2021 Christmas Advent Day 14: The Heir of The Kingdom visits His people

• Main Passage: Luke 1:30-33
  • And the angel said unto her, fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called The Son of The Highest: and The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.
• The angel Gabriel, who brings a message from God, promises Mary Jesus will receive a kingdom, and that “of His kingdom there shall be no end.” This promise is not exclusive to the book of Luke; it comes from long ago, when Jesus’ father, David, neared death and The LORD gave him a promise concerning his “seed,” or more specifically, “the Messiah.” The Seed is a title for the Messiah, and David no doubt knew this, for, He, “being a prophet,” knew “that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.” [Acts 2:30] This promise is found in 1 Chronicles. The LORD says,
  • “And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy Seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish His throne for ever. I will be His Father, and He shall be My Son: and I will not take my mercy away from Him, as I took it from him that was before thee: but I will settle Him in Mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and His throne shall be established forevermore.” [1 Chronicles 17:11-14]
• The LORD makes clear this is not speaking of Solomon for He says the Seed “shall be of thy sons” and so logically cannot be of David’s sons. Likewise the kingdom “shall be established forevermore” and that has not yet been fulfilled.
• The Child that was born to Mary is The Seed. He is the Seed promised 5,000 years before; He is the long awaited Messiah, the One who would bring man back into fellowship with God, who would break the curse, and who would crush the serpent’s head. And we see here also that Jesus was promised the kingdom, and that God would establish it for all of eternity. Jesus is God’s firstborn, the inheritor of All that is God’s, and the heir of the kingdom: He is the final King, and He will be, as we saw on day three, “a Great King over all the earth.” [Psalms 47:2] In Psalms we also read concerning the kingdom, “The LORD hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all.” [Psalms 103:19] The Kingdom of Heaven rules over all. It has complete dominion over all things, in heaven and on earth. Ephesians tells us this as well, showing us that Jesus has been set at The Fathers “own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church.” [Ephesians 1:20-22] Everything has been given to Jesus; all things are under His authority, and it is only a matter of time before He comes back to earth and that is manifested. As Jesus Himself says, “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” [Matthew 28:18] Jesus is the heir of a kingdom under which all will submit and be subdued. The Kingdom of Heaven, as Psalms said, “ruleth over all” and all things have been put under Jesus’ feet. [Ephesians 1:22, 1 Corinthians 15:27, Hebrews 2:8] Logically, we conclude that Jesus is the heir of all things. Every single object and living thing or person in the New Creation has been promised to The Father’s Beloved Son, even as typologically Abraham, “gave all that he had unto Isaac.” [Genesis 25:5] This is confirmed in Hebrews, which says that The Father “hath appointed [His Son to be] heir of all things.” [Hebrews 1:2] Through Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection, He has been “highly exalted” and given “a Name which is above every name,” [Philippians 2:9] and He has been granted all things. This pleases The Father; it is for His Son, Jesus, that He does everything, even as Colossians says: “all things were created by Him, and for Him.” [Colossians 1:16]
• How amazing is it, then, that we are told: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” [Romans 8:16-17] And again, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things: and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” [Revelation 21:7] My dear brother, do you realize that this promise in Revelation to each and every saint in Jesus Christ is the exact same promise given to The Messiah, The Seed of David, over 3,000 years ago?! What insurmountable grace is bestowed on us! What power there is in Christ’s death and resurrection! What power is there in His precious blood! How can it be possible; it is almost blasphemy to think about – that we, fallen miserable men, who daily fail their God in devotion and love and adoration and service, could dare to take hold of a promise made to God’s Only Begotten Son, The Messiah, and apply it to ourselves! We are joint-heirs with The King Himself! Hallelujah!
• My dear brethren, let us rejoice and find hope in this promise; these are not idle tales, these are not clouds which will fade when the sun rises; these are not bed time stories for when your tummy hurts – these are solid, real, tangible, certified promises from God Almighty to those found in Christ!

Questions for Day 14

1. This promise of a kingdom is given to us by our Father in Jesus. It is because The Father loves Jesus so very much that He blesses us. Let us then cling to Jesus and remain in Him. And let us also rejoice and not fear, for Jesus says, “fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” [Luke 12:32] All the riches in Jesus are given to us by The Father by his “good pleasure!” Even as it is said that God saved us “according to His good pleasure.” [Ephesians 1:9] It pleases our Father to give us these things. What ought these truths provoke us to do/feel/pray/etc? What lifestyle changes should they make?
   • Reflect: Hannah sings of The LORD in 1 Samuel, “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are The LORD’s and He hath se the world upon them.” [1 Samuel 2:8] We are those who were sitting in the dunghill; we were the poor beggars dying away in the dust. We were in the world, pumping our spiritual veins full of poison and feeding on trash, living and sleeping upon nothing but a heaping, steaming pile of crap. And The LORD, God of Heaven and Earth, who is so glorious that even the angels cannot bear to look at Him, who dwells in inapproachable light, came down and saw us, and for His great burning love for Jesus and for us, saw it good to pick us up, dust us off, clean us up, and give us the very throne of glory. He saw it fit to clothe us in garments of salvation and cover us in a robe of righteousness, to deck us with jewels like a bride. [Isaiah 61:10] The LORD did this for us and presents us as a gift to His dear beloved Son. He, who must humble Himself to behold angels, stooped down to earth and dug us out of our own dung, so that He might make us royalty. What can you say to these things, who can comprehend this: “such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” [Psalms 139:6]
   • “Who is like unto The LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people.” [Psalms 113:5-8]