Bible Verse: Matthew 1:1 The book of the ... - Church in Manila

THE KING’S ANTECEDENTS AND STATUS (1) Bible Verse: Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. [THE OPENING WORD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT] In any kind of writing, both the opening word and the closing word are important. When many Christians come to the New Testament, they skip over the first part of chapter one of Matthew and start reading at verse 18. It seems that in their New Testament there is no such paragraph as Matthew 1:1-17. But thank God for this rich portion of the Word! The Bible is a book of life. This life is nothing less than the living Person of Christ. In the Old Testament Christ is portrayed as the coming One. In the New Testament, the One whose coming was predicted has come. Thus, the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old. St. Augustine once said that the New Testament is contained in the Old, and the Old Testament is expressed in the New. These two testaments are actually one, revealing one Person who is our life. This Person is too wonderful. He is both God and man. He is the mingling of God with man, for in Him the divine nature and the human nature are mingled together. He is the King, and He is a bondslave. He is wonderful! No human being has ever spoken words like He spoke, words so profound, yet so clear. For example, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), and, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). Plato and Confucius were two great philosophers, and people appreciated the things they said, but neither of them could say, “I am the light of the world.” No one else could say, “I am the life,” or, “I am the way,” or, “I am the reality” (John 14:6). These are simple words and short sentences— “I am,” “I am what I am,” and “I am that I am”—but they are great and profound. [FOUR BIOGRAPHIES OF ONE PERSON] Although the New Testament is a short book, it begins with four biographies of one Person, four books telling us of the life of Christ. Each of us has four sides: the front and the back, the right and the left. If you look at me from the front, you can see seven holes on my face. But if I turn my back to you, all the holes disappear. On my right side you can see a little hole, and on my left side, another little hole. If you would make an accurate copy of my image, you need to take a picture of every side. This is exactly what has been done in the New Testament. Why do we have four Gospels? Because Christ has at least four main aspects. Christ is great! Because He is all-inclusive and unsearchably rich, He needs several biographies. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John present different aspects of Christ because each writer was a different kind of person. Matthew, for instance, was a tax collector. Among the Jewish people in ancient times, a tax collector was a despised person. Nevertheless, Matthew wrote the first biography of Christ. Mark was an ordinary man, and Luke was a physician and a Gentile. At first, John was a common fisherman, but eventually he became the very aged, experienced apostle. Each wrote a different biography about the same Christ. This living Person needs many biographies.

Among the four Gospels only two, Matthew and Luke, have genealogies. Matthew tells us that Jesus is the proper descendant of the royal family, that He is the legal heir of the royal throne. Such a person surely needs a genealogy telling of His origin and descent. Luke presents Jesus as a proper, normal man. To show Jesus as a proper man also requires a genealogy. In Mark, Jesus is pictured as a bondslave, as one sold into slavery. A bondslave has no need of a genealogy; hence, Mark does not include one. John tells us that Jesus is God. “In the beginning was the Word...and the Word was God.” With Him there was no beginning, no descent. He is eternal, with no beginning of life nor end of life (Heb. 7:3). In the beginning was God! For John to talk about His genealogy would be ridiculous. [THE SON OF DAVID AND THE SON OF ABRAHAM] Now we come to the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. It calls Him the son of David and the son of Abraham. Christ is the son of David (Matt. 22:42, 45; Rev. 22:16). Solomon, the son of David, was a type of Christ in three main aspects. First, he was a type of Christ inheriting the kingdom (2 Sam. 7:12b, 13; Jer. 23:5; Luke 1:32-33). Second, Solomon had wisdom and spoke the word of wisdom. In Matthew 12 we see that Christ also had wisdom and spoke the word of wisdom. In this chapter, Christ referred to Himself as the greater Solomon (v. 42). A greater than Solomon was there, and He spoke words of wisdom. No human words are as wise as the words of Christ. Third, Solomon built the temple of God (2 Sam. 7:13). As the son of David, Christ builds up God’s temple, the church. This book of generation says only that Christ is the son of David and the son of Abraham, not the son of anyone else. In the Old Testament, there was a clear prophecy that Christ would be the son of Abraham. Isaac was a type of Christ. With Isaac as a type of Christ there were also three main aspects. First, Isaac brought the blessing to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles (Gen. 22:18a; Gal. 3:16, 14). Second, he was offered to God unto death and was resurrected (Gen. 22:1-12; Heb. 11:17, 19). Third, he received the bride (Gen. 24:67). This is a type of Christ as the promised One who brought the blessing to all nations, who was also offered to death, who was resurrected, and who, after His resurrection, will receive His Bride (John 3:29; Rev. 19:7). One day the Holy Spirit, typified by Abraham’s servant, will bring the spiritual, divine, heavenly Rebekah to her heavenly Isaac. The son of Abraham received the bride, and the son of David built up the temple. With Christ, the Bride is the temple, and the temple is the Bride. This is why it says that Christ is the son of Abraham and the son of David. (Life-study of Matthew, Message 1)

