CHRISTMAS WITH DAVID
[1]WELCOME: Good morning Church and Merry Christmas! So good to be with you guys. Whether you’re new with us on campus or online, my name is Nic Cook and I’m one of the pastors here at Cornerstone. Today we’re continuing our teaching…
SERIES: called BC: a Christmas Prequal. We said last week that there are well known stories like Lord of the Rings, or Star Wars and Harry Potter that people love deeply. Then there are the stories of the people and events that led up to those stories. When you listen to them, all of the sudden the well-known stories get even richer as you get the back story and history. And when Matthew starts telling us his Christmas story, he keeps pointing back to other stories that make the birth of Jesus even more beautiful and amazing.
Well today, we’re going to be in Matthew 1 again and we’re going to look at the second most important name in the family tree of Jesus. King David. As I was prepping for this sermon, we were headed towards Chicago to be with Susan’s side of the family for Thanksgiving. And I was thinking about how when every family gets together for holidays, there’s an old saying: there’s two things you’re not supposed to talk about. It’s…[2]
· POLITICS AND RELIGION: Those are two topics that have been the source of a lot of issues and arguments over the years. But guess what the Gospel of Matthew discusses? You guessed it, politics, and religion. But, I’m not interested in partisan politics, neither was Jesus. When the gospel of Matthew uses political terms for his Christmas story, it’s not simply about governments, and countries, and empires, but about how God intends for the entire world to be governed. The first Christmas story was couched in political terms that were meant to make us reexamine how we view the power structures of this entire world. The Christmas story is supposed to confront us with the questions of [3]who the true ruler of this world is and are you willing to live under their authority? So, let’s hear what God has to say to us in [Matt. 1:1-17] if you’re turn in your bibles or your digital devices. You can also follow along with sermon notes by opening our app or scanning the QR code with your phone’s camera. Before we jump in, let’s pray. [4-5]
(TEACH/APP) MESSIAH: THE KING AND HIS KINGDOM
BACKGROUND: Now, I want you to place yourself in the sandals of a first century Jew as you’re hearing this Christmas story. Other than the name of Abraham, the next three words that would have gotten your pulse racing would have been the name King David and Messiah. The reason this would have been so important to you would be that you grew up hearing the story of Abraham that we talked about last week. [6] That God had chosen a man and his family to become the beginning of a nation of people, God’s chosen people. He had also promised Abraham that he would give him his own land, the land of Canaan. That as part of God’s chosen people, this land would be theirs and that they would live abundant and joy-filled lives. [7]Yet here they are, living in the land that they were promised, not with their own king, but ruled by a Roman Emperor named Caesar Augustus. They were not living abundant lives. They were living in poverty and paying heavy taxes. They were not joy-filled, they were afraid as Roman Soldiers enforced the will of the empire on them. It wasn’t supposed to be this way! So, when they heard the name King David, they would have remembered another story. When they heard the word Messiah, they would have been looking for a King to come and set things right. Let’s go back to the story before the Christmas story of…[8]
· GOD’S PROMISE TO DAVID: 1,000 years before the Christmas story we hear about God making a promise to a Hebrew man named David. God had taken him from being the youngest and overlooked son who was main responsibility was taking care of sheep and made him a fierce warrior that defeated all the enemies of the nation of Israel to become their King. He’s grateful for the way that God has taken care of him and elevated him. He looks around and sees that he’s living in wealth and abundance in his palace, and then looks at the tabernacle. Now the tabernacle was the place that God had Moses build about 300 years before David so that he could make his presence known to them and among them. God did this as his way of saying, Your God is among you, You are my people. It was where people went to be close to God. It was beautifully crafted and made extremely well and maintained. But when you compared a 300-year-old tent to a palace, David didn’t feel like it was worthy of God. He wanted to say thank you to God, so he decided he wanted to build a magnificent temple for God. To which God says… [9-15][2 Sam. 7:5-17]. I love God’s reply. He basically says, I don’t need a house. I was with my people before the tabernacle, I’ve been with you this whole time. But I tell you what I’m going to do, I…[16]
