If you would turn to Luke chapter 3 verses 23 through 38. This is where we'll find our text for this morning's sermon. Luke chapter 3 verses 23 through 38. Here we find the genealogy of Jesus. Not an easy passage to preach. I'll let you be the judge though. I rarely deviate from my exposition of a book of the Bible on Sunday mornings, and when I do, it's only ever for Christmas or Easter messages, and I've never, to my remembrance, preached a Father's Day sermon. I don't intend to start today, and yet, surprisingly, I can't think of a more fitting passage for Father's Day than the one we've come to entirely by providence. And again, I'll let you be the judge of that, but I hope that this is actually a very encouraging message. But maybe send up a silent prayer for me as I read these names. Hear the word of God. Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about 30 years of age, being the son, as was supposed, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Mathat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jani, the son of Joseph. The son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Eslai, the son of Nagai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Simeon, the son of Joseph, the son of Jodah, the son of Joannon, the son of Risa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Chosem, the son of Elmadom, the son of Ur, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Joram, the son of Maphit, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonah, the son of Eliakim, the son of Meliah, the son of Mina, the son of Matathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salah, the son of Nashon, the son of Amenadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arnai, the son of Hezron, the son of Peraz, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Canaan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Canaan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father God, we thank you for your word. Every word inspired. Every word given to us for our spiritual benefit, for our edification. And God, of course, there are some things that are easier to understand. There's some things that are easier to see the application for our lives, the immediate relevance. But nevertheless, we confess as your people that every word is inspired and is for our up-building and for our benefit. And God, we thank you for passages even like this, a genealogy. We pray that as we consider this list of names, that you would encourage us, that you would build us up, and that you would point us to Jesus, your son, that we might see him, and love him, and be more like him, and understand his salvation, and trust in him. And God, we pray all of this in his name. Amen. The subject of our text this morning is sonship. I would say that the word son, I counted, it's 77 times in this passage by my count. Unfortunately, it's hard to make a point of that because the word son is only there one time in the And it's something that's supplied by the translators because it's implied in the text, but it's not actually repeated 77 times. But if you had to go by word count in our English Bibles, you might be excused for thinking that the important thing about this is whose son is whose. It's all about sonship. And it's about what it means to be, ultimately, sons of the Father through Jesus, the beloved and well-pleasing Son of God. As we just read, in the context of Jesus' baptism, we see the voice from heaven coming and saying, you are my beloved Son, with you I am well-pleased. At first glance, this passage may look to be a rather ordinary and insignificant list of names. However, upon closer inspection, there are details noticeable in the text which hint at Luke's purpose for including this genealogy at exactly this place within his unfolding narrative. First off, Luke places Jesus' genealogy not before the birth of Jesus, as we might expect, and as Matthew saw fit to order his gospel, but immediately after the baptism of Jesus Whereas we just consider the voice came from heaven, it spoke, it was the voice of God the Father saying, you are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased. So that's the text immediately preceding this genealogy. Well, let's look at the text that's immediately following this genealogy. Because there in this account of the temptation of Jesus, by the devil, Jesus' sonship is tested and it's proven. When the devil said to him, if you are the son of God, going on to tempt Jesus to prove his sonship in an illegitimate manner. So you see Jesus' sonship is, it's proclaimed in the passage before and then it's proven in the passage after. So why does Luke include this genealogy here? Why not at the beginning? Why not elsewhere? Well, I would suggest that the reason why he puts it here is to say something about Jesus' sonship. And if it's proclaimed before, if it's proven after, here we see Jesus' Sonship portrayed. We begin to see what this Sonship means and what it means for us as Luke introduces us to the question of Sonship and causes us to reflect upon the contrast of Sonship and points us forward to the culmination of Sonship. And those are our three headings this morning if you're taking notes. There's the question of Sonship. There's the contrast of Sonship. and the culmination of sonship. Let's begin by looking at the question. Verse 23 raises the question of Jesus' parentage and his sonship when it tells us that Jesus is Joseph's son supposedly. Well is he or isn't he? What does this mean? Look at verse 23 with me. Jesus being the son as was supposed of Joseph. Well, there is a degree of ambiguity here, is there not? Because although Joseph is Jesus' earthly father in terms of the role that he would play in Jesus' life, and although according to Jewish custom and law, Joseph was legally the father, which gave Jesus a legitimate claim to the throne of David and to his messianic title, Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. Because as Gabriel said it would happen, Mary conceived not in the natural way, but supernaturally by that power of God on account of which nothing is impossible. So even just from the beginning of Luke's gospel, the question of whose son is Jesus becomes relevant. As we come to his genealogy, the question of Jesus Parentage and sonship is, I think it's raised here by this parenthetical aside, as was supposed. Is