IS GOD BEATEN?

The genealogy of Jesus Christ - what a rogues’ gallery that is... flawed patriarchs, then flawed kings, then powerless governors.                                   
A truly tragic saga of Man’s failure!                                                                       

Do you remember how the royal line was all but wiped out, except for a princess hiding her baby nephew Joash for 6 years?   That was a close call but it’s worse now!  
God once promised to King David: “Thy throne shall be established forever”... but then put a curse on the last king!.. that’s Jechonias.                                                 

Has God’s plan of redemption been defeated?  Has He painted Himself into a corner?
There is only one way He can redeem the situation with the promised Messiah...    
God must miraculously stoop into humanity - Himself - as promised 700 years before!... Matthew 1:18-

“Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel...GOD WITH US”

Notice this child is not just without a biological father but...                                                          ‘of the HOLY GHOST’



The angel of the Lord appeared unto him

Who is this Mary? Never mind.  

Joseph may come from cursed royalty but must now step up as a ‘son of David’: firstly to marry Mary as planned and then to name the Child...     


JESUS: “For he shall save His people from their sins”                                     

...with more angelic instructions to come – to be obeyed instantly!

Whoever will honour this new King?.....NEXT
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/one-special-family.html



'...she brought forth her firstborn Son; and he called His Name Jesus.'

Who do You think You are?

What a bold claim...                                                                                          
Jesus not only a son of Abraham and son of David, but He is the Christ or Anointed One!    How can that possibly be?                                                                                       
The last surviving King of Judah was Jeconias (Jeconiah) who was cursed by God and died in Babylon: ‘Write ye this man childless...no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.’

So let’s check out this extraordinary family tree during 2000 years of human history...

• 14 generations during the era of prophets & judges    
• 14 generations during the reign of kings                                                          
• 14 generations during the rule of governors; no ark

Too neat huh?  Matthew (ch1) has chosen to leave out...                                                  

• 3 kings closely related to wicked queen Jezebel                                                
• 2 sons of Josiah – vassals of Babylon

The monster: Manassah



Ah but it’s still a rogues’ gallery... murderers, liars, adulterers, fornicators, idolaters, polygamists, spiritualists....                      

What a sorry tale of Man’s failure!!        

Even the monster Manasses (Manassah) who once sacrificed children and encouraged permanent idolatry!  However after imprisonment in Babylon he repented and was restored to the throne.                                                                  

4 women are ‘ring-ins’: Thamar resorted to prostitution, Rachab was a Canaanite prostitute, Ruth was a Moabitess, and the straying wife of Urias – Bathsheba.     

What amazing divine grace!!                                      
As for Jeconiah, it seems he adopted Salathiel (Shealtiel) father of the first governor Zorobabel (Zerubbabel).

Finally we have the step-father of Jesus – Joseph, a descendant of Solomon, son of David. He marries Mary, a descendant of Nathan, son of David.

Yes, Jesus DOES HAVE LEGAL RIGHT to the throne of David!

“I will overturn, overturn, overturn...until He come whose right it is”


Has God painted Himself into corner?...NEXT
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/is-god-beaten.html

 

JESUS A JEW??

Back to Matthew's Gospel...

The prophet Malachi wrote: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me” but since then... heaven has been silent for over 400 years! 

Soon two young men will appear on the scene, Yochanan and his cousin Yeshua - that’s John the baptiser announcing Jesus, who will then call Mattityahu to follow Him. 

Here he is... Matthew collecting taxes in Capernaum for the hated Romans but he will obey Jesus instantly and later on record the life of his new Master in ‘the Gospel according to Matthew’.



Mattityahu

Apparently he used an Hebraic dialect of Aramaic, then the language of the Jews, so let’s put on our kippuh and try to read Matthew's account as a Jew would...



Aw, not another boring genealogy!?

“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” KJV

Ah... many a Jew has opened the B’rit Hadashah (NT) to be shocked and thrilled at finding the Christian’s Jesus is really a Jew!... Is He really the Messiah? (Christ)
Theologians have tried to ‘harmonise’ the 3 synoptic gospel accounts... but God’s Word gives a 4-fold presentation of Jesus Christ, beginning with: ‘the King of the Jews’.  
In fact ‘the Kingdom of Heaven’ is exclusive to Matthew – he uses it ~23 times.

Yup. Matthew lays it right on the line for us folks.
Jesus is The King they’ve been waiting for.    




Did you say ‘Son of David’??                                          
Let’s see if this Jesus really does qualify to be the new King of the Jews...NEXT
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/who-do-you-think-you-are.html
 

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FINALLY...

Ever heard a sermon on this?

“...whatsoever things are true...

honest... just...  pure... lovely... of good report                                                  
– if there be any virtue and if there be any praise                                            
– think on these things.”

Wouldn’t that empty today’s churches quick smart!

So how do Christians ever get adult movies, horror thrillers, porn flicks, gossip magazines, novels... through that filter?

Did you notice how Paul’s letter to the Philippians addressed not only...

• the hearts: “Rejoice!”
• but the minds too!

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3

 

NEXT:  Mattityahu                                                                                                                  
Yup, we’re going to open ‘The Gospel according to Matthew’

ON THE SAME PAGE

We opened Paul the prisoner’s letter to the Philippians... and found it’s full of joy!  
But why joy?...  “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.”

Yup, a Christian’s joy is... ‘in Christ Jesus’

So are these Philippians perfect?  Of course not! It seems there’s even a spat between Euodias and Syntyche who should be “ of the same mind in the Lord”.

