The Child Promised to David
The Christ Child: Good News Promised and Proclaimed • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Good morning!
2 Samuel 7:12–16 (NASB95)
“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.
“He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
“I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men,
but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
“Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
Introduction
I don’t know about you, but as soon we start to talk about kings and thrones my mind tends to put those items in the medieval fantasy category. If you’re into Lord of the Rings at all you immediately have a picture of what kings and thrones might look like, but I hope we would see the aspects of a kings reign given to us in Scripture are not so foreign to us today.
Suppose you were invited on a tour of a large company with an executive. You see them on TV every once in a while. What are you going to see on this tour? Generally speaking there are three things that make up the ‘dominion’ of an executive.
Assets: building/ production
Workforce
Office (One perhaps we don’t often see)
In a similar sense, every king’s dominion has three aspects.
A kingdom
A household
A throne
If one of these things were missing you might begin to ask questions. What kind of king are you if you don’t have a kingdom? Where is the royal family? You don’t have a throne? Where do you rule from?
In the promise given to David of a child to come, we are promised a king whose, kingdom, house, and throne will endure forever. As we look down the line of David we are challenged to compare the glory of Solomon’s reign and the humble arrival of Christ as King. We, like many others, may be tempted to ask Jesus the King in the humility of His ministry, where is the kingdom? Where is the House? Where is the throne?
I hope we would see today just how much greater the reign of Christ is, though he came in such humility, in comparison to even the glory of Solomon’s reign.
Our main point...
Christ will reign and no aspect of His dominion will fail. His kingdom, His house, and His throne will endure forever.
Christ will reign and no aspect of His dominion will fail. His kingdom, His house, and His throne will endure forever.
The Reign of Christ to come
a. The Kingdom of Christ
b. The Throne of Christ
c. The Throne of Christ
The Reign of Christ to come.
The Reign of Christ to come.
“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.
“He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
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The prelude to the promise is a stark reality that we don’t like to stare in the face, yet God makes a point to remind David of that reality. You will die! There is nothing special about you David when all is said and done. You will have a reign that will be remembered for millennia, yet just like your fathers before you, you will go to your grave. The world will go on without you, and yet it will sill remain in my sovereign hands.
When we go back to our big gospel question, “Who will reign?” There’s an underlying question, that we need to answer, “Who will die?”
There’s a natural inclination in the human heart to look to higher powers for hope and blessing. We are designed with an acknowledgement of God in us because we are made in His image, yet mankind is quick to reject the one true God for gods of their own making. In our day of secularism, we do not call them gods or idols, but the exalting of mortal men to positions of reverence, fidelity, and hope in our hearts is no less idolatry. It’s a kind of respectable modern idolatry to look to politicians and worldly institutions to be the source of our blessing and security. We can ask ourselves, in whom do we rest? Then ask ourselves, will that person die? It’s frankly a simple litmus test, yet God applies the simplest of realities in order to make evident to David that anyone who dies cannot sit on the throne of an eternal kingdom.
There may be a tendency to look for mortal David’s in our day to deliver us, but alternatively I believe there’s a tendency to be David, saying, “I will establish a dominion and a kingdom in which I can be secure, rest, and find true blessing.” The same simple litmus test applies. “Can all of your rule and taking dominion in pursuit of blessing keep you from death?”
The prelude to the promise given to David lays bare the futility of all faith in mortal man whether that be ourselves or other men of power and influence we hope in by reminding us of the thing we all know to be true and don’t want to admit, because of sin, all men die. In spite of David’s end to come Israel will not be without hope because David was never the foundation of Israel’s hope. God will continue to act as sovereign God for the good of Israel in raising up another.
Immediately, I’d like us to recognize that biblical prophecy can be fulfilled in more than one future person or time. This prophecy or promise is one great example. In many ways, much of what God is promising to David will be fulfilled in Solomon, his immediate descendant, but at the end of the day, Solomon is no different than his Father David. He too will need to be corrected with the rod when he commits iniquity, and so He too will join his Father in the grave. Therein we look beyond Solomon to another descendant who will fulfill this promise to the utmost: One without sin. That descendant we will see is Christ.
