Shiloh Sunday Service (October 7th 2018)
Speaker: Evangelist Jabez Park
Sermon: "Abraham, David, and the Consummation of the Kingdom of God"
Scripture Reading: Matthew 1:1
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham
The Apostle Matthew introduces this genealogy as a “book.” Thus, the Apostle Matthew is trying to express deep content with just a few verses of the genealogy from Abraham to Jesus Christ. Matthew introduces Jesus Christ as the son of David and Abraham. These two figures are very important, perhaps more than any other name in that genealogy. When we look at the concept of redemptive history, it is divided into three main themes: creation, the fall, and recovery. A fourth stage can be added called the “consummation.”
The concept of redemptive history
The components of creation, the fall, recovery and consummation make redemptive history. When we look at it in the context of the Bible, we can see that creation is taking place in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, the fall in Genesis chapter 3, and the recovery in Genesis chapter 4 through Revelation chapter 22. Specifically, “consummation” is taking place in Revelation chapters 21 through 22. This process of creation, fall and recovery is also expressed through the Matthean genealogy. Thus, creation we see in Matthew 1:2-7, the fall in Matthew 1:7-11, recovery in Matthew 1:12-16. The “consummation” is expressed in Matthew 1:23. When we talk about the kingdom of God and its consummation, it means that Jesus is with us.
How the Kingdom and Nation of God is fulfilled through Abraham
When God made His covenant with Abraham, there were two main components: land and people. Here, the land and the people need to be recovered because of sin. If we go all the way back to creation it shows us the boundaries of the garden based off the rivers that flowed out of Eden which covered the geographical region of Ethiopia, Egypt, east of Assyria and the Euphrates River covering Mesopotamia of the ancient Near East (Gen 2:10-14). The covenant that God made with Abraham with the promise of land and people covers the same geographical region (Gen 15:17). Since Adam was kicked out of the Garden of Eden, God has been working since to restore both the land and the people. He is now beginning this restoration process with Abraham, thus redemptive history begins in detail with Abraham. Therefore, Abraham needs to recover this land so that God’s people can settle there (Gen 12:1; 13:14-17). With Abraham, God is going to recover what was lost from creation.
Abraham, the ethnic pride of the Jewish people
When Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew, the people that he wanted to convince that Jesus was Christ were the Jews living at that time. Thus, Matthew introduces Jesus as the son of Abraham because Abraham is the ethnic pride of the Jewish people. Adam is the father of all mankind; however, at the time when the different races and the different nations began to divide themselves, the Jews traced their lineage to Abraham. Therefore, Abraham is their ethnic pride and that is why Abraham is one of the first people introduced when speaking of Jesus Christ.
David, the national pride of the Jewish people
David was the greatest king of Israel. When we think about the pride of the history of Israel, the first person you actually think of is David. David was the first king to whom God said, “You will be king over my people and I’m also making a covenant with you forever.” Although King Saul ruled before King David, Saul was not obedient to the Word of God (1 Sam 13:13-14). Thus God sought out for Himself a man after His own heart to appoint him ruler over His people. God sought for such a person to keep His commands and do the will of God (Acts 13:22). Therefore, David was chosen because he would do what God wants him to do.
The Heart of David
David desired in his heart to build the house of God (2 Sam 7:1-2). However, God comes to David and says, “You will not be the one that will build my house but I saw your heart and because of that, your son will build my house and your sons will be on the throne of Israel forever” (1 Chron 28:2, 6-7). However, this does not mean that David would sit still. Instead, he spends the rest of his life preparing for the temple of God. How was David able to do all of this? It was God who made him understand in writing all the details of the pattern for the house of God (1 Chron 28:19). The covenantal explanation of this is found in Jeremiah 31:33. According to the covenant, God wrote directly on his heart. This is why David was able to speak it and confess out of his own mouth and able to do and perform with his own body (Deut 30:14).
Conclusion: When we look at the Old Testament there were only two people who received the “covenant of the Seed” and they were Abraham and David. Jesus Himself came as the fulfillment of the woman’s seed and both Abraham and David received this covenantal blessing of the seed. Also, the building of the temple is the final consummation of the kingdom of God. Jesus came for the consummation and “Him” being with us perfects all things (Rev 21:22).
