Life Intercepted By God-1(2024)

LIFE INTERCEPTED By GOD-I—Matthew 1:18-19(:18-25)

Attention:

One day, in 1986, before I knew Jesus, I was sitting the living room of my, my wife’s, & our infant daughter’s newly purchased home in Savannah, Georgia. I was watching a Sunday Bible Study program aired by a local pastor.

He said, “Jesus came to offer the Kingdom of God to the Jews.”

I immediately realized that Jesus had come to offer that Kingdom of God to me as well!

I was immediately was awakened to the fact that I was a horrible sinner, who had denied God for many years. I was overwhelmed to tears with personal guilt. And yet simultaneously absolutely knowing that God would forgive all of that sin & sinfulness upon my accepting Jesus as my Savior & Lord! And I turned my life over to Him in that moment.

When I got saved, my day-to-day Life was Intercepted By God, so that it was set on a dramatically altered course than I myself could or would have ever chosen.

• And from that beginning point, to this day, because of the struggle of my flesh against God’s Holy Spirit, every moment of every day, I continue to make every effort to surrender all the multitude of my daily choices to my Savior & Lord.

Likewise, YOUR life will drastically change when it is Intercepted by God!

‘INTERCEPT’—Mirriam-Webster—“To stop, seize, or interrupt in progress, or course, or before arrival”?OR—New Oxford American Dictionary—“To obstruct so as to prevent from continuing to a destination.”

Need:

The apostle Matthew recorded some key elements/aspects surrounding the conception & birth of Jesus, from Joseph’s perspective.

Jesus’ beginnings, as they relate to Joseph’s perspective, is known.

?What can be learned from Joseph’s perspective about Jesus’ beginnings?

5 lessons learned from a life intercepted by God.

1—Life Intercepted By God...

INTERCEPTS The ORDINARY(:18a)

Explanation:(:18a)Usual/Expected/Mundane/Routine/Commonplace

:18a—“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,...”

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows:...”

The following narrative gives the reader/hearer pertinent information about the birth of the Christ.

•The circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth are important to the writer Matthew, as he decides how to share his understanding of who Jesus is.

“After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,...”

Per RWP/ISBE:

*“Betrothal” with the Jews was a serious matter! It was NOT carelessly entered into, & it was NOT carelessly broken!

•It had vastly more official force than an ‘engagement’ holds in our society today! What Americans call ‘courtship’ might be the closest resemblance. There was no such thing as an ‘informal’ cancellation of a “betrothal.”

•A Jewish couple who were “betrothed” to one another, were legally bound together as ‘husband’ & ‘wife’!

•A ‘dowry’ or ‘bride price’ was given by the bridegroom-to-be or his family, to the family of the bride-to-be. The dowry served as a seal of the betrothal covenant agreed to by the two families.—ISBE/RWP

If we pause at this point in verse :18, we will realize that mundane, usual, day-to-day, typical happenings were taking place in the lives of two young people who were pledged to be married.

However, that ‘typical life’ was about to be ‘radically interrupted’ by Almighty God! And that interruption took place “after” the “betrothal” was made official.

Argumentation:

Lk. 12:16-35—“Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns & build greater, & there I will store all my crops & my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, & be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, & is not rich toward God.” Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, & the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; & God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? “And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; & yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field & tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, & your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, & all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have & give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Let your waist be girded & your lamps burning;"