The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 3rd January 2010 by Georges Kisombola
"A New Beginning in Christ"
- Matthew 5 and 6
AN INTRODUCTION TO A SHORT SERIES FROM MATTHEW 5 & 6
Imagine my wife Lydia coming home from a night shift and finds this poem on our bed after I left home for work. No name of the author. It reads:
If I could have just one wish,
I would wish to wake up everyday
to the sound of your breath on my neck,
the warmth of your lips on my cheek,
the touch of your fingers on my skin,
and the feel of your heart beating with mine...
Knowing that I could never find that feeling
with anyone other than you.
- Courtney Kuchta -
She will be thrilled and think that her Husband at last has managed to put on paper his old French Romantic inspirations
She will Read it again and again and feeling loved
She will have all human imaginations and wishing I was home then.
Yet, the truth is I did not write that poem. So I am not the author.
Lydia may read it and think I wrote the poem, she may decides that it means how it reads and that it is written to her.
The truth is, the author of this poem without title is Courtney Kuchta, writing a poem to God. So when we approach scripture, it is very helpful to know who is the author, and in what context it was written.
Scott Duvall wrote the following in "Grasping God's word":
An African evangelist from Liberia once shared and said that he was visiting the United States, speaking in several churches along the way as he travelled across the country. One Sunday night in Tennessee, as he was driving to his next speaking engagement, he reflected on how beautiful the big, full, harvest moon was. At the church later that evening, in the introduction to his sermon he commented on how much he liked the moonshine they had in that part of the country. He assumed that in English if you had Sunshine during the day, then you should have moonshine at night. An easy mistake to make! No doubt he drew quite a few chuckles from the congregation in Tennessee.
This story provides us with a good illustration of the speaker's or authorial intent and meaning. Moonshine refers to an illegal homemade, strong alcoholic beverage. Taken out of context, one could interpret that the evangelist was giving a statement on his enjoyment of this alcoholic drink called Moonshine. The same, before we start our short series on what Jesus described as the heavens lifestyle in the Sermon on the Mount, we need to find the context and the meaning of the book of Matthew.
Matthew starts with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. He gives an account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, of his ancestors according to the flesh. In Matthew 1:2-23 we come across an account of the arrival in History of Jesus the Messiah. Matthew's introduction echoes the language of Genesis. The word genealogy, in Greek "Genesis" means beginning, origin, birth. This establishes the person's heritage, inheritance, legitimacy and rights. Matthew demonstrates Jesus' legal claim to the throne of David.
Someone wrote this about this beginning of Matthew: It is like a pedigree given in evidence, to prove a title, and make out a claim; the design is to prove that our Lord Jesus is the son of David, and the son of Abraham, and therefore of that nation and family out of which the Messiah was to arise. Abraham and David were, in their day, the great trustees of the promise relating to the Messiah. The promise of the blessing was made to Abraham and his seed, while the promise of dominion was made to David and his seed; and they would have an interest in Christ, as the son of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth are to be blessed, and they must be faithful, loyal subjects to him as the son of David, by whom all the families of the earth are to be ruled.
It was promised to Abraham that Christ should descend from him (Gen-12:3; Gen-22:18), and to David that he should descend from him (2Sa-7:12; Psa-89:3, etc.; Psa-132:11); and therefore, unless it can be proved that Jesus is a son of David, and a son of Abraham, we cannot admit him to be the Messiah.
In calling Christ the son of David, and the son of Abraham, Matthew shows that God is faithful to his promise, and will make good every word that he has spoken; and this.
1. Though the performance is long deferred. When God promised Abraham a son, who should be the great blessing of the world, perhaps he expected it should be his immediate son; but it proved to be one at the distance of forty-two generations, and about 2000 years: God can foretell what shall be done so long before, and so long after, sometimes, does God fulfill what has been promised. Delays of promised mercies exercise our patience; do not weaken God's promise.
2. God is faithful to his promise, and will make good every word that he has spoken; and this though it begins to be despaired of. For 400 hundred years, between the Old and the New Testaments God was Silent. The G.O.D Network seemed to be offline. This son of David, and son of Abraham, who was to be the glory of his Father's house, was born when the seed of Abraham was a despised people, recently under the Roman yoke, and when the house of David was buried in obscurity; for Christ was to be a root out of a dry ground. Jews were hopeless, discouraged,… God's time for the performance of his promises is when it labors under the greatest improbabilities.
Why this book here at the beginning of the Gospels?
