The Book of Matthew began with the linage of Joseph the husband of Mary, the mother of Christ. I believe that the Holy Spirit started the book this way so that we can track back the linage of Joseph that leads to the true seed of Christ.
And through Joseph's linage and Mary's linage, we can know that we are following the Son of the living God.
There are two seeds in the earth, Genesis 3:15, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
There is the seed of the woman, and the seed of the serpent, now Jesus say's in Matthew,
Mt 24:4-5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Jesus tells us that many shall come in his name, there can't be many, there is only one, but which one?
he say's that many will come in his name saying, I am the Christ, and shall deceive many.
Many will be deceived, but, once again, how will you know the difference?
Then in Matthew, it says that false Christs are going to arise and shall show great signs and wonders
Mt 24:23-24 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
I believe that the linage was given to us in Matthew chapter one, so that we can know that we are following the Christ, the Son of the Living God the seed of the woman, and not the seed of the serpent the deceiver. The deceiver is going to deceive many into thinking that he is the Christ. This is called deception.
What can we do to keep ourselves from deception? Learning Truth. I'll give you an example of what I'm trying to say here, Let's use Counterfeit money, how do you know if you were given counterfeit money or real money when you cashed your check?, How do you know real money from counterfeit money? To know the real from the counterfeit, you don't study the counterfeit, (there is to many out there), what you do is study the real money. You study it's markings, its texture, the ink, the paper, when you have studied the real money, then you will know the difference between the real and the counterfeit.
The word counterfeit is defined as, to imitate, to make an imitation of something genuine with intentions to defraud. (2) an imitation made to deceive.
Study the real Christ from the scriptures and the Holy Spirit will lead you and guide you into all truth, He is the Spirit of truth, and the world do not know him. When he speaks, he only speaks truth because he is truth. In my bible studies, I give a lot of scriptures, so that through the scriptures the Spirit of Truth can speak to you and not me. It is the Holy Spirit that opens and reveals the scriptures to you and show you Christ,
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man come to the Father, but by me.
