Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Son of God and Man


Josh Harris
May 13, 2012
From Matthew 1:18-25

                “Christ” is Greek for “The Messiah” or “The Anointed One.”  To call Jesus "the Christ" is a powerful claim.  How do we know it is true?

1.          Jesus is the Son of Mary
  • This fact is vitally important: He is human.
  • His humanity means He understands us.
  • His humanity means He can represent us.
               
2.        Jesus is the Son of God
  • He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, not a human male.
  • His conception and birth are the greatest miracles recorded in scripture.

3.        Jesus is the Son of David
  • Jesus is a descendent of David.
  • Jesus is also a descendent of Abraham.

2 of the greatest promises were given to David and Abraham:
  • Abraham:  The Father of the Jews – promised many offspring and one would be the savior.
  • David:  Israel’s greatest king – promised that one of his offspring would be King of a Never-ending Reign.

                Joseph is in the lineage of Jesus but he is not the biological father of Jesus.  He was a Godly man.  He was betrothed to Mary, which is different from modern day engagement.  Betrothal was legal, lasting a year, and could only be broken off by divorce.  After a year, the man and wife were officially considered to be married.  Mary was the target of brutal rumors and gossip because of her virgin conception.  People believed that she had been unfaithful to Joseph with another man.  Joseph considered divorcing her quietly, so as not to put her to more shame (despite the hurt and confusion he must’ve felt), but an angel of the Lord revealed to him in a dream that Mary had not been unfaithful, the baby was of the Holy Spirit, and that he should take her as his wife and name the baby Jesus.  Joseph obeyed, even though to the watching world marrying her seemed to admit that he was the reason she was pregnant.  After Jesus was born, Joseph’s naming of Him was the legal act of adopting Jesus as his son.  Technically, Jesus was adopted by Joseph!  Adopted children were considered as equal as biological children.  In adopting Him, Joseph fulfilled the prophecy and the promise to both David and Abraham; that the One God had promised was in their lineage. 

4.        Jesus is God with us to save us (verses 21-22)
  • He is with us in the most powerful sense – physically. 
  • “Jesus” comes from the Hebrew name, “Yeshua” or “Joshua,” which means “The Lord saves.”   
  • Saving us was the most important thing He came to do.

                Matthew is brutally honest in his genealogy.  Jesus doesn’t have a perfect lineage.  There are wicked kings, adulterers, prostitutes, murderers, etc.  We all have such wicked ancestors.  We need to not only be saved from the sin we’ve committed, but also from the sin done against us.

Only Jesus can save us.
Have you allowed Him to save you?  If not, what's keeping you from accepting His free gift of salvation?  

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!