1 00:00:06,470 --> 00:00:10,220 Father, as we come before you this morning, we like to raise 2 00:00:10,230 --> 00:00:13,220 up our voice, Lord, in gratitude, in thanks and in 3 00:00:13,230 --> 00:00:17,000 praise for who you are. As angels in heaven always 4 00:00:17,010 --> 00:00:20,130 proclaims, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. 5 00:00:21,670 --> 00:00:25,360 So Father God, we thank you for who you are, the Almighty God, 6 00:00:25,430 --> 00:00:27,290 the majestic and the glorious God. 7 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,950 And this morning, Father, we thank you for the opportunity 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,470 that we have to remember your Son our Lord and our Saviour 9 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:37,690 this morning. Who are Lord God, did not 10 00:00:37,700 --> 00:00:40,830 consider equality with God with something to be grasped. 11 00:00:41,300 --> 00:00:44,470 But as the Scripture says that he came down and took upon 12 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:47,940 himself man, and there on the cross of Calvary He shared his 13 00:00:47,950 --> 00:00:49,800 precious blood for each and everyone. 14 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,550 So we thank you, Lord, the that we had the remembrance this 15 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:54,730 morning of your Son, our Lord and our Saviour. 16 00:00:55,870 --> 00:01:00,140 And so far we thank you that we can gather together as one, as 17 00:01:00,150 --> 00:01:03,460 brothers and sisters in Christ. And for the opportunity or law 18 00:01:03,470 --> 00:01:05,770 that we have this morning, we give you our thanks. 19 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,530 We also like to pray for our Sunday School children as they 20 00:01:11,660 --> 00:01:14,750 go to their classes. Father, we thank you for each 21 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,030 and every little child. We know a lot that they are they 22 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:22,720 are all gift from God and our prayer and our desire is to see 23 00:01:22,730 --> 00:01:26,140 each and everyone of them not only grow to come to know you 24 00:01:26,150 --> 00:01:29,720 personally, but grow to be tremendous, tremendous men and 25 00:01:29,730 --> 00:01:32,550 women for the Lord. And so we pray and commit each 26 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,900 and one of them into your into your hands and also the for the 27 00:01:34,910 --> 00:01:36,480 Sunday School teachers. We thank you for their 28 00:01:36,490 --> 00:01:40,430 commitment, thank you a lot for their ministry, and we pray for 29 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,090 our enabling Lord this morning as a share word with these 30 00:01:44,100 --> 00:01:46,950 little children. We pray for Andy too a lot as he 31 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,690 comes and opens to us God's Word and continues the series in 32 00:01:50,700 --> 00:01:53,860 look. You pray for prepared lips a lot 33 00:01:53,870 --> 00:01:57,280 as He shares Your Word. That Father, the words that are 34 00:01:57,290 --> 00:02:00,400 proclaimed, we pray would fall on prepared hearts. 35 00:02:00,450 --> 00:02:02,840 That You prepare the hearts of each and everyone of us a lot to 36 00:02:02,850 --> 00:02:05,780 receive Your word. That Your word would bear fruit 37 00:02:05,790 --> 00:02:09,419 in our lives. And Father God, we once again 38 00:02:09,490 --> 00:02:11,920 thank you. We come at this time into your 39 00:02:11,930 --> 00:02:16,020 hands and save your precious, and in His worthy name, Amen. 40 00:02:18,450 --> 00:02:23,990 Good morning, Church. The kids are lucky they don't 41 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,070 have to listen to the genealogy today. 42 00:02:28,450 --> 00:02:33,620 A couple of weeks ago there was a robbery in France at the 43 00:02:33,630 --> 00:02:38,900 famous Louvre Museum, the most visited Art Museum in the world. 44 00:02:39,980 --> 00:02:44,190 The thieves disguised themselves as construction workers, they 45 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,740 wore hivers and they got this big furniture elevator. 46 00:02:47,750 --> 00:02:52,090 As you can see, they broke into the museum on the 2nd floor with 47 00:02:52,100 --> 00:02:57,150 an angle grinder and they stole priceless jewellery worth over 48 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,570 $100 million and left without being caught. 49 00:03:02,260 --> 00:03:06,860 They weren't subtle at all. They were quite obvious and 50 00:03:06,910 --> 00:03:10,040 obnoxious. You would expect thieves to be 51 00:03:10,130 --> 00:03:15,070 thieving sneakily and and quietly and suddenly, yeah. 52 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,950 But these these thieves were loud and obnoxious, and they got 53 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:21,690 away with it. Those who saw them probably 54 00:03:21,700 --> 00:03:24,430 assumed that they were indeed construction workers. 55 00:03:26,510 --> 00:03:31,040 There's a video on YouTube of these two Aussie guys who who 56 00:03:31,050 --> 00:03:34,340 experiment to see the amount of places they could get in if they 57 00:03:34,350 --> 00:03:38,490 just carry around a ladder and it's surprising. 