10-20-19 Sermon Notes
“Overwhelming – Descendant of David” 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 1:32-33
Two weeks ago, we began a twelve-week series entitled “Overwhelming” focusing on the prophetic proof of the Messiah. This week we continue with the Davidic Covenant and its fulfillment.
Introduction
If you were to select ten of the most important chapters in the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 7would be among them. The theme of the Davidic dynasty upon whose throne the Messiah would finally reign of the true Son of David runs throughout the remainder of the Bible.
Read 2 Samuel 7:12-16 New International Version (NIV)
12 “When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
So one of the main features that we see throughout the Bible is covenants. Covenants are not exactly contracts the way we think of contracts today, though there is some similarity. A covenant is essentially a relationship, but it’s a relationship that has been formalized and has been brought under sanctions, as it were. So there are blessings that come if the relationship is kept, and there are penalties that come if the relationship is broken, and a covenant is simply the terms of that relationship. In addition, covenants are “life agreements” between two or more parties. When God made a covenant, the terms were based on His promises, standards, and regulations. The benefits of such a covenant are dependent upon people’s obedience, trust, and faithfulness to God. Even though the word covenant does not appear in 2 Samuel 7:12-16, it is clear that God was establishing a solemn agreement with David.
We see covenants beginning with Noah and then with Abraham. We see the covenant established with Israel, and then a personal covenant established with David, and then finally the new covenant that is announced in the prophets and fulfilled in Christ. These covenants have become a way of helping us understand how is it that we relate to God, and He relates to us.
The covenants are not all the same, though they’re all related. Part of understanding how the Bible fits together is understanding how the various covenants that God’s revealed either build on one another and fulfill one another, or in some ways are quite different from each other and are introducing something new.
Everything that God does is based on covenant. And when you take the Bible, it’s divided into two parts, the Old Testament or the Old Covenant and the New Testament or the New Covenant. So he is the God of covenants, he is the sovereign administrator of covenants.
1. The Covenant of Works (Conditional)
God made a conditional covenant with Adam in the garden of Eden. Adam was supposed to obey all God’s commands to earn the right to eat from the tree of life and merit eternal life. Adam rebelled against God and earned instead death and condemnation for himself and all his descendants (Genesis 2:17-18; Genesis 3).
Wis covenant mean for us? Because all humans come from Adam and were represented by him, we are all under this same covenant and guilty of failing to keep it (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Because God is holy, we are at enmity with God based on our own imperfect works. Furthermore, because we have a sinful nature due to the corruption resulting from Adam’s fall, we commit more sins that heap more guilt upon us.
2. The Covenant of Grace (Unconditional)
We first find the unconditional covenant of grace in Genesis 3:15display=”Geness 3:15″] where God promises that a savior will come who will crush the head of the serpent (i.e. Satan) as we discovered in the message from two weeks ago. In the covenant of grace, people are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone because of Christ’s perfect keeping of the law and His perfect and complete sacrifice once and for all for sin (Romans 5:12-21; Hebrews 7:27; Hebrews 10:14).
What does this covenant mean for us? Because we are sinful, we can never keep God’s law perfectly and be pure in order to stand in His presence. Through faith in Christ alone, we are declared righteous in God’s sight, are forgiven of our sins, have peace with our Creator, and have been gifted all the rights and privileges as God’s child for eternity (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:1; Romans 8:15“]).
3. The Noahic Covenant (Unconditional)
In the unconditional Noahic covenant, God made a promise to Noah to never again bring a flood to destroy the eirth (Genesis 9:1-17). God instituted the Noahic covenant to preserve the earth so that we would not destroy each other, in order that the Savior, Jesus Christ, could come at the appointed time in God’s redemptive plan.
What does this covenant mean for us? Since Christ has come and done His saving work, God “is patient toward us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 2:9. Jesus will return one day to fully establish his kingdom (Revelation 21).
4. The Covenant of Abraham (Unconditional)
The covenant of grace is more fully revealed in the covenant of Abraham. God made an unconditional, permanent covenant with Abraham: “‘I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’” (Genesis 12:3; Genesis 15:5-6). God fulfilled His promise to Abraham by sending his only begotten Son Jesus to the earth as the Savior of the world to be born in the flesh from a descendant of Abraham (Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38; Galatians 3:16).
