GraceLife Thoughts – Train to Reign (Part 41)

The Christian Bible is divided into two major parts: Old Testament and New Testament. The Greek word for ‘testament’ is διαθήκη (diathéké) and means ‘a covenant, a will.’ The idea of the word is of a covenant or agreement between two parties.

The ‘Old’ Testament ends with Malachi 4:6 – “And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

Turn the page and you’ll read this –

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

Do these two verses connect in some way? If so, how and what does it mean in our ‘training to reign?’

The Connection

The connection for Christians is simple – Jesus Christ is the ‘Seed’ who God promised Abraham almost four thousand years ago. The genealogy shows that the physical lineage of Jesus is through the tribe of Judah, through King David, through King Solomon, through all the kings of Judah, through Zerubbabel (the son of Shealtiel) who brought the children of Israel out of captivity in Babylon back to Judah to rebuild the Temple and Jerusalem, through ancestors living during the Silent Years, to “Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.” The genealogy of Matthew 1 is important because it clearly shows Jesus’ lineage from Abraham to Joseph. It is a royal lineage that would be expected of someone who would become Israel’s King.

Another important lineage for Jesus Christ is found in Luke 3. Remember that God’s promise of the ‘Seed’ of the woman who would destroy the ‘seed’ of the serpent was made to Eve, the wife of Adam – “the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:28). It is a human lineage that would be expected of someone who would be the ‘Seed’ of the woman.

Matthew 1 and Luke 3 are evidence that Jesus of Nazareth, born to a virgin, will be both Israel’s next King and the Seed who will destroy the serpent’s seed.

Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Luke 1:30-33

The Preparation

Malachi prophesied about an event centuries before it occurred. He wrote –

Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ Says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:1

Malachi said that God would send His ‘messenger’ (מֲלְאָךְ – malak) to prepare the way before God – not a man. God spoke and said that His messenger would prepare the way before “Me.” The ‘Me’ in that context points back to the source of the prophecy – God.

Here’s more evidence. The ‘Lord, whom you seek,’ would suddenly come to His temple. It’s important that we note the ‘messenger’ would prepare the way before the Lord (אָדוֹן – adon – masculine noun singular). The term ‘Lord’ is another word for God and it is consistent within the context of Malachi 3:1.

We also need to look at a prophecy of Isaiah written many years before Malachi prophesied –

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 40:3-5

Jewish people have been waiting for thousands of years for these prophesies to be fulfilled, but Christians believe they’ve already been fulfilled. Here’s why –

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ Matthew 3:1-3

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ Mark 1:1-3

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ Luke 3:1-16

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world … Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No.’ Then they said to him, ‘Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?’ He said: ‘I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ‘as the prophet Isaiah said.’ Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, ‘Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’ John answered them, saying, ‘I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.’ These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ John 1:6-9, 19-30

John the Baptist was older than Jesus of Nazareth by several months, but he said that Jesus ‘was before me.’ That’s because Jesus of Nazareth is the Eternal Son of God. He was ‘born’ miraculously to a virgin –

And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.’ Luke 1:35-37

Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist. The angel Gabriel announced the birth of John to Elizabeth’s husband Zecharias the priest –

But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’ Luke 1:13-17

It is for these reasons that Christians believe John the Baptist was the ‘messenger’ who God sent to ‘prepare the way’ for Him (God) to appear in the Flesh as the ‘Messenger of the covenant.’ Jesus Christ is that Messenger and He brought with Him a ‘new covenant,’ which is why the New Testament is called ‘New.’

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. John 1:14-18

Free eBooks

You can download the first 13 chapters of this series here.

You can download chapters 14 – 24 of this series here.

You can download chapters 25 – 30 of this series here.

You can download chapters 31 – 39 of this series here.

Next Time

Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. He is also the promised future King of Israel. There has never been, nor will ever be, anyone in a better position to ‘train to reign.’ We will see the beginning of that training in the next part of our special series.

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