Matthew 1:1 - This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew 1:21 - She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.
3 aspects of Jesus’s identity that lead us to rejoice
Mark 1:1 - The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ…
I. Rejoice that Jesus Is the Christ
Luke 2:10-11 - Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
A. Announce good news about God’s salvation
Psalm 96:2 - Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Psalm 40:9 - I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation…
Isaiah 40:9-10 - Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” Behold, the Lord God will come with might, with His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him.
Isaiah 52:7 - How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, and says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 61:1 - The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners.
Matthew 11:2-6 - Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”
B. Trust Christ has the authority to fulfill what God promised
Mark 1:2-3 - As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”
Psalm 68:7-8 - O God, when You went forth before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, Selah. The earth quaked; the heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
1. Purification and judgment
Malachi 3:1 - “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.
Mark 1:4 - John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 3:7-10 - You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance … The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
2. Comfort and rescue
Isaiah 40:1 - “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
II. Delight in Jesus as the Son of God
Hebrews 1:1-3 - God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son…And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.
A. Fully God, the One and Only Son, One with the Father
John 1:18 - No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Mark 1:24 - What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are - the Holy One of God!
B. The True King of Israel descended from David
Mark 15:25-26, 37, 39 - “It was the third hour when they crucified Him. The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” …And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. …When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
III. Celebrate Jesus Is the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit
Mark 1:7-8 - And he was preaching, saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to bend down and untie the straps of His sandals. I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Ezekiel 36:25-27 - Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
Authors
