Christ Church

The Line of Promise (Advent #1) (King’s Cross Church)

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INTRODUCTION

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, it is encouraging to look backwards and see the faithfulness of God over so many generations leading up to the birth of Christ. It is that same covenant faithfulness that is promised to everyone in Christ. God still promises to be our God and the God of our children after us, until the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The Text: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham…” (Mt. 1:1-17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

When Matthew begins with the “book of the generation” (Mt. 1:1), this is a call back to one of the organizing structures of Genesis: “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him…” (Gen. 5:1, cf. 2:4, 6:9, 10:1, etc.). The genealogies in Genesis 5 and Genesis 10-11 each record 10 generations: Adam to Noah and Shem to Abram, covering a little over 2000 years, tracing the promise of the “seed of the woman” (Gen. 3:15).

Matthew picks up his genealogy at Abraham and the patriarchs (Mt. 1:2), but he highlights some of the surprises, beginning with the twins born to Tamar by her father in-law Judah (Mt. 1:3). Five generations later, Salmon begot Boaz by marrying the Canaanite prostitute Rahab from Jericho, and of course Boaz married Ruth the Moabitess, a cursed people (Mt. 1:4-5, Dt. 23:3). Boaz was the great-grandfather of King David, who begot Solomon by Bathsheba, who had been the wife of one David’s mighty men, Uriah the Hittite, murdered by David’s command (Mt. 1:6-7, 2 Sam. 23:39). There were fourteen generations of kings from David to Jeconiah, when Judah was conquered and carried into exile in Babylon (Mt. 1:7-11, 1:17). And there were another fourteen generations from Jeconiah to Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, the wife of Joseph (Mt. 1:12-16, cf. 1:17).

A MOTLEY CREW

Perhaps the first thing that stands out is how motley the line of promise is: incest, prostitution, intermarriage with a cursed nation, adultery, murder, slavery, homelessness, and pregnancy out of wedlock are all right on the surface. And that in turn implies all the other “normal” sins and failures of these descendants of Adam. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and this family tree is no different (Rom. 3:23).

But this is the line of promise, the line of the King. What a way to begin the gospel of the King. And so what it actually highlights is the mind-blowing grace of God. Athanasius says that when a great King enters a city it honors the whole city, and when God took on human flesh, He honored our pitiful race.

Notice also that while God works through a family line, there is nothing “pure” about it. As the New Testament labors to demonstrate, the line of promise is by faith not by flesh: “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Rom. 4:13). It was not through the law, in the sense that it was not by families perfectly keeping the law or achieving greatness by human striving. Ishmael was a picture of human striving, but Isaac was the son of promise (Gal. 4:23, 28). Natural sons or not, the power is in the promise of God, not our family name or bloodline or accomplishments. And the motley nature of the line underlines this point.

You wouldn’t plan the salvation of the world with this family tree, but God did because of His grace.

AND YOU ARE HEIRS

But the other point of these genealogies is to underline God’s love for His people. When you read the genealogies, don’t just think “weird names I can’t pronounce.” Think people, families, children, stories that God loves and has promised to never forget. We carve the names of our loved ones on stone to signify that they were and are beloved and worth remembering, but even the greatest men will be forgotten like Ozymandias in the sands of time. But we serve the God who has sworn to never forget His people. He ordered the names of Israel engraved on precious stones on the breastplate of the High Priest (Ex. 28:9-12, 21). And He has written the names of all of His people in the Lamb’s Book of Life (e.g. Phil. 4:3, Rev. 3:5); they are even engraved on the palms of His hands (Is. 49:16).

He first made that promise in a Garden six thousand years ago to a heartbroken couple who had thrown all of God’s grace away. And that promise was kept to Abraham and his descendants over thousands of years, all the way down to a young virgin named Mary. But the promise was that the curse of sin and death would be completely undone, reversed, and healed. This is why we sing: “He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found.” God promised Abraham that through him, all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3). God did not send His own Son into the world to condemn the world, but that through Him the world might be saved (Jn. 3:17). All those who trust in Christ are sons and heirs of God: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29)

CONCLUSION

Honor your people, beginning with your own parents. If God can use this family tree to save the world, He can use your family tree. Abortion? Adultery? Abuse? Apostacy? Welcome to planet earth, and welcome to the family of Adam.

God created the natural family, and there is something good and glorious about it – even with the curse of sin, there are cathedral ruins that can be remembered and honored. And wherever Christ has come, the rebuilding and healing can begin.

And as you celebrate, remember that you are celebrating the birth of the King into your family, which it turns out is more like your family being reborn into the family of the King. By faith in Jesus Christ, you have been grafted into the line of promise. You are Abraham’s children. This family tree is now your family tree. Jesus Christ is the tree, and all who believe are fruitful branches in Him because He knows them all by name.

