"Prepared" 12-23-18
Overview
A Gift Long in the Making
The best gifts are never thrown together at the last minute. They are planned, anticipated, and hinted at long before they are placed in our hands. So it is with the gift of Christ. God's plan to give His Son did not begin at Bethlehem, nor even when sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. It was set in motion before creation itself—before God spoke "let there be"—and unfolded across thousands of years of patient preparation.
That preparation came through warning and through promise. In Deuteronomy 31:16-17, the Lord told Moses that His people would turn to foreign gods, that He would hide His face, and that troubles would overtake them. The book of Judges shows that warning fulfilled, as Israel was handed over to enemies like the Philistines. Yet even amid Israel's unfaithfulness, God was preparing something extraordinary. The promise that "the Lord make his face shine upon you" Numbers 6:24-26 would not be revoked forever—it would be fulfilled in a Savior.
The Promise to David
The clearest hint comes in 2 Samuel 7. David wanted to build a house for the Lord, but the Lord turned it around and promised instead to build a house for David. Through the prophet Nathan, God pledged to raise up an offspring whose kingdom would be established forever, declaring, "I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me." Solomon partially fulfilled this promise by building the temple, but Solomon's temple was temporary. The true Son was Jesus Christ, who called His own body the temple John 2:19 and in whom "all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" Colossians 1:19. The Father-Son language also opens a window into the eternal life of the Triune God: an eternal Father must have an eternal Son.
Nathan's prophecy includes a striking line: when this offspring commits iniquity, He will be punished "with a rod such as mortals use." Solomon sinned but was not punished this way. Jesus, who knew no sin, bore the punishment we deserved. Isaiah 53 says it plainly: "He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities… and by his bruises we are healed." Yet the promise of discipline is followed by the promise of unfailing love—"I will not take my steadfast love from him"—a love confirmed in Psalm 89, where the Lord swears by His holiness that David's line shall continue forever.
Are You Prepared?
By the time we reach the New Testament, the hints have become a chorus. Zechariah, filled with the Spirit, declares that God "has raised up a mighty Savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old" Luke 1:68-72. The lineage in Matthew 1 traces the line we are not meant to skim past—it is the receipt of a promise kept.
This gift cost the Giver everything. He was wounded, crushed, and bruised so that we could be made whole. The same God who once hid His face now looks upon His people with favor through the blood of Jesus Christ—blood shed for David, for Israel, and for you. The question this Christmas is not whether the gift has been prepared. It has. The question is whether we are prepared to receive Him—the King, the temple, the Son, the steadfast love of God made flesh.
Transcript
I can't believe it. 1s
Two days. 3s
Two days. 4s
Christmas is in two days. 5s
And one of the best things about Christmas. 9s
Let's be honest here are the gifts. 13s
We all like getting gifts. 17s
Even if you're not a particularly material oriented person, 18s
it's still fun to receive a gift. 24s
And you may be actually like a lot of people where gifts are even more fun and more satisfying 27s
when you are the giver of the gift. 34s
Have you ever picked out the perfect gift for someone? 40s
You just knew that this gift was going to be the best gift ever. 46s
You were going to get a lot of ooze and awh's. 53s
You know this gift will be so treasured. 56s
It's the perfect gift. 62s
Keith, my husband, got me one of these gifts a few years ago. 65s
He came to me at least six months before Christmas. 69s
And he told me that he had a gift for me. 74s
And that it was taking some extra effort on his part to secure this gift for me. 77s
But that I would absolutely love it. 84s
And for six months, he would drop hints about what this gift would be randomly. 88s
He would just drop a little hint letting me know what I could anticipate on Christmas morning. 97s
What I had to look forward to. 103s
He had been preparing me for at least six months for this big surprise. 106s
And when Christmas morning came and I opened the gift, he was absolutely right. 112s
