God’s gracious response to man’s need for Redemption because of his Son was in the promise of the Redeemer. In Genesis 3, a veiled promise is given that this Redeemer God will provide would come from humanity itself. An offspring of Adam and Eve. Later in Genesis, it’s clear that the line of descent will narrow through Noah and one of his three sons, Shem. It is traced from Shem to and through the direct descendant Abraham, as revealed in Genesis 11 and 12, then onward to Isaac and Jacob, and of Jacob, his twelve sons became the progenitors of the 12 tribes of Israel.
In addition to the genealogies in Genesis 35 and 46, the New Testament provides supporting documentation in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. All through the ancient history of the nation Israel, there was one subject that occupied and filled the heart and mind of every loyal Jew. This subject was the epitome of the Hebrew hope. This subject represented the fulfillment of all their hopes and dreams. For Jews as individuals, for Jews as a nation, and also for the whole world, this subject was all wrapped up in one word, in one person – Messiah. “Messiah” means “the anointed one,” “the chosen one.”
Anointed by whom? Chosen by whom? By God Himself, of course. Nearly all the Jewish prophets spoke repeatedly of God one day sending his “Chosen One” to earth. And when He comes, He will set the earth right. He will be God’s singular “Superman” who will make justice and righteousness prevail. When the Messiah comes, every Jew believed, “He will fix everything that’s wrong, and actually set up his throne in Jerusalem from which He will rule the entire world, and Israel will be the world headquarters.” Four thousand years after God gave that veiled promise in Genesis 3, the Messiah had still not yet arrived. Then one day, an unorthodox Jewish prophet, by the name of John the Baptizer, came upon the scene to inform the nation of Israel that God was making good on His promise, and that Jesus of Nazareth was in fact the long-awaited Messiah, sent by God from Heaven itself. He formally introduced Jesus to Israel as recorded in John 1, Matthew 3, and Luke 3. No longer was the promise of the Messiah just a promise. Now it is a promise fulfilled in the person of Jesus the Christ as John the Baptizer so enthusiastically announced.
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