So when we see God say, “I will raise up your descendant...” we can readily acknowledge that God in His sovereignty would raise up Solomon to build a truly remarkable house in the name of God, yet we must also look ahead and see the child who would come as a man. The Son of David, Jesus, born in Bethlehem, the city of David, came not to reign as David did, but rather to die, that the sins of men would be paid for. He did not come to reign like David did, nor did he remain dead like David did. This descendant of David would be literally raised up from the dead to sit on His throne at the right hand of God the Father, inaugurating a reign that will never come to an end for Christ will never die again.
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
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Solomon will indeed be raised up, but he is nothing in comparison to the child to come who will be raised up defeating death once and for all while establishing a heavenly rule under which all powers will be subject for the ages to come.
For now it’s sufficient to recognize that God is speaking of Christ as the one who will be raised up supremely and finally, we’ll explore the different aspects of Christ’s reign in a moment, but let’s go back and look at Solomon briefly.
In many ways, David’s reign was broken and marked by sin, yet up until this point this is the high water mark of the nation of Israel. They haven’t known anything better. David’s reign is marked by adultery, murder, and yet he is repentant. The people of Israel suffer due to his failures, but they do largely prosper under his rule. He will be remembered for millennia, as a great king of Israel. In spite of this, even David recognizes that something is missing. The house of God is still a tent. God needs a house worthy of His glory. We’ve been talking about this in institute, but his ambition is met by God saying,
2 Samuel 7:5 (NASB95)
5 “Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in?
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God effectively denies David the honor because David’s reign has been marked by war and conquering. The honor is given to Solomon!
David dies, Solomon’s reign is inaugurated and Solomon builds a truly spectacular temple to the glory of God. Israel is prospering like it never has before. Its borders are secure and it appears God has kept his promise.
Solomon’s own words remark,
“Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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We have a throne, a nation, and a house established by God and of evident power, prosperity, and glory. At this point, as an Israelite, if you’re looking around I can’t help but imagine that you’d think, “This is it.” Can it get any better than this?
In spite of this blessedness and glory the curse of sin still remains. Even Solomon cannot defeat death.
Solomon dies. (1 Kings 11:43)
Is that it? Where is this eternal reign? Where is the king established by the hand of God? Should we look through the story of first and second Kings, there are few who will resemble Solomon and the majority of them are evil bringing destruction, division, and defeat to the people of God. Is God’s blessing behind us? What is it we have to look forward to? Another earthly king who will hopefully serve righteously for a time only to leave his throne to another wicked man?
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
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As much as Solomon may have built a grand temple for God and brought Israel to greatness, his reign would pale in comparison to the reign of the baby born of Mary.
This is the one who God spoke of in his promise to David! This seed/ descendant has finally come! He will reign and His kingdom shall have no end!
When we look at the baby Jesus in the manger we can readily say, “The king is born and His reign will have no end!”
What is the nature of this reign? Our text gives us three aspects to consider.
A Kingdom, a house, a throne. Should we hope to understand the glory of this reign of Christ, we do well to understand the nature of his kingdom; What is this house that He will build, and what kind of throne is it that He sits on?
a. The Kingdom of Christ.
a. The Kingdom of Christ.
“I will establish his kingdom.” (vs. 12)
“ I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (vs. 13)
“your kingdom shall endure before Me forever” (vs. 16)
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Integral to the reign of Christ is the kingdom He will reign over. There is no separating the king from his kingdom, so when we see Christ the king born in a manger we should also recognize the nature and character of His kingdom. The good news promised to David includes the king and the kingdom.
The entire book of Matthew is characterized by this theme of kingdom. It even begins with a genealogy that the reader might recognize that this baby born in Bethlehem is a son of David. He is of the line of promise which will bring forth a king who will reign forever.
Joseph plays a more prominent role than in any other book as the “son of David”
We see the three wisemen looking for the “King of the Jews” again unique to Matthew.
As the birth narrative concludes, Matthew immediately jumps to John the Baptist proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The beginning of Jesus’ ministry is marked by his own words,
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
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Furthermore, the gospel that Jesus preaches is described as the gospel of the kingdom.
23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
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From Jesus’ birth, to the announcement of his coming by John the Baptist, and the beginning of Jesus’ ministry the good news of the King’s arrival accompanies the good news of the kingdom’s arrival.
I personally do love the detail of the Luke narrative, but we can’t miss the emphasis that Matthew provides to us. A Son of David has been born in Bethlehem who is King of the Jews, and His heavenly kingdom is near.
