What’s In A Name?

Chris Abner, one of our Elders at GCC preached through Mat 1:1-17 in a message titled “What’s In A Name?” Matthew begins with a recap à la “Previously, in the Old Testament…”, by giving us readers a long list of names — a genealogy. But why? What do these names teach us about who Jesus is and His gospel? Why do we herald the coming of this King?

Firstly, we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ because of who He is. In His name we see — God saves, the messiah, the anointed one of God. Through a callback to 2 Samuel 7, the genealogy shows that Christ is indeed the fulfilment of God’s promise to establish a Davidic king that will rule forever. He is also a descendant of Abraham, through and to whom God promised a king who would be a blessing to all nations. But Jesus is no ordinary king. He is a King who would lay down His life, so that His enemies might be redeemed. Not confined by territories, wicked attitudes, or the limits of time, King Jesus is *the* long-awaited eternal, universal king with the unsurpassed majesty of God’s good, holy authority.

Indeed, we celebrate God’s faithfulness and promises. Through millennia of glory and disaster, wretchedness and hope, the rise and fall of kings, God still shows us His perfect plan to fulfil His promises, in His perfect time. That is how we may rejoice as His people, and look forward with confidence to when peoples of all nations may submit to His eternal rule and live with Him forever. Till then, may we continue to find all our joy, hope, and everything in Him