I loved it. 120s
It was a best gift ever. 122s
One of the best gifts ever. 127s
In this sermon series, we are looking at a gift. 131s
As you know, any good gift takes some planning. 136s
Last week, we heard about God's plan for this gift. 139s
God did not just start planning to give mankind a gift when sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. 144s
But from before that time. 152s
From before he even uttered the words, let there be. 155s
And the gift that God had in mind was planned in the vast nothingness. 162s
When it was God and only God. 168s
That's when the plan began. 173s
And then the plan was set into motion. 175s
With those first three words, breathed by Yahweh, let there be. 178s
And there was. 184s
And the plan was set into motion. 187s
And as the plan for God's gift had begun, the Lord made preparations for his people to receive this gift. 189s
I told you how Keith had spent six months preparing me to receive a gift, dropping little hints every so often so that I would be prepared on Christmas morning. 198s
God dropped hints to. 210s
In order to prepare his people, those saying that he dropped hints is kind of an understatement. 213s
Throughout the early scriptures, we find example after example of prophecy. 221s
Which is telling of the coming Messiah, telling of the gift that was to be. 227s
And our text this morning is one of those prophecies. 234s
But before we get to the promises made to David, we're going to go a little bit further back to due toronomy, 239s
where the Lord was speaking to Moses. 246s
And he said to Moses, soon you will lie down with your ancestors. 248s
Then this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst. 251s
The gods of the land into which they are going. 258s
They will forsake me, breaking my covenant that I have made with them. 261s
My anger will be kindled against them in that day. 267s
I will forsake them and hide my face from them. 270s
They will become easy prey and many terrible troubles will come upon them. 273s
In that day, they will say, have not these troubles come upon us because our God is not in our midst. 278s
Moving to the book of Judges. 286s
So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 288s
And he gave them over to plunders who plunder them. 291s
And he sold them into the power of their enemies all around so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 295s
These verses give us an idea of where the relationship with Israel and Yahweh was. 303s
The Lord knew that the people would forsake him. 311s
When Moses was no longer around trying to keep the Israelites somewhat in check, 316s
the Lord knew his people would turn to false gods. 322s
And what would happen? 327s
God said he would hide his face from them. 329s
He would hide his face from them. 333s
What's so interesting here is that that's a reversal of the blessing that he had commanded Aaron to give to the people. 335s
We hear the eronic blessing every single week. 346s
The part of it, it may sound familiar. 349s
The Lord make his face shine upon you. 351s
That is a promise of blessing that's filled with God's active graciousness and blessing. 355s
But God warned Moses that the people would rebel. 363s
And he would turn from them. 367s
And he would hide his face from them at that time. 369s
And he did. 373s
And Israel dealt with a lot of enemies. 375s
A lot of plundering. 380s
And one of the enemies you probably will recognize as the Philistines. 381s
The Philistines. 388s
The Israelites battled the Philistines a lot. 389s
And that's actually where we first meet David. 394s
Remember the David and Goliath story. 396s
Goliath was fighting for the Philistines. 400s
Well, where we come to in our text. 403s
The history point in our text. 405s
David had already fought Goliath. 408s
He had already ran from Saul. 409s
He had already gone through many trials. 414s
Here he had been made king of Israel. 416s
He had just moved the arc of the covenant to Jerusalem. 419s
And he was beginning his reign as Israel's mightiest king. 422s
And where we pick up in the middle of verse 11, 427s
the prophet Nathan is speaking to David from the Lord. 431s
The Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 438s
So interesting that the Lord is declaring he will make David a house. 443s
If you look back at verse two, just a couple verses ahead, 449s
that's exactly what David was declaring he would do for the Lord. 453s
In verse two, it says that the king said to the prophet Nathan, 459s
see now I am living in a house of cedar, but the arc of God stays in a tent. 463s