he Joseph's son or isn't he? And if not Joseph's, then whose son is Jesus? But you know, Jesus isn't the only one whose sonship is questioned in these opening chapters. Look at chapter three, verse eight. You see there, John the Baptist said to those who came out to be baptized by him, Do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. Already you see someone questioning the sonship of this group of people. John questions the sonship of these Jews that are coming to him for baptism. Do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Here is an indication that this is about more than biology. It's not just about who is your biological father because Abraham's way down the line in terms of ancestry and lineage. We're talking about a different kind of connection. The Jewish people are looking at the connection they have to Abraham. It's more of a spiritual connection. It's a matter of personal and social and religious identity. And for a Jew, this identity was inseparable from ethnicity. The question being, do you trace your ancestry back to Father Abraham? But if John the Baptist is right here, then having Abraham as your father is more than a matter of ethnic descent or natural kinship. Over in John's Gospel in chapter 8, Jesus addresses certain Jews who excuse their sin by saying, Abraham is our father. And Jesus responds to this by saying, if you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did. So what matters in terms of sonship is not physical, but spiritual ties. This is what Paul's talking about, by the way, in Romans 4.11. where he suggests that because Abraham was justified by faith before he was marked off as ethnically distinct through circumcision, which came to mark ethnically the people who came from Abraham, the Jewish people. Because Abraham was justified by faith before that, He is therefore the father, not only of the Jewish people by physical kinship, but also the spiritual father of all who believe, regardless of circumcision. And the upshot of this is that we Gentiles get to sing, Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham, and I am one of them, and so are you. So let's all praise the Lord. What a great song. And so we see this spiritual connection. that is open to Jewish people who believe, it's open to Gentiles who believe. We're not able to count ourselves among the ethnic people of the Jewish people, but we have a spiritual kinship. But if all of this is so, then many people are not the sons or daughters of who they think they are. Because not all of us do the works of our Father in heaven or do the works of Abraham as he did the works of his Father in heaven. Back in John chapter 8, those Jews who claimed Abraham for their father went on to say that ultimately we have one father, even God. They were proud to say it's not just Abraham who's our father, God is our father. So they're claiming to be sons of God just as Jesus was declared to be the son of God. And just as we see here in this passage in this genealogy that the question of Jesus Sonship, ultimately, it's already been answered in verse 22, that he's the son of God. God the Father testifies to this fact, in reality. But these Jewish people who rejected Jesus, who were marked by sin but were excusing their sin because of their supposed connection with Abraham, and as they say here, with God, we have one Father, even God. Jesus responds to them, he says, if God were your Father, you would love me. They don't love Jesus. And he's really calling their bluff. You think that you are part of the family of God? I am the son of God. If you don't love me, you're not in the family of God. You can't be a brother. You can't call God your father. My father is not your father. And then he said to them, you are of your father, the devil. Now, how can such a provocative statement as this possibly be justified? You are of your father the devil, Jesus says, because your will is to do your father's desires. Now let's pause here for a moment and reflect. On the basis of this criteria that Jesus gives, whose son or daughter are you? If you had to go by Do you, by this test, do you do the works of your father who is in heaven, who is God, or the father of lies, who is the devil? Whose son or daughter are you? Because in the end, you are either a child of God or you are a child of the devil. And the Bible teaches us that we are by nature children of wrath, not the children of God. Those who receive Jesus and who believe in his name are given the right to become children of God through the new birth and adoption into the family of God. But if we are children of God and if we have God for our father, it is not something we have naturally, a birthright. It is something we can only have supernaturally as we are born again from above. So how can you tell if this is taking place in your life? You want to know, am I a child of God? Have I been born again? Are these spiritual realities true in my experience? And this test that Jesus gives is to look at your life and see whose will you obey? Because that is, that's not the test, that's not the question of how we're saved. If you will obey God's Word, then you will be saved. It's a marker, it's fruit, it's evidence of one who has been saved. Someone who's been born again will inevitably, by God's grace and His enabling power, bear fruit in keeping with repentance unto eternal life, and they will be doing, not perfectly, not not constantly, but genuinely, truly, and more and more as they mature in Christ, they'll be doing God's will. So is that true of you? Do you follow the course of this world, as Paul says in Ephesians 2, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience? Or can you sincerely pray, our Father in heaven, your will be done? So first of all, Luke raises the question of sonship, a question we'd all do well to ask and answer. Whose son or daughter are you? The question is sort of raised, at least to get us thinking and reflecting on this topic here in verse 23. But if we would be confident in our sonship, we have to look to where this list of names leaves us. And here we see the contrast of sonship. Really, there's no mention that's made, no point is made of any of these, and some of these names are significant. We might make a point of Jesus being the son of Joseph, for instance. There's things that we could say about that. We could say a lot