Matthew 1, verse 21. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. From their sins. Today we want to look at the subject, the name of Jesus. As you know, Matthew chapter 1 records the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it goes right back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. The significance of the genealogy being placed at the very beginning of the Gospels gives much instruction regarding the miraculous birth, the incarnation of Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Emmanuel, God with us. In the Old Testament, there have been many prophecies that the promised Messiah would descend from Abraham and come from the tribe of Judah by the family of David, which was the royal line. We've looked at some of that in previous studies in the life of Joseph. It was under the title, the son of God, or the son of David, that Messiah was commonly spoken of and expected among the Jews because he is the king of the Jews. And for that reason, in the gospel, You will read of many sinners in great need. They understood that whenever the Lord Jesus was passing by, it was Messiah passing by. And so they cried out, Son of David, have mercy on us. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter one, verse three, concerning God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David. according to the flesh, that's his humanity, and declared to be the Son of God, that's his deity, with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. The genealogy not only established that Christ would come from the line of Abraham and the house of David, it also taught that Jesus Christ was a true man. For Christ to become Messiah and fulfill his role as the saviour of his people, He had to leave heaven and come down to earth to become man. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He took our humanity onto himself, the humanity of sinners he came to identify with. Only his humanity was without sin. And that's why this passage deals with what is known as the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is very careful to protect the sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus. Here is the miracle of all miracles, the virgin birth. Because remember, if Jesus Christ had any sin, then he could not be the Savior, but he is the sinless Savior, the spotless Savior. the one who came into this world to take a true humanity onto himself. And that was the message given to Mary, that she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. Now, of course, whenever Mary was given this message, about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. She asked in Luke chapter 1 verse 34, how shall this be? Saying, I know not a man. Matthew chapter 1 verse 16, we read that Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, which is called Christ. And those words, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ, are vital, as the Holy Spirit clearly states that Jesus was born of Mary. Now maybe you have looked at those words before, and you've read them very, very quickly, and you've maybe not taken time to fully understand what it actually means. of whom was born of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ received his humanity from Mary, not Joseph. In the Greek language, in this verse the pronoun whom is feminine and it points back to Mary and establishes clearly that Christ was born of her. Why is that? Why is he not born of Joseph and Mary? Why is he not born of Joseph as the rest of the genealogy speaks about different children born of the men? Why is he only born of Mary? Well, I'll tell you in a minute, but let me start off by saying this. When two sinners get together by natural generation, they can only produce one of the same nature. And that is a nature that is sinful. So a sinful man uniting with a sinful woman can only produce that which is sinful, a sinful nature. That's why David said in Psalm 51 verse 5, Behold, I was shaping in iniquity. And in sin did my mother conceive me. And David's whole point is this. From birth I was born as a sinner. I didn't come into this world deserving heaven. I didn't come into this world going to heaven. I came into this world as a sinner in need of Christ. And so Christ's humanity was taken from the Virgin Mary without the intervention of Joseph, pointing to the miraculous nature of his birth, that his birth was without sin. His humanity was without sin. Now, if Christ was born of Joseph and Mary coming together, then he would have been born a sinner like any other person. But because, Mary. As we learn in Luke 1, verse 35, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. And that holy thing, or in the Greek language, that holy one, shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. And so there you have the Holy Spirit came upon or overshadowed the womb of the Virgin Mary. to protect the humanity of Christ, that his humanity would be a sinless humanity. That's why Mary asked, how can this be? How will I have this baby? I know not a man. I have not been that way with Joseph yet. How can I have a child? How can this be? It seems impossible. And that's why the angel gave her the message. That's right. With man it is impossible, but with God nothing shall be impossible, because the incarnation, the virgin birth, is the miracle of all miracles. It's God doing what man can never do. And so that's why Christ is a sinless saviour, because he was born of the virgin Mary without the intervention of man. Because by man, sin came into the world. And by Adam, sin has passed on to the human race. So whenever humanity get together, a man and one woman at marriage and have a child, the nature of that child is born sinful. But Christ, when he was born of Mary, without the intervention of Joseph, without the intervention of man, He was born without sin because the Holy Spirit, by the power of God, protected the womb. Also, we read that his birth in verse 18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. This wise is very, very important because it means his birth was unlike every other birth. You read down the genealogy, Matthew chapter one. This father begot this son, who then begot this son, who then begot that son, who then begot that son. But it stops when it comes to Christ. He's then born of Mary. again to show that his birth is different from every other birth. His birth is not by ordinary generation. His birth is supernatural. His birth is God coming down in great work and in great power. And Mary was found