Worthy To Be Called “Christ" Part 1- Matthew 1

Good afternoon everyone. First, that's weird to say because I usually say good morning everyone, but good afternoon. We're going to get our service started this afternoon by singing together. If you could stand.

Welcome everybody and Merry Christmas. I think that there are good odds that there are a lot of Eagles fans at the first service today. Well don't worry, on Christmas Eve I only preach about three hours, so you should get the fourth quarter.

You'll be all right. So we won't have regular announcements, but one that's very important is when we have the candlelight service at the end, be very careful not to light the hair of the person in front of you on fire.

Be careful to hold these directly upwards and if you have small children, keep an eye on the kids to make sure that the flame is kept steady there and try not to drip onto the furniture. So just be careful with that.

We will just pass it around at the end. That'll be kind of the grand finale of the service today. So just when you do get that light, pass it back as well as to the side and it'll spread out beautifully as we sing.

The Incarnation and Christ's Saving Work in Prayer

All right, well let me open in prayer and then it's time to worship the Lord and hear from from the Word of God and then have the candlelight. So Father, thank you so much that we could come here. It is because of your great, great love for us that you sent your one and only son into the world, the incarnation where the eternal son of God took on flesh, humbling himself to be criticized and mocked and scorned by men and ultimately hung upon a tree where he died for our sins and then was buried and rose from the dead on the third day.

Thank you for this Christmas message and now we are here to worship you, give you all the glory that you deserve. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

I'm going to sing again before Pastor Jeff brings the Word to us. You can stand again if you are comfortable. Hope we hold this starlit night. A king is born in Bethlehem. Our journey long, we seek the light that leads to the hallowed manger ground.

Here we felt in the silent age, 400 years can he be found. But broken by a baby's cry, rejoice in the hallowed manger ground. He who bleed a crown of thorns would pierce his brow. The king of kings, praise God for the hallowed manger ground.

So Father, this Christmas Eve, we desire to see Jesus. So give us the eyes of faith to behold the glory of the son of God. Open our eyes to behold wondrous things from your Word. Help us to see Jesus and so to worship him for Christ is worthy.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well when we celebrate a birthday, we are essentially saying to the person, you matter to us. We value you. We're very glad that you were born. But how do the world's Christians celebrate the birth of Christ?

Well it's really the pinnacle of our year. Consider his birthday compared to the rest of our birthdays. When one of us has a birthday, we have candles on our cake. But in Christ's birthday, as we celebrate it year after year, the world is lit up with Christmas lights.

Even though the world seems to be turning away from Christianity to some degree, I was on a run a couple days ago, well not maybe less than a month ago, and I ran up a street and I noticed that the first four houses didn't have Christmas lights.

And I thought, do people still do Christmas lights? And so I started counting and after those first four houses, one after another, the houses were having them. And as I finished that block, it was 13 out of 19 houses.

And a couple days later when I ran back, it was 17 out of 19. Many people still light up their houses in celebration of the birthday of Jesus. There's one house in New York that has 670 ,000 light bulbs.

It's like Clark Griswold, only 25 times more than what he had. So we have Christmas lights to celebrate his birth. Think about what the candles on our birthday cakes represent. Each one represents a year that we've been here.

Jesus doesn't just have birthday candles on a cake, he has the calendar itself. The year 2022 indicates how long it's been since he was born. Of all people in the history of the world, it's his birth that regulates the calendar.

His birth is far more significant than any other. And then think about Christmas songs. Our Christmas, I'm sorry, birthday songs. What do we sing to one another on your birthday? Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday so-and-so, happy birthday to you.

Compare that with the glory of the songs that have been written to celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ. Hark the herald angels sing. Angels we have heard on high with gloria sung in four-part harmony. Silent night.

The glorious songs that celebrate his birth. Is there not something unique about Christ Jesus? Something greater than anyone else who's ever lived. Are all these things just accidents of history? Or is this the sovereignty of God to bring honor to the one called Christ?

