Well let us turn again to God's
Word and I want to direct you to two verses really in this
chapter that we read the first chapter in the New Testament
in Matthew 1 and the opening verse the book of the generation
of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham. And then also at verse 23, Behold,
a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted
is God with us. Taking then these two verses
and not so much expounding what he said in the verses but dealing
really with a particular theme and it's that of the threefold
name of the Savior. Here we see that Christ is a
real man and also true God. We see him very much as a man.
He's spoken of in this opening verse as the son of David and
the son of Abraham. In other words, he is descended
from David. Not his immediate son, but he's
in the line of David and also he is descended from Abraham. He is the seed of David and the
seed of Abraham. And of course, we know that he
is also that one who is promised right at the beginning in Genesis
chapter 3 after the fall we have the words that are spoken by
the Lord God to the serpent who was the instrument of Satan in
tempting Eve and she and Adam partaking then of that forbidden
fruit and the curse that God speaks upon the serpent I will
put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and
her seeds it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel." We know that scripture, Genesis 3.15, and it is the first
promise of the Gospel, and it concerns Him who is the seed
of the woman, and so the Lord Jesus Christ is that one that
we read of here. In verse 16, Mary, it says, of
whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. Interestingly in the
preceding verses where we have this great genealogy we read
of how one man begats another man It's the male line very much. Abram begetting Isaac, Isaac
begetting Jacob and so on. But then when we come to verse
16 we're told how Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary. It doesn't say that Jesus was
begotten of Joseph because Joseph of course was not his human father. But Mary was the mother of Jesus
Christ. He is the seed of the woman. But there we see that He is truly
man. He's a real man. But also in
that second verse that I referred to at the beginning, verse 23,
we see that He is God. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His
name Immanuel. which being interpreted is God
with us. So right at the beginning of
this New Testament, we see the man, but we also see God. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law. Remember the words of prophecy
back in Isaiah 9.6, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
the government upon his shoulder. He's known to be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. But now, there we see that the
son is given. That's the Eternal Son, that
is God. But the child is born. that is, the man, Christ Jesus. And so, as we look at this chapter
in a very general sense for a while this evening, as I said I want
to deal with that theme of the Saviour's threefold name. We remember the the significance
and the importance of names as we find them throughout the Bible.
We've often remarked on that so many times. The name of the
prophet is part and parcel of the ministry of that man. And
what is the threefold name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well,
it is that, isn't it? Lord Jesus Christ. that is the fullness of his name. There are three aspects to the
name, Lord, Jesus, Christ. We see how those three names
very much come together in what we read later here in chapter
16, when the Lord Jesus here at Caesarea Philippi asks his
disciples, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? There
we see him as that one who is man, who has that human name
of Jesus. He asks what they say, the people
reckon of him. And then he asks the disciples
their opinion. And Peter makes that great confession,
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now these
three names then come together, he is the Son of Man, he is Jesus,
but He is also the Son of the Living God and He is Christ. Now what? The Christ, the Son
of the Living God. So I want us just to look in
a very simple way at those three names and the significance of
the names. First of all, we have to name
Lord. Lord Jesus Christ. And that is
the name that reminds us always of the truth of his deity. And what is it that we have here
in verse 23? Well, we have the name Immanuel.
It's that that is prophesied back in the Old Testament in
Isaiah 7 and verse 14. We're told at verse 22, And all
this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of
the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. So this child that is being spoken
of in this chapter is God. He is God with us. He is God
become man, the great mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. Although as the Son of God He
takes upon Him a human nature, it is remarkable that He never
ceases to be God the Son. Even in this state of humiliation
as he takes to him this human nature he is still called the
Son of God. Remember the words that we have
in Luke, Luke 1.35 the word of the angel Gabriel to Mary when
he tells her the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee the power of the
highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing
that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God that
holy thing is a reference to the human nature that he is taking
into union with himself but even as he takes to himself a human
nature and becomes God manifest in the flesh his name is still
the Son of God that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall
be called The Son of God He is always. The Son of God He is
always the Lord. He is David's Son. It's the book of the generation
of Jesus Christ, the Son of David. But remember, O, He is also David's
Lord. And doesn't the Lord Himself
draw that out later on in chapter 22? We refer to this passage
before Christ's dealings with the Pharisees. Matthew 22.41 While the Pharisees
were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think
ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto
him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then
doth David in spirit call him Lord? saying, and then Christ
quotes from the 110th Psalm, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no one was able to ask him
a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any
more questions. If David then call him Lord,
how is he David's son? He is David's son because he
has taken to himself a human nature. He is God's, manifest
in the flesh. And how we see so clearly that
