A New Genesis

A Second Genesis The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew 1: 1 Here God's word is as thunder, like lightning that breaks on the horizon, racing across the earth, as God opens a new day, a new age, a new beginning with Matthew's words. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ. Here we have a second Genesis, a recurrence of a creation from long ago. Heaven having been silent for three or four hundred years, here is opened, and, once more, God breaks the silence with His word, as once He had done before. John tells us, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. Just as long ago God broke the silence of eternity with these words, let there be light, so now, He breaks that silence once again, when, the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. John introduces the new beginning with the Word of God; Matthew writes a new Genesis. Together, the two gospel accounts introduce us to a new beginning. We shall first look at Matthew and his account of this new beginning. Observe 1. The first use of the word genesis. Matthew's formula is reminiscent of Moses' in Genesis. There the term introduces a new beginning. In Genesis 2: 4, Moses writes, Αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, the book of the Genesis of the heaven and the earth, a category that at once concludes the account of that creation that precedes, while also introducing the narrative that follows. Altogether, it is that which speaks to the genesis of creation itself. Later, in Genesis 5:2, Moses uses the same formula to summarize and continue the genesis of Adam's race. Genesis 5: 2 introduces the beginning of mankind in this way, This is the book of the generations of Adam. Thus, when Matthew employs this formula to introduce Jesus Christ, it is reminiscent of that first creation and God's ultimate glory in man. 2. The second use of the world genesis. This is the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, a new genesis, where before we read of a new heaven and earth, here we do as well. Isaiah said of this age, For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind (Is. 65.17), thus tying together our previous study, Isaiah looked for this new genesis, as Matthew introduces it. Like Moses before him, Matthew write his genesis in similar form, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, introducing a new heaven and earth as Moses, and a new generation of man. But this genesis is different, far different, as we will see: Doctrine. Jesus Christ our Lord has brought a new beginning. With this beginning comes: I. A new creation. The prophets of old had spoken of this day, like Haggai that had said, For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts (Hag. 2:6,7). Here was God creating a new heaven and earth far more glorious than that first, in a way that escaped every imagination. Before, when God's power and glory were shown in creation, the Lord tells us in Job, it was a day, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy (Job. 38:7). Here in similar yet unmatched splendor, we hear the same, as the morning stars again are heard this time, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." This is a new creation, and like Moses before him, who wrote, these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created (Gen. 5.2), here Matthew introduces a new heaven and earth with these words, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ. Christ our Lord's incarnation is a cataclysmic event. His coming ushers in a new age, a new day, a new creation, where, unlike the first world that was corrupted and fallen, this new world would be glorious and pure. Isaiah foretold of this new heaven and earth, saying: Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious (Is. 11:1ff). This day is that new day. In Christ there has come a new heaven and a new earth. We have in Christ that which once was lost, a paradise restored. John spoke of this new creation, when he said, A new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea (Rev. 21:1). Already it has begun, it has been ushered in, we are seeing the advance of our Lord Jesus Christ and this new creation, as He sits above, and, As He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new (Rev. 21:5). As we study Matthew, understand that we will be reading about a new heaven and earth, a new creation, which began at the incarnation of our Lord and will be fully realized upon His return. We in Christ are those that inhabit a new creation, one in which we dwell. Furthermore, with this new genesis, or beginning, comes a new race. II. A new race. When Moses wrote, This is the book of the generations of Adam, he was introducing us to a new race, the race of Adam, having begun well, it had fallen from grace. Here was Adam and all mankind, once crowned in glory, placed in paradise, one with God, now plagued with sin, accursed by God, bound in sin, by nature the children of wrath. Now comes Christ our Lord, a new Adam, a new Man, who comes to generate a new race of righteous men, made righteous by declaration, the declaration of imputed righteousness, His righteousness, which has redeemed us from bondage and death, has freed us from the shackles of sin. The first Adam gave us bondage and death, of which Paul says, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. That first Adam brought gave us misery, the second Adam has brought life; again Paul says, For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Thus, we know, Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Matthew shall tell us of this new race, a race of those alive not dead, declared righteousness, who shall live in accordance