Turn with me to Matthew chapter 1. And if you don't have a Bible with you, you can just google it on your phone. It'll pop right up. Matthew chapter 1. To see why the value of the one we celebrate is far greater than any of us know.

He is called Christ. We celebrate the one, the only, who is worthy to be called Christ. Now as we open to Matthew chapter 1, we are not beginning a new book. In fact, the book that God wrote is three quarters of the way through before you get to the last quarter, which is called the New Testament.

And here when you pick up in the New Testament, it's a little surprising that the first thing we get is a list of names. Notice 17 verses that deal with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. But the reason why we have that is to fulfill, to show the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament.

In fact, there were two great unconditional covenants in the Old Testament where God promised to do something. And so I'm sure everyone here has heard of Abraham and of David. Abraham was the one who was called out and given the promised land and told that from his offspring, from his seed, all of the families of the earth would be blessed.

And later we learn that a seed of Abraham, an offspring of Abraham named King David, at the time he was just a shepherd boy, he killed the giant Goliath, he wrote wonderful songs to God, and then he was anointed king.

Well, in the kingdom that David ran, God came and spoke and told him in 2 Samuel 7 that a descendant of David, an offspring of David, a seed from David, would always sit on the throne. He would be a forever king.

And so now look at Matthew 1. The first thing we notice in the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ is that he is the son of David, the son of Abraham. Son of David, son of Abraham. And we see listed from verses 2 to 6 the evidence that David descends from Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac and Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah. To each of these patriarchs, the promise was given that Abraham would be the one through whom the blessing would come.

The great blessing would come through Abraham. But Abraham had two sons, first an illegitimate son whose name was Ishmael. The promise had to come through Isaac. And then from Isaac, there were two twins who struggled in the womb.

And we were told it was not the older to be born, but the younger. Jacob, not Esau. And from Jacob, of the 12 brothers, it was Judah who was told that the scepter would pass through him. And so we come down to David.

And notice what it says in verse 6. Jesse was the father of David, the king. You see, the reason why this is recorded this way is to say that the promise was that the king would come through David. Notice it goes on from verses 6 to 16, listing those who descended from King David.

And finally, in verse 16, we see Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. You see, there was only one, a unique one called Christ who would fulfill the promise to Abraham and to David.

The promise to Abraham was that one of his seed, one of his offspring, would bless all the families of the earth. And Jesus is a descendant of Abraham. The promise to David was that the king would come through his line.

And here is Jesus in verse 16, called Christ a descendant of David. And so in verse 17, we have a way to help remember the lineage of Jesus. The 14 generations. Now, those are telescoped together. It doesn't list every particular person who, every king that lived in that line, but as a grandfather or a great grandfather would be called a father.

Here, you have 14 generations, 14 generations. And finally, the connection between King David from the exile to the birth of Christ. And now we pick up on the Christmas story that we're all so familiar with.

Verses 18 to 25. Now, the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. We learn from the genealogy that this is the great world blesser, descendant of Abraham, the great king, son of David.

But turn back with me to Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. Because the promise of a seed of the woman is given way back in the Garden of Eden. Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. The context here is the fall of man.

Adam and Eve were put in a beautiful garden. Everything was perfect. But the tree of knowledge of the knowledge of good and evil was also in that garden and their obedience was tested. They were told that they must not eat of the tree from this one, the fruit from this one tree.

So picture Adam, well fed, eating all the trees as he desired. Everything was perfect around him. The animals were compliant, almost domesticated. And he was told not to eat from this one tree. But of course, as he submitted to the leadership of his wife, he listened and he ate and sin came into the world through Adam.

Well, what happened next? Of course, it was the blame game. Adam blamed his wife and his wife blamed the serpent. And subsequently God will give judgment to Adam that in his gardening, the land will bring forth thorns and thistles.

It will be difficult work for him. And to Eve, childbearing will be difficult and she will struggle to submit to her husband. But to the serpent, there is a judgment connected with a promise to man. If you're not there yet, please do turn to Genesis 3 .15.

