MATTHEW 1:1-17

Presenting the Genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth: King!

By Johnny Tatum


PART 6: ONLY GOD COULD CONCEIVE A SAVIOR


 

LIVING UNDER A CURSE

How many people living today, or those that have ever lived, are under a curse? Only those people who are descended from Adam. If you are not descended from Adam then there is no problem; if you are, there is a problem.

Let us examine OUR problem.

About the curse on Jeconiah (see Jeremiah 22:24-30), the LORD said:

Not one person in his line will prosper.

That is a curse we can amplify to the whole human race. It is as if God said:

Not one person descended from Adam will prosper.

Again, of the nine billion people who have ever lived,

Nine billion minus One are under this curse.

By The Way: the "ONE" is Not Anyone Reading This!

 

CRASHING INTO THE GENEALOGY

Remember: God crashed into that messianic line to solve the problem. If He had not done so, then:

God did the same thing with the genealogy of the human race. Adam fell, a curse was on that line, and that curse continued down the whole line — all the way down to you and to me.

God crashed into our own genealogy.

How?

He crashed into the messianic line with a virgin birth.

He created a new Person without a human father.

 


Consider This:

THE VIRGIN BIRTH

For many reasons, the virgin birth is not an optional doctrine. It is not a minor issue that is debatable, or something that the redeemed can have honest differences of opinion about. It is a fundamental aspect of our faith, unlike what some individuals would have us believe.

If Joseph had begat Jesus, what wonderful gift would this human father have given Jesus? His sin nature. It would have been unavoidable. Jesus would have come through Adam; and, He would have come through Jeconiah.

Certainly, that would have meant Jesus of Nazareth could not have taken the penalty for our sin; He would have had His own sin to deal with. He could not possibly have been our Redeemer.

The Good News is Joseph was the legal father of Jesus, and not His human father. So who was Jesus' father?


 

That is exactly what God did for us—

He crashed into your line and into my line with a virgin birth.

About whom am I talking?

Everybody who has trusted in Messiah Jesus as their Savior (Redeemer).

Those who have been redeemed are created a brand, new person (new nature) without a human father.

Who was the Father of Jesus of Nazareth?

Holy Spirit

Matthew said:

That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:20)

When talking about the new nature of the redeemed, who is the Father of the new nature?

Holy Spirit is the Father of our new nature.

The human race was born the first time into that cursed line. Why? Everyone had human parents [who are also under the curse] from the line of Adam. It is unavoidable.

The redeemed were born a second time with a virgin birth. God crashed into the line, caused the sinners to be born again, and the new nature is born with a virgin birth (virgin born).

 

BEGINNING A NEW LINE OF PEOPLE

When God crashed into the genealogy of the human race, He purified the race. He started over with a new Adam, a new start for humanity. Therefore, He could create a new line of people from Messiah Jesus. Does that not sound strange? However, we look at the genealogies of Matthew and Luke, and we see that they stop at Jesus. The [only] inspired word of God says:

Jesus of Nazareth did not have any descendants.

Conversely, in the book of Romans (see Romans 5:12-21), Paul makes it clear:

Jesus was a Second Adam who was to start a new race of people.

How can you begin a new race of people if you do not have any descendants?

What is the difference?

The only reason the redeemed descendants of the first Adam have a new nature [by a virgin birth] is by faith in the eternal Son of God.

 


Note:

SPIRITUAL DESCENDANTS OF MESSIAH

Though Messiah Jesus does not have any physical descendants, He does have a lot of brothers and sisters. Who are the siblings of Messiah Jesus? The siblings of Messiah Jesus are the descendants of the first Adam who are born again by believing in Messiah.

The spiritual descendants of Jesus are the new race of people from all time and from all over the world with new, regenerated spirits.


A Picture To Remember:

A FAITHLESS PEOPLE, BUT A FAITHFUL GOD

Look at the genealogies presented by Matthew and Luke, and consider the scope of history they cover:

Is it not remarkable that during the good times, bad times, up times, and down times that royal line was maintained? God protected the royal line even though there was a curse on that line that He Himself put on it; He made a way out.

When I look at this genealogical line, beginning with Abraham and going all the way down to Joseph (or, down to Mary) the picture is obvious. God's purpose for the world does not depend on the faithfulness of human beings, because we are not faithful. But God still produced Messiah.

Picture: God's purposes for our life do not depend upon our being faithful to Him.

If there were a New Testament commentary on these genealogies, it would be the following Scripture:

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13)

The messianic genealogy is really a picture of the faithfulness of Israel. Israel was faithless, but God delivered Messiah Jesus to them. And before we start condemning God's chosen race, realize Gentiles (non-Jews) are just as faithless:

All human beings are faithless, and God faithfully delivered us a Savior.

