Title: The God Who is for Us
Author: Robert Dawson
Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Have you ever felt as if someone were stringing you along, that you had been left hanging? For the last few weeks, a roofer has promised to come and repair the damage from Helene on my parents' roof. It's always I'm coming but somehow it doesn't happen. It's I'll be there tomorrow but somehow tomorrow never comes.
It's frustrating. You wonder if they remember the promise and keep their word.
Imagine how the people of Israel felt. For generations they had heard about God's promises. For centuries they heard about the promise of a Messiah. Looking. Longing.
- That promise was first given in Genesis 3.15, some 4,000 years before the time of Christ.
- That promise was given again to Abraham roughly 2,000 years before the time of Christ.
- It was repeated to King David, that a King would come from his line whose throne would endure forever, around 1,000 years before Christ.
- Approximately 700 years before Jesus' coming, Isaiah, in Isaiah 7, famously prophesied that "The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel,".
Can you imagine the collective and cumulative anticipation on the part of that nation?
Generation after generation anticipated the fulfillment of that promise, until they didn't. Eventually they began to wonder, "Did we misunderstand? Did God forget? Did He get busy. Did He have better prospects." That is a long wait.
To make matters worse, the voice of God had been silent for over 400 years. For 4 centuries there was no true prophet from God to stand before the people with an authoritative, genuine and fresh word from God.
- God had not forgotten. God had not abandoned them. God had not taken a vacation.
- He was still working quietly and invisibly behind the scenes directing history and genealogies preparing the way for the coming of His Son.
To them, it ...
Author: Robert Dawson
Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Have you ever felt as if someone were stringing you along, that you had been left hanging? For the last few weeks, a roofer has promised to come and repair the damage from Helene on my parents' roof. It's always I'm coming but somehow it doesn't happen. It's I'll be there tomorrow but somehow tomorrow never comes.
It's frustrating. You wonder if they remember the promise and keep their word.
Imagine how the people of Israel felt. For generations they had heard about God's promises. For centuries they heard about the promise of a Messiah. Looking. Longing.
- That promise was first given in Genesis 3.15, some 4,000 years before the time of Christ.
- That promise was given again to Abraham roughly 2,000 years before the time of Christ.
- It was repeated to King David, that a King would come from his line whose throne would endure forever, around 1,000 years before Christ.
- Approximately 700 years before Jesus' coming, Isaiah, in Isaiah 7, famously prophesied that "The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel,".
Can you imagine the collective and cumulative anticipation on the part of that nation?
Generation after generation anticipated the fulfillment of that promise, until they didn't. Eventually they began to wonder, "Did we misunderstand? Did God forget? Did He get busy. Did He have better prospects." That is a long wait.
To make matters worse, the voice of God had been silent for over 400 years. For 4 centuries there was no true prophet from God to stand before the people with an authoritative, genuine and fresh word from God.
- God had not forgotten. God had not abandoned them. God had not taken a vacation.
- He was still working quietly and invisibly behind the scenes directing history and genealogies preparing the way for the coming of His Son.
To them, it ...
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