about the fact that Jesus is the son of David. That's a point that Luke has already made. in his first chapter that he is going to be called the son of the Most High and to occupy the throne of his father David. So the fact that Jesus is the one to fulfill the promises made to David in 2 Samuel 7 is significant, but Luke makes no mention of the significance of that here, nor of his being a son of Abraham or any of these names. But what is significant is where Luke leaves us. Whereas Matthew, he ends his genealogy, or rather he begins, because he works in reverse order from Luke, but he begins with Abraham. Luke, he carries that all the way back before Abraham to Adam. It takes us all the way back to the beginning, putting into contrast the sonship of Jesus with that of Adam, who is also called the Son of God here. Look at verse 38. The son of Adam, the son of God. Here's the idea that Adam was the son of God and that's present in the early chapters of Genesis where Adam was made in the image of likeness of God and then in Genesis 5 it describes Adam's offspring being created in his image and likeness. So that language is definitely intended to communicate the idea of sonship. Just as Seth will be a son of Adam, Adam was the original human son of God. Well, there can be no doubt that Luke intends for us to compare and contrast these two most important figures in history, Adam and Jesus. You see, in the very next passage, we find the devil coming to Jesus to tempt him by twisting the word of God, just as he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden. That ought to be familiar. As you read this, you think of the temptation in the garden. It maybe reminds you of Israel's wilderness wonderings and the way that they were tempted. And both Adam and Israel, as a nation, failed the temptations that they were given. And here we see Jesus succeeding where Adam and Israel failed. The first son of God failed, and Jesus succeeds. So there's this comparison that's intended, but if sonship is about doing the Father's will, these two sons could not be more distinct. There's similarities, there's points of connection, but it only goes so far. They're both created sort of directly by the hands of God. They're both made the representatives of groups of people. They both are tested. There's all these similarities, but on the other hand, they could not be more distinct. Because you see, Jesus submits where Adam rebels. Jesus obeyed where Adam transgressed. Why is this relevant to you and me? We see that, well, Jesus is a lot better than Adam. But this is personally relevant because it was God's will to make these two men representatives for others. Adam did not just represent himself in the garden. The Bible's very clear about that, especially in the New Testament. Some passages that we're going to read in a moment like Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, that Adam did not just represent himself. It wasn't just that Adam stood or fell on account of his obedience, but everybody that was represented by Adam, and the Bible tells us that is all of us, all mankind. Adam represented all mankind when he sinned in the garden. And so when Adam fell, we fell in him. When he was disobedient, we were condemned. Look with me at Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5, look at verse 12, 18, and 19. Mark your place here, we'll come back to it in just a moment. But I want you to see what Adam's sonship amounts to. The task that he was given to represent others and to be a faithful and obedient son, and yet we know where that went and what happened, what came of that. And Paul says in Romans 5, 12, that sin came into the world through one man, that is Adam, and death through sin. And so death spread to all men because all sinned. So sin doesn't just come into the world sort of afresh each time we sin. There's something about Adam's sin which is unique, which has brought sin to all of us, and which has brought death to all of us, and that much Paul makes even more clear in verse 18. In verse 19, he says there, one trespass led to condemnation for all men. One trespass led to condemnation for all men. Now it's not as if, if it weren't for Adam, all of us would be doing fine because we know that we've all sinned. All of us have sinned. And so if we had to stand on our own two feet before God's throne of judgment, we would fall as well. We're deserving of wrath as well. But we don't even have to go that far as to look at our own individual acts of sin. We were condemned from the womb. ever since we were born. David says this. He says that in sin that my mother conceived me. We're born in sin and by nature are children of wrath. And what does all this mean? It means that Adam represented us in the garden and because he sinned, we fell. That we are punished, we are condemned, we are guilty, not on account only of our sin, but even before that, more foundationally, at a more basic, primitive level, because of Adam. Now the reason why this is so important is because the same is true, but the opposite with Jesus. So you grasp, what does it matter that I was condemned in Adam versus just being condemned for my own sin? Well, I don't know about you, but I don't want it to be about me being either condemned or blessed, cursed or blessed, condemned or received because of what I've done. I'm fine being condemned because of what Adam's done if it means that I can be received by God and loved by him and saved and blessed because of what Jesus has done. Verse 19. By one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners. There's the same idea again. So that's Adam. Adam represented all mankind, was not a faithful son, and this lack of faithfulness, this sinfulness, this waywardness, it resulted in the fall. But Jesus represented others as well in his life, in his death, burial, and resurrection. And Jesus represented not all mankind. That's a mistake that has sometimes crept into the way that we talk about salvation. But the implications of that is universalism. Because if God, if Jesus represented everyone, then everyone is saved. Adam represented everyone, and everyone's condemned. If Jesus represented everyone, then everyone is saved. Yet we're not universalists, and we know, as hard as it is to accept, not everyone is saved. The gospel is preached to all. Salvation is freely offered to all. But what