In this message we shall see more concerning Christ’s person in the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. In particular, we shall consider prophecies related to Christ’s resurrection.
In the Old Testament there is a prophecy regarding the matter of Christ being the One who was begotten the firstborn Son of God and whose Father God became. Psalm 2:7 says, “The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” Furthermore, 2 Samuel 7:14 prophesies, “I will be his father, and he shall be my son.” Both verses are quoted in Hebrews 1:5: “For to which of the angels has He ever said, You are My Son; this day I have begotten You? And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son?” “This day” is the day of Christ’s resurrection (Acts 13:33). Through resurrection Christ in His humanity was born to be the firstborn Son of God. The Lord Jesus was born of a virgin to be the Son of Man, yet He still needed to be born of the Father to be the firstborn Son of God. When He was born in this way, His humanity was “sonized” through resurrection. Therefore, God is a Father of Christ in two senses: first, in the sense that God was the Father of Christ in His divinity from eternity; second, in the sense that God is the Father of Christ in His humanity in resurrection through which Christ was begotten to be the firstborn Son of God.
The resurrected Christ is the holy and sure things of David, things that are mercies or blessings to us. The resurrected Christ is the mercies and blessings God gives to us in this age. These are the holy and sure things of David prophesied in Isaiah 55:3 and fulfilled in Acts 13:34.
Acts 13:34 says, “As to His having raised Him up from among the dead, no longer to return to corruption, He spoke in this way, I will give you the holy and faithful things of David.” Verses 33 and 34 are concerned with the resurrected Christ. Verse 33 says, “That God has fully fulfilled this promise to us their children in raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm, You are My Son; today I have begotten You.” We have seen that Christ’s resurrection was His second birth to bring Him forth as the firstborn Son of God. God promised to give Him to His people, and this resurrected One is the holy and faithful things of David. The phrase “the holy and faithful things of David” indicates that Christ was of David, for it was out of David’s seed that God raised up such a One. To God the resurrected Christ is the firstborn Son, but to us He is the Savior. Moreover, He is a great gift given by God to His chosen people and this gift is entitled “the holy and faithful things.”
Literally, the Greek words rendered “the holy and faithful things” are the holy things (Gk. hosios, plural), the faithful or sure. The same word (hosios) is used for “Holy One” in Acts 13:35, but in the singular. But it is not the regular word for holy, which is hagios. Hosios is a Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word chesed, which is translated mercies in Isaiah 55:3; 2 Chronicles 6:42; and Psalm 89:1, both in the Septuagint and the King James Version. In Psalm 89, chesed in verse 1 for mercies in plural is the same word in verse 19 for Holy One in singular. This Holy One is Christ, the Son of David, in whom God’s mercies are centered and conveyed. Hence, the holy and faithful things of David refer to the resurrected Christ. This is fully proved by the context, especially by “Your Holy One” in Acts 13:35, and by the verse following Isaiah 55:3.
Paul’s thought in Acts 13:33 and 34 is very deep. The resurrected Christ, who is God’s firstborn Son brought forth through His second birth, His resurrection, is the holy and faithful things. In verse 34 the word “faithful” means trustworthy. The resurrected Christ is the holy and trustworthy things God gives to us. Here Paul indicates that the resurrected Christ is not only our Savior and the firstborn Son of God but also the holy and faithful things as a gift given to us by God. Actually, “the holy and faithful things” is a divine title, a title of Christ. In these verses Christ is called the holy and trustworthy things. The Savior God raised up out of the seed of David has become the holy and trustworthy things.
These holy and trustworthy things are all the aspects of what Christ is. How much Christ is to us as the holy and trustworthy things! In the Old Testament these things are regarded as mercies. For this reason Isaiah 55:3 speaks of “the sure mercies of David.”