What does this covenant mean for you us? All who receive Christ as Savior are the true heirs of Abraham and have all rights and privileges thereof. Abraham believed God would keep his promise, “and if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29).
5. The Mosaic Covenant (Conditional)
Like the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant was part of the covenant of grace but it was temporary in nature. The Mosaic covenant was a conditional agreement between God and the people of Israel that was mediated by Moses (Exodus 19-24). The people of Israel had to fulfill God’s stipulations in this covenant to stay and prosper in the land God had given them. None of the Israelites were ever pure before God through the keeping of this covenant, because it was impossible for anyone to obey it perfectly. They were only declared righteous by faith alone, just as their father Abraham was (Genesis 15:6).
This covenant was extremely important for two reasons: 1) it showed the nation of Israel (and us) the impossibility of keeping God’s law perfectly and the need for a Savior and 2) it provided a forum for Christ to come and be the perfect Son of Israel who would obey God’s law in all things and be the once-for-all sacrifice for sin.
What does this covenant mean for us? The Mosaic covenant shows us that, because of indwelling sin, the law is a taskmaster that we can never appease (Romans 3:19-20). Yet, there is no need for us to despair: Through faith in Christ, we are declared righteous before God, since Christ’s perfect obedience is counted to us and our sin is counted to Christ (Romans 5:12-21; Hebrews 7:27; Hebrews 10:14).
6. The Davidic Covenant (Both Conditional and Unconditional)
In today’s text, 2 Samuel 7, God made a promise that He would raise up David’s offspring and “establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13). God promised unconditionally to put a son of David on the throne, but only the righteous son would reign for eternity. While David’s son Solomon ruled over Israel, he failed to keep God’s commands (”; 1 Kings 11:4-8). Only David’s descendant Jesus was the true and faithful Son deserving of the everlasting throne of David (Psalm 2:16; Psalm 110).
What does this covenant mean for us? Unlike mere human rulers who disappoint us with their failure to rule justly, Jesus obeyed God in all things—even giving his own life out of his love for the world—and earned the right to rule in glory forever (John 3:16; 1 Kings 2:35 Revelation 11:15). We can take comfort in knowing that the resurrected Christ is the one truly righteous King who has not only secured eternal life for all believers but will also put an end to all injustice and evil one day (Revelation 21:4).
7. The New Covenant (Unconditional)
The new covenant ushered in the new creation. This covenant is new in relation to the old (Mosaic) covenant, but both are part of the Abrahamic covenant. While Moses was the mediator of the old covenant between God and the nation of Israel, Christ is the mediator of the new covenant between God and believers through His finished work of redemption in his life, death, and resurrection. While the old covenant required national obedience, the new covenant requires faith in Christ, the perfectly obedient Son of Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matthew 26:28; Galatians 3:13-18).
What does this covenant mean for us? While the new covenant requires faith in Christ, this faith itself is a gift from God, given to all who trust in Christ as their Savior (John 1:12; Ephesians 2:8-9). As Christians, we can rejoice that we have peace with God (Romans 5:1), eternal life (Romans 6:23), are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16 display=”1 Corithians 3:16″]), and are being conformed to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29).
8. The Covenant of Redemption (Conditional)
Without the covenant of redemption, the only other covenant in this list that could exist is the first one: the covenant of works. The covenant of redemption was established before creation and is the pact between the persons of the Trinity in which the Father sends the Son to do the work of redemption, the Son submits to the Father’s will, and the Holy Spirit applies the benefits of the Son’s accomplished work to Believers (Psalm 40:6-8). As a reward for his obedience, the Father gifts the Son with glory and an everlasting kingdom (Psalm 110; Isiah 53; Zechariah 6:12-13” display=”Zchariah 6:12-13″]; John 17:1-5).
What does this covenant mean for us? If the persons of the Trinity didn’t make this pact—and keep it—we would all be under God’s condemnation without any hope for meeting his holy standards. God did not have to save any of us from the consequences of our sin, but he did so out of His unfathomable love (Romans 3:23-26).