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The Third Beatitude (CC Troy)

Lindsey Gardner on

INTRODUCTION – JESUS, MEEK AND MILD

The words of Jesus provide a special blessing to the Christian. The black words on the page are no less the Word of God than the red ones, but there is a comfort and a special satisfaction to be had when listening to Jesus talk. He is like our anchor gripping the seabed, preventing us from being swept away. Of his many teachings, the beatitudes are the most beautiful in their simplicity, in their brevity, and their poignancy, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”

 

I. MEEKNESS IN THE INCARNATION

In most religions, the worshippers are earthbound and the deity exists on a different plane altogether. But Paul says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you.’” The apostle Peter roasted fish over a fire with Jesus. The centurion who understood authority, was able to demonstrate his confidence in the Lord face-to-face. And the demoniac looked Jesus in the eye during his exorcism.

The creator of the universe, the son of God who shared glory with the Father before the world existed, scandalously took on human flesh. In that moment his humiliation began. The incarnation is the greatest example of humility on record.

 

II. MEEKNESS IN HIS GENTLENESS

Jesus shows his meekness by being gentle with us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

First off, notice our relationship to Jesus. He is the teamster; we are the oxen. The yoke of control is on us and he is the one with the reins. Second, we are not trading a heavy burden for no burden. We are trading heavy for light. We know what the heavy burden is when he says, “…you will find rest for your souls.” A soul cannot be burdened with sacks of grain or produce from the market. A soul is burdened by sin and it weighs heavy on us.

 

III. MEEKNESS IN THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY

The Lord shows his meekness through the triumphal entry. In nearly every James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, 007 is introduced by performing some daring feat or displaying his competence in a very suave manner. Sherlock Holmes’s first appearance in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Study in Scarlet” showcases his brilliant deductive abilities demonstrating his exceptional intellect. But the Lord, even from birth, being born in a manger, does not display himself like a peacock fanning his tail. It is not Jesus’s style. And since it is not his, we should not want it to be ours.

 

IV. MEEKNESS IN PERSECUTION

Jesus teaches us meekness by how he handles persecution. It is extremely difficult, to be confronted about sin, and in the first moment, confess it openly and seek forgiveness. We’re much more prone to dance around first before admitting we were wrong. But imagine how upsetting it must’ve been for Jesus, to know in his heart-of-hearts that he is righteous in the sight of God and yet people accused him of sin. Jesus faced this on a daily basis. They said, “Look at this wine-bibber, this glutton. Sorcerer! He has a demon. Possessed and a sabbath breaker. You have heard the blasphemy yourself. He said he could destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.”

 

V. MEEKNESS IN WASHING THE DISCIPLES FEET

The Lord demonstrated his meekness by washing the disciples feet. In this act, the master becomes the slave in order to reveal the true nature of the kingdom of God, which is humility, love, and service. The image of Jesus removing his outer clothing, wrapping a towel around his waist, and proceeding to wash the disciples’ feet is stunning indeed. His lowliness becomes a physical reality as he stoops to cleanse the disciples. It is like a king bowing to his subjects; an inversion of the natural order. And Peter knows this, “Lord, do you wash my feet? You shall never wash my feet.” The Lord has to correct him.

 

VI. MEEKNESS THROUGH HIS INTERACTIONS WITH CHILDREN

Jesus displays his meekness through his interactions with children. Matthew 19 says this, “Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’” And he laid his hands on them and went away. What traits and qualities did Jesus see in the children? He saw faith, innocence, humility, and trust. And what things do they lack? They lacked any notion of stress, mourning, depression, anxiety, guilt, and knowledge that we live in a fallen world.

 

VII. MEEKNESS THROUGH HEALING

Jesus Christ was constantly surrounded by the infirm. Matthew 15 says, “Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.”

 

CONCLUSION – THE REWARD FOR MEEKNESS

We’ve spoken much about what meekness is and the Lord has graciously given us examples of the behavior. But we have not yet discussed the reward for meekness. Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.” The earth? The whole earth? One commentator said, “At this present moment, who is the mightier? Caesar with his legions or Christ with His Cross?” Revelation 11:15 says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

In Daniel chapter 2, Daniel is called upon to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He sees an image with a golden head, a chest of silver, thighs of bronze, iron legs, and iron feet mixed with clay. A stone that was cut by no human hand struck the feet and the whole edifice crumbled. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Each section of the glimmering image represented a kingdom of man. The stone who shatters it all is Jesus. But what about the mountain? Has it covered the whole earth yet? Not yet. But it has grown. Perhaps now, there is more earth than there is mountain. But soon there will be more mountain than there is earth. And then, just a sliver of earth will remain. Eventually, she will stand, covering the whole earth, our inheritance in full, the mountain of God, the reward for meekness. Amen.