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THE KING’S ANTECEDENTS AND STATUS (2) Bible Verse: Matthew 1:2 Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. [ABRAHAM] The genealogy in Matthew begins with Abraham. [Adam represents the created and fallen race, but after the created and fallen race, God called another race. God selected another race. God called Abraham to be the father of the called race.] In the first ten and a half chapters of Genesis God tried to work with the created race, but He did not get through. The created race failed Him. Man fell to such an extent that all mankind rebelled against God to the uttermost, and built the tower and city of Babel to express their rebellion (Gen. 11:1-9). So God gave up the created and fallen race, and He called one, Abraham, out of that race to be the father of another race. Out of a place filled with rebellion and idolatry, a place where everyone was one with Satan, God called a man named Abraham (Gen. 12:1-2; Heb. 11:8). From the time God called him out of Babel (later Babylon) into Canaan, God gave up the Adamic race and invested all His interest in this new race, with Abraham as its head. This is the called race, the transformed race. It is not a race according to nature, but a race according to faith. God’s kingdom is for this race. It could never be with the fallen race. Thus, Matthew, dealing with the kingdom of the heavens, begins with Abraham. [ISAAC] Although we are the race of Abraham today, are we walking in the way of Ishmael, or are we living in the way of Isaac? The way of Ishmael is to fulfill God’s purpose by our own energy and work. The way of Isaac is to put ourselves into God, trusting Him to do everything to fulfill His purpose for us. What a great difference between these two ways! Ishmael has nothing to do with Christ. Whatever we do, whatever we try to accomplish, has nothing to do with Christ. We must have Isaac. If we would have Isaac, we must cast out Ishmael, stop our work, and place ourselves into the very working of God. If we let Him fulfill His promise for us, then we shall have Isaac. [JACOB] Verse 2 also says, “Isaac begot Jacob.” Although he was a descendant of Abraham, according to his striving and his nature, he was altogether a descendant of the Devil. Do you see this? Positionally speaking, Jacob was a descendant of Abraham, but dispositionally speaking, he was a child of the Devil. What did Jacob need? He needed God’s dealing. Hence, God raised up his brother, Esau, and then his uncle, Laban, to deal with him. God even raised up four wives plus twelve male helpers and a female helper. There was a great deal of suffering in the life of Jacob, but this suffering came from his striving, not from God’s election. The more Jacob strove, the more he suffered. We may laugh at Jacob, but we are exactly the same as he. The more we try to do something, the more problems we have. In Christ, we need, firstly, the life of Abraham. We need to forget what we are, live by Christ, and trust in Him. Secondly, in Christ we have no need of Ishmael, our doing; we need Isaac, His

doing. Thirdly, we do not need Jacob, but Israel. We do not need the natural Jacob, but the transformed Israel, the prince of God. [JUDAH AND HIS BROTHERS] Verse 2 also says, “Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.” Jacob’s first son was Reuben. Reuben should have had the first son’s portion, which was the birthright. The birthright included three elements: the double portion of the land, the priesthood, and the kingship. Today we are the “church of the firstborn” (Heb. 12:23). Our birthright is also composed of these three elements: the double portion of Christ, the priesthood, and the kingship. We are in Christ, and we can enjoy Him in double portion. We are also priests and kings of God. However, many Christians have lost their birthright. They have been saved and can never be lost, but they have lost their extra portion of Christ. If we would enjoy the extra portion of Christ, we must keep our birthright. All Christians have been reborn as priests (Rev. 1:6). But today many have lost their priesthood. Because they have lost their praying position, it is hard for them to pray. All Christians are also reborn as kings (Rev. 5:10), but many have lost their kingship. When the Lord Jesus returns, the overcoming saints will be with Him to be priests of God and co-kings of Christ (Rev. 20:4-6). At the same time, they will enjoy the inheritance of this earth (Rev. 2:26). [Not many Christians are like that today.] If we are like this [persons with a heart caring for the Lord’s desire above all things], we shall surely keep our birthright. The extra portion of the enjoyment of Christ, the priesthood, and the kingship will be ours. Even today we can enjoy Christ in a double measure. We can pray, we can rule, and we can reign. Then, when the Lord Jesus returns, we shall be with Him enjoying the inheritance of this earth. We shall be priests contacting God continually and kings reigning over the people. (Life-study of Matthew, Message 2)