In many ways the Christmas story is a coronation story. There is no crown, but there are gifts worthy of a king given by prominent men in outright worship to a baby in a manger. This is no mere prince awaiting his Father’s throne. This is the one who (in the words of the wise men), “has been born King of the Jews.” By nature of being born, He is King. The King is here, and so is His kingdom, yet what kind of kingdom is this?
Does this good news promised to David entail another kingdom like that of Solomon? Will the nation of Israel’s independence from Rome and all its oppressors be reestablished. Will the borders of Israel expand once again to their intended borders? Some certainly thought this was the nature of the Messiah’s kingdom, but they were sorely mistaken. It would be far greater than any earthly border or worldly power could contain. This kingdom would be a kingdom of heaven.
Time is insufficient to cover the development of the kingdom’s character through Matthew, but it is perhaps most noteworthy as Jesus, the King of the Jews, approaches the cross.
As Jesus is about to be arrested in the garden, Peter pulls his sword as if to protect any other earthly king. A gesture of devout loyalty and yet Jesus says,
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. 53 “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
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The king, Jesus, actively commands legions upon legions of heavenly angels. Does he really need the sword of Peter the fishermen. Does the kingdom of Christ function in dependence on the swords of men like every other king? NO.
Jesus in his words to Pilate says as much.
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
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The King who would come from David would reign over an eternal kingdom, a heavenly kingdom. One that would not depend on the swords of men nor is it threatened by the swords of men, even the might of Rome.
Not even the death of the king could topple this kingdom.
When we look at the church today as citizens of this eternal kingdom, what is our disposition towards the Pilate’s of our day? Do we grab our swords as Peter did… or can we say with the confidence of Christ, my kingdom, the kingdom of Christ of which I am a blood bought citizen, is not of this world.
Let us not make the same mistake the Jews did in Jesus’ day.
The material glory of Israel would all be taken from them as they held fast to the sword that Peter did in the garden. Israel fell in rebellion to the Romans. The temple was destroyed and the throne of Israel was no more.
As much as the glory of Israel as a nation would be brought to nothing, the glory of Israel remained in the person of Christ and establishing of the church. As we saw last week in the words of Simeon:
Luke 2:32 (NASB95)
32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
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The king lives, seated on His throne at the right hand of God. The kingdom still remains, because it is a spiritual kingdom, made up of Christians. We are a very real, very tangible citizenry of the kingdom of Christ.
transition
The kingdom of Christ is a present reality, yet in its complete sense it is a heavenly kingdom to which we are on our way. It is ‘not yet’ in part and we must wait to see the fullness of this kingdom. This helps us understand the house that is built by our King.
b. The House of Christ.
b. The House of Christ.
“He shall build a house for My name,” (vs. 13)
“Your house, and your kingdom shall endure before me forever.”
(The church. Sojourners and strangers on our way to a heavenly kingdom. The people of God gathering together as a tabernacle in the wilderness.)
As we saw earlier, Solomon will ascend to the throne and build a very real house, a temple, for God in Jerusalem. It is a truly magnificent work of architecture.
Yet, as we know, this magnificent temple does not last.
Nebuchadnezzar would burn the temple upon invading Jerusalem.
9 He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire.
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No earthly temple of Israel would endure.
Before going much further we need to recognize that God is apparently referring to two different houses in his promise to David.
“He shall build a house for My name,”
“Your house, and your kingdom shall endure before me forever.”
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We have God’s house which is to be built, and the house of David which will endure forever.
In Solomon’s reign we can see the two, the temple being built - the house of God, and the continuation of David’s line as the house of David or David’s dynasty, (as Linda aptly put it in institute the other day).
Up until Christ’s coming we can recognize the distinction.
The temple is there, and the line of David.
Yet in Christ we can see a joining of the two.
Fundamentally, we need to understand that the temple of God is the place where the glory of God dwells,
and David’s line is the royal line.
Jesus is clearly of the royal line of David, and is the preservation of David’s house and His throne, but Christ is also the place where the glory of God dwells.
As Jesus is looking at Herod’s temple full of moneychangers and salesmen absent the glory of God, he says,
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
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He speaks of Himself, as the true temple of God, the true house of God. The place where the glory of God would dwell.
The eternal house promised to David finds its fulfillment in the person of Christ as temple and descendant of David, but the house of David would not end in Christ. In the same way the kingdom is eternal, the house which is to be established will endure.
Paul in His letter to the Ephesians refers to the church as a household and a holy temple in the same context.