with child of the Holy Ghost. And that's why Christ is a sinless saviour because the one who must take away sin must himself be sinless. That's why I can never take away your sin because I'm a sinner just like you. I'm no better than anyone else but a fallen creature in need of God's grace and God has saved me, praise his name, but I can never take away your sin because I need a saviour myself. But Jesus Christ, the one who was born without sin, that's why he can be the saviour. That's why he can take away your sin. Because he himself is the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. His name is Jesus, which simply means salvation, or Jesus saves. And so with that in view, very, very briefly, I have three simple and short points that I want to leave with you. These carol services, God willing, the messages will be a little bit shorter, I hope so. Well, from my point of view, we'll see anyway. It may be one minute shorter, but still short anyway. But we'll see how we get on anyway. But notice, three simple thoughts. First of all, the name Jesus, now there's many things I could say, but I've just limited it to three. The name Jesus is a revealed name, a revealed name. Matthew chapter one, verse 21, and she shall bring forth a son. and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. Mary and Joseph were told what the name of this child would be. The holy one who would be born, his name would be called Jesus. Again, you don't have that situation. Whenever you have your child, you get together and you pick a name. You don't have someone coming and saying, by the way, you'll call your son this. I keep saying to people, Philip is a good name. And whenever you have a boy, you could call him Philip, but you could say away only yourself. I'll call him this here. But nonetheless, whenever Mary and Joseph had this child, they were told his name. This is what you will call him. His name is called Jesus. The name Jesus was a common name. The Jewish historian, Josephus, he said that there's many people at that time that had the name Jesus. And even today, in certain cultures, and I know there's different cultures in this congregation, and I don't know what all different people maybe take for what is a main name in that particular culture, but from the Spanish culture, Jesus is a big name. You will have a lot of children when it's translated as Jesus. But you will have a lot of people and they will have as a first name Jesus or as a last name de Jesus. And so that's just the culture of the Spanish. That's how they have it. But again, others may not have that within the congregation. So it is a popular name. But the point is this. There's only one whose name is savable. There's only one whose name saves, and that is Jesus. Others may be called Jesus, but they cannot save. He alone is the only one who can save. He is the only one who has God's salvation. He is the only one who've fallen humanity. need to come to, to have their sins forgiven. His name is good news to fallen sinners. There's a saviour from all sin. He alone is a prince and a saviour and saves his people from their sin. Acts chapter 4, verse 12. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There's no other name that saves. His name is Jesus. There's only one Savior given to sinners. Oh, don't believe the lie that we're all going to heaven. We're all just getting there some way, some through church practices, some through church religion, traditions, some by religious works, some by confessing their sin to a priest. We're just getting to heaven our own way. Don't be deceived. Maybe someone here, you've been trying to find the road to heaven through many different ways of religion and you keep missing it. because only Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. And the gospel is so simple. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Christ came into the world to save sinners. Look to no other. Look no further. Look only to the Lord Jesus Christ, because he alone saves from sin. But notice, secondly, Jesus is a representative name. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people. The first refers to His people. He will save His people from their sin. That is a people with whom Jesus Christ spiritually identified with and came to bring God to man and bring man to God. His name is Jesus. His name has no meaning apart from His people. because he does all or all he does is for the salvation of his people. He is born for his people. He lived for them. He died for them. He rose for them. He's coming back for them. He represented them. He was given into his hand a multitude of sinners to come to represent. If you look at the only words of Matthew chapter one, verse one, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, We read that phrase twice in scripture, the book of the generation of. Matthew chapter one refers to the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. But in Genesis chapter five, verse one, we read also of the book of the generation of Adam. Isn't that amazing? Genesis chapter five, verse one, the book of the generation of Adam. And yet Matthew 1, verse 1, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, those two verses and those two terms are very, very interesting because they name the only two men in the Bible, Adam and Christ. who God has chosen as the head of a people to represent a people and to deal with that people either in salvation or condemnation. In other words, in this room, you're either represented by Christ or represented by Adam. They're also referred to in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 45, as the first Adam and the last Adam. In other words, God views and treats all humanity by these two men, both Adam and Christ, acted on behalf of others. Their obedience or disobedience is the disobedience or obedience of all they represent. Disobedience would result in physical, spiritual and eternal death. But obedience would bring eternal life. Adam was the representative of all humanity in the Garden of Eden. Genesis chapter 2, Adam was given a command to obey. And if he obeyed that command, he would earn eternal life. for all humanity coming from him. But if he disobeyed, then the penalty of his sin would be inflicted upon him and all humanity coming from him. We know Adam disobeyed God's command. And as a result, his rebellion, all humanity sinned in him and came under the penalty of death with him. As 1 Corinthians 15, verse 22 teaches, in Adam, all