Way back in the garden of Eden, God said, I will put enmity, that's strife or hatred, between you, serpent, and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

Now, this would be nothing more than what sounds like a silly children's story or Aesop's fable or something, if it only referred to a little sneaky snake that was nothing more. But if this refers to Satan behind that snake, this is picturing something big and magnificent.

And of course, in the New Testament, we learn from Revelation 12, the serpent, in fact, is Satan. Or behind that snake is the serpent, Satan. We learn that from the New Testament. But look more carefully at Genesis 3 .15.

First of all, you have enmity between the woman and the serpent. So the woman is very angry at the serpent. The serpent deceived her and she feels angry. There's strife. And the serpent never had anything but hatred for the woman.

He was lying to her all along. Notice the second phrase of verse 15. There will also be enmity between your offspring and her offspring, descendants of the woman and spiritual descendants of the serpent.

And so when you get into the very next chapter of the Bible, chapter four, you have a descendant of the woman, Abel, offering a sacrifice in obedience to God. And you have a seed of the serpent named Cain, who murders his own brother.

And you see this wicked hatred and this strife between men. Why would the Pharaoh imprison and enslave the Israelites and ultimately try to exterminate them, to kill the baby boys, to drive them into the sea?

It is the seed of the woman versus the seed of the serpent. Wicked Haman plotting the destruction of the Jews. Herod seeking to kill all the babies in Bethlehem. The seed of the woman versus the seed of the serpent.

This cosmic struggle explaining the world as it is. Why is there such wickedness in our world? Read on to the last phrase. Here the offspring is in the plural, but then when you get to the last phrase of Genesis 3 .15, the seed of the woman is called he.

He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. The offspring of the woman ultimately here pictures one singular man. He born of a woman and born to reverse the curse, to take back the kingdom.

And so appears in Matthew chapter one, a seed of a woman. Now most people, all people in fact, other than this one are born from the seed of a man. And so the text in Matthew one emphasizes that Jacob, I'm sorry, Joseph knew her not.

This is a unique birth, but it pictures the coming of the one who will crush the serpent. And so think with me about the life of Jesus. As Adam was tempted in the garden to eat, being well fed and told simply to obey in this one small matter, Jesus now must come into the chaos because of the fall.

And as Adam and Eve had a perfect garden, Jesus is driven into the wilderness where it's barren and dusty. And rather than being well fed by the trees of the garden, he is famished, 40 days without food, so weak he can barely move.

And Satan comes and offers him illicit bread, eat. And he says no. And he upholds the word of God. And Satan tempts him twice more, weakened as he is, surrounded not by compliant animals, but surrounded by jackals that seek to destroy him.

And Satan tempts him. And just as Adam was disobedient, leading to death in man, Jesus is obedient, leading to life. He obeys perfectly. And all through his life, the seed of the woman, the offspring, the second Adam, is walking in obedience.

Remember the story of the demon-possessed man at Gadara? Says that he had a legion possessing him. Wouldn't that be an extravagant deployment of forces for the enemy? Four or 5 ,000 demons in one man?

Satan would not be so unwise to waste his forces on one man when one demon would have done the trick. No, the reason he was so controlled by this legion is that legion sought to destroy the seed. This man had intent through the seed of the serpent, controlling him to stop the ministry of Jesus, but he failed.

And then finally, as three years of ministry have unfolded in perfect obedience, he comes to another tree. Adam faced the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and he failed. Jesus faced that tree that is the cross.

And his own best friend said, no, don't go. Don't go to the cross. Jesus said to that seed of the serpent in that moment, get thee behind me, Satan. Later, Peter would repent. And Jesus's temptation in the garden, as he sweat drops of blood, was contrary to Adam, who was tempted to eat that fruit.

The temptation would be everything in him repulsed by the accursed tree to not drink that cup. But in obedience, not what I will, Father, but your will, he obediently went to the cross to die the death that we deserve.

And in that, church, listen, we're told back, if you will turn with me to Matthew chapter one, we are told he saves his people from his sins in verse 21. How did he save his people from our sins? When Jesus was lifted up on a cross, and a nail was driven through his heel, as Genesis 315 says, the serpent struck his heel, a death wound to the cross.

