Vital Signs: Tuesday, December 24, 2024

"This is the scroll of the lineage and birth of Jesus, the Anointed One, the descendant of both David and Abraham” - Matthew 1:1

Genesis Renewed in Jesus

There are two things to notice here. First, the Gospel of Matthew is described as a “scroll of the lineage and birth of Jesus, the Anointed One.” Another way to translate this is “the book of the origin of Jesus Christ.” Lineage and origin are connected to the Greek word geneseos, which is where we get the word Genesis.

Matthew wants us to do a Genesis double take. He wants us to remember the original creation and what happened shortly thereafter—mainly humanity's rebellion against our Creator—and then look to the re-creation happening in Jesus. In other words, the broken, fractured original creation is being renewed through Jesus, the Anointed One!

The beginning of Jesus’ story reminds us that God fulfilled His plan and promise to rescue this world and restore it. No matter how dark things may seem or how tough life becomes, God has a plan.