Message
In this Davidic covenant made with David, we find that it is both conditional and unconditional. In this covenant, God made a promise to establish the kingdom of David’s son, Solomon. Solomon would be the one to build the temple for the Lord. At the same time, God promised that David’s dynasty would endure forever based on the condition that David and his descendants would be faithful and obedient. This covenant was to be everlasting only in the sense that God intended to always keep a son of David on the throne in Jerusalem, as long as these rulers remained faithful and obedient to Him.
For the next four centuries, David’s family line remained unbroken on Judah’s throne. Judah was the southern portion of the kingdom that resulted from the division of Israel, first following the death of King Saul, then again after the death of David’s son, Solomon. The kingdom of Judah got its name from the tribe of Judah, which made up the southern kingdom. Judah was the tribe through which God would continue to keep His covenant people, establish His eternal Kingship and later bring the Messiah. Judah’s capital was Jerusalem. But when Judah’s kings, such as the wicked King Manasseh and those who reigned after King Josiah, continued to rebel against God by worshiping idols and disobeying His law, God finally removed them from the throne. He allowed King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to invade the land of Judah, attack the city of Jerusalem and in the end destroy the city along with its temple in 586 B.C. That would be the first time since their slavery in Egypt that God’s people came under the control of foreign rulers.
There was one part of the covenant with David that totally unconditional. God said that in the end, the kingdom of David would be established forever. The main point of this promise was the Messiah – the Savior – the eternal King would come from David’s family line.
Question – Can you name the first name of one or both of your great grandfathers?
Ponder that question as we move along in this part of the message and think about the importance that the Jews placed upon their lineage.
This King would be the ruler not only over Israel but also over God’s followers from all the nations. He would come out of the city of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2-4) and His reign would reach to the ends of the earth (Zechariah 9:10). He would be called “The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:5-6) and would bring salvation from sin (Zechariah 13:1). The fulfillment of God’s promise to David began with the birth of Jesus, announced by the angel Gabriel to Mary, a daughter from David’s family line (Luke 1:30-33).
Read Luke 1:30-33
“When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary in Luke 1:31-33, he said, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Therefore, beyond any shadow of a doubt that the promise to David that his descendant would rule forever is fulfilled in part by Mary.
Where does Mary’s husband, Joseph fit in this promise?
ReadMatthew 1:1-17
1”This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,….. 6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, ……16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. 17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.”
Matthew’s genealogy featuring Joseph begins with Abraham and ends with Jacob the father of Joseph. Verse 6 refers to King David, so we see here that Joseph is a descendant of David, thereby fulfilling in part the prophecy in 2 Samuel.
Note: Never once was Jesus challenged or accused of not being from the line of David.
Often times one of God’s covenants would build on top of another of His covenants. The Davidic covenant broadened and expanded the promise that we looked at in week one – Genesis 1:15 which predicted Satan’s defeat through Eve’s offspring. It is also a continuation of the covenant given to Abraham and his descendants.
The fulfillment of this covenant with David involved Jesus rising from the dead and being exalted to His rightful place at God’s right hand (Acts 2:29-33) – the highest honor in heaven. From this position, He now rules as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
His eternal Kingship includes His present ruler-ship over God’s Kingdom and His headship over the church, His future millennial (thousand year) reign over the nations on earth (Revelation 2:26-27) and His eternal kingdom in the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21-22).
Concluding Remarks and Application
The reason God’s covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David ought to increase the joy of our faith is that in all of them the main point is that God exerts all His omnipotence (all-powerful) and all His omniscience (knowledge) to do good to His people, and we are that people if we follow Christ in the obedience of faith. The most practical truths Christians can know are that God is all-powerful, all-wise, and all for us. Nothing will have a more important practical impact on the way we use our money, spend our leisure, pursue our vocation, rear our children, deal with conflict, or handle anxiety. Heartfelt confidence that the sovereign God is working everything together for our good out of sheer grace affects every area of our life.
David’s Worldwide Kingdom
This means that when God said to David in 2 Samuel 7:16, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure before me forever,” he had in view a house and a kingdom much greater than Israel. The reason the Davidic covenant is relevant for 21st century American Gentiles is because God’s revelation to David included not just the promise to establish a righteous ruler in Israel forever, but also to put that ruler over the church and then over all the world. Isaiah said, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” It will be worldwide. And the angel says in Revelation 11:15, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”