As we can see throughout the
narrative of the Old Testament the Davidic covenant played a central role.
However, direct mention of or even teaching of it is remarkably absent in the
New Testament. This yet, is not an indication of its lack of presence. It is in
fact very present. Acts begins with the pre-ascension appearances and teaching
of Jesus. It is likely based on the context of His teaching before the
crucifixion and resurrection that Jesus spoke to the disciples about the
Kingdom. There is also the record in Acts 1:6-8 of the discussion between Jesus
and the Apostles about the restoration of Israel. That was not a work that God
was going to bring about until the second coming of Christ. According to the
parables of Jesus about the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God is going to build slowly
through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the establishment of Christ’s church
and the inauguration of the New Covenant.
The relationship
of the Davidic promises to the resurrection. God did promise to David that an
heir of his would always sit on his throne. Jesus was that descendant of David,
yet He died? So how was Jesus to be the eternal heir of David? And always sit
upon His throne? The answer is the resurrection and ascension. Jesus died on
the cross making atonement for all those who would believe in Him. And He also
was resurrected by the power of God. Yet He did not resurrected as a ghost or trans-personal being, He resurrected as human being who ascended to the right
hand of the Father in an eternal incarnation who will return and take His
rightful place on David’s throne.
The
relationship of the Davidic promises to the Gentiles- Jesus came in fulfillment
of the Abrahamic promise in Genesis 12:1-3. God promised that he would one day
have an offspring that would bless the entire world. That descendant was the
heir of David, root of Jesse, the rose of Sharon Jesus Christ. Through His work
on the cross He made atonement for the entire world, “once and for all” (Rom.
6:5-11). The “once and for all” refers to all who believed in times past,
present and future. The future includes Gentiles. As we can see Christ appeared
before Paul and made him Apostle to the Gentiles, and even before that, in the
Gospels Christ taught that the Gentiles would be one day welcomed into the
family of faith. There are other references to Davidic promise in the Epistles
and in Revelation.
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