June 30th Daily Devotion
A SERIES OF DEVOTIONS BASED ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
WHO JESUS IS – PART 4
Matthew 1:1 “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the Son of David, the son of Abraham . . .”
Abraham obeyed God by taking his son Isaac to sacrifice him as God had told him to do. Subsequently, God not only spared Isaacs life by in his place substituting a ram on the altar but also made a promise to Abraham, “. . . through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:18)
Today’s devotional verse gives the title “son of Abraham” to Jesus. St. Paul, in Galatians 3:15-16 refers to God’s promise given to Abraham, “Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.”
Matthew uses the title “son of Abraham,” joined to the title “Son of David” and “the Messiah,” in the opening verse here in Matthew 1. In doing so, Matthew refers to Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promise to send His Son Jesus into the world as its Savior from sin and the only one through whom one can receive the gift of eternal life.
Abraham’s faith in Yahweh was unshakeable. Even when Yahweh told him to sacrifice his one and only son Isaac, the son he and Sarah had waited for, for almost 100 years, Abraham trusted God’s promises. In this case there were two. The first was God’s promise to give Sarah and he a son. The second was that the Messiah would come through his family line.
Though Abraham only saw the fulfillment of the promise of Isaac, he trusted with all of his heart in God’s promise to send the Messiah.
The title “son of Abraham” is yet another assurance to you that Jesus is the promised Messiah. He came into the world as promised so many times in the Old Testament over thousands of years to generations of people. You, by adoption are of this holy line of people too.
Prayer: Dear God, grant me through the work of Your Holy Spirit faith to trust all of Your promises. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
We are the army of God, sons of Abraham, We are a chosen generation Under a covenant, washed by his precious blood Filled with the mighty Holy Ghost And I hear the sound of the coming rain As we sing the praise to the Great I Am And the sick are healed, and the dead will rise And your church is the army that was prophesied Your church is the army (4x) (Printed words used with permission under CCLI#1600874. Kevin Prosch, 2008.)