The Promise of Christmas
2 Samuel 7:12-16 “‘When your life is finished, you will die and be buried with your ancestors. But then I will make one of your own children become the king. He will build a house for my name, and I will make his kingdom strong forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he sins, I will use other people to punish him. They will be my whips. But I will never stop loving him. I will continue to be loyal to him … Your family of kings will continue—you can depend on that! For you, your kingdom will continue forever! Your throne will stand forever!’”
The coming of Jesus into this world wasn’t anything like the Christmas that we’ll be celebrating next week. It was shrouded in mystery and intrigue.
God had been telling His chosen people, Israel, about this Saviour that He’d one day send them for over a thousand years. Prophet after prophet predicted His coming. And yet, because the people expected a strong warrior King to deliver them from Roman occupation (which is not at all what God had planned) they completely missed the point.
Here’s just one of those predictions, spoken by the Prophet Samuel to King David, a thousand years before Jesus was born:
2 Samuel 7:12-16 “‘When your life is finished, you will die and be buried with your ancestors. But then I will make one of your own children become the king. He will build a house for my name, and I will make his kingdom strong forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he sins, I will use other people to punish him. They will be my whips. But I will never stop loving him. I will continue to be loyal to him … Your family of kings will continue—you can depend on that! For you, your kingdom will continue forever! Your throne will stand forever!’”
Notice all that talk about sin, whips, and punishment? That’s not what happens to kings! But it turns out that God didn’t send Jesus to save His people from their circumstances, from the Romans. He sent Jesus to save them from their sin – to save us from our sin – by taking the punishment that we deserved. That’s the point.
And that’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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