“Christ the Promised King”
Luke 3
December 8, 2024
You might have researched your genealogy before. In recent years, it has become very popular.
DNA test (23 and Me), Ancestry.com, Family Search (Family Tree)
Curiosity sent me down this rabbit hole a few years back, but not the DNA part.
I wasted a lot of time messing with this and even got another brother in Christ consumed with it.
I should have used my time more judiciously and just reread Genesis.
Because all of our ancestors go all the way back to the first two parents, Adam and Eve.
Tracing one's genealogy might have become popular recently, but it is not new.
I. Family Genealogies Were More Than A Curiosity In Jesus’ Time
The Genealogy of Christ (Jesus’s family tree)
“The son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38).
Luke lists seventy-seven names in the Messiah's line, all the way back to Adam and even back to God, who is the last name in verse 38. No, I am not going to discuss each name, but why is this genealogy important?
To the Jews, genealogies were critical (Five Reasons).
Ancestry Determined One's Claim On Land.
When the children of Israel went into Palestine (Caanan), God divided the land, and it was allocated according to tribal parcels. Therefore, ancestry was critical in determining anyone's claim on a piece of land.
Ancestry Determined Claims To The Right Of Inheritance.
Should a person come along and claim that they had a right to property, servants, an estate, crops, or material possessions, the determination of the validity of that claim would be placed upon the genealogy.
Ancestry Established The Basis Of Taxation.
When Joseph and Mary went to be taxed, they went to Bethlehem because they were of the house and line of David. Bethlehem was the birthplace of that family, and that's where they went because that's where their genealogical records were kept.
Claims To The Priesthood Had To Be Verified By Genealogy.
Anytime somebody made a claim to the priesthood, it had to be proven that they were, in fact, in the priestly line.
Any Claim To Royalty Had To Be Verified By Genealogy.
It would have to have been proven that this one claiming to be king/Messiah had lineage directly from the great king, David himself. So, if you claimed a royal pedigree, you had to prove it by your genealogy.
Luke's genealogy is indicative of that. He had obviously found access to the genealogy that he records here in chapter 3 because it was likely a matter of the public record, as is the genealogy of Matthew chapter 1.
The Jews kept these extremely accurate genealogies all the way up until all the records were destroyed in 70 A.D. when the Roman Army destroyed the temple and sent the people of Israel into exile.
Today, the Jewish people can no longer trace their lineage. They can trace their lineage back to New Testament times, perhaps, but they cannot go beyond that because all the records were destroyed in the destruction of Jerusalem.
God ordained this because the system was done after Christ went to the cross and rose from the grave (For Jesus fulfilled the office of Priest, Prophet, and King).
There was no reason to keep genealogies anymore because the Messiah had already arrived. Think about that for a second. If they no longer have records before A.D. 70, and since they believe the Messiah is still to come, how will they be able to verify his genealogy? (Jesus said in Matt. 24:24 False Christ will arise-end)
In Israel, genealogies were kept primarily for the Messiah and secondarily for the priesthood. But with Jesus Christ's death on the cross, the priesthood came to an end as well. And so God, through the Romans, brought a judgment that destroyed those records.
Of course, when Luke wrote his gospel, and Jesus came, the record was still intact. And it's very important as part of the Messiah's credentials. If He is to be verified as the King, David's greater Son, who will rule, then He must have Davidic lineage.
The historian Josephus also writes that the Jews kept these genealogical records as a matter of public availability so people could go into the public record and search their genealogies.
In fact, Josephus tells us that when the Jews who were caught up in the first dispersion in 586 BC and scattered from Palestine all over the world when they had a child, they would send records of the birth of that child back to Jerusalem or back to the place where the records for their family were kept so that that child, even though outside the land, would be entered into the genealogical record.
Joseph and Mary knew their family records went back to David. That's why they went to Bethlehem to be taxed because that was the city of David.
Certainly, their parents, grandparents, and relatives talked about their heritage and lineage and how it went back all the way to David. They were undoubtedly aware that the prophets had said that the Messiah, the great King, the Christ, would come to the house of David.