David wanted to make the Lord a house. 470s
And the Lord came to Nathan. 474s
Verse five, go and tell my servant David, 475s
thus says the Lord, are you the one to build me a house to live in? 478s
Here we have Nathan speaking on behalf of the Lord, 486s
saying that the Lord instead will make an established a house for David. 490s
He thought he could do something grand and great for the Lord. 500s
But what we find is that the Lord flips it. 503s
And says, I am going to do something grand and great for you. 507s
Picking up in verse 12, 513s
when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, 515s
I will raise up your offspring after you, 518s
who shall come forth from your body and I will establish his kingdom. 521s
He shall build a house for my name, 526s
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 528s
Now certainly when we think of David's offspring, 533s
we could think of Solomon. 536s
His son, Solomon would be the next one to have the throne. 538s
So, Solomon, indeed, would build a temple for the Lord. 543s
But even Solomon's temple was temporary. 548s
It was a temporary house for God. 552s
The temple would give way to the offspring of David, 555s
who dwells among the people. 559s
The offspring that Nathan was speaking of today, 563s
was the promised Messiah. 566s
The temple Solomon would build was a foreshadowing, 568s
a foreshadowing of what the Lord would build in Jesus Christ, 573s
his eternal son. 579s
Remember Jesus refers to his own body as the temple. 580s
Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. 585s
Jesus was the temple in which all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. 590s
Nathan is speaking a prophetic promise to David here. 597s
Yahweh is promising to establish his throne, 602s
his kingdom, in this offspring forever. 607s
Yahweh is giving those hints. 611s
He's dropping hints. 614s
He's preparing David, he's preparing Israel for the kingdom 616s
that will be established. 619s
When we look at the first chapter of Matthew in the New Testament, 622s
a lot of times we flip past it really quickly, 625s
it's the lineage. 629s
It's a lot of names. 630s
First chapter in Matthew, 632s
it shows the lineage from David to Jesus. 634s
So we see the offspring from that dividic line. 639s
Jesus was the temple. 645s
He is the house in which the fullness of God will dwell. 648s
And the Lord says in verse 14, 652s
I will be a father to him. 655s
And he shall be a son to me. 657s
What a beautiful testament of the trinitarian relationship 662s
between God, the father, and the son. 667s
By definition, any eternal father must have any eternal son. 671s
Not only are we getting promises in this prophecy, 677s
but God is revealing his own relationship with his son. 682s
He's revealing the trinion God to us, to his people. 688s
Continuing in verse 14, 695s
when he commits aniquity, 697s
I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, 698s
with blows inflicted by human beings. 702s
This verse reminded me immediately of another hint 705s
that God has given to his people, 710s
preparing them, preparing them through the prophet Isaiah. 713s
Out of chapter 53 in the book of Isaiah, 717s
surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases. 720s
Yet we accounted him, stricken, 725s
struck down by God and afflicted. 728s
But he was wounded for our transgressions, 730s
crushed for our iniquities. 734s
Upon him was the punishment that made us whole, 737s
and by his bruises, we are healed. 741s
All we like sheep have gone astray. 746s
We have all turned to our own way, 748s
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 750s
Let's look again at that verse. 757s
When he commits aniquity, 759s
I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, 760s
with blows inflicted by human beings. 764s
When he commits aniquity, 767s
will certainly Solomon would commit aniquity. 770s
He would sin, 773s
but he did not receive such punishment from the Lord. 774s
Did he? 779s
He cannot be that offspring that Nathan spoke of 780s
when he commits aniquity. 785s
Well, we know that Jesus didn't commit aniquity. 788s
He didn't sin, he who knew no sin, 794s
but he did receive the discipline that all man deserved 798s
for their iniquities. 805s
He did receive that. 807s
Think of that for just a moment. 809s
Just for a moment, there's this gift 812s
that God wants to give to his creation. 813s
There's a gift that he was planning from before time 817s
from before creation. 822s
This gift is so important. 824s
So great. 828s
So wonderful that he spends at least 829s