58 00:03:38,500 --> 00:03:43,120 I don't wanna attempt you, but they got into he's the places 59 00:03:43,130 --> 00:03:50,420 like this cinema 5 star hotel. It's crazy and I'm an Asian and 60 00:03:50,430 --> 00:03:58,000 unfortunately, as Asians look quite similar, I'm mistaken for 61 00:03:58,010 --> 00:04:02,170 a Filipino and Indonesian Nepalese quite a lot. 62 00:04:03,290 --> 00:04:07,680 I remember Claire and I were in Bali and an Indonesian came up 63 00:04:07,690 --> 00:04:11,840 to me and said, ohh, snorkelling guide said are you local? 64 00:04:11,910 --> 00:04:16,019 Are you local? I said no, no I'm not Julie. 65 00:04:16,029 --> 00:04:17,519 I was like, that's a good accent. 66 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:25,650 So identification is important. We need to know who people are, 67 00:04:25,710 --> 00:04:30,040 who they truly are. We need to trust people with 68 00:04:30,050 --> 00:04:35,430 credibility. So for someone like the Messiah 69 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:40,670 or the Christ, the promised Son, how can we have assurance who 70 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,650 this person is? And we will see in today's 71 00:04:43,660 --> 00:04:46,420 passage. So if you please turn with me to 72 00:04:46,430 --> 00:04:51,050 Luke chapter 3, we'll be reading from verse 21. 73 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:54,770 Before we read, I'll just give a bit of context. 74 00:04:54,780 --> 00:04:57,590 Up until today's passage, we have seen a contrast between 75 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,390 John the Baptist and Jesus. We saw the foretelling of John 76 00:05:02,180 --> 00:05:04,930 when the Angel Gabriel approaches Zachariah to reveal 77 00:05:05,020 --> 00:05:09,030 that his wife Elizabeth will be a a son who's called John and 78 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,450 that he would turn many hearts of Israel to God. 79 00:05:12,270 --> 00:05:15,560 He would go before the Lord God. He would run ahead of the Lord 80 00:05:15,630 --> 00:05:18,830 to prepare the hearts of Israel to receive him. 81 00:05:19,950 --> 00:05:24,830 And then we saw the foretelling of Jesus when Gabriel approached 82 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:26,710 Mary to reveal that she will bear a son. 83 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:32,390 Jesus will be called Son of the Most High, Son of God, and he 84 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,750 would be given the throne of David and will rule over Israel 85 00:05:36,820 --> 00:05:41,570 forever. So John's role was to prepare 86 00:05:41,580 --> 00:05:45,870 the hearts of Israel to receive the Christ who was far, far 87 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,280 greater. And right before today's 88 00:05:48,290 --> 00:05:51,830 passage, we see the culmination of John the Baptist and his 89 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:54,190 ministry. He is completing his ministry, 90 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,380 bringing the people of Israel to God, bringing them to repent 91 00:05:57,390 --> 00:06:01,450 before God, and preparing their hearts to accept Christ. 92 00:06:02,170 --> 00:06:05,280 And people then wonder whether John is the Christ. 93 00:06:05,670 --> 00:06:07,940 And John clarifies, No, he is not. 94 00:06:08,620 --> 00:06:11,590 I'm not the Christ. The Christ is far, far greater, 95 00:06:12,570 --> 00:06:16,100 and he says that he baptises with water, but the Christ 96 00:06:16,110 --> 00:06:19,960 baptises with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 97 00:06:20,030 --> 00:06:24,460 And we saw in Billy's message, John's Baptist baptism was 98 00:06:24,470 --> 00:06:29,140 merely symbolic and physical, but Christ baptism is spiritual. 99 00:06:30,370 --> 00:06:35,860 John merely heralded repentance. But Christ has the power over 100 00:06:35,870 --> 00:06:38,380 souls. He is the power to save souls. 101 00:06:38,390 --> 00:06:42,980 He is the power to judge them. So John is saying, no, it's not 102 00:06:42,990 --> 00:06:45,660 me, it's the Christ. And the Christ is far, far 103 00:06:45,670 --> 00:06:48,140 greater. And now we'll see how God 104 00:06:48,150 --> 00:06:51,170 beautifully clarifies and confirms to the people of Israel 105 00:06:51,510 --> 00:06:55,260 that Jesus is the Christ and that He is far, far greater. 106 00:06:56,190 --> 00:07:00,140 So verse 21 Now when all the people were baptised, and when 107 00:07:00,150 --> 00:07:03,500 Jesus also had been baptised and was praying, the heavens were 108 00:07:03,510 --> 00:07:07,780 opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form 109 00:07:07,830 --> 00:07:10,800 like a dove, and the voice came from heaven. 110 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:14,660 You are my beloved Son. With you I am well pleased. 111 00:07:16,030 --> 00:07:18,600 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about 30 years of 112 00:07:18,610 --> 00:07:23,170 age, being the Son, as was supposed, of Joseph, the son of 113 00:07:23,180 --> 00:07:27,820 Heli, the son of Method, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the 114 00:07:27,830 --> 00:07:33,500 son of Janai, the son of Joseph, the son of Matthias, the son of 115 00:07:33,570 --> 00:07:35,380 Amos. The son of Nahum. 116 00:07:35,450 --> 00:07:39,740 The son of Esley, the son of Nagai, the son of Math, The son 117 00:07:39,750 --> 00:07:44,540 of Mattathias, the son of Simin, the son of Joseph, the son of 118 00:07:44,550 --> 00:07:47,660 Joda, the son of Joe, and then the son of Risa. 119 00:07:47,670 --> 00:07:50,820 The son of Zerubbabel. The son of Shealtiel. 120 00:07:51,130 --> 00:07:53,360 The son of Netty. The son of Milky. 