So there was just a greater sense of anticipation and a greater sense of privilege for them because they, waiting for the Messiah like everybody else, knew that the Messiah would come to someone in their family, probably someone in their extended family who was descended from David. (Song- “Mary did you know.”)
II. Jesus Possessed The Credentials Of The Messiah
In chapter 3, Luke gives us Jesus’ credentials.
Look at Luke 3:21-22: When John baptized Jesus, and the Father said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. Those were pretty stirring credentials. These credentials were divine proof that this, in fact, was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
Jesus’ baptism was an affirmation from God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the Messiah God the Father said so!
In chapter 4, you have Jesus's temptation. Jesus was tempted by the devil after forty days of fasting. Satan throws his best at Jesus, and Jesus thwarts his temptation at every point. He comes through the assault by Satan unscathed, without sin, and answers every temptation with the Word of God.
Jesus’s baptism, genealogy, and temptation provide three great credentials: the affirmation of heaven, the victory over hell, and His royal credentials.
Jesus’s credentials confirmed His identity as the Promised Messiah.
This genealogy is the culmination of all redemptive history in one person, Jesus!
It starts with God, through Adam, through Abraham, through David, and right down to Jesus Himself. It is the culmination of all humanity's history, from God, through Adam, through Abraham, through David, and down to Jesus.
Jesus is the fulfillment of God's redemptive purpose.
The hope of all humanity and all humanity is inseparably and eternally connected to Him.
The fate of everyone who ever lives is linked to Jesus.
Jesus is the most important person in all of human history!
III. Additional Testimony Was Provided To Corroborate Jesus’ Credentials.
Luke is very good at amassing historical proof that Jesus is truly the Messiah. For example, we go all the way back to chapter 1, where Luke tells us the story of an angel who comes to Zacharias and tells him he and his barren wife, Elizabeth, who were in their seventies or eighties by then and had never been able to have children, are going to have a child. That child will be named John, and he'll be the forerunner of the Messiah.
So you have the first credential and testimony from this family: you have a prophet born miraculously to an old couple who will tell us who the Messiah is. The prophet's name is John, also known as John the Baptist.
In Chapter 1, Luke tells us about the angel Gabriel, who comes to visit a virgin, Mary, and tells her that she, as a virgin, will be impregnated supernaturally by the Holy Spirit. She will conceive miraculously in her womb without a man and give birth to the Messiah, the King, the Son of David, who will rule forever and ever.
Then, these four people give testimony: first, Zacharias and Elizabeth. Then, Joseph, the earthly and legal father of Jesus. Then Mary, the mother of Jesus, gives a wonderful testimony to the supernatural reality of the Savior's birth.
And so, divine revelation from God to Zacharias and Elizabeth and divine revelation from God to Mary indicate that the Messiah is going to be this child, Jesus.
A whole angelic group shows up in the field outside Bethlehem and gives testimony to the shepherds about the child who has been born there. The glory of God shone around them, attesting to this child's nature as the Messiah (Luke 2:9).
A little later, when the baby is being dedicated, you have the testimony of two godly saints in the temple, Simeon and Anna, who identify the baby Jesus as the Messiah.
Then you have the testimony of Jesus Himself at the age of twelve in the temple saying, "I have to be in My Father's house doing My Father's work." Jesus knows that He is God at that point and that God the Father is His true Father.
Then you have the testimony of John the Baptist, which Luke records in chapter 3, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." The testimony of John, who is reluctant to baptize Jesus because he knows He is sinless, again affirming that He is indeed the sinless, perfect, anointed Messiah and Savior.
Then you have the testimony of God at His baptism, "My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased"; the testimony of the Holy Spirit who descends upon Him, and now you have the testimony of the genealogy.
Jesus' genealogy shows that His lineage comes through the line of David.
There are two genealogies. Matthew gives a genealogy in chapter 1 of his gospel. Matthew's is in the first chapter because Matthew is written chronologically.
Luke puts the genealogy in the third chapter because he sticks it in the credential section. Luke goes from the present to the past. He starts with Jesus's grandfather and goes all the way back to Adam and God. Matthew does it the other way. He begins with Abraham and comes to the present.
Everybody has two genealogies one maternal and one paternal. In Matthew, you have the genealogy of Joseph through his father Jacob back to David. In Luke, you have Mary's genealogy through her father, Eli.
