Introduction

If you have your Bible, go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter one. This book (Matthew) is the beginning of a new chapter in the Bible. You can see that it comes right after the divide between the testaments. Not all the books of the Bible are in chronological order, but Malachi does actually take place last in the Old Testament, in order of time. There is a span of 400 years between Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew. This time period will be important to our story, but we will get to it later.

Matthew writes this book as a new beginning. Of course, what he wrote is fully inspired by God, so God wrote this too, but it’s almost as if Matthew knew these words would be penned as the beginning of the New Testament. And there’s a big reason behind that. Look at Matthew chapter 1 v. 1

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham.”

Now, this will get a little bit nerdy, but bear with me, because I found this extremely interesting. It’s really easy to read past this line and sort of think nothing of it because the next few paragraphs are the very genealogy Matthew wants to introduce. But Matthew is doing something else here that every original reader would have picked up on, but its something we can easily miss today.

Remember that Matthew wrote in Greek which was like the English language of his day. It was the common language, the trade tongue. The Old Testament, which was originally written in Hebrew also got translated into Greek a few hundred years before Christ. This was called the Septuagint. The Septuagint (OT in Hebrew) would have been the Bible most were familiar with and read. This is important because most of the time a New Testament writer quotes from the Old Testament, they quote from the LXX not from the Hebrew.

So also when a New Testament author alludes to the Old Testament, they allude to the LXX not the original Hebrew. So, the point of all this is, Matthew makes a direct allusion to Genesis.

Genesis is, as you all know, the first book of the Bible. The Hebrew word that forms the structure of the book of Genesis is תוֹלֵדֹת. This is usually translated as “generations” or “record.” So most translations of Genesis 2:4 “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” And that translation reflects the original Hebrew.

However the Greek Septuagint translates the word תוֹלֵדֹת as a word that sounds like “Genesis” where the book gets its name. So Genesis 2:4 from the LXX reads like, “This is the book of the “genesis” of heaven and earth.” Likewise, the LXX for Genesis 5:1 reads, “This is the book of the “genesis” of mankind.”

Matthew purposefully uses that same Genesis word. . .which could be rendered, “The book of the genesis of Jesus Christ. . .” When we think of the term “Genesis” we think of a term of origin. And there is some truth to that, but we do not want that Christ had an origin point. Jesus is eternal. He says in Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” So Jesus never had a beginning, but he did have a birthday. This is why we refer to his birth as the incarnation: Jesus, who always exists as fully divine, became fully man in order to fulfill God’s plan.

The term in Genesis, תוֹלֵדוֹת in Hebrew and “genesis” in Greek functions more as a stage setting term. It puts a spotlight on the main focus of the book. And in the gospel of Matthew, this term works the same way: it puts the spotlight on Christ. Matthew words things carefully to point to the fact that Jesus is the true Messiah and King.

I believe this is where our main application lies. We always want to strive to make the main point of the text the main thing we apply to our lives. And that can be a difficult thing to do, especially when we are reading something like a list of names. How many times have you gone through a genealogy in the Bible, got to the end of it and wondered, “What’s the point of all these names?” Well, I pray today, we can find Matthew’s point and apply that point to our lives.

Our first name on our list is Abraham, but before we get to him, there’s some other history we should cover. In the beginning, God created everything good. Mankind was the peak of this creation, in his image, designed to rule over his created realm. But mankind rebelled against God and decided to rule on their own terms which lead to disaster, destruction, and death. But not all hope was lost. God promised a seed, and offspring of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). And so satan makes it his job to so corrupt this seed that God’s promise may never come to pass.

And it seems as though he had succeeded by Genesis 6, all of mankind’s thoughts was only evil all the time. But God wasn’t done working. He chose Noah out of that wicked generation to continue his plan. The wicked world was destroyed in the historic flood, but again, not all hope was lost. Matthew presents the rest of history up until the time of Christ in three major epochs. Look at verse two

Epoch 1: Abraham

Matthew 1:2–6 ESV

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,

Abraham was promised something specific in Genesis 12. So not only does Abraham continue the promise given to Eve in Genesis 3 to have a head-crushing offspring, now this head-crushing offspring is said to be a blessing to every family on earth. Genesis 12:1–3 “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.””

Notice that interesting promise to Abraham at the end of verse 3 of Genesis 12? “All the families of the earth shall be blessed” How is it possible for the offspring of a seemingly insignificant man bless every single family on the earth? Matthew seems to pick up on this promise by mentioning Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. These women were outside God’s chosen people, but brought in to God’s people by his grace, thus, being a foretaste of the Abrahamic promise.

