The Gospel of Matthew tells the story of wise men from the east following the Christmas star to Jerusalem, and then to Bethlehem. The Gospel of Luke tells about the night of Christ’s birth—of angel choirs and lowly shepherds rejoicing together at the plan of ~GOD~ unfolding before their eyes in the Person of ~JESUS~…
But those two Gospels give us another, even more astounding aspect of Christmas…
When most people get around to reading the New Testament, they’re surprised that such a thrilling story seems to begin with a yawn. Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, begins with a genealogy. Is the fact that [Azor begat Sadoc] an important part of Christ’s story? It is crucial!!!
“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham…”
{Matthew 1:1 KJV}
Starting with Abraham, Matthew gives the genealogy of Joseph—the adoptive father of ~JESUS~. That genealogy shows that ~JESUS~ is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It shows that ~JESUS~ can rightfully be called by The Messianic Title, “Son Of David”. Through the generations, ~GOD~ had been preparing for the birth of ~JESUS~…
Luke gives us Mary’s genealogy. Mary was The Lord’s physical mother. She, too, was a descendant of David and of the Patriarchs. Between the two genealogies, we learn that ~JESUS~ was physically and legally qualified to be Israel’s ~MESSIAH~…
“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God…”
{Luke 1:26-35 KJV}
Today, most of Christendom believes that ~GOD’s~ promises to the physical descendants of Israel have become null and void. They believe ~GOD~ ditched Abraham’s physical descendants in favor of the Church. They see the Church as [spiritual] Israel…
In his ministry’s magazine, the late, R. C. Sproul articulated the idea that the Church replaced Israel in the program of ~GOD~. “We’re not dispensationalists here”, he wrote. “We believe that the church is essentially Israel. We believe that the answer to, What about the Jews? is, Here we are”…
But if being a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob can be canceled out and the Jews can be replaced by [spiritual] descendants, why was it important for the New Testament to show the precise lineage of ~JESUS~? Why not just have a [spiritual] descendant of Abraham and David be The ~MESSIAH~???
The answer is that ~GOD’s~ Word is Paramount. Through the Prophets, ~GOD~ clearly said certain literal things about The ~MESSIAH~. If ~JESUS~ had not been a literal, physical descendant of David, He could not be The ~MESSIAH~. No one would have even considered it a possibility!!!
~GOD~ made sure that His Word contains these two crucial genealogies. They prove that He takes His Word seriously. He is not capricious. His Word can be trusted. And when He says, “Israel”, He literally means [Israel]. The New Testament uses the word [Israel] 75-times. And in each instance, it means the literal, physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…
Christmas shows yet again that ~GOD~ means every word He speaks. And that means you can trust Him completely…
Do you have any questions about a relationship with ~JESUS~ Christ???
If so, you can find the answers by using the links below:
JESUSAVESISRAEL 
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