The son of God.

Luke 3:23-38 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Genealogy of Jesus

²³ When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Hesli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Genealogies were important to the Jewish people. They traced their heritage as descendents of Abraham, through whom the promise was given. They also traced their heritage as to which tribe, which of the sons of Israel they were descended from. Their tribal identity influenced their responsibility regarding things from temple worship to battle alignment. This record of Jesus genealogy shows Him to be descended from Abraham, part of the tribe of Judah, a strong conquering tribe among the tribes of Israel. It also traced His lineage through David, giving Jesus legal blood right to the throne of Israel, fulfilling prophetic scripture regarding the Messiah.

The genealogy of Christ also holds many things of great value for us. First this record goes not only back to Abraham, but all the way back to Adam, so the genealogy of every person could then also be traced back to the same origin. Jesus is sometimes referred to as the second Adam, the second Son of God. What we see then in this genealogy is God’s plan to redeem the mistake, the sin of Adam, the first son of God, through Christ the second Adam, through the promise of Abraham, from the conquering tribe of Judah, through David’s line to reign forever. Through Adam, we all received an inheritance of sin, through Christ we are given a new inheritance as children of God, we too become sons of God regardless of our bloodline. God’s promise to Abraham was: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." (Genesis 22:18) Through Christ, the seed of Abraham, all nations are blessed with the opportunity to be redeemed, reconciled and restored to God’s original intention, the plan God had for man through Adam:    Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28)

We see in Christ, the word made flesh, the revelation of all scripture, from Genesis to Revelation scripture reveals God’s plan to redeem, reconcile and restore all things to His original intention. We see, as we look closely at the genealogy of Christ some of the many things, many sins, from which we are redeemed. Let’s look first at the early part of the genealogy of the tribe of Judah. The text says Jesus line was through, Perez, the son of Judah. Perez was born through the unlawful relationship of Judah with his daughter-in-law Tamar, the full account can be read in Genesis 38.  

A bit farther down the line we see Obed, the son of Boaz. Boaz married Ruth, the Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi. That story of course is recorded in the book of Ruth. What is often overlooked is the origin of the Moabites. Genesis 19: 35-37 reveals their origin:    So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. 36Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. Ruth was a descendant of Moab a tribe born out of incest, yet included in the lineage of Christ the redeemer.

David himself, while called by God a man after His own heart and to whom God promised the eternal rule, was an adulterer and a murderer. Revelation 21:8 lists those who will not be redeemed.     But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”  That list is well represented in the genealogy of Christ. That list is well represented by every person including you and I.

God’s plan, His purpose is not for us to experience the separation and torment of the second death and the lake of fire. God is: not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)     God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)      1 Peter 3:18 says: For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;  

The genealogy of Christ shows us what sort of people we came from, what sort of people we are through our natural lineage. Christ though came that we would be redeemed from that inheritance, that we would be reconciled to God through the cross. Jesus came that we would be restored to all that God intended. That’s the story of scripture, from Genesis to Revelation it is the story of God’s plan to redeem, reconcile and restore man. Regardless of the sin we have committed, regardless of the sin in our family history, our inheritance is not in that natural line. Our inheritance is in Christ Jesus. Through the cross of Christ we are born again, restored to God’s original intention, created in His image and His likeness. Blessed by God to have dominion on earth.      God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  

My prayer today is from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love ⁵ He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He lavished on  us. In all wisdom and insight ⁹ He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him…   Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, may I walk in the fullness of Your redemption, reconciliation and restoration. Regardless of what was I am restored to what You intended.   Amen.