Jesus’ Resume, Part 2

Jeannie Greer talked about the genealogy of Jesus. These names are included in the line that leads to Christ, so that you can know that your name can be included in the line that leaves from Christ our Savior saves to the uttermost. Which means that no matter who you are or what you have done.

There is room in his family for you reading the Bible.

Genealogy is a long list of names of who begat who they don't really seem very relevant.

Flipping through the yearbook of a school that you didn't go to. The fact is very intentional reason for including these in the Bible actually matter that are subject today as Pastor Janie continues our new series upside down Christmas is the second part of the message that we began yesterday.

Jesus is resume the laws of the amount of things that he was trying to teach you very simple list of 42 days is remarkable. I'm going to by sheer act of self-discipline limit myself to only five observations by but there are many more that are in there.these are what you have to know about Christianity.

The first of the ball from Tim Keller number one. The gospel is not good advice but gospel is good news first thing you learn from the genealogies of the gospel is not good advice is good news. You see, most stories are fairytale start out with Once upon a time or somewhere in a galaxy far far away or something like that.

But Matthew does not start out his story that way. Matthew starts out with the genealogy, which is a way of saying what I'm going to tell you about actually happened in time and space you see Christianity's most important feature is that it is actual history because the court lesson of Christianity is not a set of principles that Jesus taught to us, the core of Christianity is something that Jesus would do for us. Most religions you see when you peel back the layers are built on teachings and principles that really would be true whether the religious founder of the liver, not the religious founder was merely the mouthpiece for those teachings that is not true for Christianity. Christianity depends on a set of events that actually took place and time in history because the court Christianity is not what Jesus taught us to do. The court Christianity is what Jesus would do for us. Second, this genealogy shows you number two but Jesus is the center of history is the center of history. Matthew takes what the world would have considered to be an insignificant family line and he organizes all of human history around it.

Here's why that's important at this point in world history. It certainly did not seem like Jesus was the focal point Israel was a small backwater Middle Eastern country that was under the rule somebody else. Nobody in Rome.

Nobody in the halls of power.

Nobody was paying attention to this family line, but God.

You see I made a promise to Abraham to bring salvation to the world that Jesus and to bring the whole world into subjection to Jesus at this point in history you got these really powerful nations and people that seem like they are directing everything what Matthew shows you in this genealogy is that God is the one who is guided at all according to his plans for this Messiah and nobody's thinking about showing you that the powers of the world are an illusion. You may be discouraged because it may look like you are subject to forces that you can control but God. You see, has an infallible purpose in your life. God's infallible purpose is to reveal Jesus to you and to glorify himself and you and everything in your life has ultimately been about that he is bringing forth the Messiah. He is bringing forth the Messiah in you and you can interpret all of these things that what you like. They were under the power and the direction of others has been superimposed by God to accomplish his purpose in your life. Which brings me to number three God is working in all things good and bad for his purposes, which is absolutely amazing when you consider some of the messy random chaotic stuff that is in this genealogy. Some of you have had some pretty messy dysfunction in your life and I'm not saying to you that God caused.

I'm not saying to you that God was okay with. I'm not saying to you that God was not deeply grieved by and angered by the same way I would be angry to grieve anybody do anything to one of my children what I'm telling you is that God has one overriding purpose in your life and that is to accomplish Jesus purposes in and through you and he is working in all things he is working in the darkest parts of your personal genealogy to bring to pass his perfect purpose for you.

He is superimposing his perfect 14 on the messy random chaotic details of your life. Romans 828 all things work together for good to them who love God are called according to his purpose.

Now most Christians know that verse. Do you know the verse after that verse, I just wanted forces you really ought to know the verse after the verse Romans 829 says, for those that he called those he predestined he predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus what is God working all things in your life together for his work in them for the greatest player he's ever had a medicine ring for Jesus the ring for Jesus in you to make you love Jesus, to make you look like Jesus to make you glorify Jesus.

That's his purpose for you before I go on to our four point let me give you one of the remarkable observation about this genealogy that will further substantiate that point right so .3 .1 observation here set skeptics often point out wasn't as you put your theological big boy pants on for a minute.

Skeptics often point out that the genealogies given for Jesus message everyone is different than the one given in Luke chapter 3 trying to say hey you got a contradiction genealogies but conservative scholars will will point out that most likely the genealogy that is given in Matthew chapter 1 is Joseph's line and the one that is given in Luke chapter 3 is Mary's lie.

Here's why that is important. Okay God made a promise to David in second Samuel chapter 7 that will listen.