THE KING’S ANTECEDENTS AND STATUS (3) Bible Verses Matthew 1:3 And Judah begot Pharez and Zarah of Tamar, and Pharez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Aram, 1:5 And Salmon begot Boaz of Rahab, and Boaz begot Obed of Ruth, and Obed begot Jesse, 1:6 And Jesse begot David the king. And David begot Solomon of her who had been the wife of Uriah. Whatever is recorded in the Old Testament is related to Christ. The whole Old Testament is a record of Christ, either directly or indirectly. If we want to understand the genealogy of Christ, we must go back to the Old Testament and read it carefully. If we do this, we shall realize that the Old Testament is a record of Christ. This proves that the entire Bible is a revelation of Christ. We have seen from the genealogy of Christ that His generation includes all kinds of people: low, high, good, bad, fathers, kings, civilians, captives, recovered ones, and even women with a poor reputation. Nevertheless, we must realize that there are some governing principles here. From the lives of all these persons, we can discover certain principles which govern our association with Christ. No matter what we are or where we came from, we can be included in the generation of Christ if we fulfill the principles. [TAMAR] The first one we shall consider is Tamar. Tamar conceived through committing incest with her father-in-law (Gen. 38:6-27). Morally speaking, this was deplorable and ethically speaking, it was awful. In a sense, what Tamar did was not good at all. Nevertheless, she was righteous. The fault was not on her side, but on the side of her father-in-law, Judah, who admitted that she was more righteous than he (Gen. 38:26). Tamar was the wife of the first son of Judah. This son should have inherited the birthright. But Tamar’s husband was wicked in the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord took his life (Gen. 38:7). The Lord also slew Judah’s second son (Gen. 38:8-10). 14). But Tamar did not give up; rather, she even used an unseemly means to obtain the birthright. Whether the means was unseemly or not, Tamar did her best to get that birthright. To have the birthright is simply to gain Christ. In order to gain Christ, we must be ready to take a way that does not seem to be the best way. If you want to gain Christ, you should not care for the way. Do not be religious; do not keep the rules and regulations. Gain Christ! You need to gain Christ. By any means, get the birthright. [RAHAB] We proceed to Rahab (v. 5). Rahab was a harlot in Jericho (Josh. 2:1), a place cursed by God for eternity. After she turned to God and His people, she married Salmon, a leader in the army of the leading tribe of Judah and one of the men sent by Joshua to spy out Jericho. Eventually, Rahab married him, and they brought forth a godly man named Boaz.

Now we must pay our full attention to the principles governing our association with Christ. The first principle is that, no matter what our background is, we must turn to God and to God’s people. Second, we must marry the proper person, not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense. After we have turned to God and to God’s people, we must be joined, built up, and involved with the proper person. Third, we must bring forth the proper fruit. Then we will be fully in the portion of the birthright of Christ. We must turn to the Lord, and we must turn to the Lord’s people; we must also take care of how we become involved with others. If we become involved with the proper persons, surely we shall bring forth the proper fruit. This will keep us in the full enjoyment of the birthright of Christ. [DAVID BEGETTING SOLOMON OF HER WHO HAD BEEN THE WIFE OF URIAH] David was a man after the heart of God (1 Sam. 13:14). God Himself told Saul that He would replace him, for He had found a man after His heart. In his whole life, David did nothing wrong, except one great thing: he murdered a man and took his wife. In one act David committed two great sins, murder and adultery. God Himself condemned this. The Bible says that David did right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of his life, except for this one thing (1 Kings 15:5). David murdered Uriah and took his wife, Bathsheba. After David committed murder and adultery, he was rebuked by the prophet Nathan, whom God sent purposely to condemn him (2 Sam. 12:112). After he was condemned, David repented. Psalm 51 is David’s psalm of repentance. David repented and God forgave (2 Sam. 12:13). There was repentance and there was forgiveness. Altogether we have three items here: transgression, repentance, and forgiveness. If we put all three together, the result is Solomon. First there were transgression and repentance plus forgiveness. After that, there was Solomon (2 Sam. 12:24), the one who built God’s temple. [Y]ou should never say, “Let us do evil that good may come.” You must do your best. But no matter how hard you may try to do everything right in the eyes of the Lord, sooner or later something will happen. Suddenly, you will murder, take over others, transgress. However, after you transgress, there will be a way for you to repent. If you repent, God will be ready to forgive you. Then you will beget a son and name him Solomon. The name Solomon means “peaceful” (2 Sam. 12:24; 1 Chron. 22:9). But Solomon also has another name, “Jedidiah” (2 Sam. 12:25), which means “beloved of the Lord.” To you, Solomon means “peaceful,” but to the Lord, he means “beloved of the Lord.” This son will be the one who will build up the house of God, today’s church. (Life-study of Matthew, Message 3)
