Faithbuilders Bible Studies - The Gospel of Matthew

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Matthew Chapter 1 The Genealogy of Christ 1:1 This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew's purpose in writing his gospel is clear from the very beginning: he intends to reveal Jesus as the Christ, the long awaited anointed one promised by God. He demonstrates this fact by showing how all the promises of Scripture relating to the coming of Christ are fulfilled in him. The titles "Son of David" and "son of Abraham" describe Christ in this way, for God both to Abraham and to David that one of their descendants would be the Christ. To David, God said "I will set one of your seed upon your throne" (1 Chron. 17:11; Psa. 132:11). To Abraham, God said "Through your seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:18). The apostle Paul explained the meaning of this promise in Galatians, that "seed" is singular, referring to one of Abraham's offspring, not all of them (Gal. 3:16). Matthew's aim throughout his gospel is to reveal Jesus as the one God had promised. The word “genealogy� means the line of natural descent. Although Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God (who pre-existed his manifestation in the flesh), yet he became part of Abraham's family by his incarnation, and was born as a Jew (2 Tim. 2:8). Christ's genealogy reveals how Christ truly became one of us by entering the human family and the

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