The promise given to David refers to the enduring household of David as well as the temple which is to be built.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
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The fulfillment of this promise to David is absolutely found in the Christ Child, but we are apart of that promise because we as His church are united with Him. We are citizens of that eternal kingdom. We are the temple of God in whom the Spirit of Christ dwells. We make up the household of God as coheirs w/ Christ.
There’s no separating the king from his kingdom nor the king from his household, that is the church.
This too is good news of great comfort to us! 3000 years ago God made a promise that He will absolutely keep. Christ has built the house and the house will endure forever. There is no earthly or spiritual power than can undermine God’s will to preserve His church, his bride. He will keep us and we will endure to the end!
As sure as the kingdom of Christ and His household are, so is His throne!
c. The Throne of Christ.
c. The Throne of Christ.
Christ’s current seat at the right hand of God as Savior and Lord.
I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (vs.12)
your throne shall be established forever. (vs. 16)
In the Christmas narrative in Luke we see this terminology explicitly in the words given to Mary by the angel as we’ve already seen.
32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
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The position of rule, authority, and power which David once held in an earthly sense belongs to this child which is born to Mary. This baby laying in a manger will be king over Israel, yet not Israel alone. His throne and His dominion will be set over all creation. Today, we recognize the limitations and borders of one nation as well as the defined citizenship of those nations. The rulers and presidents of these nations as great as they may be only have a limited domain. Their throne only sits above so much. This baby Jesus, will sit on a throne in heaven where there will be no borders because there will be no limit to the extent of his domain. There will be no one in the new heaven and earth who will not bow before this throne to their Savior, King Jesus. This is to be no ordinary throne, but an eternal and heavenly throne.
This may be a crucial question for us to answer. Where is the throne and why is that significant? With regards to the kingdom, we see and experience the reality of the kingdom of Christ as we gather here this morning. As unbelievers are saved and the church grows into the head which is Christ, the kingdom advances. We the church, the household of God are visible before our eyes in part in the same way. We have a glimpse of the kingdom today, we have a glimpse of the household, the temple of God in which he dwells, yet where is our glimpse of the throne? Of all the aspects of the reign of Christ, the throne is the one that is reserved for heaven. Even the usage of the word in the New Testament is almost exclusively referring to the end of days in the gospels or it’s found in Revelation.
The throne is the one aspect of the reign of Christ that when we see it, there will be no more partiality to our experience of the reign of Christ. The kingdom will have come in all its fullness. The people of God will be gathered together as a glorified and risen church to worship God for all eternity. In that day, Christ will sit on His glorious throne establishing his dominion fully and finally...
The kingdom of God is ultimately found where the throne of Christ sits. That place where there is no hint of sin or death and righteousness prevails in total.
The home of the household of God is not here; It is found around the throne of Christ in heaven.
I’d like us to notice the conclusion to John’s vision in Revelation. It’s the last thing that is shown to him by the angel as the conclusion and culmination of everything.
1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
When Christ sits on His throne among His saints all will be made right. There will be life, healing, and the curse of sin will be broken. We will see Christ face to face in the glory of heaven where there will be no more darkness, only the light of the glory of Christ. At the center and culmination of this redemption is the rule of Christ as King upon His throne.
Should we come back to our fundamental gospel question we asked at the beginning of our series, “Who will reign?” We can look at the testimony of Scripture and the hope given to us in Revelation and say with certainty, “Christ will reign!” There will be no end to His rule, His throne will be eternally established, His household will be brought home holy and pure, and His kingdom will have no end. Everything will be His, yet Revelation broadens our answer,
“The Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.”
Christ will reign, and yet we will reign with Him!
What greater gospel can we proclaim than this? Having been dead in our transgressions and sins, Christ would come as a baby to walk among us and to die for our sins. He purchases for Himself a people at the cost of His own blood, yet not a people merely as servants.
We are purchased by His blood to be citizens of His eternal kingdom,
purchased to be members of His household and the temple in which the glory of God dwells.
purchased to reign with Him for all eternity in the perfection of Heaven.
All of this is ours, if we simply repentant of our sins and believe in Christ for forgiveness.
This is good news!
If that were not enough, the final words of Christ given to John and the final words given to us of Christ’s in Scripture,
16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
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The child promised to David is Jesus Christ, the bright morning star, King over all. Might we rest this Christmas knowing that His kingdom, His house, and His throne will not fail and have no end.
Let’s pray.
