relationships (Matthew 1:1-25) Personal and Pleasurable

(Matthew 1:1-25)

1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

2 Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered Ram. 4 Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon. 5 Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse. 6 Jesse fathered David the king.

David fathered Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered Asa. 8 Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah. 9 Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Josiah. 11 Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

12 After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel fathered Abihud, Abihud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor. 14 Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud. 15 Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob. 16 Jacob fathered 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 the Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had thought this over, 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 give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 23 “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him 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 named Him Jesus.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

This lineage of Jesus is extremely important.  First of all, it fulfills what was promised in the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:1-3):  that through Abraham's seed, all nations would be blessed:  which is through Jesus' work on the cross, making salvation possible..  Also, it is only through Jesus' work on the cross that fulfilling this entire covenant would be possible.  The land (in its entirety), seed (many descendants), and blessings (physical and spiritual fruitfulness), will only be completely realized when Israel as a nation are believers, having accepted Jesus as their Savior, and their physical, as well as their spiritual King!

This leads us to the next important factor, that Jesus came through the lineage of king David.  This will fulfill the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7:16), that the throne of David will be everlasting.  After the Tribulation, Jesus will come again, to establish the Millennial kingdom and fulfill all covenants.  And sitting on the throne of David, He will usher in a thousand years of worldwide peace.  Again, only possible through the Lord Jesus, because He is the Son of God.

This leads us to the next important factor!  Verse 20 tells us that Jesus was conceived through the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, Jesus came in flesh to be fully man, while still being fully God (verse 23).  This is critical to know and understand.  Jesus had to be God in order to live a perfectly holy life while here on earth, in order to die in mankind's place and pay the price for all sin, of all time, and then rise again to have victory over death!  But He still had to fully man in order to take our place in death!  So, let's backtrack here and look at what it meant to be fully man.  

As we look at Jesus' ancestors, we see many sinners who came from dysfunctional families.  We also see women who came out of pagan countries... and not just pagan countries, but countries that were Israel's enemies.  Although, what we know of most of them, they choose to leave their pagan ways, and chose to follow God.  As well, we see several very godly men who also chose to follow God.  While David is one of them, and even considered by the Lord as "a man after God's own heart", we are reminded in verse 6 that even he struggled with a sinful nature!  The "godly" part is that when he did sin, he would go to the Lord to confess, in order to continue striving after God and His will.

Now, how does all of this relate to the topic of relationships?  Why would the Lord leave heaven and be born into the body of an earthly man, for the sole purpose of coming to suffer and die on a cross???!!!  It is only because of His great love for all people, and His desire to provide a way for people to have their sins forgiven, so that He can enjoy a personal, pleasurable relationship with us - with all of those who choose to love Him back!  This is why He created us in the first place!

(Colossians 1:15-20) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: 16 for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.