Sermon snippet – Messianic Meditations – Part III
INTRODUCTION – As we approach Christmas, we are contemplating why Jesus Christ, God the Son, was born. One of many reasons is to fulfill God’s promises, especially His promises to those who might be considered unpromising people – people that some look down upon.
- JESUS FULFILLED GOD’S PROMISE TO EVE
Genesis 3:15 – Eve had just broken God’s only prohibition, yet He delivers a stirring promise to her. There is a general fulfillment: she would have children, some of whom would be believers down through the generations, including, in New Testament terms, Christians. There is also a specific fulfillment: the KJV “it” is better translated “He” (NAS, NIV). Even better, the literal Hebrew word is “the Seed,” the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Note that this promise did not involve Adam, for the birth of Jesus was the Virgin Birth (fulfilling Isaiah 7:14). Sadly, through many centuries, women have often been mistreated. Some blame Christianity, accusing it of misogyny; reading the Bible would remedy that baseless charge (a charge which is an example of misology, a hatred of reason and fact). Think of the first Christmas. Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptist) and the prophetess Anna have significant roles in the account (Luke 1-2). In the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, we find references to Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Especially important is Matthew 1:16: “of whom” is feminine singular in the original Greek, meaning that “the Seed” promised to Eve was born of Mary only. Jesus fulfilled God’s promise to Eve.
- JESUS FULFILLED GOD’S PROMISE TO GENTILES
Luke 2:27-32 – There is no surprise that the Savior would be a blessing to “Israel.” It should not have been surprising that non-Jewish people (“the Gentiles”) would likewise be blessed – this blessing had been predicted in Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6 – but it was to many because of the mutual hostility and disdain between the two groups, particularly at the time when Jesus was born. Still, He fulfilled God’s promise to Gentiles.
- JESUS FULFILLED GOD’S PROMISE TO CAPTIVES
Luke 4:18 – This passage speaks of several groups of downtrodden people, including “the captives.” Quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2a, Jesus applies this prophecy to His earthly ministry at His First Advent. The account of the thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43) is a specific example of Jesus’ “deliverance to the captives,” an example that points us to the spiritual nature of His fulfillment of God’s promise.
CONCLUSION – Not all of us are women or Gentiles, but John 8:34-36 makes it clear that we are all captives to sin who can be delivered through faith in Jesus Christ. Even then, as God’s people, we may still seem to be unpromising (“irredeemables,” in the words of one Presidential candidate in 2016). However, God says otherwise. In Him, we are people of promise, people of the promises of God.