121 00:07:53,370 --> 00:07:57,000 The son of Edi. The son of Kosam, The son of El 122 00:07:57,010 --> 00:07:58,580 Madam. The son of Err. 123 00:07:58,650 --> 00:08:03,040 The son of Joshua, The son of Eliza, The son of Joram, The son 124 00:08:03,050 --> 00:08:06,680 of Methylate, The son of Levi, The son of Simeon, The son of 125 00:08:06,690 --> 00:08:08,610 Judah. The son of Joseph. 126 00:08:08,620 --> 00:08:14,080 The son of Jonam, The son of Eliaquim, The son of Malia, The 127 00:08:14,090 --> 00:08:17,940 son of Minna, The son of Metaphor, The son of Nathan, The 128 00:08:17,950 --> 00:08:21,400 son of David, The son of Jesse, The son of Obed, The son of 129 00:08:21,410 --> 00:08:25,320 Boaz, The son of Salah, The son of Nahshon. 130 00:08:25,630 --> 00:08:28,320 The son of Aminadab, The son of Edmund. 131 00:08:28,590 --> 00:08:31,900 The son of Annie, The son of Hezron, The son of Perez, The 132 00:08:31,910 --> 00:08:34,179 son of Judah. The son of Jacob, The son of 133 00:08:34,190 --> 00:08:38,820 Isaac, The son of Abraham, The son of Tedder, The son of Nahor. 134 00:08:38,890 --> 00:08:42,610 The son of Surug, The son of Rough, The son of Peleg, The son 135 00:08:42,620 --> 00:08:45,380 of IBA. The son of Sheila, The son of 136 00:08:45,390 --> 00:08:49,600 Canaan, the son of OFAC, said. The son of Chem, The son of 137 00:08:49,610 --> 00:08:51,800 Noah, The son of Lemec, The son of Methuselah. 138 00:08:51,810 --> 00:08:55,750 The son of Enoch, The son of Dared, The son of Mahalia, IL. 139 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,150 The son of Canaan. The son of Enos, The son of 140 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,810 Seth, The son of Adam, the son of God. 141 00:09:05,500 --> 00:09:10,670 Thank you. Alright, the worship team will 142 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:19,790 come up now and I So in verse 2122, we see that when Jesus was 143 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:24,290 baptised, the heavens were open, the Holy Spirit descended on him 144 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:28,010 and the Father spoke saying, you are my beloved son with whom I'm 145 00:09:28,020 --> 00:09:31,910 well pleased. And the way was prepared by John 146 00:09:31,980 --> 00:09:35,650 and the people were in expectation of the Christ. 147 00:09:35,780 --> 00:09:39,370 And we see here a scene, a beautiful scene, with all three 148 00:09:39,380 --> 00:09:43,350 persons of the Trinity, the other two persons, the Holy 149 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,190 Spirit and the Father. And the Father powerfully 150 00:09:46,380 --> 00:09:52,620 clarify and confirm and identify that Jesus is the Christ, God's 151 00:09:52,630 --> 00:09:56,620 beloved Son. The Holy Spirit descending upon 152 00:09:56,630 --> 00:10:02,300 Jesus marks his anointing for his mission, and it descends 153 00:10:02,310 --> 00:10:06,490 like a dove, which signifies peace and gentleness. 154 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,230 Right before the passage, John says to the people of Israel 155 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:13,590 that the Christ was mightier than. 156 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,910 I will baptise you with this Holy Spirit and with fire. 157 00:10:17,710 --> 00:10:21,200 And the fire signifies OHH connotates judgement. 158 00:10:21,450 --> 00:10:26,240 But here the Holy Spirit is in peace and harmony with Jesus. 159 00:10:28,550 --> 00:10:31,300 This then reinforces what the Father says. 160 00:10:31,310 --> 00:10:34,160 You are my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased. 161 00:10:36,470 --> 00:10:40,140 Jesus is in perfect peace and harmony with both the Holy 162 00:10:40,150 --> 00:10:44,610 Spirit and the Father. So this clearly identifies him 163 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:49,730 as like them, as divine as the sun, the sun of God. 164 00:10:51,350 --> 00:10:54,400 This whole scene echoes the prophecy in the Isaiah 42. 165 00:10:54,410 --> 00:10:58,100 So if you can, please turn to Isaiah chapter 42. 166 00:10:59,430 --> 00:11:04,170 This prophecy speaks of the Messiah or the Christ. 167 00:11:06,510 --> 00:11:15,800 It says, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, very similar to to 168 00:11:15,810 --> 00:11:19,100 today's passage, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. 169 00:11:19,510 --> 00:11:23,580 I have put my spirit upon Him. He will bring forth justice to 170 00:11:23,590 --> 00:11:26,470 the nations. He will not cry aloud, or lift 171 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:28,910 up his voice, or make it heard in the street. 172 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,990 A bruised Reed he will not break, and a faintly burning 173 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:37,130 Wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth 174 00:11:37,140 --> 00:11:38,810 justice. He will grow. 175 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,630 He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has 176 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,890 established justice in the earth and the coast lands wait for his 177 00:11:46,900 --> 00:11:50,100 law. And so in the scene and Luke, 178 00:11:50,110 --> 00:11:55,780 God is identifying Jesus as the servant, the one who will come 179 00:11:55,790 --> 00:11:59,000 and deliver justice to all the nations. 