Jesus, though He was not the human son of Joseph, received His legal right to the throne from His adopted father, Joseph.
When Joseph became Mary's husband, he was considered Jesus's true father, even though Jesus was not physically His son.
By marriage, Joseph became Jesus's legal father. Therefore, Jesus received the legal right to the throne from Joseph.
Therefore, not only does Jesus have the legal right to rule through His father, but He has the blood of David in his veins because of His mother.
He can be King legally through Joseph.
He can be King naturally through Mary.
One last point, and I would argue a crucial one, is the detailed records that were kept by the Jewish People, and Luke’s meticulous investigation would have been used by all kinds of people who wanted to discredit Jesus, right? The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the high priests, everybody; they would do anything to discredit Jesus as their Messiah. In fact, they had Him killed for His valid claims.
They would have wanted to find any possible way to eliminate Him from His messianic claim. I am sure it didn't take long after Jesus made that claim for them to scramble around to find the scroll containing Jesus's genealogy.
They would have only had to go just a short walk south from Jerusalem to the town of Bethlehem, where the tax records and lineages were kept. They could have gone in there and gotten a hold of those records, and they could have determined rather readily whether, in fact, Joseph and Mary's ancestry was Davidic, right?
That would have been one of the first things they would have done because that's all it would take to discredit the Messiah. All the miracles aside, all the teaching aside, all the claims aside, “Sorry, folks, He doesn't come from the line of David. He is an imposter.”
Yet, throughout the New Testament, no one claims that Jesus didn't come from David.
Then, in verse 33, we see Jesus is not only the Son of God, but He's the Son of Adam.
He is like us: tempted, troubled, suffering, persecuted, hated, reviled and killed.
He is a son of Adam. Not like Adam. He didn't descend into disobedience.
He descended into obedience.
He is fully man in every sense, firmly anchored in heaven as a Son of God.
He is also fully anchored to earth as the son of Man, God as to His deity, and man as to His humanity. He is the Son of God, the son of Adam, deity and humanity.
He is the son of Abraham, according to His nationality.
He is the promised seed.
He is also the son of David in terms of royalty, the promised King who would usher in the glory of all the Davidic promises.
Son of God, son of Adam, son of Abraham, son of David.
Response: God used their meticulous law and record keeping to prophesy the coming of His Son, Jesus, and to certify His identity.
By their own system, no one but Jesus could be the Messiah (AD 70 records destroyed).
Either Jesus is the promised Messiah, or there will never be a Messiah.
Rejoice in your Lord and Savior, King Jesus the Promised Messiah!!!
Invitation:
The way to salvation is Christ, and the means to salvation is believing in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
Belief consists of accepting something, not doing something. The result of belief is that one receives eternal life. He is freed from condemnation and lives in a relation of total honesty with God, for he does not fear having his real self exposed.
The difference between the believer and the unbeliever does not lie in their guilt or innocence but in their different attitudes toward the “light.”
The unbeliever shrinks from the light because it exposes his sin; the believer willingly comes to the light so that his real motives may be revealed.
If you are in Christ, tell the world about your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who rescued you from the certain eternal death you were destined for because of your sin. Share your Lord and Savior with others so that they may rejoice someday.
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Is Climate Change New Or Old
October 9, 2024
Don’t fall for the lie that climate change is new. There has been a lot of talk lately about the increase in natural disasters (hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, wildfires, etc.) resulting from “Climate Change.” While this is true, it is not true for the so-called scientific reasons given today in our modern culture. In other words, the root cause is not the use of fossil fuels, and the solution is not net zero emissions. The root cause is our sin, and the solution is Christ Jesus. I am not saying as Christians, we are not to care for the planet. God gave man dominion over His creation, and we should do our part by being good stewards. However, sin has caused creation to fall along with humanity, and creation (nature and humanity) has an expiration date. God will execute judgment on His creation and bring an end to the world as we now know it.
“Climate change” is not a new phenomenon. The climate has been changing since the fall of humanity, when sin entered the world. Famines, droughts, earthquakes, storms of all kinds, and wars have occurred since the fall, and all of this will continue to intensify until the end.