die. However, the Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam, stood as the representative of all he came to save from sin. Christ obeyed where Adam disobeyed. Christ succeeded where Adam failed. Christ came to bring life where Adam brought death. Christ is the successful Savior, the sufficient Savior, the saving Savior, He earned eternal life for all he represented by paying the penalty of sin that he would give that eternal life to all given to him by the Father. Paul continued in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 22, and Christ shall all be made alive. All in Christ shall be made alive. That is, those who have come to Jesus Christ by faith, they have passed from spiritual death to spiritual life. They are in Christ, in union with Christ. He now, they now identified with him, in him, and by him. Paul also taught the same truth in Romans chapter five. Therefore, every human being in this world and everyone in this room is either under one of those two representatives. God either views you and treats you in Adam under condemnation, waiting for judgment for sin, or he treats you in Christ where there is salvation. Can I ask you today, who represents you today? Is Christ your savior? Do you belong to him this day? If you understand your need of Christ, if you understand that you need Him to represent you, then receive Him, join Him, become in union with Him by saying to Him, Lord, forgive me for my sin. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Receive Jesus Christ and you receive eternal life, but refuse Christ. is to disobey as Adam and then be judged as Adam. The penalty of sin. But I'm glad that Adam got saved. I'm glad that Adam put his faith in the Lord and Adam today is in heaven. What about you? Will you come this day and put your faith and your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? His name is a representative name. Notice finally, His name is a redemptive name. Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. The name Jesus indicates the great purpose of Christ being born in Bethlehem. He came into this world, he was born in Bethlehem for the great purpose to save a multitude of sinners that no man can number. Next week, God willing, we will look at that scene, when we look at next Sunday morning, Christ in the manger, and we look at his birth, but He came to rescue people. He came to redeem those who were lost in sin. That's why Christ came into this world. It's not just a story at Christmas time. It's not just something for a holiday. He actually came into this world for a purpose, because we were fallen in sin, and He came to save sinners. He was born to take away our sin. That's why Anna, in Luke chapter 2, verse 38, whenever Christ was brought into the temple, and she's seen Christ, As that infant child, she ran out to the streets and began to tell all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. She went out to tell all, Messiah has come, the Redeemer is born, there's redemption in Him. Redemption means to pay a price. That's what redemption means. To redeem something. You redeem a price. The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed sinners. by the price of his own life, his own precious blood. He came to save, to pay the price of redemption. He was manifested to take away our sin. He covered the cost in full. Jesus paid it all. Have you ever thought about that, dear brother, dear sister? In order to remove your guilt, Christ was viewed and treated by God. as guilty. He was treated by man as guilty. Oh yes, in his life, he is the sinless, spotless lamb of God. But on the cross of Calvary, he became sin for us. He who knew no sin became sin for us. He was counted legally responsible for our sins. He was judged in our place, in our sorrow. He died for us. We should have been nailed to the cross. We should have been punished for our sin. But Christ Jesus came into this world as the gift of God, eternal salvation. As a man of sorrows, he was made a curse for us. He suffered for us. He died the just for the unjust to bring us to God. He offered to God what no one else could do, and that is perfection. Anything less than perfection, God would not accept. That's why Christ had to be born sinless. Because the offering that God required for a sacrifice had to be perfect. If Christ was not perfect, he could not offer himself a sacrifice. So he had to be perfect. He had to be sinless. And he had to be sinless. He's perfect. His very name is Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. He's able to save you today, sinner. He's able to take you in your sin and bring you out of your sin and give you new life, to make you a new creature in Christ, to give you all the blessings of the gospel. I tell you, the greatest gift you will ever receive and the most costly present you will ever receive is eternal life by Jesus Christ. If you are not a Christian today, and you say, well, how do I become a Christian? Do I have to do this? Do I have to come to church three weeks in a row? No. Do I have to give a bit more than everybody else? No. Do I have to say more prayers during the day than everybody else? No. How do I become a Christian? How can I have all my sin taken away You simply come and say, Lord, I am a sinner. I've sinned. Forgive me of my sin. Be my saviour. And that's it. You say, what? That's it? I don't have to do all these things? I'm surely preaching there's something I have to do. Surely I have to contribute somehow. Give me something to do. No, because then that's not the gospel. The gospel is Jesus Christ has paid it all. Jesus is the savior. You receive all, or you don't receive him at all. When it becomes your work, when it becomes what you do, when it becomes your little add-on, then it's no longer grace, it's no longer the gospel. It just becomes the work of man. And so, His name shall be called Jesus. for he shall save his people from their sin. Believer, you're saved this day from your sin. You'll never be condemned. You'll never be in hell. That ought to thrill your heart today. That ought to put a spring in your step today. It's well, it's well with your soul. You're saved for all eternity. It's a gift you don't have to give back. It's a gift that doesn't run out. It's a gift that doesn't go old and rusty. I need another one, a replacement, no. It's yours for all eternity. Sinner today, will you come to faith in Christ? Even where you're sitting right now, you can just say, Lord, save me. I can speak to you after. I'd be glad to do that as well. May the Lord