In that death wound on the cross, the seed of the woman crushed the head of the serpent, because in his dying, he paid the debt that we owe the Father. He took the full weight of our sin into himself on the tree and bore the burden, took the punishment and stood in our stead.

And in his dying, he conquered Satan on our behalf. He crushed the head of the serpent. This is the meaning of the virgin birth, a seed of a woman, virgin born. We're told more specifically that he must come from Abraham because through his offspring, seed is the word, singular according to Galatians 3, notice it, the seed of Abraham.

And not just the seed of Abraham, but of Isaac and of Jacob and of Judah and later of King David. The seed of David would have the throne and the scepter would be in his hand. Isaiah fills in the picture as we read here in verses 22 to 25, saying very explicitly when Ahab refused to listen and didn't want to hear the evidence or to receive a sign.

God said, the Lord himself will give you a sign for behold, verse 23, quoting Isaiah 7, 14, the virgin shall conceive. Imagine that and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, meaning God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded. He took his wife, but he knew her not until she had given birth to a son and he called his name Jesus. Isaiah fills in the picture, a virgin giving birth and a few paragraphs later in Isaiah, chapter nine, verse six, we're told a child is born.

What child is this? Who is the Christ? A son is given. The government shall be upon his shoulder and he shall be called wonderful counselor, almighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace of the increase of his government and of his peace.

There shall be no end and he shall be given the throne of his father, David. This is why we're told, if you let your eyes go back up the page, that Joseph is the son of David. Verse 20, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David.

He is the legal father and Jesus is the legal son of Joseph. So he fulfills the prophecies. He is fit to be king. You say, but wait a minute, Joseph wasn't the natural father. How does he descend? Well, he's legally the father, but if you're troubled by that, don't worry because Mary's lineage is traced in Luke, chapter three, verses 23 to 38.

And she also descends from King David. All this to say, church and those that the church have brought this morning, this evening, afternoon, whatever it is, you're here because God has brought you by invitation and drawn you to hear this good news, that when we light Christmas lights and we sing Christmas songs and we mark our calendars day by day, marking time by the very birth of Jesus, this is not just the traditions of men.

This is not a happenstance of history. This is the very truth of God from the very beginning. Adam and Eve in the garden were told that a seed of the woman would crush the head of that serpent. That seed would come through Abraham, would come through Isaac and Jacob and Judah and David, and he arrived and his name is Jesus.

He saves his people from their sin. Amen? If you believe that, you've put your faith in the one who can save you. If you haven't yet believed that, that's why you're hearing this message today, that you also can turn from your sin and believe in Jesus, that he is the Christ.

Christ isn't just a last name, like cleaver. No, Christ means the anointed, the chosen, the promised, the one from the beginning that God had foretold and then fulfilled when Jesus took on flesh. He is the Christ.

Put your faith in him. Believe that he died on that cross for your sin and that he rose and that he reigns. He is the king of kings and lord of lords. Let's pray. So father, we thank you for this indescribable gift that you sent your son, Jesus Christ.

More than a prophet or a messenger or religious teacher, he is the Christ, the promised seed of the woman, son of Abraham, son of David, the one prophesied by Isaiah that a virgin would give birth and they would call his name Emmanuel.

He is the wonderful counselor, almighty God, everlasting father and prince of peace. And to this afternoon, Lord, we worship Jesus Christ. Thank you for the coming of Messiah, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Candlelight Singing and Christmas Benediction

All right church, a beautiful moment is coming. Do we start now? Sure. All right, we'll.

Start passing the flame. We can stand. Yeah. We'll start singing together and you can start lighting your cameras. The stars are brightly shining. Savior's birth. In sin and death. Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.

The world rejoices for Yahshua. Extinguish the candles. Please drop these off in the box on the way back.

So second service, we'll have candle lights too. And we wish you a very merry Christmas. We just pray for each of you that the peace of Christmas would be upon you and that salvation through faith in Christ be on your family.

Go in peace.