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The Genealogy and the Gospel of Christ

That I have been introduced to two individuals now who strongly subscribe to John Calvin’s doctrines has got me thinking seriously about this subject. And so for more than a couple of months now, my reading of the Scriptures has been greatly influenced and directed towards the subject of election and predestination and God’s exercise of His absolutely sovereign  will.

The book of genealogies never appealed to me and I never really got any significance from it. But today as I read through those genealogies again, something hit me really strongly. The book of genealogies actually is evidence of the move of the mighty hand of God to preserve a people for Himself. In Genesis chapter 5, at verse 4 it says:

“The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.”

I asked myself: What about the other sons and daughters were they not significant to God? The answer came rather quickly. They were all significant, but Seth was more significant because along his lineage will be preserved the lineage through which Christ shall be born. And so the genealogy of Christ as we find it in Luke chapter 3 has been preserved and determined by the exercise of God’s absolutely sovereign will.

Luk 3:23-38

23. Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

24. the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

25. the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,

26. the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,

27. the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

28. the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

29. the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

30. the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

31. the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

32. the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon,

33. the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

34. the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

35. the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

36. the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

37. the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

38. the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

I believe this lineage has been determined by God, as were the virgin birth and the death by crucifixion were all ordained by the determinate counsel of God.

Isa 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Act 2:23  this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

And so if you follow through this genealogy, starting from Adam unto Christ, after Christ we find the believers! We belong to that lineage. Our genealogy is after Christ. And as the Bible constantly affirms to us, we are the elect people of God, we are the sons of God (1Jn3:2).

But there lie a contrast between election from Adam to Christ and election after Christ. One contrast is that, from Adam to Christ, God’s election was limited. It was limited to Adam to Abraham, it was limited to Abraham to Jacob, and it was limited only to within the house of Jacob which is Israel. You may question why Adam is included. Well he was the beginning of the lineage so he is included. Able was suppose to be in the lineage but Cain slew him so God raised up Seth in his stead (Gen 4:25).

But there is an opening up of heaven after Christ because He says, whoever believes shall be saved! It means, anybody who believes, anyone as long as you believe is elect of God!  If you believe in Christ, then you are predestinated to conform to the likeness of His Son, which is our final destination.

But what about those people who were outside the limited election of God in the house of Israel? Are they lost forever? Well, we see Nineveh which was granted repentance through the preaching of Jonah, so the “other sons and daughters” are not totally insignificant to God. And in 1 Peter chapter 3 we see the Lord Jesus, in the spirit, went and preached to the spirits in prison – these were they who were disobedient during the time of Noah (1Pe3:19-20).

And so although election was limited with respect to the lineage of Christ, God gives opportunity to everyone that ever existed through the hearing of the Gospel of Christ! And if you look at it in whole, the purpose of God really is for the multitudes! The genealogy of Christ, Israel was only the necessary means so that after Christ, God can reach out to all the world! But Israel, having been chosen through which Christ should come takes a special place in the Kingdom of God.
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Comments

Dan Delmo said…
I say amen to the credit we give to the preserving grace of God on his elects! And if it were not for God's predetermined counsel to deliver Jesus Christ to the wicked hands, there would have been no salvation.

Let me just point out some notes however :)if I may.
Act 13:48... and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
This is true for every believer. One cannot believe unless he has been ordained or appointed by God before time to eternal life.
On predestination to become like Christ...God does not do it when one believes, but even before the world began...before the foundation of the world(Eph.1:4-5, Rom 8:29)
I hope this sheds more light on the subject matter.
April 3, 2011 at 7:38 AM
Armando Bordales said…
Whether to say one can believe or cannot believe is outside of Man's competency.

But for all intents of the Cross, and for the immeasurable dimensions, the breadth, the length, the height and the depth of the love of God, I say anybody can believe.

Indeed God determines who are His and who are not but that's God's prerogative. But I am armed with the Word of God which is sharper than any two edged sword, which is the power of God unto salvation, and is "like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces."
April 3, 2011 at 12:07 PM
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