I realize this illustration has been overdone, but it’s worth repeating at least one more time.  How many of you can remember the name of your grandfather?  Chances are, you have no trouble coming up with exactly who it is.  What about your great-grandfather?  Less of you, to be sure, but I suspect I could still see a few hands waving?  What about your great-great-grandfather?  Maybe—and I mean maybe—you know a few details, though these have become the oft-repeated stories of family tradition.  The lesson?  Each of us is forever on the cusp of insignificance.  We are merely a few generations away from being forgotten by all but the most determined of genealogists.  The legacy we pass on is greater than the person who passed it on.  David understood this—that’s why he passed his legacy on to Solomon.

Today we look at the story contained in 1 Chronicles 22.  The original Hebrew name for the books of Chronicles was “The Things Left Behind.”  If the books of Samuel and Kings contained the facts of history, the books of Chronicles contained the meaning of history—sort of a theological commentary on the reign of the kings.

Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.” 2 David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. 3 David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, 4 and cedar timbers without number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David. 5 For David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.  (1 Chronicles 22:1-5)

David took great care to ensure that the Temple would be created with excellence and magnificence attendant to its purpose: a physical structure through which heaven and earth would intersect.  The people would worship God in and through the Temple.

DAVID’S LEGACY TO SOLOMON

David now passed this task on to his son.  It seems probable that Samuel’s timeline is the most accurate one: David received God’s promise from God in 2 Samuel 7.  Then later he would sin with Bathsheeba, later producing a rightful heir, Solomon.  Now, later in life, David here repeats God’s promise for Solomon’s benefit.  The scene might easily conjure up other images of great men passing on God’s mission to the next in line (Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha):

6 Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. 8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’

11 “Now, my son, the Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you. 12 Only, may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 13 Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed. 14 With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord 100,000 talents of gold, a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided. To these you must add. 15 You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working 16 gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and work! The Lord be with you!”

17 David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 18 “Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people. 19 Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the Lord.” (1 Chronicles 22:6-19)

David saw to it that his son would have every available opportunity for success in building God’s temple.

A TRUE AND BETTER TEMPLE

In today’s world, we may be tempted to think of faith as something like the family photograph album.  We value it, treasure it, long for the day when we can pass it on to our kids—though for now it rests in a box in the back of the closet, growing yellow and brittle with disuse.

Yet we fear a world that has no more room for a “temple.”  What good is a temple when we have a laboratory?  What good is a kingdom when we have social welfare programs?  The modern world has crushed the need for religion beneath the wheels of human progress.  Why would we expect our kids to assemble the pieces again?  But according to Economist editors John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, American Christianity will never suffer the same demise as its European counterpart.  Why?  Because, they argue, the decline in organized religion has only opened a free market of religious ideas.  We’re not destined for less spirituality, they insist, but more—albeit of a more personal, individualized variety.

Therefore, we need a new generation that connects with God like never before.  We need a generation that understands the gospel, a generation for whom the gospel penetrates to the core.  When Jesus came to earth, He became the true and better temple—a body through whom we connect to God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22).  The greatest legacy we can leave for our kids isn’t financial or even academic success.  It isn’t the trophies we win on the athletic field.  It’s not even morality.  It’s Jesus—or, more specifically, a closer walk with him.  That doesn’t mean that all the other stuff is insignificant.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  Now, sports practice takes on new purpose and meaning.  Academics find a new focus.   Why?  Because now these are no longer opportunities for personal advancement, but chances to share the love of Christ with the world.

Let that be our legacy, as men and women who love the gospel.