we see here is that those who are saved are those who belong to Jesus through faith. And when Jesus suffered, those who believe in him are pardoned. When Jesus kept God's commands, those who trust in him were counted righteous. So this is the gospel, is that when we see Jesus, we see the one who represents us. He's our advocate. He is the true Son of God, where we were not true sons of God. We were failures at being faithful sons. And this is what Paul makes clear in Romans 5, 15 through 19. Reading some of these verses again. Paul says the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reign through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness, the life of suffering and obedience of Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection leads to justification and life for all men. For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. This contrast is beautifully summed up by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 21 through 22. There Paul says, for as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. When it comes to the question of sonship, you and I fail. Our God appointed representative, Adam, failed to do God's will despite numerous advantages. The contrast between us and Jesus or between Adam and Jesus is extremely disheartening if our purpose is to make ourselves sons or daughters of God through our obedience. And as we look at the contrast that's set up between Jesus as the son of declared to be the son of God at his baptism and Adam who was the son of God. Knowing that unless we have faith we don't belong to Jesus we belong to Adam. It's extremely disheartening. is the culmination of Jesus' sonship is our own sonship. And this spiritual adoption into the family of God is a blessing of salvation that we must come to and receive from that beloved Son with whom God is well pleased. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that, why is it that God has saved us? What is the culmination of that? What is the goal, the aim, the end toward which salvation is driving? Well, as Paul says here, those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he, that is Jesus, might be the firstborn among many brothers. So that we could be a son of God as Jesus is a son of God. In Galatians chapter 4 we read, Paul says, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law. Why has God redeemed us? So that we might receive adoption as sons. In Ephesians chapter 1 we read, He, that is God, predestined us. Why did God predestine us? And if you didn't read that verse or that verse wasn't familiar to you, what would you guess Paul would say there? He has predestined us for what? Salvation? Holiness? He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ. In justification, we find ourselves in the courtroom of God, declared to be not guilty because of Jesus' sacrifice, His blood, what He's done for us, but in our adoption, the culmination of our salvation, we move from the courtroom to the family room, and we come to know and understand God as Father. You see, the genealogy of Jesus in Luke's gospel, it ends with these words, the Son of God, He's not merely a son of men, but more than that, he is the son of God. And the reason he came, the purpose of his obedience and the goal of his suffering was to make himself our brother so that we might call his father our father. And I wonder, revisiting that question that we asked earlier, whose son or whose daughter are you? Especially relevant question on Father's Day. You see why I see a genealogy of Jesus as being a good Father's Day message, actually. Unintentionally, but in God's providence. Whose father are you? If you would be God's son, God's daughter, if you would have God for your father, it's not enough to, like many pious Jews in Jesus' day, to just merely strive to do everything within your power, with all your might, to obey God, because our best efforts are woefully insufficient and cannot amount to spiritual adoption, making us sons or daughters of God. But when we look at Jesus' genealogy, I think what's sort of confronting us, what's in our face, if we have eyes to see, especially when we look at the passage before and after, is that Jesus is the Son of God. And you and I can be sons of God in Him. If we are in Christ, if we are united to Him by faith, then we too are sons and daughters of God. And how else can we respond but in the words of 1 John 3, 1? See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called the children of God, and so we are. See, John says. Do you see? Is this marvelous to you? Is it wonderful? Do you see it? Do you see what kind of love, what manner of love the Father has given to us that we should be called his children? And so we are. And I pray, my prayer for you, I pray that you would see and understand this, that you would know that you are a child of God, that the spirit of adoption would sort of well up within you and cause you to cry out, Abba, Father, and that you'd have assurance in your heart that you belong to Him as a child, that you have Him for a father, that this would comfort your heart, that this would cause you to rejoice. See what kind of love. Father has given to us that we should be called the children of God and so we are. Let's pray. Father God we thank you that for this privilege it's more than we could ever ask or imagine just as the prodigal son returned home not at not hoping to ask to become a a son again, to be restored to the privilege of sonship, but merely to be a servant. God, you've not only forgiven us and wiped our slate clean, you've dealt with our sin, and there's no condemnation, there's no punishment, and we rejoice in this, but our blessings go so much further. God, we're not only forgiven, we are given the righteousness of your son. reconciled, there's peace, we're welcomed and received, loved. God, and with a filial love, fatherly love, we are in the family. We rejoice in this. We pray that you would never let, never allow our hearts to grow dull in acknowledging this wonderful truth that God, we pray that it would fill us with joy day and night and cause us to pray and to sing with such gladness in our hearts, God, that this would fuel our worship and our Christian life and our relationship with others and flavor and influence everything that we say and do. For your glory. And it's in the name of your son, Jesus, we pray. Amen.