A Promise Made and a Promise Kept...

This week, we have been looking at the story of David and Bathsheba. Yesterday, we saw that David's selfish rebellion that led him to have an affair and commit murder caused not only incredible embarrassment, but also devastating consequences for his family and the Jewish people.

And after David's selfishness and rebellion, I believe that David was confronted with a fundamental question that many of us have experienced. And that fundamental question is this: “will God still keep His promises to me when I blow it?” For David, he could not help but wonder whether or not that amazing promise that God had made to him was now null and void. David finds the answer to these questions and doubts a short while later, in 2 Samuel 12:24:

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and he named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved him and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah for the LORD'S sake.

The Lord answered David’s question and doubts about His promise through a son, named Solomon. And to leave no doubt, God sent the prophet Nathan, the same prophet who confronted King David with a message of justice and judgment for his selfishness and sin. This time Nathan had a different message from God for the king; a message of grace. A message of “I am a promise maker and a promise keeper” for the sake of my name, for the sake of my plan.

And some years later, another recipient of grace, Matthew, wrote the following in Matthew 1:6:

David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

You see, David and Bathsheba are not a part of the Christmas story; David and Bathsheba are the point of the Christmas story. The point of the Christmas story is that God is a promise maker and a promise keeper. And God’s faithfulness to keep His promise to extend an invitation for the opportunity for receive the forgiveness of our selfishness and sin and the relationship with God that we were created for through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has absolutely nothing to do with us.

Just like David and Bathsheba, all of us have a part of our story that we are embarrassed of and that we wish would disappear. And just like David and Bathsheba, we are the point of the Christmas story. The Christmas story is not simply about God’s faithfulness to keep the promise that He made in spite of our rebellion. The Christmas story reveals that reality the God is faithful to keep the promise that He made to us through our rebellion. God is able to take our selfish rebellion and turn it to shine a light on him and bring people to Him. And regardless of your past, regardless of the parts of your story that are embarrassing and that you wish would just disappear; God extends that same promise to you.

The Christmas story is all about God extending the most unexpected of invitation’s to all of humanity to recognize their need for forgiveness and to respond to His most unexpected promise of forgiveness by believing, trusting, and following Jesus. The only question is how will you respond to God's most unexpected of invitations.