to this new order, a new righteousness. As Paul says, That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So, the conclusion will be, That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord., Here is a new creation and a new race, a new righteousness, a restoration of life and its goodness in Christ. Christ has ushered in a new creation of the upright, those declared righteous in Christ, led in the word by His Spirit to uprightness and an obedient walk of faith. What was lost in Adam is restored in Christ. We are redeemed and made alive in Him, to pursue righteousness, as Matthew says, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. With this new genesis comes also a new kingdom. III. A new reign or kingdom. Christ is born a King. He is the King of Kings. He is born to rule, to administer, to lead, and to conquer. He has ascended to sit upon a throne, which upon it, as John saw, He goes forth to conquer, I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. In Matthew, we see Christ coming and with Him comes a kingdom. Matthew is the gospel of the King and the kingdom; this is the genesis of the King. Matthew says this is, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David. The name Jesus is given to the King to demonstrate the nature of His conquest, as Matthew says, you shall call His name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Babylonians come saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? Herod would inquire of the Jews themselves of the new King, which the Jews would say that it is prophesied of the Christ, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Born is a King. Born is a Governor. Born is a Conqueror and Deliverer. Upon His anointing as King and the Son of God at His baptism, Christ the King engaged the Prince of this World in the wilderness and withstood him unlike the first Adam. He would then, upon hearing of the Baptist being imprisoned, begin to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He would ascend the mount and dictate the law of that kingdom. He would teach in parables the nature of that kingdom. He would enter to conquer sin and death in triumph, as the people shout of their King, Save now! Hosanna! He would tell Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world, if it were my subjects would fight, and I would not be delivered to the Jews, but now my kingdom is not from here (John 18: 36). When He went forth to defeat our greatest foe on the cross, the princes of this world would laugh, the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews (Mt. 27.27ff)! Yet, being victorious, having arisen, He will say, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen (Mt. 28.18ff). Matthew is the gospel of the King and the Kingdom. With this new genesis comes a governor of a new kingdom. Finally, this will be the beginning of a new covenant. IV. A new covenant. Here is a lively covenant, a truly mediated covenant, one that is effectual unto salvation. One that God not only make but seals with His own Son's blood. We shall see our King enact and enforce that covenant, which so long ago was made; Abraham was given a promise, Christ has made it sure. By this covenant we are brought into a kingdom of glory. By it we are made one with God. By it we are enlisted into the King's service. The covenant is the signatory of our soul's salvation, signed and sealed before the foundations of the world. Christ is the One that in heaven has prevailed, and has taken, the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. The eternal decrees of the Lord God Almighty our Lord has taken; a covenant document; sealed from eternity past, now opened, Christ goes forth to complete the Lord's sovereign will to save and to judge. Executes the sovereign, gracious covenant of the Almighty, having sealed our salvation and our covenant in His blood. Thus, we have a new genesis, a new creation, a new peoples, a new kingdom, and a new covenant; in Christ we have it all. To what end? Uses I. For our arousal, our afront, right now, be advised that this study will be confrontational. Be ready to meet the King! He will come hastening by in this study. You will see Him, observe Him, hear Him, watch Him, as He speaks with authority, silences the greatest of foes, and you will see Him ride away in conquest, and, in the end, you will have met the King, and all the while, you will need to pause and consider your allegiance to this King. Be ready to meet the King of Kings. There was once a man of renown and wealth, a man so rich, that it is said, He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and he as us, encountered a mighty king. That man was great in his day, harsh, vile, and punishing, and he had a beautiful wife, a woman of renown, as it says, she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance. One day while shearing his sheep, this man was approached by ten noble riders, who said: Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David (1 Sam. 25:6ff). This man was Nabal, the fool, who said to the servants of David, "Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?" Nabal paid no head to these men and their king, he considered not the equity of justice, the nobility of David, nor the power of the Lord's anointed, who, upon hearing of Nabal's affront, that king, David, strapped on his sword and armed his men, and said, "Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good. May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light." Nabal would die a fool, let us not be so foolish. Many have read this book of Matthew. Many have stood and watched as Christ the Lord in His glory rode by, never paying Him homage, never