The Abrahamic promise is ultimately fulfilled in Christ. 1 Peter 2:10 “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Epoch 2: David

Look back at verse 6, I’m going to reread that entire verse to note something significant:Matthew 1:6–11 ESV

and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

I reread the entire verse six to point out the significant pause Matthew gives us. He brings attention to the fact that David was the king. And just as the promised seed was further clarified through the promise to Abraham, so too is that promised seed further clarified by a promise to David. 2 Samuel 7:12–13 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

Now this promise has some dual-fulfillment. In some ways Solomon fulfilled it, but only as a picture of what was to come. You see, Solomon, though great and the wisest man, failed. The kingdom split right after him. But God promised to establish the throne of David forever, and so he has in the Messiah. You see, the Messiah is predicted to be the head crusher, the blessing of every family on earth, and to be king for all eternity. All of these promises find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus.

After David the lineage takes a significant turn away from Luke’s account of Jesus’s genealogy. Some take this to mean the Bible is contradictory and therefore, not true. However, this conundrum can be easily resolved. Luke records Jesus’ physical ancestry—that is, who the biological fathers actually were. Matthew takes a different approach and seems to be recording a royal line of succession. Matthew is proving that Jesus is the heir apparent, the rightful king of Israel.

In other words, monarchs may not always pass down their reigning authority to a direct descendent. When the physical line is interrupted, there are other protocols in place to ensure succession. So, Matthew is a little more free with the actual biological lineage of Jesus to prove that he is the rightful king of God’s people. And you know the one thing that causes a king to pass on his royal reign down the family line? Death. But no one can succeed Jesus in his royalty because Jesus conquered death in his resurrection. He is king forevermore. Revelation 11:15 “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.””

Epoch 3: The Kingdom

Although the Davidic line is promised to reign forever, it seems to be defeated during the exile. After the kingdom is split due to Solomon’s son’s misrule, Babylon eventually comes in 586 B.C to take Judah (where the Davidic king ruled) into exile. During this time, they are forced to live under a foreign king and his gods. There are, however, several times when these foreign kings would recognize the God of Israel as the one true God (e.g. Nebuchadnezzar). Look at verse 13.Matthew 1:13–16 ESV

and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

During this epoch, the kingdom of God was promised. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar is given a dream where all the major kingdoms of the earth are represented in a single statue. Then something remarkable happens. Daniel 2:34-35Daniel 2:34–35 ESV

As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

The book of Daniel has this dream of the kingdoms of the earth being struck by the kingdom of God precisely at the part of the statue that most believe represents the Roman empire. The people of Israel expected the kingdom of God and yearned for it, though most understood it as a physical, earthly kingdom. They expected this kingdom to be restored when they were allowed to return from exile by King Cyrus of the Persians, but this was not so. The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt along with the temple; however, the older people wept when they say the temple rebuilt because it was so much worse than what the temple used to be (Ezra 3:12). They soon realized the kingdom they established after exile was not the one the prophets promised would take place during their exile. And then, they were eventually conquered by yet another empire.

Daniel also makes another striking prophecy in chapter 7. He has another vision where all the kingdoms of the earth are represented by vicious beasts that no one can tame or kill. Each one getting progressively worse. They dominate the earth, killing and doing what they please. God allows these beasts to reign for a period of time, but then. . .Daniel 7:13–14 ESV

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

So, even though it seems like the Davidic line is finished during the exile and even after by these various kingdoms who ravage the earth, the promise again is given. The phrase “son of man” is used often of one who is a human. Jesus uses this title of himself, not out of mere humility because he is fully human, but to point to this very passage. Jesus is the one to approach the ancient of days riding on the clouds. A cloud rider, for the ancients, was a clear sign of divinity. And thus this son of man is not only human but also fully divine. How in the world can all these things take place? There are so many promises, and yet they are all fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Matthew mentions in verse 16 that Jesus is called the Christ. Christ is not Jesus’s last name. They didn’t have last names back then, but if Jesus did have a last name it would be something like “son of Joseph” or “of Nazareth” (where he grew up). Christ is Jesus’s title. It is a Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. Both terms mean, “anointed one.” Various things and people are anointed throughout the Old Testament to be devoted to God and complete a task for him. But Jesus’s anointing is far superior to all other anointings. Look at verse 17Matthew 1:17 ESV

So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Matthew purposefully divides up history into three major time periods to present us with the fact that all of history points to Jesus. He sometimes feels free to skip some names here and there to divide up history into three equal portions. I added the time period before Abraham to include the fact that Jesus is the promised offspring to crush the head of Satan (Gen. 3:15). And Jesus is the promised offspring of Abraham in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed. Jesus is the son of David who will rule forever. Jesus is the Son of Man whom God sees as the rightful ruler not just of a mere earthly kingdom of Israel, but of the kingdom of God. His kingdom is inaugurated at his first coming and will be fully realized at his second coming. So, even though his kingdom is not fully realized, we are apart of his kingdom now.

Colossians 1:13 “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,” So while it is not fully recognized—death and sin are still regular realities in our lives—we are in the kingdom now.

Now that we have considered the meaning of the text, let’s look at some specific application. Again, Matthew divides up history into three equal portions to show that all of history points to Jesus. We could even expand that and say, not just all of history, but the entire timeline, past, present, and future, points to Jesus. So the question for application is how could we do anything less?

