A reminder for City Harvest Church that God’s blessings last for generations.
CN PHOTOS: Henzy David & Sarah Choo.
Over the second weekend of City Harvest Church’s Arise & Build campaign on Oct. 12 and 13, senior pastor Kong Hee preached a sermon that reminded the Church that God is a trans-generational God.
“God’s plan is not just to save us from sin, but to let His blessings come upon us and our future generations. How we respond to God will affect our destiny and legacy. It determines how He responds to us.”
Sharing from 2 Samuel 7, Kong focused on David–something happened in David’s life had a profound impact upon him and his future generations.
In verses 1 to 3, David expressed his intention to build God a great house. He had been blessed by God and was living a beautiful home; the Ark of the Covenant, however, resided in a tent. While David wanted to build God’s house, God spoke to Nathan the prophet, declaring that He would establish a house for David, but because David was a man of warfare, he could not build God’s house. His son would be the one to build the temple.
In verse 11, God placed His anointing upon David’s house; this means that David’s household and entire lineage would be blessed.
“God doesn’t want broken-down generations. He wants our children and our children’s children to be blessed!” Reading from Psalm 37:22-29, Kong declared, “No matter what background we came from, we have a guarantee for life: if we have a relationship with God, and our heart is for His house, our children will be greatly blessed and highly favored.”
Kong then shared a sociology study that was done on two men who lived in New York City at the same time–Max Jukes and Jonathan Edwards. Jukes, a criminal, had 540 descendants, out of whom there were seven murderers, 50 prostitutes, 60 thieves, 100 drunkards, 130 convicts, 310 paupers and 440 diseased. The entire Jukes family cost the US government US$1.25 million to rehabilitate and take care of.
On the other hand, Edwards, who was a Christian, had 1,394 descendants, out of whom there were 100 preachers and missionaries, 100 lawyers, 75 army officers, 65 university professors, 60 doctors, 60 authors, 30 judges, 13 university presidents, three US Senators and one US Vice-President, all contributing greatly to society.
“In Psalm 69:35-36, ‘Zion’ is a symbol of God’s presence and anointing, like Mount Zion where David placed the Ark of the Covenant, where the glory of God manifested. Our children will live a life of anointing, blessing, favour and glory!” Kong proclaimed to applause from the congregation.
Bringing this to the context of David and his legacy, Kong highlighted Scripture verses where God honored His covenant with David.
1) Solomon
In 1 Kings 11:9-13, 40 years after David had died in 970 BC, Solomon had compromised and accepted the pagan worship of his 700 wives and 300 children. God prophesied judgment, yet He remembered the covenant He made with David and chose to delay the judgment upon Solomon and even gave Solomon’s son Rehoboam the tribe of Judah–the biggest tribe in Israel.
2) Abijam
Fifty-eight years after David died, Abijam, David’s great-grandson, walked in all the sins of his father. However, for David’s sake, God still gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem (1 Kings 15:1-5).
3) Jehoram
One hundred and twenty years after David’s death, in 2 Kings 8:16-19, Jehoram was married to Jezebel’s daughter, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet, God would not destroy Judah for the sake of His servant David, as He had promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.
4) Jerusalem
Two hundred and seventy years after David’s death, God was still building his house. God defended the city in honor of His covenant with David, and struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Kong shared, “Righteous living and righteous decisions pay great dividends.”
Kong concluded his sermon with a story on a notable Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:8-17 who showed great love and hospitality for Elisha, a prophet and a man of God. She had no child, but as she acknowledged the anointing of Elisha, she was doing it upon the Lord and God granted her a son. Bible historians believe that this boy was actually Habakkuk the prophet.
In 2 Kings 4:35, the little boy died but Elisha restored him to life. In 2 Kings 8:3-6, seven years after the raising of her son, God restored the wealth and all the land that she lost to a famine. “It all happened because she decided to build God a house, putting Him first and serving His servant Elisha. The way she responded to God was the way God responded to her! When you have favor, riches and wealth will follow after you all of your life.”
Student John He, 24, said, “I felt very encouraged by Pastor Kong’s messages, especially as I am a first-generation Christian in my family. I was reminded of what the Bible says: when one is saved, the whole household will be saved. I truly believe that when one is faithful and fully committed to God, all his descendants will be blessed as well!”
Real estate sales consultant Danny Ho, 26, added, “Most people live and care only for themselves, but Pastor Kong’s sermon showed us that what we pursue in life actually has a greater impact than we think. What we leave behind could impact the future generations either positively or negatively.”