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Delighting in Your People (The Well-Pleased Father #1) (King’s Cross)

Lindsey Gardner on

Introduction

We are a nation of bastards. A bastard is an illegitimate son, a son born out of wedlock, a son without a covenant father, and thereby at some level, abandoned and rejected by his father. This has been enacted by mass fornication, adultery, divorce, and in its most violent form, abortion. Even in the church where there is often far more cohesion, there is still sometimes great tension and distance in our families, where there ought to be delight.

This fatherlessness and generational static have their root cause in our alienation from our Heavenly Father. You cannot reject God the Father Almighty and end up in any kind of happy place. If there is tension between fathers and children, it is because we are not in full fellowship with the Father. Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, in whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (Js. 1:17), including the gift of delighting in your family.

The Text: “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:16-17).

 

Summary of the Text

The Father shows up directly in the gospels just a couple of times, and both times He says almost the same thing. The first is at Christ’s baptism: “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17, Mk. 1:11, Lk. 3:22). The second is the transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 17:5). What we learn in the gospel directly from God the Father is that He is well pleased with His beloved Son.

 

Restored to the Father

Eph. 3:14-15 says, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in heaven and earth is named.” This means that families exist because God is Triune: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All human fatherhood gets its meaning and purpose from God the Father. And when the Father shows up, the central thing He wants the whole world to know is that He is well pleased with His beloved Son.

Many men did not have fathers or else their fathers were absent or harsh, and this is why God sent His only Son into the world: “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (Mal. 4:6, cf. Lk. 1:17). Generational dysfunction and animosity are burdens, and when sin is not dealt with, it is a great curse. But Christ came to bear the curse of sin and heal the generations. He does this by taking away our guilt and shame, but He restores families fundamentally by restoring us to God the Father. “For He [Christ] is our peace… For through Him [Christ] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph. 2:18). That Spirit is the same Spirit that came upon Jesus in His baptism, the same Spirit that caused the Father to proclaim, “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Gal. 4:6).

 

Delighting in Your People

Our delight in our people is grounded in the delight of God in His people in His Son. “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph. 3:17). This is not God rejoicing over a perfect people; this is God rejoicing over a people He is saving. This is not a blind love; it is faithful love. It is a delight in what is and what will be.

This is the bedrock of Christian family life: we are The Delighted-In and so we are Delight-Full. Our Father is well-pleased with us. He rejoices over us with singing. It is His holy, infinite delight in us that is to spill over into our homes. This infinite joy is plenty for every Christian, but he who finds a wife finds a good thing and has obtained favor from the Lord (Prov. 18:22). Children are the inheritance of the Lord; they are His great blessing and reward (Ps. 127:3-5, Ps. 128). Christ is the pool into which the pleasures of God pour infinitely (Ps. 16:11), and if you are in Christ, that pleasure pours out of you.

 

Delighting in Creation

This delight is not only directly in your people. God has also created a universe that expresses His delight, and it was created for the enjoyment of God and His people. Delight is a gift, but shared delight multiplies the gift and binds us together. This was part of God’s point in His reply to Job’s great complaints: God points Job to His favorite parts of the universe and invites Job to join Him in ruling the weather patterns, riding constellations, caring for ravens and goats and unicorns, and playing with dragons (Job 38ff).

Our Father delights in His work and creation, and therefore, this delight in work and creation should mark Christian families: work, hobbies, sports, games, camping, fishing…

 

Applications

The center of this delight is a bloody cross where all our sin was nailed and crushed. This is not a humanistic optimism or a stiff upper lip. This is gospel grace. Sin paid for. Debts forgiven. Adopted by the Father. As you have been forgiven, so forgive. Confess, forgive, walk in the light. No backlogs. No bitterness. No hidden sin.

This is also central to discipline and correction. Christian discipline restores joy, which means it must be your baseline. Is your discipline and correction doing that? Parents, your job is to make sure that it actually yields peace and joy (Heb. 12:11).

A Christian family should be marked by playful delight: joyful work, chores, wrestling, tickling, jokes, laughter, singing, dancing, adventures, and games. And in the midst of it all, many, many words of praise, delight, gratitude, and love. Why? Because this is the way of your Father.

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True Authority (King’s Cross)

Grace Sensing on

INTRODUCTION

Our modern world pits authority against friendship, falsely insisting that friendship can only exist be- tween complete equals. But in that case, a complete equal has nothing to offer, nothing to contribute. True friendship exists in relations of inequality and hierarchy, where different parties have different skills and responsibilities.