180 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:04,090 And God is clarifying and introducing the role and mission 181 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:08,910 of the Christ. The Christ would come as a 182 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:13,710 gentle, lowly servant, but He would also come to deliver 183 00:12:13,780 --> 00:12:19,810 justice to the nations. So God and versus 21 to 22 is is 184 00:12:19,820 --> 00:12:22,500 clearly confirming to the Israelites who were an eager 185 00:12:22,510 --> 00:12:25,950 expectation of the Christ, that Jesus is the Christ. 186 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,910 Jesus is him, the perfect Son of God. 187 00:12:30,990 --> 00:12:35,390 And I've just recently finished my degree and soon I will attend 188 00:12:35,580 --> 00:12:40,350 a graduation ceremony and at the graduation I'll receive a a 189 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:45,410 certificate of my degree and it will be signed by the chancellor 190 00:12:45,980 --> 00:12:49,290 who was who has the highest authority in the university. 191 00:12:50,190 --> 00:12:54,760 And this is to confirm the degree certificates legitimacy 192 00:12:54,930 --> 00:12:59,160 and to assure the one who looks at it that it is valid and that 193 00:12:59,170 --> 00:13:03,160 it is real. And if you can trust in my 194 00:13:03,170 --> 00:13:06,800 degree being legitimate, how much more can we be confident 195 00:13:07,070 --> 00:13:11,940 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, confirmed by the 196 00:13:11,950 --> 00:13:14,160 Father who has the highest authority? 197 00:13:16,430 --> 00:13:20,390 He is confirmed by the Holy Spirit as well, who anoints him. 198 00:13:21,450 --> 00:13:26,080 This heavenly event at Jesus baptism was seen by those who 199 00:13:26,150 --> 00:13:28,190 were an eager expectation for the Christ. 200 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:32,860 They were wondering if John was the Christ, but it was Jesus and 201 00:13:32,870 --> 00:13:37,020 God confirms that with this the scene to give them hope and 202 00:13:37,030 --> 00:13:41,240 confidence that Jesus is Him and he is far far greater. 203 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:47,960 He is the Christ who proclaims the Kingdom of heaven, who 204 00:13:47,970 --> 00:13:51,150 proclaims good news to the poor and freedom to the oppress. 205 00:13:52,290 --> 00:13:57,570 And Luke recalls this for us who lived 2000 years later, so that 206 00:13:57,580 --> 00:14:00,930 we can also have hope and confidence that Jesus is the 207 00:14:00,940 --> 00:14:09,640 Christ, the perfect Son of God. Although he was, he was human 208 00:14:09,650 --> 00:14:13,130 like us, He he was baptised like a human. 209 00:14:13,830 --> 00:14:18,330 God makes it abundantly clear that He is divine. 210 00:14:18,380 --> 00:14:21,340 He is like the Holy Spirit and like the Father. 211 00:14:22,890 --> 00:14:28,740 So God powerfully confirms that Jesus is the Christ, the perfect 212 00:14:28,790 --> 00:14:31,750 Son of God. And this is much like the 213 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:36,630 Transfiguration when Jesus is seen in his glory and the Father 214 00:14:36,700 --> 00:14:39,990 speaks from heaven to the disciples, saying, this is my 215 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,220 Son in whom I'm well pleased, Listen to him. 216 00:14:44,110 --> 00:14:47,970 God is saying to us. He's pointing us to his Son and 217 00:14:47,980 --> 00:14:53,500 he's saying, turn to Jesus. This is the one you should 218 00:14:53,510 --> 00:14:55,440 follow. This is the one you should trust 219 00:14:55,450 --> 00:14:59,010 in. There is no one else like my 220 00:14:59,020 --> 00:15:02,530 son. There's no greater hope than the 221 00:15:02,540 --> 00:15:07,200 hope found in Jesus. Jesus is your King, your 222 00:15:07,210 --> 00:15:11,750 Saviour, your God. So whatever your situation, 223 00:15:11,820 --> 00:15:17,310 whether you are in uncertain times or facing hardship, you 224 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:22,520 can have assurance of the hope you have in Jesus, God's perfect 225 00:15:22,530 --> 00:15:25,730 Son. You can trust in Christ who in 226 00:15:25,740 --> 00:15:30,230 the end He will complete His mission and bring you out of 227 00:15:30,300 --> 00:15:35,770 your hardships and bring you in to His presence. 228 00:15:38,170 --> 00:15:42,550 You may be stuck in some committing the same sin over and 229 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,720 over again, and I know what this is like. 230 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:49,770 And when this happens, I doubt Christ's perfect sacrifice for 231 00:15:49,780 --> 00:15:53,370 me. I doubt whether God will accept 232 00:15:53,380 --> 00:15:57,360 me, and this is the doubt. Christ who live perfectly for 233 00:15:57,370 --> 00:16:01,280 us. Remember, Remember, God didn't 234 00:16:01,290 --> 00:16:04,700 accept us. We are sinful and broken 235 00:16:04,710 --> 00:16:09,890 creatures. God is not pleased with sinners 236 00:16:09,900 --> 00:16:12,830 who constantly fall short of God's glory. 237 00:16:14,810 --> 00:16:17,670 Gordon, accept us. He accepted Jesus. 238 00:16:19,100 --> 00:16:21,950 God is not pleased with sinners. He's not pleased with us. 239 00:16:22,020 --> 00:16:27,600 He is well pleased with Jesus, so we who have put our faith in 240 00:16:27,610 --> 00:16:32,190 them are found in Him. We are chosen in Christ. 241 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,560 He is pleased with us not because of anything we have 242 00:16:36,570 --> 00:16:39,460 done. He's pleased with us because he 243 00:16:39,470 --> 00:16:42,530 is pleased with Jesus, the perfect Son of God. 244 00:16:44,660 --> 00:16:48,280 So God is pleased with the Jesus, so be found in him. 245 00:16:49,510 --> 00:16:51,560 Put your faith and trust in Jesus. 