“Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, the man who was raised on high declares, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, Readers,
God’s promise to David was that the Messiah would to come directly from his lineage. It was this great promise that gave David a unique role as a prophet of God. Many of David’s prophecies were relational to Christ. He experienced Jesus long before the incarnation. David often spoke by the Spirit of Christ and for the Christ of God.
Here are examples of David’s visionary experiences with Jesus:
“Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.” (Psa 63:2)
“Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” (Psa 2:12 NASB)
“The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.'” (Psa 110:1 NASB)
— New Testament accords Psalm 110:1, as the Father speaking to the Son at the ascension of Jesus to the throne of heaven.
Understanding David’s unique visionary relationship with Christ, helps us to see the wonderful prophecy that begins with, ‘Now these are the last words of David’ as recorded above. Every statement in the ‘last words of David’ have a direct bearing on the eternal covenant of Christ.
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David provided a description of the finished work of the cross.
In David’s last words we are seeing how that the new covenant would unfold itself in the mysteries and wonders of grace. This is an area were some believers have their greatest struggle.
The key is in understanding the finished work of the cross. Salvation in the new covenant is entirely a matter of what took place in the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus,
and how these things accrue to those who truly believe in Jesus. It is all about grace. Paul addresses this:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8-9 NASB)
And again,
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Tit 3:5-6 NASB)
Most often we think of grace as in terms of ‘unmerited favor.’ Of course this is true. But what does that mean? Renewing grace is what places beauty to the life of a believer. Grace is also God’s strengthening power.
The prophet said,
“He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.” (Isaiah 40:29)
Paul heard it this way:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for [My] power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
The Spirit of grace.
In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is called ‘the Spirit of grace.’ A primary role of the Holy Spirit in the new covenant is to minister grace to those who have been to the cross. John 1:16 draws on this:
“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (Joh 1:16 NASB)
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The Greek emphatic in John 1:16, is on two words, ‘His‘, and, ‘fullness‘. John is saying that we need to realize the force of this truth. The truth to be realized in our faith walk is that all Jesus became in his ascension and glorification, has been placed on the account of every true believer. It is this fullness of Christ that we draw from continually.
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This is why John could later write,
“As He is, so also are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17)
This is also why the apostle Paul said,
“[He] raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6)
Under the new covenant the Holy Spirit brings us to the cross and thus passes us through the cross. In this passing we are made one with Jesus in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
The message of the cross does not limit itself to the death of Jesus. And the cross is not something we merely come to for forgiveness of sins. We actually pass through the cross. We pass out of death into life. We have been made holy in the sacrifice of Christ. The cross now becomes our altar of grace.
Listen once again to the apostle John:
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Joh 3:18 NASB)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.“ (Joh 5:24 NASB)
We pass out of death and judgment into the eternal life of the Son. And so the Holy Spirit is always ministering the glorified Christ into our hearts. We might speak of this as ‘throne grace.’ The writer said,
“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
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The beauty of the Lord.
Once again, grace is what adds beauty to our walk with the Lord. It is the beauty of the Lord that the Holy Spirit ministers into our lives. It is the fountain of His grace that we drink from. It is His grace that gives us songs to sing when we are beyond singing. And grace is the upward impulse of our hearts that causes us to long for righteousness.
Psalm 45 has long been considered a Psalm of the Messiah by both Christians and Jews. Notice how it speaks of grace:
“You [Jesus] are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever.” (Psa 45:2 NASB)
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears [punishment] is not perfected in love [Or, does not understand God’s perfect love.” (1Jn 4:18 NASB)
The one Scripture that sets this forth is John 7:37-39. Jesus said,
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
What happened after the cross, is that the Holy Spirit now comes into the heart of a believer, as the Spirit of the glorified Jesus Christ. No person on this planet, of any age, has ever had the Holy Spirit in residence as the Spirit of the glorified Jesus Christ. This is essentially what the “Abba! Father!” experience is referring to.
The apostle says,
“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!.'” (Romans 8:15)
The covenant of Christ is about God’s family. The grace we draw from is sonship grace. The grace we draw from is unlimited. This is why we sing, ‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.’
Make no mistake in what I am sharing. We are worthy of nothing on our own. We are all sinners saved by grace. But saved by grace we surely are. There is no other way to be saved. The apostolic writer said that Jesus saves us to the utmost.
John said that we weren’t saved because we loved God. We are saved because God loved us. What a great mystery is God’s love. What a great mystery this thing called ‘Grace.’
Are you struggling over something in your life that went wrong? Do you feel like you made a mess of things. The Lord knows all about it. He has His arms outstretched. He will help you see things through. Always remember that nothing will ever be able to separate you from the love of God that is found in Jesus Christ.
While thinking about all this take time to listen to ‘Why Me, Lord?’
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Much love found in Jesus,
Buddy
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