One of his blood descendents would never fail to sit on the throne of Israel. In those days of father passed on the legal right to the throne to his son and so David passed on the right to the front to his son Solomon, one of Solomon's descendents regarding check and I Greg McGregor grandson whatever he sends so badly that God said to him in Jeremiah 20 231 of your blood descendents will never sit on the throne. None of your sickness and it's whatever some of the throat which was a problem with dilemma because here you got the legal right to the throne pastel project but a curse on Jack and I's bloodline that none of his descendents can sit on the throne want to check a nice blood descendents Joseph. I see your pistol as Joseph. Joseph has the legal right to the throne, but his blood is not allowed never sit on the right enter Luke's genealogy right Mary is descendent of a different son of David, named Nathan Nathan gives you birth was Anna Gilbert was on the line gives birth to Mary who is the biological mother of Jesus. So Jesus is born of a virgin, he is born of Mary between Diaz David blood in our but because he is adopted by Joseph. He receives the right to the throne from Joseph, but because he is adopted he evades the blood curse that is put on check and I the virgin birth is the only way that all those prophecies could all come true God to come up with something like that right. I give myself my own.

God works in the complexities of history like that just says I'm doing this just to show off just to show off and just to make fun of you that when you think everything is out of control. There's no possible way that I'm really putting on Israel and on all the promises I do it in a way you were expecting. I give birth to a virgin who avoids the blood curse that I put on his adoptive father to the Jesus as the rightful king of Israel. Number four. The gospel is for the outsider, supporting your missiology the gospel for the outsider for a Jewish person there genealogy was like there your heritage was how you show the world you're worth, and so Batman like today resumes were, shall we say we be honest sides to include the best parts of your history and to leave out some of the nasty details. The closest some of you have ever come to perfection and to being an abject liar is when you put together your estimate as you talk about all the awesome things that you have experienced and leave out the shady details of the things that you have failed at give you an example from Jewish history.

Herod was the king when Jesus was born. Publishes genealogy, but when Herod publishes genealogy. He expunged his record of all his embarrassing ancestors so it looked like it came from a line of sheer unadulterated awesomeness. So of course we deserve to be king right course is awesomeness in his line. I told you about that in the genealogies but if you do ask me what I know about my genealogy. I will tell you all the great famous people that I am even remotely related to so that you will think that I just got awesomeness in my blood. For example, this is X, you got to joke around here knows me knows that if you bring up my ancestry. I will tell you within 30 seconds that my great great great great uncle was Davy Crockett right and so when I went to the Alamo for the first time I cut a few years ago I walked around Delmer same.

You're welcome. You're welcome. Your state is free because of my family take that Texas right I had it on one of my ancestors was a captain in the end of the Union army that likely repeat that, but I've also got some people who one of my relatives that when these studies or whatever and so this is what I got to people who spent some time in prison, one for counterfeiting money ones who spent a considerable amount of time in prison for making moonshine and thought my last name Greer. People often ask me why. It looks like I have an extra vowel in my name GREEARI do have an extra vowel money missiology should the first the first of my ancestors to come to America with Shadrach Greer in 1735. I kid you not, Shadrach, Greer, but Shadrach, Greer spell his name GRT are right and then you going on the lines for the ER and then, inexplicably, someone ability of the late 18th century. Inexplicably, the extra vowel gets added and the genealogist note was whenever this happens it usually an indication that somebody changed the spelling of their name to avoid a census so they didn't have to pay taxes.

So I got 10 activators in my bloodline. Now I'm not likely to bring up all that stuff when you're talking about my resume. That's the same thing that that happened then is things like hearing all this people there genealogy was that was the worth you did you see who Jesus included in his genealogy to mark the prostitute who commits incest, Rahab prescribed to see that Rahab was a prostitute and she was a Gentile. But God say from Jericho. Ruth Ruth Ruth was a Moabite bowling sillies women women I told you were never included Jewish genealogies because they just want consider that importantJesus filled his genealogy with names of women in bodily not even respectable women. Every woman listed in here was involved in some sexual scandal.

Everyone verse six David and the wife of Uriah, why did he put the wife of Uriah and not just her name.

Could you try to make you remember the story given the story of David and the wife of Uriah Bathsheba, Uriah was one of David's best friends David when Uriah was off to fight a battle. David sleeps with Uriah's wife that she gets her pregnant brings back Uriah try to cover it up a gun work so he has Uriah murdered that's in the bloodline of Jesus Christ. Jesus family line is filled with moral outsiders, ethnic outsiders, Gentiles, and if you will, gender outsiders, women. This is all supposed to be sending you a message. Jesus came to the outcast.

He was not ashamed to identify with the outcast as their brother and to make them part of his family because all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one of us to his own way. Jesus took upon himself the iniquity of us all and his family line includes giants of the faith like Abraham and noble men like King David and also includes prostitutes like Rahab because in Jesus Christ, prostitute and King sit down as equals. It's a message to you. These names are included in the line that leads to Christ, so that you can know that your name can be included in the line that leads from Christ our Savior saves to the uttermost. Which means that no matter who you are or what you have done. There is room in his family for you. You may feel like the outcast you are not. He has brought you close you may feel worthless. He has purchased you with the universes most valuable possession.