246 00:16:51,630 --> 00:16:53,940 He is credible. He is trustworthy. 247 00:16:57,830 --> 00:17:03,270 Now from verse 23, Luke gives us the genealogy of Jesus. 248 00:17:05,250 --> 00:17:08,710 And I remember when I was little, my mom told me to read 249 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:13,550 the Bible and reluctantly I opened up my Bible. 250 00:17:13,819 --> 00:17:18,290 OK, I'll read and opened it to Assam. 251 00:17:18,900 --> 00:17:23,000 It was simple and easy to read. It's about light and darkness, 252 00:17:23,010 --> 00:17:24,599 something like that. Very simple. 253 00:17:25,010 --> 00:17:27,700 I could with my very limited brain power. 254 00:17:27,710 --> 00:17:30,140 I could understand. I could get the general meaning 255 00:17:30,230 --> 00:17:34,300 application from it, but then my daring mum, I don't know what 256 00:17:34,310 --> 00:17:37,510 she was thinking, told me to read Matthew. 257 00:17:38,550 --> 00:17:40,710 So I opened it up to Matthew chapter 1. 258 00:17:42,630 --> 00:17:46,340 Who's Jehoshaphat? See a fat person? 259 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:52,210 I don't think I got through half of the names in their genealogy. 260 00:17:52,580 --> 00:17:54,470 I was thinking, what's the point of this? 261 00:17:54,540 --> 00:17:57,900 Why does this matter to us? Why should I care? 262 00:17:57,910 --> 00:17:59,660 I thought it was stupid, honestly. 263 00:18:01,340 --> 00:18:05,060 And now, ironically, I'm here giving a sermon on a genealogy. 264 00:18:06,140 --> 00:18:08,010 But this is something that I've learned quite recently. 265 00:18:08,020 --> 00:18:11,670 The Bible isn't something you just read, it's something you 266 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,680 study. The more you study, the deeper 267 00:18:14,690 --> 00:18:17,030 you know God. And the deeper you know God, the 268 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,140 more you praise him and worship Him for who He is. 269 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,450 And when you study passage like Luke's genealogy, you you begin 270 00:18:25,460 --> 00:18:30,430 to appreciate it more when you understand its significance. 271 00:18:31,790 --> 00:18:34,980 And I love being given passages I wouldn't normally care about 272 00:18:35,790 --> 00:18:37,170 because it forces me to study it. 273 00:18:38,490 --> 00:18:40,460 And when I study it, I begin to love it. 274 00:18:41,900 --> 00:18:45,290 So the genealogy is very important and it it's still 275 00:18:45,300 --> 00:18:49,660 Scripture, it's God breathed profitable for, for teaching, 276 00:18:49,670 --> 00:18:53,900 for correction, for reproof, so that the man of God may be 277 00:18:53,910 --> 00:18:57,030 equipped. It's still scripture, so the 278 00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:59,240 genealogy was very important to the Jews. 279 00:18:59,250 --> 00:19:02,690 It was. It was used to prove their 280 00:19:03,510 --> 00:19:06,940 tribal identity. For example, for land 281 00:19:06,950 --> 00:19:11,800 inheritance, priests had to be under Aaron's line, so they 282 00:19:11,810 --> 00:19:15,930 would use a genealogy to prove whether they are descendants of 283 00:19:15,980 --> 00:19:18,990 Aaron. But also for those claiming to 284 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:25,070 be the Christ, a genealogy would prove whether they are indeed 285 00:19:25,140 --> 00:19:27,230 the Christ. Why? 286 00:19:27,300 --> 00:19:30,870 Because there are Old Testament prophecies. 287 00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:34,590 Throughout the Old Testament, God has foretold the coming of 288 00:19:34,660 --> 00:19:39,920 the Christ. God promised that the Messiah 289 00:19:39,930 --> 00:19:41,920 would come through a specific line. 290 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:47,010 And as we read through the genealogy, we we see how God is 291 00:19:47,020 --> 00:19:53,660 faithful and He keeps his promises and we see that God's 292 00:19:53,670 --> 00:19:56,360 promise is truly fulfilled in Jesus. 293 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:01,430 Now there are some people who think this genealogy contradicts 294 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:05,820 the genealogy and Matthew. Both genealogists record Joseph, 295 00:20:05,830 --> 00:20:09,170 the father of Jesus, but they are different all the way up to 296 00:20:09,180 --> 00:20:12,570 David. Matthews genealogy goes to the 297 00:20:12,580 --> 00:20:15,810 line of of Solomon. Luke's genealogy goes to the 298 00:20:15,820 --> 00:20:19,620 line of Nathan, and Christians have offered many ways of 299 00:20:19,630 --> 00:20:21,580 harmonising the supposed contradiction. 300 00:20:22,540 --> 00:20:26,700 For example something Joseph had had two fathers, so Jacob the 301 00:20:26,710 --> 00:20:30,730 father of of Joseph recorded in Matthew would be for example 302 00:20:30,740 --> 00:20:36,800 Joseph's biological father but Helly and recorded and Luke's 303 00:20:37,740 --> 00:20:43,730 gospel would be for example Joseph's legal father through 304 00:20:43,740 --> 00:20:46,310 maybe adoption or something called levirate marriage. 305 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,640 But I think what makes the most sense and the easiest solution 306 00:20:50,780 --> 00:20:55,470 is that Matthews genealogy traces Jesus line through 307 00:20:55,480 --> 00:21:00,040 Joseph, but Luke is tracing it through Mary's line. 308 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:06,150 And this makes more sense because in Matthew the focus is 309 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:10,260 more on Joseph at the start of Matthew and not Mary, and it's 310 00:21:10,270 --> 00:21:14,040 genealogy traces to Joseph. So it seems more natural that 311 00:21:14,050 --> 00:21:18,160 Luke, who focuses more on Mary and not on Joseph, would trace 312 00:21:18,170 --> 00:21:22,130 the line through Mary. Now at first glance this seems 313 00:21:22,140 --> 00:21:25,160 problematic since Luke says son of Joseph. 