Introduction
I John 3:1–2 states:
| 3:1 | See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. |
| 3:2 | Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. |
Not only are believers called the children of God, they are the children of God. God, in his great unfathomable love for them, has adopted them as his children. He has done this by placing them in Christ, allowing the Lord to be a proxy for them. He has allowed what the Lord has accomplished in his life, death and resurrection to be imputed to believers. Because the Lord was adopted in his humanity in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant as God’s Son to be the chosen king of Israel and of the glorious coming kingdom, they too are adopted as God’s children. The provisions of the Davidic Covenant are then imputed to them through Jesus Christ, their Lord.
Therefore, it is only fitting that one examines the Davidic Covenant in terms of how believers share in its promises and provisions and how it should affect the way they live their lives today. From the study earlier, it was suggested there were at least six things the Davidic Covenant provided for:
From these, there are at least four areas of application for believers:
A Believer Can Call Upon God as Their Father.
There is an old saying that “familiarity breeds contempt.” While familiarity might not breed contempt in this case, it has blinded believers to the greatness of what God has graced upon them. So often, a believer takes the fact that they can call upon God as their Father much too lightly because they are so used to doing this or hearing this. They fail to grasp that this is an extraordinary relationship that has not always existed between a believer and God. Often, sonship is conceived of in the sense that God is the Father of all humanity because he was the creator; thus, the idea of the fatherhood of God and brotherhood of all men. However, this is not the case. Most people cannot and will not call God Father. They may call him Creator. They will even call him Lord in the last analysis, but most will never know him as a Father.
Believers from Adam until David, while they may have had a very close and personal relationship with God during their earthly existence, did not, for the most part, know God as a father. From David’s until the Lord’s time, only a few chosen ones could rightly call God their father during their sojourn in this world. Today, because the Lord in his humanity, per the provisions of the Davidic Covenant, could call God his father and because a believer is in Christ, any believer has the almost unbelievable right—But one should believe it!—to call upon God as their father.
To whom does a believer pray? Is it a God who is out there, omnipotent and all-knowing, or is it a father? If an ordinary citizen of this nation wanted to make a personal visit or even a personal telephone call to the president of this country, how difficult it might be? While the writer does not know for certain, nor has he ever tried it, he expects it would be a bit complicated at the very least. There is no sure guarantee that it will be successful.
However, if one of the president’s daughters or sons wanted to talk with him, there would not be any problem at all. Indeed, they could get a hold of him anytime, night or day. What makes the difference? They are his son or his daughter, and that relationship makes all the difference in gaining access to his ear!
There is a significant difference in a person’s attitude and expectations when they make requests of someone, depending upon whom they ask. For example, when the writer was younger, if he had to ask an employer, teacher, or professor for a favor, he often wondered and fretted over whether or not the request would be granted. If, however, it was his father, he usually did not worry. The answer was most often positive. He had a whole different attitude and expectation because he was his father. Now that did not mean it always was a yes. When he said no, most of the time, the writer knew ahead of time that would be his reply. To whom does a believer pray? A believer may address God as a father, but do they pray to him as a father?
When the Lord taught his followers about prayer, he knew they would come to enjoy this relationship with God, and thus he taught them to pray to their father. Matthew 6:6, 8–9 and 7:7–11 state the following:
| 6:6 | But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. |
| 6:8 | So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. |
| 6:9 | “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. |
| 7:7 | “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. |
| 7:8 | For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. |
| 7:9 | Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? |
| 7:10 | Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? |
| 7:11 | If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! |
A Believers Is a Coheir and Co-ruler With the Lord.
The covenant God made with David provided that his descendant’s kingdom would be established and his descendant would be established upon the throne forever. From other passages (Psalm 2, Psalm 89 and Hebrews 1:2, for example), it is seen that this descendant would receive the world as his inheritance and rule over all of it. Because believers are identified with the Lord in his humanity, not only does God consider them to be sons and daughters, but they are also heirs to this kingdom and shall rule with him. One should consider the following passages:
| Romans 8:17 | “...and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ...” |
| Romans 8:29 | “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” |
| Galatians 4:7 | “Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” |
| Titus 3:7 | “...so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” |
| 2 Timothy 2:11–12 | “It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him...” |
| Revelation 20:6 | “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power. But they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” |
From the beginning, God intended man to rule over the world he had created. Genesis chapter 1:27–28 states:
| 1:27 | God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. |
| 1:28 | God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” |
However, Satan usurped man’s position and assumed rule over the earth at the fall. The Lord defeated Satan at the cross and regained the authority that belonged to man. He, as a man, became what God intended a person to be and so much more; in him, humanity shall become what God created it to be. Because believers are in him, they shall rule with him when he rules over the earth.
Now someone might be thinking. “That is good to know. Some time in the future, when the kingdom comes, that will make a real difference, but what difference does all this make now?” This truth should make a difference in the present. It should cause one to have a much broader view of the circumstances of one’s life in many ways.
Another personal example. When the author had his original teeth, he intensely disliked going to the dentist. He hated it because it hurt! Dentists could not seem to completely deaden the nerves in his mouth, which had something to do with the fact that the nerves were not where the textbooks said they should be. Years ago, he went to an oral surgeon to begin the process of getting dentures but was not looking forward to it at all. It was not going to be pleasant. But he went. He endured what was done even though he knew it would be painful. Why? Because he knew that the pain would not last forever. He knew that when it was all finished, he would be able to eat and enjoy eating again. However, if he had thought for one moment that the experiences of being in the dentist’s chair and having him work on his teeth would be a thing that would last the rest of his life or that there would be no change in his teeth, there was no way he would have ever gone near a dentist office. If one can see past the pain and the problems one now faces and realize that what is ahead is far better, then the pain and problems shrink in proportion. Romans 1:18 says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
The foreview of the future ought to change the outlook on one’s present. What should a believer be doing now to prepare themselves for the task that they will then have? One should never forget that this life is but a training and testing ground for what is yet to come. A believer should remember the parable in Luke 19:11–27, which the Lord told the disciples when they thought the kingdom was about to be set up. The various sums of money given to the servants to be invested determined how they would serve when the master returned. They were being trained and tested. God has left believers with bequests. What have they done with them? How are they investing? How is their training progressing?
