Master Builder (By Chris Barnes)

Text: 2 Samuel Chapters 1-8
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OBSERVE: After King David had been given rest from all his enemies in Canaan, and after he had finished building his famed cedar palace, he told the prophet Nathan that he wanted to build a house for God. Nathan’s first reaction was to applaud and encourage David’s plans. But later that night, God warned the prophet Nathan that what he had told David was his own opinion and not a divine instruction. So Nathan then delivered a word from God that was decisive. “The Lord declares that he will make a house for you – a dynasty of kings! For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house – a temple – for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever” (2 Samuel 7: 11-13).
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INTERPRET: As we examine this passage, we see on one hand God was declaring David’s son Solomon to be the one to build a house for God. But Solomon can’t be the only son referred to here, because his kingdom did not last forever. There must be another descendant, another offspring, whose throne will be secure forever. Far beyond Solomon, who would build a house made of stone, God was promising a future descendant, Jesus, who would build a house made of living stones. Peter wrote to those coming to Christ, “You are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple” (1 Peter 2: 5).

APPLICATION: God was giving David much more than he could have ever imagined. Instead of having David build a “house” for the Almighty, God planned to make a “house” out of David. David was part of the same promise and plan that had been given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God is the builder and he is the one who will build the eternal home through a descendant of David (Jesus). God promises a spiritual house, an eternal home, for people from all nations and all times. “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are member of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself” (Ephesians 2: 19-20).

QUESTION / REFLECTION: Are you trying to build God into your house (life) or are you allowing God to build you into his spiritual house?

PRAYER: Holy God, I don’t deserve to be a part of the house you are building, but you have made me into a living stone, into a part of your grand plan for the world. Help me from trying to build a house for you within my own kingdom and instead seek to build my life upon your foundation, where Jesus is the cornerstone in which I find my purpose and eternal security.

SONG: Build My Life (Pat Barrett)