314 00:21:25,970 --> 00:21:29,780 But the usage of son of here is not necessarily biological. 315 00:21:29,790 --> 00:21:32,630 It can mean illegal, illegal father. 316 00:21:35,140 --> 00:21:40,280 It can indicate a legal relationship and look even adds 317 00:21:40,290 --> 00:21:44,960 as was supposed if you can, if you can see in in in that verse 318 00:21:45,050 --> 00:21:48,640 which hints at the legal relationship between Joseph and 319 00:21:48,650 --> 00:21:52,620 Jesus. Either way you take it, Jesus is 320 00:21:52,630 --> 00:21:56,060 the fulfilment. He's the fulfilment of God's 321 00:21:56,070 --> 00:21:57,840 promised Christ. Either way you take it, 322 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:03,080 throughout the genealogy we can see God's sovereignty in 323 00:22:03,090 --> 00:22:07,520 fulfilling the promise. Earlier we saw how the Angel 324 00:22:07,530 --> 00:22:14,060 approached Mary and foretold Jesus birth and he he says the 325 00:22:14,070 --> 00:22:17,400 Lord God will give him the throne of his Father David. 326 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:23,000 Jesus is the fulfilment of God's covenant with David and this can 327 00:22:23,010 --> 00:22:28,380 be found in First Chronicles 17, verse 11 to 14 and says when 328 00:22:28,390 --> 00:22:32,500 your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I'll raise up 329 00:22:32,550 --> 00:22:36,000 your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I'll 330 00:22:36,010 --> 00:22:39,080 establish his Kingdom. He shall build a house for me, 331 00:22:39,150 --> 00:22:41,200 and I'll establish his throne forever. 332 00:22:41,770 --> 00:22:45,170 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. 333 00:22:45,890 --> 00:22:49,160 I'll not take my steadfast love from him as I took it from him 334 00:22:49,170 --> 00:22:52,840 who was before you, but I'll confirm him in my house and in 335 00:22:52,850 --> 00:22:54,980 my Kingdom forever. And it's thrown shall be 336 00:22:54,990 --> 00:22:58,470 established forever. And Jesus fulfils us through 337 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,100 David, through the line of Nathan. 338 00:23:03,190 --> 00:23:07,080 Secondly, Jesus fulfils the prophecy that the the King will 339 00:23:07,090 --> 00:23:12,150 come from the tribe of Judah. This is found in Genesis 49 340 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,640 verse 10 where Jacob was prophesying over all his sons, 341 00:23:16,890 --> 00:23:20,120 and he prophesies over Judah, saying, the sceptre shall not 342 00:23:20,130 --> 00:23:23,870 depart from Judah, nor the ruler staff from between his feet, 343 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,050 until tribute comes to him. And to him shall be the 344 00:23:27,060 --> 00:23:33,040 obedience of the peoples. O Christ will rule as king of 345 00:23:33,050 --> 00:23:36,410 Israel from the tribe of Judah descended from David. 346 00:23:37,290 --> 00:23:40,680 According to God's promise, Jesus fulfils us. 347 00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:48,530 Thirdly, Jesus is the fulfilment of God's covenant to Abraham. 348 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:53,670 This is found in Genesis 22. It says, surely I will bless 349 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,560 you. I will surely multiply your 350 00:23:55,570 --> 00:23:59,160 offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the 351 00:23:59,170 --> 00:24:02,260 seashore, and your offspring shall possess the gate of his 352 00:24:02,270 --> 00:24:05,720 enemies, and in your offspring show all the nations of the 353 00:24:05,730 --> 00:24:07,960 earth. Be blessed because you have 354 00:24:07,970 --> 00:24:12,850 obeyed my voice and pull. And the New Testament confirms 355 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:17,260 that this is talking about the Christ in Galatians 316. 356 00:24:17,330 --> 00:24:20,840 He says now the promises were made to Abraham and to his 357 00:24:20,850 --> 00:24:24,320 offspring. It does not say enter offsprings 358 00:24:24,330 --> 00:24:28,860 referring to many, but referring to 1 and to your offspring who 359 00:24:28,870 --> 00:24:33,630 is Christ. And God reestablishes this 360 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:35,230 covenant with both Isaac and Jacob. 361 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:41,110 So Jesus is the son of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, who would die and 362 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:46,810 rise again for all nations and rule over all nations. 363 00:24:48,090 --> 00:24:52,900 Jesus will be a blessing to the world, and so this is fulfilled 364 00:24:52,950 --> 00:24:58,350 in Jesus. Fourthly, Jesus is the 365 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:02,630 fulfilment of the seed of the woman, and this is found in 366 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:09,290 Genesis 315 when God is cursing the serpent who deceived Eve and 367 00:25:09,300 --> 00:25:13,750 says, I will put my hostility between you and the woman and 368 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:15,890 between your offspring and her offspring. 