"God with Us," Just as We Are

October 7, 2019

"God with Us," Just as We Are

Matthew 1

David Hope

Central Truth

Even in His birth and bloodline, Jesus does not shy away from sinners. The profound truth and great comfort of the gospel is that He has come to be "God with us" and to heal the wounds that we want to hide from Him.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,^{1

1:3
Greek Aram; also verse 4} 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,^{2

1:7
Asaph is probably an alternate spelling of Asa; some manuscripts Asa; also verse 8} 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,^{3

1:10
Amos is probably an alternate spelling of Amon; some manuscripts Amon; twice in this verse} and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,^{4

1:12
Greek Salathiel; twice in this verse} and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

17 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.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ^{5

1:18
Some manuscripts of the Christ} took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed^{6

1:18
That is, legally pledged to be married} to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Footnotes

[1] 1:3 Greek Aram; also verse 4
[2] 1:7 Asaph is probably an alternate spelling of Asa; some manuscripts Asa; also verse 8
[3] 1:10 Amos is probably an alternate spelling of Amon; some manuscripts Amon; twice in this verse
[4] 1:12 Greek Salathiel; twice in this verse
[5] 1:18 Some manuscripts of the Christ
[6] 1:18 That is, legally pledged to be married

Do you ever feel the need to hide your imperfections when you're around other people or thinking about God? I know I do. I've known God for years, but I still sometimes believe the lie that to be loved by Him I have to keep my ongoing struggle with sin out of sight.

However, the story of Jesus, starting in Matthew 1, immediately destroys that notion. Another name given to Jesus in this passage is Immanuel, "God with us." He is both God (shown through His prophesied lineage and conception), and He is "with us," born as a man to live among mankind.

Let's focus on the second half today—on Jesus being "with us." When we hear of Jesus' moral perfection, we can forget that He came in human form to draw near to us when we wouldn't and couldn't draw near to Him.

Instead, Matthew tells a different story through the not-so-fresh fruit on Jesus' own family tree. At first, we just see familiar heroes of the Old Testament, more examples of unattainable greatness. But a closer glance shows a lot of the sin that we try to hide and that Jesus came to heal.

Here are a few examples:

• Jacob deceived multiple members of his family and spent years of his life on the run as a result.

• Judah stained this genealogy by sleeping with his daughter-in-law, believing her to be a prostitute.

• David fathered a child by sleeping with his friend Uriah's wife and then ordering that Uriah be abandoned in battle so that he would be killed.

• A host of kings in Jesus' line worshiped idols rather than God.

God even elects for Jesus to be born in humble circumstances and visited by shepherds whose work made them ceremonially unclean.

From His own birth, Jesus came to be close to sinners like us in spite of our sin. Instead of sitting on a moral mountaintop and beckoning us to climb up to Him, He came to meet us in our failure and bear our burden. In short, He is "God with us." What a wonderful truth! Whatever we've done, it doesn't scare the God who became man for our sake.

1. Do you ever think God has distanced Himself from you because you're not perfect? Does Jesus' origin (along with the rest of His life) make you think differently? How about Romans 5:8?

2. Do you feel free to be honest with yourself, with God, and with peers/elders in your church about the sin in your life? If not, why? See James 5:16.

3. Is there an ongoing pattern of sin in your life that you haven't confronted and confessed, for which you haven't accepted forgiveness, or from which you haven't repented? See 1 John 1:9-10. If your answer is yes, consider Watermark's re:generation ministry; going through that healing process with you is the volunteers' specialty!

4. If you claim Jesus as Lord, are you prepared to draw near to and serve others in spite of their sin as Jesus did for you? See Ephesians 4:32.