3,000 years preparing his people 832s
to receive this gift, not just dropping hints. 836s
But blatantly telling them, 841s
this is what I am going to give to you. 842s
And the gift itself costs him everything. 847s
The gift that we are given wounded him, 855s
crushed him, bruised him, 860s
and by that gift we are made whole. 864s
By that gift we are healed. 869s
When we think about going those extra miles, 874s
going through the extra effort to secure a gift 878s
for someone we love, 881s
do we take it that far? 883s
Some extra efforts were definitely made 887s
on Jesus' part to secure this gift for you and for I. 890s
When Nathan was telling this to David, 897s
when he was dropping these hints of God's gift, 898s
I really wonder what David was thinking. 902s
Did he really realize what all of this meant? 905s
Did it frighten him to hear that his offspring 909s
would be disciplined with the rod of men? 913s
Listen to what he follows it up with. 918s
When he commits an equity, 921s
I will punish him with a rod such as mortals used 923s
with blows inflicted by human beings. 925s
But I will not take my steadfast love from him 928s
as I took it from Saul who I put away from before you. 932s
Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure 936s
forever before me. 939s
Your throne shall be established forever. 941s
The promise of this discipline of this wrath 946s
was followed with the promise of God's steadfast love. 949s
The love of the Lord will not leave. 955s
Psalm 89 says, 960s
I will not violate my covenant or alter the word 961s
that went forth from my lips. 964s
Once and for all, I have sworn by my holiness, 967s
His line shall continue forever. 973s
A promise from the Lord that his lineage 979s
that David's line would go on 981s
and on not only would David's line continue, 983s
but the Lord's love would prevail over any inequities. 987s
Overall, inequities, 995s
and the Lord would not hide his face. 997s
The Lord would look upon his people with favor. 1000s
David may not have understood all of these hints 1006s
that were given to him about the gift to calm. 1010s
He may not have understood it all at that moment, 1013s
but he certainly could understand that a promise 1017s
was being made to him. 1019s
A promise was being made for his kingdom. 1022s
But the promise was not just for David, wasn't. 1027s
When the Lord established the throne of David forever, 1031s
he did so by the blood of Jesus Christ. 1035s
And the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for David. 1038s
And for his people. 1043s
And the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for you. 1046s
This is the gift that Yahweh was preparing Israel 1051s
to receive. 1056s
This is the gift that the Lord prepares us all to receive. 1058s
The final prophecy that final hint that is given 1064s
from the Lord is told right before we read of Jesus' birth. 1069s
It comes from the mouth of Zechariah, 1076s
that's John the baptizer's father. 1078s
Right before we read the account of Jesus' birth, 1082s
we hear Zechariah say, 1085s
blessed be the Lord God of Israel, 1087s
for He has looked favorably on His people and redeemed them. 1089s
He has raised up a mighty Savior for us in the house of His servant David, 1094s
as He spoke through the mouth of His holy prophets from of old 1098s
that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. 1102s
Thus, He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors 1107s
and has remembered His holy covenant. 1112s
There is something so exciting about this time of year. 1119s
Everyone is considering what gifts are lying under the tree. 1125s
What will they get to open? 1131s
Maybe your loved ones have given you hints as to what they've secured for you. 1132s
Maybe they've given you hints as to the efforts they've gone through 1138s
to get a gift for you. 1144s
Maybe it's the thing you've always wanted. 1146s
Maybe it's the thing you never knew you wanted, 1151s
but you'll absolutely love. 1155s
It's the perfect gift really to be treasured. 1158s
Are you prepared? 1163s
Are you prepared? 1166s
Are you prepared? 1167s
Are you prepared to see what awaits you under that tree on Christmas morning? 1167s
Are you prepared to open up that gift to see what has been bought for you? 1172s
We're God's people prepared. 1181s
Were they ready to receive what awaited them on Christmas morning? 1183s
Because you see the Lord was preparing His people. 1190s
He was preparing them up until the moment that they would receive their king. 1195s
The best gift ever. 1200s