When reading the genealogy of Jesus itself, something new starts to emerge. Something unusual, since descent in family was usually traced through men as the head of the family. But here in Matthew, we are introduced to five women in the genealogy of Jesus. Only one was a virgin. Mary!
You would have expected Jesus Genealogy to be exclusively through Jews only and without any mixture in the race. But here in Matthew, Rahab and Ruth were not Jewish women; they were Gentiles. Rahab was a Canaanites, and Ruth the Moabites. Why strangers to Jews in Jesus Genealogy? This because in Jesus Christ there are no Greek, no Jews; those who are strangers and foreigners are welcome, to be one in Christ, they welcome to the citizenship of Heaven.
You would have expected in Jesus genealogy only the Faithful, the righteous, and the uprights would be mentioned; yet here in Matthew are included two women whose characters were questionable. Tamar was Judah's daughter in law. Tamar slept with her father in law and had twins with him. What an evil women we would say (Genesis 38:6-30). Rahab the prostitute was in Jericho a place cursed by God for eternity (Joshua 6:26). After she turned to God and God's people and married Salmon, a leader of Judah the leading tribe, she gave birth to Boaz, a godly man, out of whom Christ came.
Ruth was from the tribe of Moab, fruit of Lot's incestuous union with his own daughters (Genesis 19). Moabites were not to enter the house of the Lord, but she also became one of the most important ancestors of Christ because she sought God and God's people.
Bathsheba committed adultery with King David and was remarried to David as a result of murder. Yet she is in the genealogy of Christ. Why is it?
This is a message to you and me that regardless of who we are and what our background is, as long as we have a heart that seeks God, we are in a position to be accepted into God's family and have a New Beginning.
Regardless of our background, if we turn to God and His people we will bear fruit and participate in the enjoyment of Christ the Messiah. The lineage of Jesus Christ is comprised of men, women, adulterers, prostitutes, heroes, and Gentiles-and Jesus will be Savior of all. It is a New Beginning in human history.
So Matthew kick start the greatest story of redemption by demonstrating that all are welcome in Christ who is able to forgive all sins and to give us a New beginning in Him alone. Christ Himself will declare that "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand". It is available to everyone if we repent and turn from our wondering ways. Today I will not explain more what Repentance is because Stephen Moore will explore this subject in two weeks time, do not miss it. It will do you good.
Boaz's Mother, Rahab was a Canaanite and a prostitute, and his wife Ruth was a Moabites from incest union and a widow. Both Rahab and Ruth were Gentiles and from a low class.
When King David committed adultery and murder, he was rebuked by the prophet Nathan, whom God had sent purposely to condemn him (2 Sam. 12:1-12). When David was condemned he repented. Psalm 51 is the record of David's repentance to God. He repented and God forgave him (2 Sam. 12:13). David was a Jewish and was a King. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth Bathsheba and David all were given an opportunity for a new beginning. Both low and high class, Gentiles and Jews are associated with Christ. In Christ we can all have a New Beginning.
My message to you today is that in the coming few weeks, we will embark on this journey together as we learn from Jesus preaching. Jesus describes how His followers ought to be. In a sense when Jesus preached to His disciples on the Mount, he was defining to them how they are to live in His name.
There is a call for a new beginning and Jesus teaches about it when he preaches about the Lifestyle of the Kingdom of God.
Let us have a new beginning in how we live
Let us have a new beginning in what we believe
Let us have a new beginning with our giving
Let us have a new beginning with our prayer and fasting
Let us have a new beginning with our attitude
So, it will be great to begin by grading ourselves on the disciple's report card in areas I have just mentioned.
It will be helpful that we kept hearts and mind open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit in regards to what areas need our attention most, so that we may enjoy great fellowship with Christ the Messiah for the rest of our lives.
The disciple's report cards sound like:
A doing AWESOME in this area
B need to do BETTER in this area
C have trouble being CONSISTENT in this area
D having extreme DIFFICULTY in this area
F experiencing complete FAILURE in this area
One thing for sure is that Jesus wants you to do well.
You may be here this morning and you are convinced that you cannot wait till next week or after the series for you to have this New Beginning in your life. Why wait! You can do that today. Jesus wants to give you a new life, a new beginning today.
It may be that the Holy Spirit has convicted you of things you need to put right. King David, Ruth, Rahab, Tamar and Bathsheba changed their wondering ways and God forgave them, and they had a New Beginning. You too can.
Prayer.
