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The Gospel According to King David

The Gospel According to King David
By Jack Kinsella

During my visit with the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship in San Antonio, one of the issues we discussed was the fact the most Jews resist Christianity based on the concept that Jesus is a false god invented by the Christians.

Following this line of thinking, to accept Jesus as Lord is to abandon the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To an observant Jew, this is nothing short of blasphemy.

Most Christians don’t really understand how powerful an obstacle this represents when presenting the Gospel to the Jewish people. They should, and that is the purpose of today’s Omega Letter.

Unlike the Koran, for example, Christianity is a uniquely Jewish Gospel, not changed by the New Testament, but rather, explained in greater detail.

Jesus Christ is a Jew — and the Trinity is a uniquely Jewish concept.

“Let US make man in OUR image and in OUR likeness” (Genesis 1:26)

Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil”; (Genesis 3:22)

“Go to, let US go down, and there confound their language…” (Genesis 11:7)

The Hebrew word ‘Elohim” is used in the plural is translated “gods” (referring to idols) 235 times in the Old Testament.

It is exactly the same word that is translated “God,” referring to the Almighty God of Israel.

The Old Testament denies the Koran’s contention that God has no Begotten Son:

“I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee.” (Psalms 2:7)

“Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled.” (Psalms 2:12)

“Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His Son’s name? Surely you know!” (Proverbs 30:4)

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)

The prophet Isaiah testifies to the triune nature of God, identifying the Father, the Son AND the Holy Spirit:

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.”

“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.” (Isaiah 42:1)

“Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit.” (Isaiah 48:16)

Not only does the Old Testament teach a Triune God, and the Redeemer-Son, no less a Jewish personage than King David gives the Gospel of Jesus Christ a thousand years before the First Advent.

Assessment

David was chosen to be King of Israel, according to the prophet Samuel, because he was a man after “God’s own Heart.” “…the LORD hath sought him a man after His own Heart…” (1st Samuel 13:14)

But we also know from Scripture that David was both an adulterer and a murderer. The Bible says that David lusted after Bathsheeba after seeing her bathing herself on a rooftop.

Upon learning Bathsheeba was married, he sent her husband, Uriah, into battle carrying sealed orders to the general commanding David’s battlefield army.

Those sealed orders instructed the commander to put Uriah into the the front lines of battle where he was certain to be killed, so David could take Uriah’s widow.

When confronted by the prophet Nathan with his sin, David demonstrated WHY he was a man after God’s own heart.

Convicted to his heart, David cried out to God, (as recorded in Psalm 51):

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.”

This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ unto salvation. An admission of sin, a cry for mercy and an acknowledgment of God’s grace in extending forgiveness for that sin.

David then acknowledges the fact that he is a sinner by nature.

“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.”

David recognizes what Paul later described this way:

“For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Romans 7:23)

Note carefully what David says next:

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

He asks GOD to purge him, cleanse him and wash him. David doesn’t do it on his own, he asks God to do it for him, then acknowledges it as an ACCOMPLISHED fact.

Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

What has David actually done to make atonement for his sins, to this point? So far, David has made it all God’s responsibility.

“Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the JOY of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.”

It is God Who continues to do the work. David doesn’t ask to have his SALVATION restored; he asks God to restore the JOY that comes of it, and asks God to uphold him by grace through God’s freely given Spirit.

So, once David has confessed his sin, asked God to forgive his sin, put it on God to clean up his heart and renew a right spirit within him, expressed the JOY that comes with restoration, David says;

“THEN will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.”

What does God demand of David in return for forgiveness, salvation, joy, restoration, cleansing and renewal?

“For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, given by the King of Israel, a thousand years before the “Son of David” walked this earth.

First, acknowledgment of his sin. Secondly, that his sin was against God. God is therefore the One with the authority to extend forgiveness.

Third, David acknowledges that sin is what men do, but forgiveness and cleansing come from God.

David’s joy is born out of understanding his eternal security in God and is manifested by his dependence on God to keep him and renew him for the work God has place before him.

And, armed with that understanding, David says, “THEN will I teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.”

Do you see it? Too often, we present becoming a Christian as a miserably bland and colorless existence of sacrifice and self-deprivation, rather than one of joyful liberty.

It isn’t sacrifice that God demands of us. It isn’t burnt offerings. The sacrifice of Christ is all-sufficient.

“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right Hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:12)

Armed with this understanding, we can then confidently fulfill the Great Commission given us.

Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah as well as the Savior of all mankind. Jew or Gentile, we need only seek His Face for salvation, for renewal and for strength.

“For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30)

He does all the rest. Not because we are worthy in and of ourselves. But because He MADE us worthy.

Knowing this, we can then go out and introduce Him — and the JOY of His salvation — to the lost and hopeless.

Because you ARE worthy to carry the Message. That’s why He sent you.

Maranatha!

Originally Published: June 14, 2007.

Original Article

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