Drought was the most common cause of famines mentioned in the Bible. Drought caused famines in the time of Abraham (Genesis 12:10 ), Isaac (Genesis 26:1 ), Joseph (Genesis 41:27 ), and the judges (Ruth 1:1 ). Drought and famine also plagued the Israelites in the days of David (2 Samuel 21:1 ), Elijah (1 Kings 18:2 ), Elisha (2 Kings 4:38 ), Haggai (Haggai 1:11 ), and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:3 ). At times the coming of droughts and famines was predicted by prophets (2 Kings 8:1; Isaiah 3:1; Jeremiah 14:12; Acts 11:28 ). Other natural forces also caused famines: locusts, wind, hail, and mildew (Joel 1:4; Amos 4:9; Haggai 2:17 ). The Israelites also experienced famines caused by enemies. Occasionally, oppressors destroyed or confiscated food (Deuteronomy 28:33, Deuteronomy 28:33,28:51; Isaiah 1:7 ). The siege of cities also resulted in famine, such as the siege of Samaria by Ben-hadad (2 Kings 6:24-25 ) and the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:2-3 ).
The famines that Israel experienced were often severe, some lasting for years (Genesis 12:10; Genesis 41:27; Jeremiah 14:1-6 ). During famines, starving people resorted to eating such things as wild vines, heads of animals, garbage, dung, and even human flesh (2 Kings 4:39; 2 Kings 6:25,2 Kings 6:28; Lamentations 4:4-10 ).
Governments will not prevent it, no matter how much money they spend or how many restrictions they apply.
So, what’s your plan? I’m going with the One who created all of it and who promised to redeem humanity and wipe all sin away. God created it all, and God will fix it all.
Are you right with God? Have you been reconciled with God by grace through faith in His Son Jesus Christ?
God alone has all the answers. The biblical worldview is the only worldview that explains it all.
Do you know the creator of heaven and earth personally? Do you worship the creation instead of the creator?
Jesus said, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”
(The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Mt 24:6–8).
Jesus said, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Mt 24:29–31.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2 Pe 3:10–13.
As for me, as the great theologian Phil Robertson (aka Duck Commander) would say, “I ride with King Jesus!” Jesus has the answers, and He alone gives me hope!
Jesus said, “See, I have told you beforehand.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Mt 24:25.
Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Jn 16:33.
DO YOU KNOW HIM?
In Christ,
Pastor Wade L. Allen
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Let Us Rejoice in Our Creator, The LORD God Almighty
April 8, 2024
With all the talk in the news today about the solar eclipse, what a great opportunity we have as Christians to share our LORD with the world around us today and every day.
It is a time to rejoice in the Creator of heaven and earth and share of His great love for His creation. A love that continues with His offer of grace through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. A love that continues even after His creation (we) rebelled and turned to our own ways.
Oh, how amazing is the Lord God Almighty, and how amazing is His grace? Thanks be to God. Let us worship the creator, not the creation. Let us tell all about the One who created the sun and the moon and all that was and will be created.
Let us continually rejoice in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who created all things and holds all things together.
Our Lord and Savior who reconciled us to God the Father through His redemptive work on the cross and His resurrection from the grave.
Colossians 1:16-23
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing.
Jesus said Himself in John 15:1-11,
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
So, let us tell the world of our Lord and Savior.
The great God the only true living God who created all things that have been created. I have attached several Bible verses below that give glory to God, the creator of the heavens and the earth.
Isaiah 40:26 ESV
“Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.”
Jeremiah 32:17 ESV
‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
Psalm 19:1-6 ESV
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
Psalm 8:1-9 ESV
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 36:5 ESV
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
Psalm 102:25-27 ESV
25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.
Job 12:7–10 ESV
“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; 8 or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. 9 Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
Romans 1:20 ESV
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Jeremiah 33:2 ESV
“Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name
Isaiah 40:25-28 ESV
25 To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
Psalm 136:5-9 ESV
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; 6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; 7 to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; 8 the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; 9 the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever
Proverbs 8:27-29 ESV
25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, 26 before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. 27 When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
Psalm 90:1-2 ESV
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Hebrews 1:10-12 ESV
10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”
