Studies in the Gospel Message
The subject of the Sabbath-school lesson for June 28, the thirteenth in the present series, is The Sure Mercies of David. The gift of the resurrection life, the life everlasting through the gift of the Son of God in the flesh, is the essence of the blessing found in the sure mercies of David. This is what was involved in the original promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. The Holy Spirit has made this plain in the revelation made5through the apostle Paul in his preaching at Antioch in Pisidia. “And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” Several things should be noticed in this scripture:— 1. The resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment of “the promise which was made unto the fathers.” The original form of this promise was that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent. It is therefore evident that the promise and the power of the resurrection were in the promise made in Eden. And this is the very essence of the gospel, for “if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain, . . . Ye are yet in your sins.” It requires the power of the resurrection to save from sin. Only the power of the endless life can save from death, the wages of sin, and this power was in the original promise. 2. The resurrection of Christ was an eternal victory over death. He was raised “no more to return to corruption.” “Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” And the Holy Spirit declares that the assurance of this fact is found in the statement, “I will give you the sure mercies of David.” The original form of this expression, as found in the promises to David, is as follows: “My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.” We thus see that the promises to David could only be fulfilled through Christ and his resurrection, and that there was sufficient power in the promises to David to raise Christ from the dead, and to keep him alive for evermore as the seed of David. Inasmuch as the Son of God came “in the likeness of sinful flesh,” it is clear that there is sufficient power in the promises to David, “the sure mercies of David,” to preserve one from sin even though he lives in sinful flesh, to raise from the dead, and evermore to preserve from death. “Life for the dead is in that word: ’Tis immortality.” 3. The same assurance that the seed of David should be victorious over death and the grave is found in the statement in another psalm, “Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” Since these two promises, “I will give you the sure mercies of David,” and, “Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption,” contain the same assurance of the resurrection of Christ, as is shown by their use in this discourse by the apostle Paul, it is again evident that the promises to David could only be fulfilled through Christ and his resurrection. 4. By putting all these things together, we conclude that “the promise which was made unto the fathers,” the promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent, involved the gift of the Son of God in the flesh as the seed of David, his death, his resurrection, and his retaining the flesh throughout the eternal ages. By this means is an eternal victory over sin and death assured to the flesh. Thus is David’s prayer answered: “Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee: for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed forever.” When we remember that the seed is Christ and all who are in Christ, we see at once that all that is assured to Christ in the flesh by the sure mercies of David is assured to those who are in Christ. His resurrection is our resurrection. He “hath quickened us together with Christ, . . . and hath raised us up together.” His glorification is our glorification. “That we may be also glorified with him.” His eternal existence in the flesh is the certainty of our eternal existence. “Because I live, ye shall live also.” Christ in the flesh is more than Christ the one individual. “Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” Christ’s identification with humanity is complete, and the blessings bestowed upon Christ in the flesh are bestowed upon humanity and are for humanity. Thus the gift of immortality, the gift of everlasting continuance, is not an arbitrary reward. It is the consequence of this gift of Christ to the flesh, and is to us the seal of our eternal union with Christ in the flesh. Those who reject the gift of Christ to the flesh reject the gift of eternal life, and so reject the gift of immortality. Any teaching, any creed, any system, which takes from us or cuts us off from the gift of Christ to the flesh, to our own sinful flesh, takes away from us the hope of eternal life, the hope of immortality, the hope of everlasting continuance.