Jesus The Messianic King(2020)-2

JESUS The MESSIANIC KING-II—Matthew 1:1-17

Attention:

A Politically Correct, Legally Safe, Holiday Greeting:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions &/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, & medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2021, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great(not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the Western Hemisphere), & without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee. 

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal.  It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting.  It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, & is void where prohibited by law, & is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. 

This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, & warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

So therefore...

Happy Holidays!!

•Such non-committal approaches to ‘holidays’ obviously completely bypass & deny the fantastic & wonderful reality, that Christ willingly left His divine glory by which He lived in heaven, in order to take on human flesh so that He could redeem us for God's works in the here-&-now, as well as in heaven!

Let’s instead celebrate the realities of history...The reality of salvation...The certainty of forgiveness...And the surety of God’s blessings that are in Christ!

Need:

?What is so special about Jesus of Nazareth?

?Was Jesus an actual historical figure?

?Was Jesus of Nazareth really the Christ/Messiah?

?What does it mean for the Son of God, to be the Son of Man & vice-versa?

?What is the evidence for what is factual about Him?

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Matthew’s audience is provided a telling look at Jesus’ right to Messianic rule.

Jesus is uniquely the Messianic King.

But Why is Jesus uniquely the Messianic King?

OR

What makes Jesus uniquely the Messianic King?

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Last week we discovered that ‘Jesus is uniquely the Messianic King’ by...

1. COVENANT(:1)

Today we’ll find that:

2—Jesus is uniquely the Messianic King by...

COVENANTAL CONTINUANCE(:2-16)

Explanation:(:2-16)God’s Maintenance of Covenant thru His people

Concerning Biblical Covenants:

1)Some Covenants are based on &/or limited thru the element of TIME.?•i.e., The Noahic Covenant is limited to the length of time that the earth remains(Gen. 8:22).

2)Others are based on &/or limited thru the element of specific PEOPLE.?•i.e., The Davidic Covenant is limited to a specific bloodline(2Sam. 7:16; 1Chron. 17:11-14).

3)Still others are based on &/or limited thru the element of BELIEF.?•i.e., The ‘blessedness’ of the Abrahamic Covenant is limited to specific belief.?•i.e., The New Covenant—voiced thru Jeremiah(31:31-34) & ratified & initiated thru Christ Jesus(Lk. 22:20)—is limited to specific belief(Rom. 4:5-25).

*And the two Covenants of Matthew’s concern(Davidic & Abrahamic) incorporate at all of the above aspects of biblical ‘covenant’ into their fruition.

*Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus serves much the same purpose as that of Adam thru Seth in Gen. 4:25--5:32. That genealogy’s focus is NOT to list everyone who was kin to everyone, but to reveal the otherwise undetected path thru which God’s providential care produced Noah as ‘the physical savior’ of humanity thru the Genesis Flood.

The people whose names make up this genealogy, are real historical people who lived in our historical past. Matthew’s genealogy comprises a timeframe approximating nearly 2000 years(Abraham to Jesus), not including the over 2000yrs. since Jesus’ birth. And archaeological discoveries continually reinforce that the people & events associated with them are indeed fact.

But “Matthew’s intent is not to have the reader digress into a study of each person listed, but is to show that all of these persons point to the royalty of Christ.”—John MacArthur

*This genealogy’s painstaking listing of ‘who-begot-who’, is meant to show us that Jesus’ lineage is the focus of God’s promised plan, as it played out thru ‘real’/actual history. Thru the chronological succession of these people(:2-16), God validates the path thru which His sovereign providence produces the Savior for mankind.

In “the Old Testament there are several dozen major prophecies about the coming of the Messiah, who would be sent by God to redeem His people.” Those prophetic determinations “formed a figurative fingerprint” by which God’s Anointed could be definitively recognized. “This way, the Israelites”, & any who would be God’s people, “could rule out any imposters, & validate the credentials of the authentic Messiah.” And that Messiah is Himself, the divine bringer of God’s true peace(Lk. 2:8-14).—Lee Strobel in ‘The Case For Christ’