Ultimately, this heresy of egalitarianism seethes with pride that hates the authority and friendship of God over sinful creatures – that we are completely dependent on Him, that He has made us and not we ourselves, and that true blessing only exists in bowing before Him. But that is what we celebrate on Palm Sunday and every Sunday. God made us, and God saves sinners. He has true authority, and He is good and therefore He defines what is good.

The Text: “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you…” (Mt. 21:1-16)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Jesus exercises His lordship by directing two disciples to a donkey in a village (Mt. 21:1-3). This was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah that Israel’s Messiah-King would come riding on a donkey with its foal (Mt. 21:4-6, cf. Zech. 9:9). The disciples laid their clothes on the beasts, and Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem while crowds spread their garments on the path, along with branches from the trees, shouting “Hosanna [“Save please!’] to the Son of David!” and blessing Him as the King of Israel (Mt. 21:7-9, cf. Psalm 118:25-26).

Most of the city noticed the procession and learned the name Jesus of Nazareth (Mt. 21:10-11). In- stead of going to some political building or royal palace, Jesus went into the temple, and drove out the money changers who had filled the court where the gentiles could pray (Mt. 21:12-13). While the chief priests and scribes were no doubt displeased with the whole event, they were particularly upset with the kids shouting his praises, as He healed the blind and the lame in the temple, but Jesus de- fended them (Mt. 21:14-16).

TRUE LORDSHIP

Clearly Jesus acts the part of a true Jewish King as He comes into Jerusalem. He commandeered the donkey and foal, and openly embraced the prophecy of Zechariah. But unlike many with this kind of authority, He immediately used it to disrupt a particular kind of corruption and reestablish prayer. Hisfirst act as King is to restore worship.This is how true lordship serves – not as the Gentiles who merely sit on their lofty thrones and issue political decrees (Mk. 10:42). Jesus of Nazareth claims His rightful authority and walks into “His” house and clears out the bandits and robbers. This is clearly a claim to deity, and the thing He is most concerned to use His power for is making room for the pagan nations to pray to the true God. And then He heals the sick and defends the children shouting His praises. The restoration of true worship is the center of true Reformation.

BLOOD OF THE COVENANT

But true worship drives true Reformation into every sphere. In Zechariah, the prophecy says that when the King comes riding in on a donkey, He will come to bring peace to Israel, and His dominion will include all the nations: from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth (Zech. 9:10). And then it says, “As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water” (Zech. 9:11) – these are likely the prisoners from the Jewish exile, scattered among the nations, but it indicates how all sinners may be set free from God’s judgment.

It says God will free the prisoners “by the blood of thy covenant.”The phrase “blood of thy covenant” echoes the covenant God made at Sinai (cf. Ex. 24:8). When God made that covenant, He had given Israel the Passover Feast and delivered His people out of Egypt through the blood of a lamb and through the Red Sea. By fulfilling this prophecy, Jesus is in effect saying that He is coming to perform a new Exodus and establish a new covenant. He is coming to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, but this time, He will designate His own blood as the “new covenant in His blood” (Mt. 26:28). This time He will be the Passover lamb, to bring peace to the world and set free all the prisoners. The center of this peace is personal salvation, but this is a peace for all the nations.

APPLICATIONS

True authority serves others by rightly ordering priorities so others flourish, first before God and second in all of life. Jesus’ first act as king is making room for pagans to pray, healing the sick, and defending the kids shouting praises. Jesus restores good order for the healing and joy of the world. When Jesus restores men, they serve their families by dealing with sin quickly, restoring fellowship and providing for the health and education of their people. When Jesus restores parents, they serve their children by dealing with sin quickly and restoring fellowship. Companies provide honest goods and services, and employers provide work. Civil servants protect life and property without partiality. And all Christians are called by God to make room for the pagans to come in and pray with us. They are all invited. Until worship is restored, there will continue to be fighting in our lands.

True authority is true friendship. Our sins are the weapons we use to try to fight God and one another. Our sins are our personal prisons. Often the sins of religious types are like the tables and seats of the moneychangers in the temple. We call our harshness being strict. We call our laziness being laidback. We call our critical spirit being discerning, and we call our cowardice being kind. We call our idols necessary for living in our world. We ask God to save us and we’re often only thinking about one kind of enemy (e.g. political, familial, etc.), but Jesus is the true friend of sinners who comes into our pomp- ous habits and knocks over the tables in our temples. Remember, they had verses for selling doves and changing money (Dt. 14:24-26). But sometimes our sins are misplaced/disordered virtues. He came to truly save us, and only He really knows what we need. But He is our true Lord and friend.

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