaving Moab that which was comfortable that which was familiar leaving her family behind and she was coming with her mother-in-law to an unfamiliar place this stigma of widowhood this looming feeling of being punished by God not knowing how they would survive but trusting God to carry them and this amazing model of faith in Ruth that God uses to mark out this woman of faith and this model for us of those who do what Ruth did can also enjoy the benefits of being a part of God's family in Ruth 1 16 and 17 this is her confession she says to her mother-in-law who is urging her to go home she says do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you for where you go I will go and where you lodge I will lodge your people shall be my people and your
[38:38] God my God where you die I will die and there I will be buried may the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you throughout this little book of Ruth we see Ruth's commitment of faith and God's abundant provision God cares for Ruth because Ruth has trusted in God finally we come to God's character of preserving his people we see that in verses 7 to 17 God preserves his people beginning in verse 7 it says and Solomon the father of Rehoboam and Rehoboam the father of Abijah and Abijah the father of Asaph and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat the father of Joram and Joram the father of Uzziah Uzziah the father of Jotham and Jotham the father of Ahaz Ahaz the father of Hezekiah Hezekiah the father of Manasseh and Manasseh the father of Amos
[39:40] Amos the father of Josiah and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon we see this list of names and the stories that are bound to each individual but what started so well with David a man after God's own heart would then turn its way over to Solomon who initially it seemed to be going so well Solomon seemed to be so committed to God asking for God's wisdom building the temple enjoying God's peace in broadening the territory of Israel in every estimation human estimation Solomon must be this promised son and yet what started was this slow decline into this deteriorating moral culture Solomon's many wives captured his heart away from God it was becoming clear that
[40:42] Solomon was not this promised son and that moral decline continued until eventually the northern ten tribes they would be conquered by Assyria and taken captive in 722 BC the southern two tribes of Benjamin and Judah would be conquered by Babylon and taken into captivity the temple destroyed the capital city of Jerusalem left in ruins the kings and princes taken 10,000 captives taken into Babylon the question has God forgotten his promises was God finished with Israel do they have a continuing history or is God done but we see from the prophecies of Jeremiah and Isaiah and Ezekiel that God's promises were still intact as a matter of fact God would make a promise to Jeremiah and Ezekiel that not only would his promise would be intact but a new promise a new covenant would be inserted a promise that would depend on
[41:51] God alone that he would bring his spirit he would put his law in their hearts he would change the heart of stone into a heart of flesh that God would save them by his power and his power alone God would see it through it would happen through his power in this years of preservation that are recorded in verses 12 to 16 of Matthew chapter 1 notice after the deportation to Babylon Jesus a kingdom of God's a decree would go forth and 2 a couple would make their trip to Bethlehem a son would be born named
[43:31] Jesus and angels would explode in praise over the pasture lands outside the outskirts of Bethlehem a savior would be born and God would fulfill his promise to send this seed this offspring of Abraham this seed of David so that in Matthew chapter 1 verse 17 all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations and from David to the deportation to Babylon 14 generations and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ 14 generations and what stands as the predominant feature through these 17 verses is the name Jesus Christ Jesus as the promised seed Jesus as the hope of Israel Jesus as that promised king God's promises do not fail that is the testimony of Matthew chapter 1 verses 1 to 17 this prominent repetition of the title of Christ in verses 1 in verse 16 verse 17 then verse 18 draws out this theological implication that Christ is the one who is expected he is this promised seed that was given to Israel so that the angel
[44:55] Gabriel would tell Mary in Luke 1 31 to 33 behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son you shall call his name Jesus he will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end the legacy of this genealogy is not for the names of the list before Christ but it finds as its ultimate crescendo the name Jesus himself and because of Jesus he invites us and welcomes us into take part in the same family that comes in the same way that if we believe in God that just like Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness those of us regardless of your background regardless of your past regardless of your wickedness and blatant rebellion against God that God has sent
[46:03] Jesus himself to welcome you in to be part of this family and to enjoy the benefits of the family of God the people of God to be called a son and a daughter a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ do you know Jesus Christ today have you come to a place of recognizing your sin have you asked for forgiveness have you made Jesus the Lord of your life Paul will say if you confess your sin and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead you'll be saved and as we turn in repentance from our old way of life and allow the Holy Spirit to work in a new way a fresh way in our life and point us in the direction of obedience it will help to confirm that saving work of Christ in us and God has put us all on a unique mission that the individuals that are represented in this room may be also a part of a family tree a spiritual family tree and think about the individuals that God used instrumentally in your life to speak the gospel to you and to lead you into this family and
[47:22] God has given us the great privilege of being gospel agents to welcome others to take part in this great family of God to be part of the genealogy as it were that we see here even in Matthew this great family that is possible only because of the work of Christ his saving work of death on the cross his resurrection from the grave that invites us all to take part may God help us not only to understand the significance of the salvation that we enjoy but the great responsibility of the mission he's put us on because God uses people to carry out his mission may God help us to be faithful Lord we thank you for this word this list of names that seem so common seem so mundane but we understand through this list Lord that you delight in using people so help us as your people to be faithful faithful to be workmen workmen that need not to be ashamed workmen that understand that we are your workmanship created in
[48:37] Christ Jesus for good works that you prepared beforehand that we should walk in them so God help us to be faithful to the objectives that you placed before us and help us to be filled up with this overflowing sense of privilege of being welcomed into your family may we extend that to others through the gospel I pray in Jesus name amen thanks for coming this morning and God bless you this week in