His blood, you may think God's plans for you are over because you've messed up so bad.

This genealogy shows you that they had just gotten God. It was at work in the ugliest of situations, bringing forth his most beautiful son.

So in Christ, he takes the ugliness of your life and in a way that only God can do. He redeems it, and he weaves it for the beauty of his glory. Number five. This genealogy shows you that Jesus is the ultimate rest is the ultimate rest you call I told you that he organizes it into three sets of 14, three sets of 14 is six is how many sevenths I'm a seven. Answer accidentally. My now present the 14th. How many sevenths, 66 Evans watch which means that Jesus is the seventh seven now told you seven is a very significant number. The Bible seven is the number of completion. Seven indicates rest, God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day every seven years.

The land in Israel was supposed to rest. That is to lie fallow and not be planted so that it could replenish its nutrients.

Leviticus 25 talks about the year of the seventh sevenths seven whatever it year, the seventh sevenths. It was the year of Jubilee every 49th year they were taking year in which listen to this. All debts in Israel were erased and every slave was freed when Jesus shows up as the seventh seven what Matthew is saying to you is Jesus is the year of Jubilee in him, all debts are forgiven in him. All slaves are freed that he is the ultimate rest come onto me all you who labor and are heavy laden Matthew will later record Jesus say and I will give you what I give you rest. You'll have to earn God's love anymore. The gift given to you as a gift, you spend your whole life striving to be good enough for God to erase the mistakes of your past to get yourself to a point where you have the merit to be accepted by God and what Jesus shows up saying to you is I give you rest because I'm purchasing that for you. I give it to you as a gift is a whole different basis of approaching God yes you work hard for God. Yes you do all kinds of things for God. But it's not because you're trying to gain the favor of God doing their things because you have the favor of God because it's favor that is given to you as a gift and Christian work comes from rest in Christ means you want to prove yourself you don't approve yourself anymore. Some of you spent your entire life trying to prove yourself to somebody your dad your knee your colleagues your your brothers and sisters of the world to anybody listen goes on, approve yourself when you try to show you is that God himself showed up, and that in Christ you have the absolute approval of the only one whose opinion actually matters that the highest being in all the universe could not regard you with more affection and when you understand that the greatest God of the universe could not cherish and love you more than he does right now that releases you from the captivity of always trying to make everybody else happy.

Always try to find her approval. Because if God is holy, who cares who is against me. I got God Almighty that that cherishes me and that and that and that exalts me and what I care about the opinions of a bunch of no account earthlings Mike Moore as equally insecure as I am. I can rest because in Christ absolute approval doing what his opinion would matter to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders because he came as a shepherd and a friend. He came to protecting your provider means you can rest in his chair because it Jesus cared enough about you to show up when you were his enemy can redeem you and Sadie do you not think that no care for you now that you're his child and his friend.

He who did not spare his own son would not freely also give us all things. He shows up, bringing rest, and he says all you who labor unregulated and I will give you rest and not exactly what some of you most need during the season of Christmas you need rest in the sum of acknowledging go crazy would Bible number games. I realize that but I think it's pretty clear that we put three sets of 14 successor seven that he saying some pretty significant of Jesus as the 77 in this genealogy are all the essential things that you need to know about Christianity. Jesus comes as a gift doing something for you that you couldn't do for yourself, winning a battle against your sin painter send out for you because of the gift have you received him, that's the question, not how well you doing emulating his teaching that comes later. Had you received the gospel the announcement Jesus is the central point of history in your life, no, he's the center of history have you come to know when is he the center of your life. You understand everything in your life is been about this. It's been about having revealing Jesus in you, and glorifying Jesus through you.

The offers rest to you was at soldiers with some of you most need you need rest for the weary soul and tell you that rest that you been looking for is in Christ, everything in your life what's happened is you experience pain God premises of the world is fragile, you experience dissatisfaction is God trying to show you that the ultimate joy you're looking for is not in this world, but through the chapters of your life to those dark part your genealogy. There's listen, there's been something that's been pressing into your soul.

You know what to call it but it's his kindest whisper that there is a love that is beyond the world that is pressing into you. There's something that's been calling to you and inviting you even know what it is or what the card I'm telling you that was Jesus that is the voice of Jesus because he entered and came as a Savior in the shortest presentation of the Christmas story in the Gospel of John. John summarize it this way became became as many as received him, he gave them the right to become the children of God are those who believe on his name. Have you received him, to be answered from pastor Jenny Greer on Senate life. Have you received 10. If you have questions about what this means, please get in touch with us right now by going to Jenny Greer.com, or by getting us a call at 866-335-5220.

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