INTRODUCTION
2 Samuel 7: 1-17
God’s Kingdom which is defined as “God’s
People, in God’s Place, under God’s Rule, Enjoying God’s Blessing”.
In Creation: Adam & Eve, God’s People; in
the Garden of Eden, God’s Land; under God’s Rule, they obeyed Him; enjoying His
Blessing, the rest of the Sabbath Day.
In the Fall in Genesis 3, that Kingdom perished:
Adam & Eve were kicked out of the Land because they didn’t live under God’s
rule. They were therefore cursed rather than blest.
In Genesis 12: Abraham will have a people, a
land, a rule and a blessing – to the world.
The kingdom was portrayed in the history of
Israel in the Old Testament.
The prophets were promising that one day the
kingdom will indeed come – this future and hope.
And one of the promises hanging over us is the
promise we just read in 2 Sam 7: a promise that a descendant of David will be a
King that will establish this eternal kingdom.
God’s Kingdom is now present through Jesus and the
New Testament shows how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament.
PERFECT
KING
Each of the Gospels introduces itself with
Jesus as the promised son of David of 2 Samuel 7 (Matthew 1:1), King (Mark
1:1), given the throne of David (Luke 1:33-34) and Messiah which means Christ (John
1:41).
In Acts 2:22-36, the apostles preached Jesus’ resurrection
as a sign of his kingship. There are 3 areas Jesus
rules over: death (v24), the world (v33,34), his enemies (v35).
Ultimately, he defeats the evil one, the devil
himself on the Cross (Colossians 2:15). In defeating the devil, it means he is
the serpent crusher we have been waiting for ever since Genesis 3.
PERFECT
PRIEST
In the Old Testament, the priest offered
sacrifices and could come into the presence of God: the High Priest once a year
could go into the most Holy Place, into the presence of God, in a way that the
people could not.
Jesus is our great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). However,
Jesus is an unusual priest, because not only does he offer sacrifices, but he
is the sacrifice (Hebrews 10:11-12).
Priests needed to stand as they are constantly,
repeatedly offering sacrifices which could never take away sins. Jesus sat down
because there are no more sacrifices needing to be offered. He is the single sacrifice
for sins offered once for all time.
Implications for us:
First, on the Cross, Jesus took the curse that
we deserved for disobedience under the terms of the Mosaic covenant (Galatians
3:13).
Secondly, Jesus not only dealt with the
consequence, the curse, but with the root cause which is sin (Leveticus 16:7-10;
John 1:29).
He’s also unusual in another way. He is a
priest who himself is the temple: he’s the temple which the Old Testament
promised one day would come (John 2:19-22).
Jesus rips the temple curtain in two (Matthew
27:51). That means the way back to God is open.
So, he’s the perfect priest offering the
perfect sacrifice in the perfect temple.
PERFECT
PROPHET
Jesus is the culmination of it all that God was
saying in the Old Testament which is the Jesus Book (Luke 24:27, John 5:46). READ.
Jesus fulfills it all.
Jesus doesn’t just bring the Word of God to us,
he is the Word of God (John 1:1).
Jesus is the perfect King, the perfect Priest,
the perfect Prophet whom you and I must listen to.
PERFECT
MAN
What it means to be a perfect human being is to
be the son of God. Jesus is the Son of God (Luke 3:22).
Adam was called a son of God (Luke 3:38). The
nation of Israel was also called the son of God (Exodus 4:22) READ God says of
Israel. So the nation of Israel is called the son of God. Being a son of God in
the Old Testament is being a disobedient thing in the Bible.
It is clear that Jesus does not sin. He resists
the temptation (Luke 4:1-13). He is not like Adam. He is not like Israel. He is
the perfect Son. He is the perfect Man.
Implications for us:
Firstly, Jesus fulfills the covenants, in
particular the Mosaic covenant at this point. Jesus did obey God. He was the
perfect Son, the perfect Man. He alone is the one who deserves the blessings as
God’s Person in God’s Place under God’s Rule.
Secondly, Jesus as the perfect Man reverses the
effect of sin which kept dragging mankind down.
GOD’S
KINGDOM
There are 2 aspects to the kingdom of God: there
is a degree to which the kingdom of God is now, and there is a degree to which
the kingdom is still to come.
To be in Christ means to be united to Christ, to
be joined to Him and getting all that belongs to Christ as the perfect Man who kept
the Law perfectly (Colossians 1:2). Therefore in Christ, we are sinless.
But more, we are the God’s people, we are the sons of God. We can call God, Father (Galatians
4:5-6).
We are also God’s
Place, we are where God dwells by His Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).
We are also under His Rule: we are people who submit to Him as our Master (Romans
6:22).
We are enabled to obey God as our Master because
the Spirit regenerates us, he recreates us (Titus 3:5; Ezekiel 36:27). Showing
the fruit of the Spirit is how we treat God as our ruler (Galatians 5:22).
We are the Kingdom as Christians enjoying His Blessings (Ephesians 1:3).
But at another level, the Kingdom is not yet.
When we come to the New Testament, we realize that
Jesus the King comes twice which is why there is this NOW and NOT YET aspect of
the Kingdom of God.
The reason we know that Kingdom has not yet fully
come is 3 things still going on in the world: sin, death and the serpent, the
devil is still prowling around (1 Peter 5:8). Back in Genesis 3, there was sin,
death and the serpent.
What do we do while waiting for that Kingdom to
come? 2 things:
Firstly, we keep telling people of Jesus. The reason
for the delay of that Kingdom is that so people can become Christians (2 Peter
2:9).
Secondly, keep going as Christians (Hebrews 3:14).
In other words, evangelism is our priority. And
keeping going is our priority in this world.
Finally, God’s Kingdom is perfected in the New
Creation.
One day, Jesus will come to judge (Revelation
20:12-15).
We see what the Kingdom of Jesus would be like: a
New Creation, a New Land, a New Place
(Revelation 21:1-4). The story of the Bible: From Creation to New Creation, from
a Garden to a city, a holy city Jerusalem - a picture of permanence (Revelation
21:2).
There is no need for a physical temple in the New
Creation because God will dwell there and Jesus will dwell there in the whole
place (Revelation 21:22).
This new Place is more prosperous, bigger and
better than Eden (Genesis 2:12; Rev 21:18-21).
God’s
People will be enjoying God’s Presence (Revelation 21:3).
God
rules as he has a throne in the New Creation (Revelation
22:1-3). There is no sin in the New Creation (Revelation 21:27).
The reason we will not sin anymore is because
there will be no more serpent in the New Creation (Revelation 20:10). There
will be no temptation. There will be no more curse (Revelation 21:4): death. We
will have access back to the tree of life (Revelation 22:2) - eternal life with
Jesus!
We will enjoy God’s
Blessing and be a blessing to the nations (Revelation 21:24-26).
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