You remember the vision of Daniel where the rock representing the kingdom of God at Christ’s first coming, destroyed the earthly kingdoms? Then what happened? That rock then grew into a great mountain filling up the entire earth. This is God’s kingdom that we are a part of right now! And so the question for you and for me is whose kingdom are we building?

God has given us all a drive to do and to build. All of us right now are building a kingdom. Maybe you are building the kingdom of self. Maybe you are building a kingdom of this world. But I pray we can see the importance of building the kingdom of God.

I have to ask myself this question all the time, “Whose kingdom am I building?” It’s so easy for people especially ministers to believe they are building the kingdom of God but they are really building their own kingdom. I remember during Covid when we moved a lot of ministry online, I was constantly watching the stats on my videos. . .how many views do I have? How many likes do I have? Sometimes I still find myself getting caught up in these stats. How many people are paying attention to me? But then I have to take a step back and ask this simple diagnostic question: whose kingdom am I building?

I just saw a news article this morning put out by the Trinity Foundation on June 28th of this year and reads, “40 Church and Ministry Leaders’ Beach Houses, Beach Condos and Waterfront Homes Identified; Their Total Net Worth Is $140 Million” and it makes you wonder, whose kingdom are they building? It certainly not God’s kingdom. I’m not saying its wrong to have such things, you can have nice homes and waterfront places, you can have lots of personal wealth and still use these resources for God’s kingdom. But its certainly another thing to fleece God’s flock for personal gain.

A lot of time preachers present building God’s kingdom as going into ministry or becoming a missionary and going overseas. But I want to submit to you that building his kingdom is much simpler than that. We can do this on an individual basis and together as a church. I believe it all boils down to a single attribute: faithfulness.

Do you want to build God’s kingdom? Be faithful to him. Read the Word, soak in it. We know the devil is about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. In this day more than ever we have to be diligent in putting on the full armor of God. We have to ensure our individual lives, both public and secret are devoted to God. Simple, individual devotion to God is building his kingdom.

You want to build God’s kingdom? Be faithful to your spouse and your family. You know as well as I do that the world, Satan, is doing his best to destroy the family right before our very eyes. Divorce rates are up. Sexual perversion is stopping and redefining marriage. Abortion is killing children. There is a war on the family! And yet, the family was the first institution ordained by God himself. Building God’s kingdom is as simple as being faithful to your family.

Do you want to build God’s kingdom? Be faithful to your community. God commands his people in Jeremiah 29 to seek the welfare of the community in which they live. And by the way, they were in exile at the time! Do you know by and large its Christians who started orphanages, hospitals, and democracies to prevent tyranny. And even though there are clear, active forces at work to put and end to good and right societies, we are to work for the good of our society. I’m not saying the United States is perfect nor is it the kingdom of God, but there are clear dividing lines between ideas and philosophies that seek the welfare of this society and those that seek to destroy it. Building the kingdom of God in this society can look as simple as taking the time to vote.

Finally, we can build the kingdom of God together as a church. And this can be difficult because we can be so focused on building the kingdom of our local church that we lose sight of the kingdom of God. Let me give you and example of this. There was a news article that came out a few weeks ago about a mega church in South Carolina that did some questionable marketing tactics. So, there’s a technology called “geofencing.” What this does essentially is if you with your phone go into a certain area you will get ads for whatever company geofenced that area. I was in Panama City recently and sure enough while I was doing some school work in a coffee shop I was getting ads for the nearby Skywheel. So, this church geofenced every other church within a certain mile radius. If you went to any church in that area you would get an ad for this new church popping up on your device.

And we have to step back and wonder, whose kingdom is that church building? All sorts of churches, especially in the West, have resorted to cheap gimmicks to draw a crowd. Then when that crowd gets in the building they soften to gospel message and don’t talk much about sin. Instead they focus on principles to make your life better presumably with a little gospel sprinkled in here and there. Now tell me, whose kingdom are these churches building? If all of history is focused on Jesus, why is it that so many churches are focused on how many numbers they have in the building? When a church has to throw Jesus, the gospel, the full counsel of God out the window in order to draw a crowd it’s difficult to argue that their main focus is Jesus.

What is a church for? First of all, the service, the preacher, the stage, etc. do not make up the local church. All of us believers together are the church. So, what is the church service for? The church service is primarily for the edification of believers through God’s ordained means: the preaching of the Word, worship in song, and the practice of the ordinances.

If all of history, the entire timeline is focused on Christ and his kingdom, then we as Goshen Baptist will be focused on Christ and his kingdom. We will not resort to cheap gimmicks, extreme service, or fun events simply to draw a crowd and “get our name out there.” We will do everything we can to build Christ’s kingdom and hold firmly to this promise, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”

I’m done with the soft, wimpy churchianity that’s infected our nation’s churches. So what if our name rises or falls as long as Christ’s kingdom is built! It’s all about him, not about us!