bowing the knee, and never giving Him the glory. These all have perished at His feet from His sword. Listener! Do not play the fool! Kiss the Son lest He be angry. Everyone that will hear the words of Matthew and not be untied to this King shall perish in the way, as fools to the stocks they shall all go, dying as Nabal, as fools stricken by fear; these one day shall hear the King say, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. O may all hearing bow before the King. For to the one that hears and trembles, who shall observe and show obeisance to the Son of David, he shall live. Behold! Christ comes forth riding in furious majesty, be no fool, but be instead as Abigail, who: When Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. So she fell at his feet and said: "On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, since the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. Some will sit through this study and play the fool and some will be as Abigail. Be aroused O listener, behold, here cometh the King! "Give diligence to make your calling and election sure." Whatever is in the way to heaven, (though there be a lion in the way) resolve to encounter it, like a resolute commander who charges through the whole body of the army. The Christian must be resolved, come what will-that he will have heaven. The time is now to follow Christ. If a traveler be unresolved, sometimes he will ride this way, sometimes that; he is violent for neither. Be no half-hearted follower of Christ. Here comes the King, follow Him! II. For our anticipation let us be brought to His feet and be ready to heed His words; for those that follow Christ must forsake all, they must forsake this world, and follow Him wherever He shall go. The best and necessary consequence of this study must be our enlistment with Christ. Those that the Spirit of God fetches with the words of Mathew will be schooled by their King. He will teach us, prepare us, and direct us in His ways. For those that are Christ's, this study will be preparatory; preparatory to living in a new creation, in the way of His righteousness, under His sovereign rule, according to His covenant mercy. You will be instructed in the way of humility and selflessness, in righteousness and godliness, in kingdom living, and in true obedience to the King. When Gideon was to gather an army of the Lord, the preparation was most peculiar. First, many were called, but few were chosen. Coming to the battlefield with the Midianites, the Lord said, The people who are with you are too many," the reason being, "lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.' Just like Gideon's true army, the true servants of Christ will be few and meek. They will have no reliance upon their own strength or power. In Christ's kingdom, to God alone is the glory. So, be ready to learn to live these words, to God alone the glory. Those in this kingdom, those of this creation, those of this covenant and race, are those who boast not in their own righteousness, their own works, their own will, and their own worth; they boast in Christ alone. A mark of the kingdom, of the true subjects of this kingdom, is that they are poor in spirit, meek, humble, and peacemakers. Like Gideon's army, which went forth to defeat the Midianites with nothing but 300 men, armed with trumpets and pitchers with torches, God won the battle and to Him alone was the glory. Christian, be ready to be instructed in the way of meekness and humility, by which we follow our Lord. Soldiers must not be but fully committed to their cause. We must put off that sin which so easily besets; Now a man must offer violence to his fleshly desires if he will be saved, Col. iii. 5. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth." We must be whole-heartedly committed to our Sovereign. Our affections and desires cannot be divided. Our hearts are dull and heavy in the things of God, therefore we have need to spur them on and provoke them to that which is good. How hard it is sometimes to get the consent of our hearts to seek God! Jesus Christ went more willingly to the cross-than we do to the throne of grace. O that we would quit this world and resolve our affections for Christ. Soldiers enlisted are fully for Him. When I joined the military, I quickly came to realize my liberties were lost. My desires were subordinate to the cause. I was no longer my own. So we must be for Christ. Being for Christ means hearing Him, loving the word, searching it for His will. It is the sword of the Spirit, which enlivens our souls. Look upon the Word as a spiritual armory, out of which you fetch all your weapons to fight against sin and Satan. With it the world is conquered and we take heaven by force. III. For our consideration let us be made ready to enter into the service of our King. His IV. service will be contradictory to this world's call to serve. It will be in opposition to this world. It will be an upward pursuit. It will be a full pursuit. We will be told to take heaven by storm. No half-hearted pretenders here. Thomas Paine said, "THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated"" Those who enter into the Kingdom of Heaven enter into an equally valiant pursuit. Count the cost. Weigh the demand in the balances and consider the cost. Jesus said, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Many have followed Jesus, but few have gone the narrow way. When multitudes were following Christ, a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. It is time to consider the cost. It is time to stop playing religion and Christianity and consider our calling. As we go through Matthew, let us consider the cost of following Christ our Lord.