The Prophetic Birth Of John The Baptist (Part 2) Series

Grace Community Church

Winchester, VA

www.GraceCommunity.com

Rev. Bradford Reaves, Sr. Pastor

Watch This Message https://youtu.be/bkWj1VQbePg

Introduction

We are in a portion of Scripture that many people read through quickly. This is part of the coming of Jesus. We usually turn our attention to this at Christmas, but somehow this gets lost in the garland, nativities and, choirs of angels. The prophetic psalm uttered from Zechariah is astounding. His lips were muted by the angel Gabriel 9 months ago at the announcement of John’s conception. Now with John born, during his circumcision, Zechariah affirms his name as John in obedience to God, and his lips are opened.

In this psalm, we find 3 major sections. First Zechariah gives a pronouncement of God’s faithfulness to the Davidic Covenant. The Davidic Covenant is universal, meaning it applies to all through the Kingdom of God with Christ as eternal King. The Davidic Covenant can't come to pass until there is salvation. The Abrahamic Covenant is national, a blessing for all of Israel as a nation. The Abrahamic Covenant can't come to pass until there is salvation. And the New Covenant is a covenant of salvation, which affects all the rest because until you come to the salvation provided in the New Covenant, you can't receive the benefits of the Abrahamic or the Davidic covenants.

So the apex of redemptive history in all of these is the coming of the Messiah. He comes and provides a sacrifice by which righteousness can be granted to sinners. The Savior came to live a perfect life, came to die, came to rise again to provide the sacrifice for sin that would pay the penalty for the sins of all who would ever believe throughout the whole drama of redemption. Zechariah sees this and the fulfillment of these covenants with the coming of John followed by Jesus.

We have to understand this. Here we find the faithfulness of God, the fulfillment of Scripture, and the meaning of our relationship with God. If we don’t understand this then we will have difficulty understanding Christ the coming as an infant king, his death, resurrection, and return. If we don’t understand this then we’re more susceptible to false teachers.

1. The Abrahamic Covenant

Last week we concluded with the Davidic Covenant. This week we will look at the Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant and I will conclude with tying this all into where we are today.

that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:71–75 ESV)

The first covenant we find in the Bible is actually between God and Adam. When Adam broke that covenant, all of humanity was sent away from God’s presence. That was not the end of man’s relationship with his Creator and God was not content to leave us in such a state. Through His grace, God began working through a series of covenants. The first covenant we find after the fall of man is the Noahic covenant where God pledged to preserve the stability of nature so that He can work out His redemptive plan. (https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/abrahamic-covenant-i)

When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” (Genesis 9:16–17 ESV)

After God’s promise to Noah, God establishes his covenant with Abraham. First God calls Abraham to move from his home in Ur (southern Iraq and move to Canaan.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1–3 ESV)

Here we see that even before a covenant is established, God’s grace is at work to bring Abram to a better land, make him a great nation, and bless his life. Because Abram trusted God and was obedient to God, God established a covenant with him

“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. (Genesis 17:4–7 ESV)