“‘And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'” (2 Samuel 7:16 ESV)
The Christmas story and the life of Jesus are a living testimony to the faithfulness of God. Throughout the Old Testament, God not only makes promises that would await a future fulfillment (sometimes hundreds of years from the moment He made the promise), but also covenants made between God and His servants throughout the Scripture. Yesterday, we explored God’s covenant with Abraham and on the first day of our devotion we briefly talked about God’s covenant with Adam.
Sometimes the covenant God made with a person or groups were conditional (i.e., if you do this, I will do that). Other times, like the Davidic covenant we will briefly discuss today, it was unconditional (God made a promise based on who He is and what He was going to do, not based on His servant or people). These covenants matter because the incarnation of Jesus is the way in which God would fulfill so many of these incredible promises. You can learn more about the Adamic Covenant, Noahic Covenant, Abrahamic Covenant, Mosaic Covenant, and the Davidic Covenant at GotQuestions.org.
As you continue to reflect and meditate on the Christmas story, I hope the overwhelming reality of God’s grand plan will begin to stir your heart and mind. Across thousands of years, God has been orchestrating the greatest story of hope, redemption, and ultimate victory in the history of creation. God’s plan will not be thwarted, derailed, delayed, prevented, or corrupted. As time continues to unfold, we continue to see the Grand Weaver supernaturally weaving time, events, and destines together to accomplish His perfect will.
In Eden, God’s promise to Eve was that it would be a human descendant of hers that would crush the works of the Serpent (see Genesis 3:15). In the land of Canaan, God’s promise was that through Abraham’s offspring the whole world would be blessed (See Genesis 22:13). Hundreds of years later, God would make an incredible promise to His servant David that the coming Messiah would be descended from him! Always remember that nothing that has ever occurred to you has ever occurred to God. He is all knowing.
Later in our devotion, we will explore the two Biblical genealogies of Jesus as found in Matthew and Luke. As you compare the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew and Luke, there are some notable differences. There are many suggestions on why this is, but I believe the most compelling and most likely reason is this: One genealogy is that of Jesus’s lineage from His mother Mary while the other is from His legal father Joseph. God promised David that the Messiah would be descended from Him, and thus we see that both biologically and legally Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s incredible promise!
This Christmas season I hope you’ll pause and meditate on this incredible truth: God is faithful. Over and over again we see that God made promises that God did (and still does) keep. Because of this, Christmas teaches us that we can trust God, His plan, His promises, and count on Him being faithful to act according to His character, nature, and word. May this truth fill each of our hearts and minds with great excitement, anticipation, and hope.
Heavenly Father, thank You for being a faithful, covenant keeping God. I am so thankful for all of the incredible complexities and the depth of beauty I find in the Biblical Christmas story. History proves that You can be trusted and I thank You for remembering and keeping Your promises. Today, please remind me that You are the same God that made and kept all those incredible promises throughout Your word. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