Have you heard people ‘agree to disagree’ over doctrine?...

In essentials – unity 

In non-essentials – liberty  

In all other – charity



On the same page

It might sound good but let’s see if Paul would buy that one...

“...stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel...”                                                                              

“ being of one accord, of one mind”                                                             

“let us mind the same thing”

So does Paul give us a role model on this? He sure does!...

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God... He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Ah, so it takes humility too!... and we have Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus as examples. Wouldn’t that solve a few problems!...                                                             
“in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves”                     
Then we will ‘shine as lights in the world’, while others... ‘mind earthly things’.

Oh by the way... even the world’s orchestras know to play ‘on the same page’ to give their audience enjoyment. Imagine if they weren't!

NEXT: "Finally....

REAL JOY!!

How about some normal Christianity for a change...                                                        
Just open the apostle Paul’s letter to the PHILIPPIANS in Macedonia... no political in-fighting or immorality or compromise – not even a ‘Senior Pastor’ running the show!  
Just joy amid persecution.

You can read it for yourself but here’s some background...      

Philippi was a Roman colony on the famous battleground that established the Roman Empire, situated on the vital Egnatian highway linking Europe with Asia, and a medical centre popular among army veterans in retirement.                                          

What a master-stroke of the Holy Spirit – directing Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke here, bringing the gospel to Europe with a BANG! of course... as in earthquake. What else happened on that first day?                    
Prayer, conversions, household baptism, persecution, floggings, then...                  

‘Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God; the prisoners heard them.’

Europe...welcome to the gospel of Jesus Christ! 

Now Paul is elderly, again imprisoned and possibly awaiting execution, when unexpectedly Epaphroditus arrives in Rome with a gift to show that Philippi hadn’t forgotten beloved Paul.
Does he thank them all as ‘the pope in Rome’?  

No, he and Timothy take the humble place of a doulos (slave) of Jesus Christ.

Where’s the doom and gloom with the executioner’s sword hanging over their heads?

No, it is full of JOY – 16 times!...and why not? The gospel had reached all the way to ‘all the palace’ and now many of Caesar’s household believe!                     

Meanwhile there’s none of that ‘soul sleep’ nonsense for Paul...                  

“For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain...to depart and to be with Christ; which is far better”

So where is the reason for real joy?  That comes NEXT!

7 x 7 WRAPS UP JOHN's GOSPEL

Whatever has John’s Gospel got to do with wire-rope arrestor cables on aircraft carriers? Notice there are 7 bundles of 7 strands: ‘7 x 7’... a very strong arrangement of the highest single-digit prime number.... just like John’s Gospel!                       

7 times Jesus identifies as ‘ego eimi’: I AM ...including ch18 where a band of armed Roman soldiers are knocked over backwards by the I AM!                 

7 titles of Jesus... (plus a bonus for the future: the ‘Son of Man’)                                

The Word, God, the Light, the Son of God, the King of Israel, the Lamb of God, and the Messiah/Christ

7 signs/miracles from Jesus – just from His voice!... (plus a bonus 153 great fish!)

• Ch 2: water into wine - “Whatever He says to you, do it!”
• Ch 4: a nobleman ‘believed the word’ – his son was healed
• Ch 5: “Rise, take up your bed and walk”
• Ch 6: The Bread of Life feeds 5000+
• Ch 6: Jesus walks on a stormy sea - “It is I, be not afraid”; instantly their ship arrives!
• Ch 9: Mud in the eye... then: “Go wash”
• Ch 11: “Lazarus come forth”

7x “I am the...”

• The Bread of life
• The Light of the world
• The Door
• The Good Shepherd
• The Resurrection
• The Way, the Truth and the Life
• The True Vine

7 claims by Jesus in chapter 5:

• He works with the Father
• The Father loves the Son
• He gives life like the Father
• The Father has given judgment to the Son – as Son of Man!
• All should honour the Son and the Father
• His words give eternal life to any who believe
• His voice will even raise the dead!                                             

 7 charges laid by Jesus in chapter 8:

• Ye seek to kill Me
• Ye are from beneath… I am from above
• Ye are of this world… I am not of this world
• Ye believe Me not
• Ye are of your father the devil
• God’s words; ye therefore hear them not
• I honour my Father… ye do dishonour Me

That’s 6 sequences of 7. There are lots more in John’s Gospel, so... you can find a 7^th.

What was John’s purpose? “...that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through His Name.”                  

There was double witness to this!... John the Baptist, Jesus’ works, the Father’s public endorsement, and the Scriptures.

What was that warning from John the Baptist?                                                     

“He that believeth NOT the Son…the WRATH of God abideth on him”

Remember the claim John made at the outset?... “the Word was God”          

Finally the disciples were sure: “My Lord and my God!”                                      

John also claimed... ‘Esaias [Isaiah] saw His [Jesus’] glory and spoke of Him’.  Yup...700 years before!                           

The Jews were expecting their new king or Messiah. What they weren’t expecting was God showing up in the person of Jesus – the real temple of God!                   

Why??  Love for the people of the world! ...and that’s how John felt – loved by Jesus.                                                                                    

“For God so loved the world 

that he gave His only begotten Son 

that whosoever believeth in Him     

may not perish but have everlasting life.”

  So why do people claim Jesus was just a good man and not God Manifest?


NEXT: We open apostle Paul's letter to the PHILIPPIANS to find real joy...
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/real-joy.html