in the course of his life and his ministry He reveals His deity
by means of those miracles and mighty works and wonders that
He is able to perform. We have the beginning of miracles
there in John 2. This beginning of miracles did
Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth His glory it
says and His disciples believed on Him. Miracles are a manifestation
of His deity. there he is turning the water
into wine but he performs many miracles and how the miracles
do make an impression so often with the people we have in raising
the dead to life again for example there in Luke chapter 7 we read
of the widow of Nain's son being raised to life Luke 7 verse 11 it came to pass, the day after
that he went into a city called Nain, and many of his disciples
went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the
gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the
only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And much people
of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he
had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came
and touched the bier or the coffin. And they that bear him stood
still. And he said, Young man, I say
unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up and
began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
And then we read, And there came a fear on all, and they glorified
God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us. and that
God hath visited His people. He is that God who is visiting
there His people. He is that One who is the true
Prophet of the Lord in these last days, has not God spoken
to us by His Son, who is the Heir of all things, by whom also
He made the worlds, the brightness of His glory, the express image
of His person. And remember again in John chapter
3 we read of how Nicodemus comes to the Lord and what does he
say? No man, no man can do these miracles
that thou doest except God be with him. Though he is God, he
is God's manifest in flesh, the mystery of godliness. And when
we come to the preaching of Peter after the Lord has completed
his work, after he's made the great sin atoning sacrifice,
risen from the dead, ascended on high, shedding abroad the
Holy Ghost there on the day of Pentecost. And Peter says, Ye
men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. For they were witnesses to these
things wherein he showed forth his glory. And there was the
greatest of all the miracles when he was raised again from
the dead. Oh, his death, of course, was
a significant death. The great sin atoning death.
And what was the resurrection? It was God's owning and acknowledging
of him. He is declared to be the Son
of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the
resurrection from the dead. And so, Paul begins to define
what his gospel is. concerning God's Son and he's
declared to be the Son of God with power there in the resurrection
and that word that we have in Romans 1.4 declared it's a strong
word and it's been said that it as this force distinctly marked
out clearly defined he is there then marked out and defined as
that one who is the Son of God he is the Lord, he is the Lord
Jesus Christ and as Lord sets forth the truth of his deity
so that second name Jesus is of course his human name that's
the name that's associated with this great mystery of the incarnation and we have it in this chapter The end of the chapter, verse
24, Joseph being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the
Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife, and knew her
not till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called
his name Jesus. Just as human parents will give
names to their offspring, to their sons and their daughters,
so too with this child. Joseph calls his name Jesus. He'd been told by the angel.
In verse 21, they shall call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. We know the significance of names
and this is the most significant name. It's the Greek form of
the Hebrew name Joshua. And what does it mean? It simply
means Saviour. the Lord is salvation and this
is what he has come to do he is that one who is the savior
of sinners as we said he is clearly the
seed of the woman as the angel says to Mary behold thou shalt
conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his
name Jesus." God has fulfilled that ancient promise, that first
of all the promises of Holy Scripture back in Genesis 3.15. A woman has encompassed a man,
even the man-child Jesus. He is the seed of the woman.
He is also the seed of David and the seed of Abraham, the
book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the
son of Abraham. But remember we referred just
now to the opening words or the opening verses of Romans and
particularly verse 4 there, but the previous third verse He is
said to be made of the seed of David, according to the flesh. This is the Gospel concerning
God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, made of the seed of David, according
to the flesh. He is in that sense Jehovah Jesus,
because He is also declared to be the Son of God with power.
according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the
dead. And those verses, they stand there side by side, Romans
1.3, Romans 1.4, we see him then as that one who has the human
name Jesus, he's a man, he's a real humanity, but he is also
the Lord, he is also Jehovah, he is Jehovah Jesus. He's David's seed, as he is Mary's
son and the seed of the woman, and he is also that one who is
spoken of as Abraham's seed. Galatians 3.16, to Abraham it
says, and his seed were the promises made. And who is Abraham's seed? when he goes on to thy seed which
is Christ Christ is the seed of Abraham
and so here we have the book of the generations of Jesus Christ
the son or the seed of David the son, the seed of Abraham
and then the genealogy follows in the passage right through
to verse 17 and we see that he is descended from men this whole
list of those who were his forebears he is a real man and he is born
then as a very real babe and as a babe what does he do? he
grows do we not read at the end of
Luke chapter 2 how Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in
favour with God and men he grew from a babe into a child into
a full grown man and as a man he experienced weariness
We are told in John chapter 4 where he must need to go through Samaria
and in his journey he becomes wearied. Being wearied with his journey
we read he sits down at the well at Sychar and then we see why
he must need to go through that part of Samaria because he must
meet that woman at the well. and minister to her and call
her to himself. Oh, he certainly knew infirmities. They were sinless infirmities.
