Review - Sunday November 4th: Relationships

Review of Lord’s Day: November 4th 2012

Pastor Shane Walker
Luke 3

My take on Sunday's Sermons at Andover Baptist and other thoughts

What is responsible for the moral consciousness of modern society? It is Jesus Christ and the Christian religion.  Even godless philosophers recognize this. The genealogy of morals begins with Jesus.

- The mystery of the genealogies
- Of which brood are you?
- Allow John to "clear the way"

1) Coming into this sermon I was interested in the issue of the genealogies in Luke and Matthew [A couple of my pastors think Luke's genealogy is Mary's side this is an interesting topic and I may cover it in a future post] but I was excited to realize that chapter 3 of Luke is full of tidbits of various genealogies.  Annas and Caiaphas, Herod and his brother, John the son of Zechariah, the offspring of Abraham, and the statement from the Father that the Son of Adam is the beloved Son of God. 

The other exciting thing about this passage that I missed in the preview is that Jesus was legally adopted by Joseph.  Jesus Himself is an adopted son. He knew what it was to have an awkwardness about his human origins that related to his family. Indeed, there were those who questioned his origin. For instance John 8:41 "You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”  But Luke is correcting this misconception/accusation by detailing in these first three chapters the precise origin of Jesus.

But there is a way in which the genealogies, even with omissions and possibly slight differences are complete even without being exhaustive.

2) Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”

This passage in Genesis clearly sets out one of the "broods." Satan is the father of some and God is the Father of others. There are only two choices.  

There is no question that this passage sets forth the punishment of Satan and yet speaks of the continuing work of Satan. This is not just about snakes losing their legs. Satan is punished, humbled to the dust, and yet still can slither about doing evil. Satan has his followers and they are like him.  So much so that they can be called his sons.  And the followers of God are sons of God. 

Make sure you're not on the receiving end of such a statement as "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" The reference to snakes by John is more than a zoological statement - it is a reference to those who are of their father the devil.

3) John is telling everyone to repent.  He's preaching against several false gospels.  This is very interesting as these false gospels continue to this day.
   A. God is already happy with us.  John's message: God is not. He is happy with the obedience of His Son.  God is happy with us only when we are in Christ.
   B. Baptism is enough.  John's message: It's not enough, you need to repent. His comments regarding the brood of vipers touches on this.  Do you think John is happy with baptisms alone? No, he wants them to repent and baptism is only a symbol of that.
   C. Genealogy, relationships, or externals are enough.  John's message: God can raise up people with the same genealogy, relationships, and externals from the very stones under our feet.  He is not impressed with these things.  He is impressed with His Son.

In Jesus Christ the following occurs; God IS happy with us, our Baptism becomes a meaningful sign of true repentance that God is pleased with, and by adoption through Jesus Christ, we are given a real and meaningful genealogy as His adopted sons.  Christ was adopted by Joseph and thus obtained the legal status of the Davidic heir to the throne.  We are adopted by God and obtain the legal status of sons and co-heirs with Him!  Some of my thoughts on this are explored here.

Note: Some are "too holy" to hold down a job.  The have to quit here and get fired there because of some problem or other.  This could be a sign of true holiness and right separation.  But this can also become a pious cloak for laziness.