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’
Lk. 2:8-14—“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, & the glory of the Lord shone around them, & they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God & saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” ”
•God’s promise to bring “peace” & “goodwill toward men” is NOT an EMPTY promise. God’s promise flows from & is constructed in actuality. It is what actually ‘took place’ in the real-time of history, & ‘is taking place’ in the real-time of our present, & ‘will continue to take place’ in the real-time of our future.
•The “peace” & “goodwill toward men” can only take place in & thru a proper relationship with the Son of God, Christ Jesus. That is, IF the world is to experience God’s promised “peace” & “goodwill toward men”, then that can only come about when a proper(as God has ordained) relationship with Jesus is established individually, & then that is extended to national & global levels to all individuals. Global “peace” & “goodwill toward men” is utterly impossible without individual commitments to Jesus!
?Will that ever happen in this physical universe?...NO!
Yet, we are told by Jesus to pray for that very thing!(Mat. 6:10)...
“Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.”
Argumentation:
The fact is, that Jesus of Nazareth, is the child born miraculously to a young lady only known to us as “Mary.”
Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to her first-born Son, having become pregnant miraculously...Miraculously, because her pregnancy occurred NOT thru the agency or involvement of man, BUT RATHER thru the agency of the Holy Spirit of Almighty God(Lk. 1:34-35).
Lk. 1:30-35—“Then the angel[Gabriel] said to her[Mary], “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb & bring forth a Son, & shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, & will be called the Son of the Highest; & the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, & of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered & said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, & the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Mary did marry Joseph, & after their first-born Jesus’ birth, thru ‘typical means’ of marital involvement(with Joseph), she gave birth to other children, Jesus’ half-brothers & sisters(Mat. 13:55; Mk. 6:3).
Mat. 13:55—the synagogue attenders of the town of Nazareth declared of Jesus—“Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, & Judas?”
Mk. 6:3—in Mark’s parallel passage the people state,—“Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, & brother of James, Joses, Judas, & Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” And they were offended at Him.”
Illustration:
•I don’t even know who my kinfolk are or were before ~1800!/I’m oblivious to any Covenantal Continuance of property, or birthright, or royalty, or finances, etc, within my extended family/No COVENANTAL CONTINUANCE there!
•We have a 17yr.old female dog named, ‘Little Bit’/Little Bit is a descendant of her mother ‘Little Miss Molly Denham’(No, we did not name her)/‘Little Miss Molly Denham’(AKA--‘Molly’ to us) ‘had papers’ as a Yorkshire Terrier thru the Continental Kennel Club, so she had a documented ancestry as a certified breed/However, our neighbors mutt-terrier named ‘Splash’, was probably the sire of our ‘Little Bit’/No real COVENANTAL CONTINUANCE related to breed purity
•My wife has family ties to the ‘Dalhousie Castle’ near Edinburgh Scotland, which was founded in the 13th century AD!/BUT my wife is largely oblivious to those ties/They do not effect her in any appreciable way/No real COVENANTAL CONTINUANCE to royalty, position, property, etc.
However, Jesus DOES fulfill God’s COVENANTAL CONTINUANCE regarding the promised eternal Davidic King, thru Whom the Abrahamic Covenant would bring God’s blessing the world! And the necessary legalities surrounding those Covenants are bound-up in the genealogy presented in Matthew’s(& Luke’s) Gospel.
Application:
?Is Jesus THE Messianic King by COVENANTAL CONTINUANCE?
?Why? ?Why not?
?Who/Whom do YOU say Jesus is? ?Is He the Messianic King?...
...And if so then, ?Why do you live in the manner that you do?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Do you recall the ‘Politically Correct, Legally Safe, Holiday Greeting’?
?What does Christmas mean to you?
?Do the secular celebrations of Christmas convey your reality?...
...?Or rather, is God’s awesome truth about Christmas confirmed in your reality?
Action:
Jesus is uniquely the Messianic King by...
2. COVENANTAL CONTINUANCE(:2-16)
1. COVENANT(:1)
Pt.#2 only Presented 12/13/2020am to:
1BCCbelle(Video to YouTube shared to Facebook @ ‘Byron Sherman’ & ’First Baptist Church Carrabelle’)
206 SE Ave. A(Storrs Ave.)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Pts. 2-4 Presented12/11/2011am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
