2 Samuel 7.12-16 12 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. 13 He shall build a
house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 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, 15 but
My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom
I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure before
Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” NASB
Isaiah 9.6-7 6 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.
7 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. NASB
God made a promise to His faithful servant, David: “…I
will establish his kingdom; …and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
forever.” (2 Samuel 7.12,13) I hate to Americanize was I just read, so I’ll do
my best to just humanize my response to this promise: I think David was blessed,
but looking at the rest of his career from this point, it began to go downhill.
Like a professional athlete who gets the huge multi-million dollar contract,
and then begins to perform sub-par, I think David’s response to this was what
most of us humans would do: coast.
The problem of forever is we humans have no point of
reference for forever. To us it just sounds
like a long time – to God, it’s a
state of being. There is no time with God, only right now; and God is all about right
now. David was God’s chosen man, but he was mortal like the rest of us; and
Luke (quoting Paul) points out that David died, was buried, and his body
suffered decay ( See Acts 13). God’s Messiah, however, rose from the dead, and
lives at this very moment awaiting His return to the Kingdom that was His from
before the foundations of this world, and the Kingdom that was promised to
David…who believed God’s promise.
God promised David: forever. His kingdom would be forever
and there would never cease to be One on the throne of David…and that is to
this day. Jesus is the Promised One who sits on the throne of David: the Throne
of the Believing. Jesus’ throne is not a throne on earth (although one day it
will be); His is a throne in the hearts of men who believe in Him; a throne no
less real than one that sits upon the ground.
Christmas is the remembrance of that Promise and the
reminder of that Throne. This Christmas is about a Promise and a Throne. The
Promise is that God is not done with us (and won’t be forever) and that He will
rule and reign upon this earth forever. And we who believe will never see decay…
now is not the time to coast, but to boast: The Savior and His Kingdom are forever!
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