Sometimes I think That was true before I was redeemed; I was faithless and God delivered me from Satan. However, if we are going to be totally honest about our lives, the regenerate must admit they are still faithless. If you do not think so, you had better look again. We are still faithless, but God remains faithful.

 

1 Thessalonians 5

In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul says:

23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I love this! First, he prays that something would happen May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ — and then he adds — and it will happen!

24 Faithful is He who calls you

He does not say I am sure that you will bring this about, or, I am sure that you will hang in there so it will happen. He says…

and He will bring it to pass.

 

These genealogies present a picture of faithless people; however, God was faithful to them.

 


A Little Background:

GENEALOGIES OF THE TIME

Genealogies were very commonly known. After the time of Messiah Jesus, Josephus wrote about the claims of Jesus.

Note: Some of the supposed writings of Josephus, I do not believe were written by Josephus because he was not redeemed yet he breaks into a lyrical description of Jesus as the Great God and Messiah. However, at other times he talks about the claims of the man named Jesus, and he refers to the genealogies.

Genealogies were oral and were written, which were maintained in the synagogues. Though the Temple was the main source of the genealogies, there were copies kept in synagogues throughout Israel.

Note: Is it not interesting how God sovereignly arranges things? The synagogue system began during the Babylonian captivity (a bad time). Since the Israelites did not have a Temple or Temple rituals in Babylon, they met in synagogues in their local cities. That is where the copies of these genealogies were recorded and stored.

Situations involving the use of recorded genealogies include the following:

Apparently, the genealogies were maintain in the Temple and were open for public access until 70 A.D. Josephus said that there was no question that both Joseph (Jesus' legal father) and Mary (Jesus' biological mother) were descendants of King David. And Josephus also said:

If you do not believe me, then all you have to do is to go to the Temple and look it up for yourself!

If Israel does not have the recorded genealogies, they might identify surnames that appear to be priestly. There are some tenuous genealogies kept orally through the European Jews. Apparently, the name Cohen is part of the family of Levi, as are other names, such as Kohan and Kohn. But Cohen is the most common.

 


Opening Some Doors:

JEWISH GENEALOGIES IN ETHIOPIA

There is a persistent rumor that the Jewish genealogies are kept in Ethiopia.

In fact, a long-standing dispute about the Ethiopian Jews being allowed into Israel (because their being Jewish was doubted) was the opportune time for the Ethiopians to admit to having the genealogical records the Israelis might be interested in. Ultimately, the Israelites welcomed the Ethiopians saying Maybe you are a little bit Jewish, you know! Maybe we can work something out.

Friends of mine, who spent a long time in Ethiopia, say the Judaism practiced in Ethiopia presently is a biblically based form of Judaism. And the Ethiopians claim to have the genealogy of all twelve (12) tribes!

If they do have the genealogical records, some doors certainly could be opened.


Our next study Matthew 1:18-25, Whose Son Is He? What Is His Name? Presents another aspect of the virgin birth. Though Jesus of Nazareth did not have a human father, He still had a human mother, who was a sinner. Mary was a sinner as was her mother and her grandmother. In fact, if you trace Mary's genealogy back, you will come up with sinners all the way back to Eve.


Father, thank You that we may lose records and we may forget, but You do not lose records or forget. In our case, for those of us who have trusted in Your eternal Son as our Savior, the fact that You do not forget anything is nothing but Good News.

Father, thank You that You have forgotten our sins. We know that You are omniscient, that You know everything, and yet You have chosen to forgive and forget our sins.

We thank You for remembering Your promises. Even though Israel was faithless, You maintained that line, and You delivered them Messiah Jesus, King of the Jews.

Father, though we remain faithless to this day, You delivered us our Savior. And although we have been born into a line that was cursed, You broke into our genealogy and gave us a new birth, a virgin birth, of our new person in Messiah Jesus.

Father, it is difficult for us to believe that we are new persons. In all honesty, we do not see much newness; largely we see our old flesh. However, we thank You that we have these new identities in You.

We thank You for the One who made it possible: Jesus, the Messiah, the King of Israel, the perfect Man, God, and unbelievably, our Servant. Of course, He is our Servant because He paid the ultimate sacrifice: Dying For Our Sins!

In Messiah Jesus' name we praise Your name. Amen.


To: Matthew 1:18-25, WHOSE SON IS HE? WHAT IS HIS NAME?

Back To: Matthew Series Page

Worldnet Grace Ministries Home Page






wgmeditors@qwest.net


© Worldnet Grace Ministries

This data file is the sole property of Worldnet Grace Ministries. It may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.

This data file may not be copied in part, edited, revised, copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings, broadcasts, displays or other products offered for sale, without written permission of Worldnet Grace Ministries. Requests for permission should be made in writing and addressed to:

Worldnet Grace Ministries, PO Box 130006, The Woodlands, Texas 77393, USA