369 00:25:15,940 --> 00:25:18,850 He will strike your head and you will strike his heel. 370 00:25:20,490 --> 00:25:25,150 Right from the fall of humanity. God promised that an offspring 371 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:30,030 of Eve would defeat the serpent and Jesus is the fulfilment. 372 00:25:30,670 --> 00:25:36,180 Being the son of Adam who would die and rise again to defeat sin 373 00:25:36,190 --> 00:25:38,650 and death and ultimately defeat Satan. 374 00:25:39,420 --> 00:25:43,210 Jesus is the fulfilment. He is the second Adam. 375 00:25:44,380 --> 00:25:48,340 Through the 1st atom came sin and death, but through the 2nd 376 00:25:48,350 --> 00:25:51,500 atom came eternal life through Jesus. 377 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:59,400 So God is sovereign. He's in control, has plan and 378 00:25:59,410 --> 00:26:04,560 has decrees will come to pass. And in Ephesians chapter one, we 379 00:26:04,570 --> 00:26:07,930 read that God works all things according to the counsel of as 380 00:26:07,940 --> 00:26:10,680 well. And we see that in this 381 00:26:10,690 --> 00:26:14,520 genealogy time and time again God has kept his promises. 382 00:26:14,530 --> 00:26:19,630 He is faithful God and His sovereignty has made it 383 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,430 abundantly clear who the Christ is. 384 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:27,210 God promised Christ would come through a specific line from 385 00:26:27,260 --> 00:26:30,970 Adam to Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Judah to David. 386 00:26:34,020 --> 00:26:37,790 So the genealogy further verifies and confirms Jesus 387 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,890 identity. It confirms his role and 388 00:26:40,900 --> 00:26:44,790 ministry. It clearly proves that Jesus is 389 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:48,250 indeed the fulfilment of God's promised Son. 390 00:26:51,860 --> 00:26:56,190 So we can be clear on who Jesus is and what he came to do, and 391 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,180 so we can have confidence in him. 392 00:26:59,370 --> 00:27:04,880 But I think the most intentional part of this genealogy is that 393 00:27:04,890 --> 00:27:09,620 Luke traces Jesus, traces Jesus line all the way back to Adam 394 00:27:09,790 --> 00:27:13,770 and to God. Matthew's genealogy stops at 395 00:27:13,780 --> 00:27:15,670 Abraham. Why? 396 00:27:16,930 --> 00:27:19,980 Because he's writing to the Jews and he wants to show the Jews 397 00:27:19,990 --> 00:27:25,320 that Jesus is Jewish and and is in the royal kingly line. 398 00:27:25,730 --> 00:27:29,540 That's why he traces the line through David's son Solomon, not 399 00:27:29,550 --> 00:27:32,660 Nathan. He wants to show the Jews that 400 00:27:32,670 --> 00:27:35,230 he is the fulfilment of the promised king of Israel. 401 00:27:36,630 --> 00:27:40,500 He even skips generations to have three sets of 14 402 00:27:40,510 --> 00:27:45,340 generations and the Hebrew name for David adds up to 14 when 403 00:27:45,350 --> 00:27:47,680 it's letters are given its numerical value. 404 00:27:49,090 --> 00:27:52,520 So Matthew was stressing Jesus is Jewish and he is the promised 405 00:27:52,530 --> 00:27:59,280 king of Israel, son of David. But Luke's genealogy doesn't 406 00:27:59,290 --> 00:28:02,940 stop at Abraham. It goes all the way back to Adam 407 00:28:03,010 --> 00:28:06,000 and ultimately to God. And I think he does this 408 00:28:06,010 --> 00:28:11,440 intentionally to show that Jesus is the King and Messiah for both 409 00:28:11,450 --> 00:28:15,460 the Jews and the Gentiles. And it makes sense why Luke 410 00:28:15,470 --> 00:28:17,820 would do this, since he's writing to Theophilus. 411 00:28:18,460 --> 00:28:22,550 He wanted the officers to have who is a Gentile. 412 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,890 He wanted him to have confidence in the faith. 413 00:28:26,690 --> 00:28:31,460 Luke is emphasising that Jesus is a son of Adam, like all of 414 00:28:31,470 --> 00:28:35,800 us, and so on the cross he represents not just Israelites 415 00:28:35,870 --> 00:28:41,320 but Gentiles also. But it also wonderfully displays 416 00:28:41,330 --> 00:28:45,720 the scope of God's salvation. Jesus came to represent 417 00:28:45,770 --> 00:28:49,870 humanity. He came to represent humanity. 418 00:28:50,260 --> 00:28:53,550 He died and rose again, not just for the sins of Israel, but the 419 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:58,090 sins of the whole world, so that anyone who places their faith in 420 00:28:58,100 --> 00:29:01,730 Christ is justified. And this is the greatest news. 421 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:06,460 Earlier in Luke at the temple we saw Simeon take up Jesus in his 422 00:29:06,470 --> 00:29:11,070 arms, praising God, saying Lord, now you are letting your servant 423 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,220 depart in peace according to your word. 424 00:29:14,130 --> 00:29:17,400 For my eyes have seen your salvation, that you have 425 00:29:17,410 --> 00:29:22,960 prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation 426 00:29:23,030 --> 00:29:26,390 for the Gentiles, and for glory to your people. 