The Resurrection of Jesus Christ Was His Coronation as King and Affirmed His Sonship and Deity
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday April 5, 2015
Special: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ Was His Coronation as King and Affirmed His Sonship and Deity
Acts 13:13 Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.” 16 Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: 17 “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it. 18 “For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness. 19 “When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about four hundred and fifty years. 20 “After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 “Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 “After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.’ 23 “From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, 24 after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 “And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ 26 “Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. 27 “For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. 28 “And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. 29 “When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. 30 “But God raised Him from the dead; 31 and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people. 32 “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, 33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’ 34 “As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.’ 35 “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’ 36 “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; 37 but He whom God raised did not undergo decay. 38 “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. 40 “Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: 41 ‘BEHOLD, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’” (NASB95)
In Acts 13:33, the apostle Paul uses Psalm 2:7 to teach the Jews that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
Specifically, he quotes a certain portion of Psalm 2:7, namely “YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.”
By employing this portion of Psalm 2:7, he is teaching that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was His coronation as the King of Israel and a fulfillment of the Davidic covenant as well as affirming His Sonship and deity.
Psalm 2:7 is also applied to Jesus’ resurrection in Hebrews 1:5; 5:5.
In contemporary Judaism, this Psalm was applied to the Messiah and was itself based on the Nathan prophecy of 2 Samuel 7 and specifically 2 Samuel 7:16, thus it refers to the Davidic covenant.
The “Davidic” covenant deals with the dynasty that will rule the nation of Israel as indicated in 2 Samuel 7:16 where God promised David that a descendant of his would sit on his throne forever.
The Davidic covenant is also confirmed in the following passages: Isa. 9:6-7; Jer. 23:5-6; 30:8-9; 33:14-17, 20-21; Ezek. 37:24-25; Dan. 7:13-14; Hos. 3:4-5; Amos 9:11; Zech. 14:4, 9.
The Davidic covenant contains four promises: (1) A Davidic House: Posterity of David will never be destroyed. (2) A Davidic Throne: Kingdom of David shall never be destroyed. (3) A Davidic Kingdom: David’s Son (Christ) will have an earthly sphere of rule. (4) It Shall Be Unending. The “sign” of the Davidic Covenant is a Son (Lord Jesus Christ).
Provisions of the Davidic covenant: (1) David is to have a child, yet to be born, who will succeed him and establish his kingdom (2) This son (Solomon), instead of David, will build the temple. (3) The throne of his kingdom will be established forever. (4) The throne will not be taken away from him (Solomon) even though his sins justify God’s discipline. (5) David’s house, throne and kingdom will be established forever.
The essential features of the Davidic covenant are found in three words in 2 Samuel 7:16: (1) House (physical descendants): A line stemming from David would continue indefinitely and would be the divinely recognized royal line. (2) Kingdom (political body): the political body that David would rule and over which David’s descendants would successively reign. (3) Throne (right to rule): refers to the authority as king vested in him.
One of the royal titles that the Lord Jesus Christ possesses is that of the “Son of David,” which denotes His rulership over the nation of Israel (Matt. 1:1; 20:30; Mark 10:47-48; Luke 1:32; 2 Tim. 2:8; Rev. 3:7; 5:5; 22:16).
The Bible anticipates a future literal fulfillment of the Davidic covenant.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David, will literally fulfill this covenant during His millennial reign.
The prophetic implications of the Davidic covenant: (1) Israel must be preserved as a nation. (2) Israel must have a national existence and be brought back into the land of her inheritance. (3) David’s descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ, must return to the earth, bodily and literally, in order to reign over David’s covenanted kingdom. (4) A literal earthly kingdom must exist over which the returned Messiah will reign. (5) This kingdom must become an eternal kingdom.
“YOU ARE MY SON” affirms the Sonship of Jesus Christ and thus His deity since the word for “SON” is the noun huios (υἱός), which expresses three fundamental concepts regarding Jesus Christ: (1) His eternal relationship with the Father. (2) His appointment to the office of Savior and Messiah. (3) His divine essence. This word expresses the Lord Jesus Christ’s equality with the Father and His eternality. He is infinite and eternal God (John 1:1-2, 14; John 8:58; 10:30a; Col. 2:9a; Rev. 1:8) and is therefore, equal with the Father (Matthew 17:1-5; John 10:30, 37-38; 14:9; 17:5, 24-25; 20:30-31; Romans 1:1-4; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 1:3).
“SON” in Psalm 2:7 is to be understood as a royal and messianic title and so when the Davidic king is installed in Jerusalem, the Father recognizes Him as His own Son.
When applied to Jesus of Nazareth and His resurrection from the dead, this Psalm indicates that His resurrection brings Him to the full experience of His Messianic destiny as the King over Israel and all the creation.
“TODAY” refers to the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and “I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU” emphasizes God the Father’s role in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU” refers to the Father placing His Son Jesus Christ on the throne as King of Israel indicating that the day of Jesus Christ’s resurrection was in fact His coronation as the King over Israel and all the earth.
Psalm 2 does not discuss God giving birth to Jesus Christ as His Son like humans but rather, the language describes the royal court and inauguration.
In Psalm 2:7, God figuratively adopted the kings of David’s line while “today” is referring to their accession day and the beginning of the relationship.
However, when used of Jesus at his resurrection (Acts 13:32–37) the meaning rather is that God has made publicly plain what had always been the case, namely that Jesus of Nazareth was His Son and thus God and the rightful King of Israel and the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant.
The term “son” refers to the promises of the Davidic covenant; specifically, to the descendant of David who will fulfill the role of the royal dynasty.
Thus, God “fathered a son” in the sense that Jesus now officially holds the status of the ultimate Davidic king.
This phrase does not mean that Jesus Christ became God’s Son at His resurrection because Jesus was indeed the Son of God from all eternity and recognized as such throughout his earthly life (Luke 1:35; 3:22; 9:35).
However, it was through the resurrection that he was exalted to God’s right hand, enthroned as Son of God, and recognized as such by believing humans.
The resurrection of Christ demonstrated to all that He was indeed who He claimed to be, namely, the incarnate Son of God (Rm. 1:1-4).
So the resurrection of Jesus Christ simply served as a confirmation to all creation that Jesus Christ was who He claimed to be all along, namely the Son of God who was the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant and thus the promised Messiah and King of Israel.
