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After walking through Jesus’ genealogy last week, we now dive into the narrative of his life that Matthew has laid out. Matthew begins with a telling of the events surrounding the Lord’s conception and virgin birth. While the focus is on Mary elsewhere in the gospels (Luke), Matthew zeroes in on Joseph. It is through Joseph’s handling of the situation he faces that we see God furthering the plan to bring his people the Savior King.

We now begin a year-long series in the Gospel of Matthew together. And from beginning to the end, the author is going to work to convince us of the identity of Jesus and the nature of his work. In these first seventeen verses, Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus. And while it would be easy for us to skim it or skip over it completely to get to the story, it is there for us to further understand who our Lord is.

Last week, Pastor Mike talked about our thinking rightly concerning political power in light of the true power of the gospel. But another danger that lays its trap for the church is making politics the primary shaper of our identity. The folly in doing this is in the fact that political affiliation is an insufficient substitute for the glorious identity we have in the gospel of Christ.

In this brief, two week series, we have the opportunity to consider the gospel and what it means in our approach to politics and social issues. With a political climate as polarized and often vitriolic as our own, it is necessary for us to consider these things as God’s people. If we are to be set apart from this world, then we must also be set apart in our convictions about worldly power.

In this short passage from chapter twelve, we now hear from the narrator who concludes the book. It contains some words about the Preacher as well as some summarizing thoughts about wisdom. But most notably, we are given a command at the end which serves as a unifying statement in regards to what our life is to be about: “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

In this penultimate sermon from our Ecclesiastes series we see the Preacher give instructions to remember and rejoice in this life. While this passage certainly applies to all who read it, he has something to say to young people in regards to how to approach the days of youth. The harsh reality is that we will all fade and die. Therefore, how we think about and spend our days matters.