427 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:31,130 Israel. Paul and Romans 327 to 30 says, 428 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:35,510 is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles? 429 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:40,030 Also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God 430 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:44,530 is one who will justifies The Who will justify the circumcised 431 00:29:44,540 --> 00:29:47,240 by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 432 00:29:49,210 --> 00:29:53,600 And Ephesians 213 to 16 Paul writing to Gentile, says, But 433 00:29:53,610 --> 00:29:56,890 now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought 434 00:29:56,900 --> 00:30:00,920 near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who 435 00:30:00,930 --> 00:30:04,820 has made us both one, and has broken down in His flesh the 436 00:30:04,830 --> 00:30:11,210 dividing wall of hostility, that He might create an in Himself 437 00:30:11,220 --> 00:30:14,930 one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might 438 00:30:14,940 --> 00:30:19,100 reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross. 439 00:30:21,540 --> 00:30:25,670 There was a time when God was mediated only in Israel and the 440 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,400 temple. God administered himself through 441 00:30:28,410 --> 00:30:32,710 Israel. Us Gentiles were far off. 442 00:30:34,270 --> 00:30:38,610 Jesus took away that great chasm through the cross. 443 00:30:38,770 --> 00:30:42,710 Through his work on the cross, He broke down the barriers so 444 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:45,830 that both Jews and Gentiles can come to God and faith. 445 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,000 This is the greatest news ever told. 446 00:30:52,140 --> 00:30:55,950 Jesus is the promised Son of God, the Christ, the Lamb of 447 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,220 God, who takes away the sin of the world. 448 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:04,450 Praise God that He has provided us Jesus, the fulfilment, the 449 00:31:04,460 --> 00:31:09,410 promised Son, and praise God that He has brought us Gentiles 450 00:31:09,420 --> 00:31:12,680 near to God by the blood of Christ. 451 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:17,970 Remember these truths, always remember them, and let it change 452 00:31:17,980 --> 00:31:23,000 the way you live. So in this passage, after the 453 00:31:23,010 --> 00:31:26,620 focus of John the Baptist goes away, God powerfully points us 454 00:31:26,710 --> 00:31:31,830 to Jesus and proclaims that he is the Christ. 455 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:38,030 He is the perfect Son of God. You know one thing I hate is 456 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,250 Google's 2 factor authentication. 457 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,770 Like it's so admin. I just want to sign in. 458 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:47,920 I don't wanna have to tell you who I am. 459 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:53,410 But in this passage, I love it. And this passage God uses 460 00:31:53,460 --> 00:31:55,570 Google's 2 factor authentication. 461 00:31:56,370 --> 00:32:01,600 One, the heavenly of affirmation through through the scene with 462 00:32:01,610 --> 00:32:04,580 the Father and the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit 463 00:32:04,590 --> 00:32:08,280 and the Father declaring that Jesus is God's beloved Son. 464 00:32:08,370 --> 00:32:13,640 And two, through the genealogy of Jesus, where we have seen God 465 00:32:13,700 --> 00:32:17,520 time and time again prove His faithfulness and prove that He 466 00:32:17,530 --> 00:32:23,690 keeps his promises, God is proclaiming Jesus credibility 467 00:32:24,180 --> 00:32:31,400 and is urging us to hope in Him, to rely on Him, to follow Him. 468 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:38,630 John the Baptist is gone. The prophecies are fulfilled. 469 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:43,590 So now turn your eyes to Jesus, hope and him. 470 00:32:43,630 --> 00:32:48,600 Rely on Him and follow him. Let's pray. 471 00:32:52,000 --> 00:33:01,250 Our God and Father, we are so in awe of of who you are of of your 472 00:33:01,260 --> 00:33:05,800 faithfulness, of your sovereignty and keeping your 473 00:33:05,810 --> 00:33:10,460 promises. We thank you for for providing 474 00:33:10,470 --> 00:33:16,060 your Son. Thank you for making it so 475 00:33:16,070 --> 00:33:21,610 abundantly clear and confirming to us that Jesus is the Christ, 476 00:33:21,620 --> 00:33:24,390 your beloved Son. We thank you for him. 477 00:33:24,460 --> 00:33:30,000 Thank you for what this means for us, that we we have a 478 00:33:30,010 --> 00:33:34,080 saviour. We have the one who live 479 00:33:34,090 --> 00:33:38,850 perfectly, who live the life we couldn't, and who died and rose 480 00:33:38,860 --> 00:33:45,120 again, who has brought us Gentiles near to you, and who 481 00:33:45,130 --> 00:33:49,210 has been alight to both Jews and Gentiles. 482 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:53,270 We thank you for him, and we thank you that he is the 483 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:57,070 fulfilment, that he is the promised King, that he will one 484 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:01,260 day rule over the earth, and we thank you that he is King. 485 00:34:02,370 --> 00:34:06,020 Lord God, we pray that these truths will change us, will give 486 00:34:06,030 --> 00:34:10,639 us hope and confidence and assurance in whatever situation 487 00:34:10,710 --> 00:34:14,690 we are going through. Lord God, we thank you for your 488 00:34:14,699 --> 00:34:19,770 provision for your salvation. Jesus Christ, in whose name we 489 00:34:19,780 --> 00:34:20,770 pray, Amen.