A Believer Is Engaged in Building up the Temple of God.
The near fulfillment of the provision of the Davidic Covenant concerning the building of the temple is seen in Solomon. However, its ultimate fulfillment is not the temple built during the Tribulation Period, nor the temple built during the kingdom period, but the temple that the Lord is currently building. The following passages speak to this:
| 1 Corinthians 3:16 | “Do you not know that you (plural) are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” |
| Ephesians 2:19–22 | “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, In whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” |
| 1 Peter 2:5 | “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” |
Believers are the temple of God. The Lord’s temple is one that the Old Testament saint could not have foreseen or imagined. God not only will dwell with his people; he will dwell in them. This temple will not be complete in the present day, nor will it be finished in the tribulation. What does this mean to believers? It means they, too, are engaged in building up this temple. Not only are they the stuff of which the temple is being built, but they are also the workmen who build it. 1 Corinthians 3:9–15:
| 3:9 | For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. |
| 3:10 | According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. |
| 3:11 | For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. |
| 3:12 | Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, |
| 3:13 | each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. |
| 3:14 | If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. |
| 3:15 | If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. |
In Christ, a believer has become a builder of the temple of God. How is one building? Every believer has been given a gift or gifts. These are to be used in the building of the temple as indicated in the following:
| Ephesians 4:11–12 | And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; |
| 1 Corinthians 12:4–7 | Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. |
In Christ, as a son or daughter of God, every believer becomes responsible for the task of building the temple. Have the children forgotten what they are to be about?
He Will Chasten a Believer But not Forsake Them.
In failing to see that sonship is a direct application of the Lord’s sonship in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, the church has lost a powerful argument for a believer’s security. God promised David that if his descendant sinned, God, as a father, would discipline the son but would not remove his lovingkindness from him. While this provision has no application in reference to the Lord, since he never sinned, it did have an application to Solomon and the other kings of David’s line that did sin.
Furthermore, of course, it has an application for believers who are included under this provision through their identification with Jesus Christ the Lord. Their heavenly Father will deal with them as sons and daughters. He will chasten and discipline them, but he will not forsake them. The writer of Hebrews states this in chapter 12:5–8:
| 12:5 | and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son; do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; |
| 12:6 | For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” |
| 12:7 | It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? |
| 12:8 | But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. |
Suppose someone, as a believer, having inherited the provision of the covenant that God will discipline, but not remove his lovingkindness, sins, even a grievous sin. How can anyone state that God will condemn that one to everlasting destruction in light of this covenant? How could that be anything if not the removal of his lovingkindness from such a person, which he states he will not do? Be assured; if a believer is his child, he promises to whip but never disown!
Conclusion
The Davidic Covenant is the covenant that anchors the benefits of sonship for a believer. They are applied directly to the Lord in his humanity and then imputed to a believer when they are identified with him in his life, death and resurrection. It is because this covenant is applied to a believer through Jesus Christ the Lord that they can call upon God as their Father, that they will inherit and rule with Christ the Lord, that they are engaged in building the temple of God, and that God their Father will chasten them, but never forsake them.
Conclusion to Sonship of our Lord and Our Adoption as Children of God
If a believer in a conservative congregation is taught about their salvation, they are usually taught that it was accomplished for them by Jesus Christ, the Lord. If taught how this was accomplished, the reason rightfully given is that he was their substitute, bearing their sins and that his righteousness is imputed to them. They are taught that because he rose, they too will rise again.
The average believer today is also taught that they are a child of God and can call upon God as their father, but they are not often taught why this is so. They are taught that they will reign with him and that they are heirs of the kingdom, but often they are not taught why this is so or what anchors these benefits other than that they are in Christ.
Most do not see the relationship between the Lord as the Son of God and their own adoption as a child of God. This has happened because the church shifted the meaning of the title, Son of God, away from his being the promised descendant of David to the concept of his deity. The distance created by this shift in meaning has obscured this crucial connection.
Even the most cursory examination of the use of this title by the New Testament writers indicates that it refers to the Lord’s messiahship. This position, founded upon the Davidic Covenant, gives him in his humanity the right and privilege of having a unique father-son relationship with God, being the heir and ruler over all the earth, and the responsibility of building the new and glorious temple.
The Lord, who was and is and ever will be fully divine and yet now, at the same time, perfectly human, elected to stand in for all humanity as a substitute and bear the condemnation incurred through Adam and by every individual’s action since then. God accepted this sacrifice and now offers all that the Lord was and all he accomplished as a human being to anyone who will accept by faith the Lord as their proxy, their legal representative acting on their behalf.
Thus it is in him, Jesus Christ, the Lord, that his payment of the debt owed became the payment for those who accept him, his righteous life became their righteousness, and his resurrection has and will become their resurrection. So also, it is in him that the benefits and promises of the position he achieved as the Son of God are now imputed to them. They also are adopted as God’s children, become joint-heirs with the Lord of his kingdom and rule, are given the responsibility to be building God’s temple and enjoy the promise of his discipline and not the removal of his הֶ֫סֶד, his loyal love or lovingkindness.