There was nothing of any sin in him. We have not an High Priest,
Paul says, that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities
he feels all our infirmities he was tempted in all points
like as we are yet says Paul without sin there was nothing
of sinful infirmity in the Lord Jesus but his humanity was so
real and as he knew those sinless infirmities so he also felt human
emotions remember how he was so moved in his soul at the grave
of his friend Lazarus when he sees the grief of the sisters
Martha and Mary. There in John 11. John chapter 11 and verse 33. I was looking at Luke. But it's
John chapter 11. and the 33rd verse referring to Mary when Jesus
therefore saw her weeping and the Jews also weeping which came
with her he groaned in the spirit and was troubled and said where
have you laid him? they said unto him Lord come
and see Jesus wept Then said the Jews, behold, how he loved
him. He knew human emotions, he felt
something. He felt something towards Lazarus
who was dead, he felt something towards Mary, and clearly also
towards Martha. He knew human emotions. Jesus, the name reminds us of
the blessed truth of his humanity because this is the name that
is given to him at his human birth. And he is that one, of
course, who as the man Christ Jesus is the mediator. One God,
we confess, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus. What a comfort it is that when
we come to pray there is one in heaven who is a man and who
feels for us and intercedes for us and that one who is a man
in heaven is nothing less than true almighty God the eternal
son of the eternal father he is Lord he is divine he is Jesus
he is human and he is also Christ Lord Jesus Christ Christ of course simply means
the anointed or the Messiah and that reminds us of his office
We can think of Lord in terms of his deity, and Jesus in terms
of his humanity, and Christ reminds us that he has a specific office. Is he not spoken of back in the
Old Testament? The familiar words of Isaiah
42, God says, Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in
whom my soul delighteth, I have put my Spirit upon him." He is the Anointed One and God doesn't
give the Spirit by measure unto him as we're told at the end
of John 3. There was such an outpouring
of the Spirit upon him at his baptizing, the heavens opening,
and the Spirit descending upon him in the form of a dove. Mark
those words back in Isaiah 42. He is God's servant. Behold my
servant. He is God's elect. He is God's
first elect. And He is the anointed. He is the Christ. The anointed
one then is that one who comes as the servant of God. He comes to serve the Father
in the outworking of that blessed covenant of grace. What does
He say? My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and
to finish His work. Again He says that He must be
about His Father's business. He has business to attend to.
He is the servant of God. His office in the Covenant of
Grace is to come and to honour and to magnify the holy law of
God. He was made of a woman, He's
the seed of the woman, but He's also made under the law, and
He's subject to the law. And we're told in Isaiah 42,
21, the Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake, He
will magnify the law and make it honorable and the Lord has
done all of that he has fulfilled his office being found in fashion
as a man we're told how he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death even the death of the cross and so when he comes to the end
of his earthly ministry there In John 17, that great high priestly
prayer, what does he say to his father? I have glorified thee
on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. All this threefold name that
we associate then with the Savior. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And should we not be those who
love Him for all that He has done for us as sinners? We should love Him for all that
He has done. He loved His own which are in
the world, we are told, He loved them unto the end. He says, Behold
I and the children which God hath given me as a people. given
to Him in the eternal covenant and He will do all that is necessary
in order to their salvation. But we're not just to love Him
for what we receive from Him. Oh, we receive so much from Him.
Mercy and forgiveness and reconciliation with God and all the blessings
of salvation. We receive so much from Him.
But surely we should be those who love him for who he is. That's the important thing. It's
not what we receive from him. But we love him for who he is.
It's his person. And that's what we see when we
take account of the name that he bears here in Holy Scripture. And there's a mystery in all
of these things. and it's an unfathomable mystery. Why he's coming into this world
is spoken of, isn't it, as the mystery of godliness. There's
no controversy about it, Paul says. Without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness,
the mystery of real religion. That's the idea of godliness
there. If our religion is a real religion, Will we not be those
then who want to meditate on this mystery, to think upon these
things, to consider the person of the Lord Jesus Christ? God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, received up into glory, believed on in
the world, Or do we seek to understand? We will never fathom the wonder,
but surely we should desire that we might, in the good grace of
God, know what it is to have fresh discoveries of who Jesus
of Nazareth is. He is the Christ. He is the Son
of the Living God. Will the Lord help us? to contemplate
all that that's set before us of the wonder of God's love towards
sinners. And the Lord bless His word to
us. We're going to sing as our second
praise the Hymn 23, the tune Irish 160. And the title we have
here to Hymn 23 is Christ Very God and man, a man there is, a real
man with wounds still gaping wide, from which rich streams
of blood once ran in hands and feet and sight, this wondrous
man of whom we tell is true almighty God, he bought our souls from
death and hell to price his own heart's blood. Hymn number 23,
tune 160.