Jan 15, 2017
The Proclamation: You are My Son. Today, I have begotten you…
(Cont’d from the previous post.)
Verses 7-9 tell us of the proclamation. It says,
“I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Psalm 2:7-9
We, as humans, are said to be “sons of God” through redemption or through adoption. Christ is God’s son by an essential and eternal sonship. His sonship says that he is co-eternal with God. His sonship says that he is co-equal with God. It is the very essence of who he is as a person of the trinity.
At his baptism, the heavens were parted, and the spirit of God rested on Christ, and the voice of God came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved son, my chosen one. Listen to him.” Luke 9:34,35
At his transfiguration, he proved to those who were there to watch, that he was no ordinary human being, when the splendor and glory of God himself shone through Him. At his resurrection, he proved that even death and the grave itself had no power over him.
He is no ordinary earthly king. He is no ordinary son.
He is the firstborn over all creation.
Our Response? Pray for His Kingdom to Come
The proclamation, in this passage today, makes a promise to Him. And this promise is one that each of us should pray for with all of our might.
“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession.” Psalm 2:8 Lord in heaven, please do it! Christ said, “When you pray, pray like this, ‘Our father in heaven hallowed be your name. Thy Kingdom come!” Luke 11:2
[box] We are to pray that His Name would be hallowed and reverenced, and we are to pray for that kingdom to come. We should pray that God would make the ends of the earth his possession.[/box]
Zephaniah declared:
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV)
Rejoice once again over the nations Lord! Quiet us with your love and sing over us we pray! Your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
In the End, Christ will Reign!
The book of Revelation tells of a day, yet future, when all of this will have come to pass.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 7:9-12 (ESV)
If it is true, what John saw, that there was a multitude beyond numbering (and it is true), then it is also true that we have some work left while we are here. At present the nations still rage.
[box] “Lord make the nations the heritage of the son and the ends of the earth his possession. And Lord, use our church, our tiny little church, to do a part of this work that you have left…in order to make a multitude beyond numbering, among whom we will all stand one day and offer our praises–our never ending worship to God.”[/box]
For those Who Reject the Son… Judgment
In Verse 9, we see the unfortunate flip side of this beautiful scene in Revelation. David speaks of those who continue to reject the son.
You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Psalm 2:9
The eternal Son, the intercessor, the ruler of all the earth, will one day become the judge of all the earth. Just before this beautiful scene in heaven, that I just read in Revelation 7, there is another scene–one in which there is fear and chaos and ruin.
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:15-17 (ESV) 15
[box] To reject the mercy of God and to, instead, embrace his wrath, is the most foolish thing that anyone could ever do! And yet, there are those who continue to scoff and scorn. They say, “This is just baloney! I don’t believe in those things. You can’t convince me of the truth of all of this.” And I would say to them today, “Are you sure? Are you sure it is not the truth? This is one critical, crucial thing of which you better be absolutely sure. There is no room for error. You need to be sure that you are right.[/box]
Spurgeon said, “You may think you can live fine without Christ, but you cannot afford to die without him.”
The Conclusion: Kiss the Son lest He be angry.
And so what is the conclusion today? In verse 10 and following, it gives the remedy to those who may scoff and scorn and doubt. It says:
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Psalm 2:10-12
[box] Our world, especially in this political season, is literally inundated with slogans. “Make America Great Again! I’m with Her!” There are the ongoing slogans that become a part of all of us over time like “Feed the Hungry! Just say No to drugs!Save the Whales! How about this one? “Kiss the son!”[/box]
Culturally speaking, the kiss has been used, throughout the course of history, to signal both allegiance as well as betrayal. If you watched the cinematic masterpiece from the 1970’s called, The Godfather, you know that when a person had betrayed the trust of the Corleone family, they would kiss them on the cheek. This was called “the kiss of death.” It was a signal that someone had been marked for execution. A fearful thing for sure! We saw the same thing happen when Judas betrayed Christ at his arrest. When a person meets the pope, they often kiss his ring as a sign of allegiance and fidelity to him or to the church.
To “kiss the Son” is not the kiss of death, but rather the kiss of life. It’s not a sign of allegiance to an earthly king but a heavenly one.
Which Side of History Will You Be On?
The passage today presents a stark comparison between those who mock and rage, and those who are among the faithful. There is a lot of talk these days about being on the wrong side of history. You have probably heard that phrase used a lot to refer to the various debates that our society is engaged in presently.
We won’t dwell on those this morning, but I would say that there is a sense in which I do like that phrase. I like it because it can serve as a warning, for us, to not be on the wrong side of History. The passage today presents two very different futures for those who mock and rage and for those who kiss the son. And the future is not a matter of if Christ will reign supreme.
So the question then becomes, “What side of history will you be on? Will you be among those in verse five who face wrath and fury? Or will you be among those in verse twelve who will be blessed of God? Scripture is full of the fact that “Christ will reign supreme.”
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
All the earth worships you and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Psalms 66:3-4 (ESV)
May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!
May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!… Psalms 72:8-9 (ESV)May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! Psalms 72:11 (ESV)
All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. Psalms 86:9 (ESV)
But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’ Daniel 7:18 (ESV)
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” 1 Corinthians 15:25-27 (ESV)
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 (ESV)
I ask the question again, “Which side of history will you be on? Will you kiss the Son and be blessed?”
[box] Spurgeon, in his sermon on Psalm 2, said this about the various religions that were springing up, even in his time in the 1800’s, “and the godless desire in the hearts of men to replace the gospel of Christ with a worthless substitute.”[/box]
I will close with this:
An infidel notion is abroad that, “these different religions have sprung up at different times as developments of the religious instinct, and that, “they may all profitably exist side by side with ours. It is admitted that the religion of Christ is excellent, and that it deserves a large following, but still other religions have their advantages and must not be despised: nay, something better than the gospel of Christ may yet be discovered.”
“This is the current talk in certain circles, and we would at once express our horror at it. Jesus is not to share a divided throne. Cast ye with abhorrence from your souls every such blasphemous thought. Jesus must reign till all enemies are put under His feet, and to Him all rivals are enemies. If Jesus be King He is the only potentate. Christians are enlisted under a banner which does not brook another standard side by side with it. They serve a Prince who will not share dominion with others, who will not submit that even a province shall be rent away from his government. He shall reign for ever and ever, King of kings, and Lord of lord. Hallelujah! Like a burst of thunder let all hearts that love Him say Amen!” Spurgeon
Amen and Amen…
Watch the full sermon on our Youtube Channel here!
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://koinoniachurch.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Pastor-Dan.jpeg[/author_image] [author_info]Pastor Dan Woody is a founding elder for Koinonia. He has been serving churches as a pastor for the past 13 years. He and his wife Peggy are the parents of two sons, Chris and Jonathan. Pastor Dan is currently studying for his Mdiv with The North American Reformed Seminary. His interests include music, and most outdoor sports like golf, hiking, tennis and fishing.[/author_info] [/author]