o PROMISE TO MAKE YOUR SON AND HIS KINGDOM LAST FOREVER: This is amazing. First God says in [v. 10-11] that there will be a peace that won’t end. His people won’t experience oppression from other nations or have to defend themselves and go to war. An end to war. Then he promises when one of his sons becomes King and comes to power, in [v. 13] it says his throne will last forever. As if that wasn’t amazing enough, God then says in [17][v. 14], by the way, I’m going to call your son “My Son”. He’ll call me “Father.” Now God used a prophet named Nathan to deliver this message to David. [18]And what’s important to realize is that prophecy has a “near” meaning and a “far” meaning. That means the message was true both in the near future as well as being true in the far future. This prophecy came true in the near future as…[19]
§ DAVID’S SON SOLOMON RULED IN PEACE: The reign of King Solomon was arguably the highest point in the history of the Jewish Kingdom. There was rest and peace. They were prosperous and safe. The problem is that it didn’t last. After Solomon died, the kingdom fell apart. It went from being a unified people to breaking into a northern kingdom and southern kingdom. Solomons son was a dismal failure. And the people who had heard the promise made to David began to realize that not only was Solomon not the eternal king that would bring and eternal kingdom, but neither was his son. Then over the years, kings would come and go, and peace never came. They began to realize that they were looking for…[20]
§ A FUTURE FULFILLMENT OF A COMING KING AND HIS KINGDOM. They began to refer to this coming king as the “Messiah”. That word literally means, anointed one. When a new king was set aside to rule, they would pour perfumed oil over their head and anoint them as the King. [21-22]Now, can you see why when Matthew starts out his Christmas story with “This is the record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah” [Matt 1:1] would be so incredible and at the same time dangerous? Matthew is boldly proclaiming that the way you see power and politics in this world is about to change forever. The way you think about God and religion is never going to be the same. The disciples new that they were declaring a dangerous and extraordinary message at Christmas. They were saying…[23]
(JC) GOOD NEWS: JESUS IS KING AND HIS KINGDOM IS HERE
LUKE’S GOOD NEWS: Let’s look at how another disciple of Jesus talked about this same idea. In Luke’s Christmas story in[24][Lk. 2] he starts out telling us that the Emperor of Rome was Augustus Caesar. There is an ancient inscription that was found in the ancient city of Priene in Modern day Turkey. It says this…[25-27] “The most divine Caesar…we should consider equal to the Beginning of all things…for when everything was falling into disorder and tending toward dissolution, he restored it once more and gave the whole world a new aspect; Caesar…the common good Fortune of all…The Beginning of life and vitality…All the cities unanimously adopt the birthday of the divine Caesar as the new beginning of the year…Whereas the Providence which has regulated our whole existence…has brought our life to the climax of perfection in giving to us the emperor Augustus…who being sent to us and our descendants as Savior, has put an end to war and has set all things in order; and whereas, having become God manifest, Caesar has fulfilled all the hopes of earlier times…the birthday of the God Augustus has been for the whole world the beginning of good news concerning him.” When the Roman empire had fallen apart after the assassination of Julius Caesar, it was Augustus that had risen to power and restored peace, brought order, and made flourishing possible. They were saying, he was a man who should be considered God. His birth was a new beginning for humanity. This was called “GOOD NEWS”. Good News was a political term. They were saying, you think Augustus and his kingdom are important. They’re simply a footnote in history. There’s a bigger and better king and kingdom whose arrival and reign were declared by the angel armies of heaven. Matthew and Luke tell us that there’s…[28]
· GOOD NEWS THAT WILL BRING GREAT JOY TO ALL PEOPLE. A SAVIOR, THE MESSIAH IS BORN. [29-30][Lk. 2:10-14] The King you have been waiting to come for over 1,000 years is finally here. He’s from David’s family. He’s the one who will sit on the throne forever. He’s the one that God calls his son. And he’s going to bring his kingdom. He’ll defeat his enemies. He'll put an end to war. He’ll bring peace! He’ll make it possible to live the life that we’ve longed for. A life of peace, joy, and fulfillment. Caesar is not the Messiah, Jesus is. Caesar is not ruler of the world, Jesus is. This isn’t something that the disciples made up. This is the exact message that Jesus himself preached. [31]At the very beginning of his public ministry this is the very first thing we hear him saying “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [Mt. 4:17] So, if King Jesus has come and his kingdom is here, then why does the world not look like we think it should? Why is there still oppression, corruption, fighting, divorce, abuse? Probably because we don’t understand the GOOD NEWS of what our King came to do. We misunderstand what his kingdom should look like. [32]Just like the first people who heard this good news, we expect Jesus to crush his enemies and bring give us the good life. Here’s why that never would have worked.
