“And You Shall Call His Name Jesus!”
Matthew 1:19-21
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Have you ever found yourself in an uninvited crisis? Well, I think Joseph must have initially considered his circumstance as an uninvited crisis. But he will soon realize it’s not a crisis, it’s Christ. Joseph loved Mary, and the one thing he knew was that this baby in Mary’s womb was definitely not his. The real crisis was this world needed a Savior. I love that song Bro. Kevin occasionally leads the choir with that has in its lyrics “Jesus is the answer for the world today.”
Ever since man fell in the garden of Eden there have been uninvited crisis that surprise us when we least expect. Every generation of people and individuals will unfortunately endure unexpected crisis to some degree. It’s inevitable because of the Fall in Genesis chapter three. Disease, death, and suffering all find their source in Adam’s disobedience. Adam’s sin hasn’t done us any favors that’s for sure. Now when we think of Adam, we think of that “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” that God told Adam not to eat from. Yet Adam did, well it was Eve’s fault for wanting to eat-out instead of cooking at home (just kidding).
Well, with that said there are two names in human history we need to know about. The first name I want to talk about is Adam. Because of Adam, a lot of uninvited crisis of suffering, death and disease has come into this world because he fell for Satan’s lies and disobeyed God. The bible tells us in First Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” Adam is an important name to get familiar with. But there is just one more interesting thing you’ve got to see about Adam. If he had no earthly parents, then who named him? Well, God did. The name “Adam” means Mankind (Gen.5:2). God created Adam; he was the very first man on earth. Adam doesn’t need a belly button because there was no momma to button it to. Did you know Adam didn’t have a mother; he was the only man in history without a birth mom? Eve didn’t have a mother in law, but she did have a pretty awesome Father in law.
Adam & Eve are our grandparents. I don’t care who you are or where you live on this planet, Adam & Eve makes us all related, because we all started right there. So here we have Adam, named by God, created by God. Adam was a miracle of creation and you and I are miracles of pro-creation. Jesus was not born by pro-creation but by Supernatural and sinless conception of the Holy Spirit. He is our Immanuel, God with us. He had to take upon Himself our humanity like us but not by procreation. Mary was a virgin, yet pregnant with Jesus. Could you imagine if they could have done a DNA test on the blood of Jesus while He was on this earth? It would have been the biggest news story in history. They might would say, “we can’t trace His blood back to Adam, it’s impossible.” Or they might say, “We’ve never seen anything like this, it’s as if His Father is God.” Jesus did not have one speck of Adams blood in His veins. He came as 100% God and yet 100% Man. He came that those born once under Adam could be born again under Christ. Jesus came to remove us from a family tree of death to place us in a family tree of life. In Jesus we have a new family head. We have a new birth in Christ that comes with a holy nature instead of a sinful nature, which our first birth gave us.
Don’t miss a hidden lesson here in our last two verses. What Joseph initially viewed as an uninvited crisis turned out to be the greatest news imaginable. The angel gives the best sonogram mankind has ever heard. I mean, in Mary’s womb was the most important birth (conceived of the Holy Spirit). The most important Person (Son). The most important name (you shall call His name Jesus). And lastly, the most important purpose in human history (He will save His people from their sins). No wonder, “There’s just something about that name!”
Two names, Adam and Jesus! Which of these two names do you identify with? You and I are born naturally under Adam in sin. But there is hope, Jesus said in John 3:3, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Praise God we get another chance to be born, not naturally but spiritually. In the natural birth, we connect to Adam. But in the spiritual we connect to Jesus. Can you say today, “I am identified with the Lord Jesus. I have His name in my heart. I have His name in my songs. I’m not afraid, I belong to Jesus and He belongs to me.”
The overarching goal at Mt. Sylvan is that you will open your heart to the good news Jesus brings. When you do, it brings Him glory like nothing else can. There is uncertainty in this world. But there is certainty in Christ.
Consider:
Jesus paid a debt He didn’t owe and we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.
Jesus was born once that we might be born twice.
Whose name do you identify with, Adam or Jesus?
Hymn/ Jesus Paid It All.
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Bro. Bruce Rudd