o WE WERE HIS ENEMIES: The first century Jews saw the Romans as their enemies. But the Romans were just the most recent people in control. The problem wasn’t the bad guys out there. The problem is a heart that says, I have no King. I’m king. Think about it. Even if we had a perfect ruler, do you think this world would be better? Nope. Because things only get better if those, he rules are willing to follow his leadership. The reason they couldn’t keep their own kingdom was because both their kings and they themselves refused to honor and worship God alone as their true ruler and master. So, if King Jesus had come and taken up his throne and destroyed his enemies, no one would have survived. So how do you turn enemies into friends? [33]Not by crushing them, but by being crushed for them. God was rightfully angry at us for destroying his creation, destroying ourselves, and destroying each other. Yet instead of punishing us, Jesus took our punishment. Instead of letting our sins lead us to death, he chose to die for us to deliver us from death. And when he came back to life, he made it possible to live a completely different kind of life. At one point Jesus was asked, when is this kingdom that we’ve been hoping for going to come? Jesus said something amazing. [34]He said, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” [Lk. 17:20-21] The word that is translated as “midst” only shows up in one other place in the New Testament. And it’s translated as “inside”. So, a better translation is “the Kingdom of God is inside you.” Jesus says, you want the kingdom? You want the world to be right and to be full of peace and joy? Then …[35]
(NXT/INSP) THE KINGDOM STARTS INSIDE OF YOU! [Z]
Stop looking for an earthly ruler to bring peace. Stop looking for governments to be perfect and fix things. Stop looking at everyone else and thinking if God would just deal with them, then this world would be better. Stop looking to be king and to get your own way. That’s why the good news that Jesus declared started with “REPENT”. I heard a pastor named John Mark Comer define repentance this way. Rethink everything you think you know about who God is, who you are, and what the good life you crave actually is, and put your trust and confidence in me, Jesus to heal you, save you, free you, and lead you to the life you ache for. He’s saying, the life you want is only possible when you and others acknowledge Jesus as King. You know how marriages get better and find healing and begin to flourish. When a husband acknowledges Jesus as King. When a wife acknowledges Jesus as king. When they surrender to the way the King wants them to serve each other and stop trying to be in control. Then the Kingdom invades a marriage. You know how parenting children work best? When they see their parents surrendered to the King. They see love, forgiveness, and grace right in front of them and they grow into loving, forgiving, grace-filled people. You know how churches stop fighting and make a difference in their city? When each person surrenders to Jesus as King and puts aside their own preferences and serves one-another. Then the Kingdom breaks into a church and fills it with love, joy, deep relationships, and becomes a place of healing and flourishing. And when marriages, families, and churches let Jesus become King, then the Kingdom comes larger and larger. And the kingdom breaks into this broken world and begins to bring healing and restoration. Then the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray “let your kingdom come, your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven” starts to become true. Not because Jesus conquers through force the powers of this world. Because Jesus has conquered individuals with his love and we surrender to him as our King. We become his kingdom! All of the sudden politics and religion can merge because we’re not trying to fight, control, or convert anyone. We’re simply showing them that the kings and kingdoms of this world will never satisfy. There’s a better way, a better king, and a better kingdom. The King who has died for us.
And here’s one last bonus for you. David said, God I want to build you a house. And God says, that’s nice. But I’ve got something better. How about I turn you into a house! David never could have dreamed that God intended to do more than give him an heir who would sit on a throne. He literally intended to turn every single one of us into a house. That when we surrender to King Jesus, he actually moves into our hearts and makes us into his home. The powerful God who created us will then begin to use his power to recreate us into the kind of people capable of changing our own lives and changing the world.
So this Christmas, is Jesus your King? If the answer is not yet, but I want him to be, then come talk to me.
