Unto us a Child - Isaiah 9:6

Unto us a Child – Isaiah 9:6

Sunday Morning Bible Study

December 20, 1998

Introduction

Thanks – to all of you wonderful people who do so much around the church. I’m afraid that I’ll probably leave some of you out, so I’m a little reluctant to start naming names, but I think of those who so faithfully set up and tear down the church each week, who labor hard in the sound ministry, work in the Children’s Ministry, the tape ministry, the Broken Chains Ministry, count the money, pay the bills and do the financial statements, be my secretary, lead worship, the Women’s Ministry, the Men’s Ministry, greeters, coffee and donuts, helping with the move and new building preparation, cleaning the new building, the prayer warriors, the teachers and counselors, the assistant pastors, the youth ministry, the convalescent ministry, the home studies, the couples’ ministry, the job’s ministry, the outreach ministry, and all the other things that so many of you do. Is the church a building? I don’t think so, it’s the people. Thank you.

In thinking about what would be the right Christmas message for us this year, one of the things I was considered was to compare the "inconvenience" of our building situation with the "inconvenience" that Joseph and Mary went through on that very first Christmas.

But the more I got to thinking and praying about this morning’s message, I decided that rather than focusing on our problems with the building, we ought to just focus on what Joseph and Mary focused on that first Christmas. We’ll focus this morning on the Child that was born that day.

Isaiah 9:6

:6 For unto us a child is born

There would be a child born one day who would fulfill the hopes of the Jewish nation as expressed earlier in Isaiah 9 –

(Isa 9:2 KJV) The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Matthew would later write that it was Jesus Himself who would be that great light (Mat.4:16)

Though He was God, He took on the form of a man.

:6 unto us a son is given

Jesus is the Son of God. He was the one given by God.

(John 3:16 KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

:6 and the government shall be upon his shoulder

Though His is now an invisible kingdom, there will be a day when He returns and will rule and reign on planet earth.

(Rev 19:11-16 KJV) And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. {12} His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. {13} And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. {14} And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. {15} And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. {16} And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

:6 and his name shall be called

In the Bible, a person’s name often was a reflection, if not prophetically, of who that person was or would be. They were often a person’s character traits.

There was a sneaky, conniving guy, who was named "heal catcher" by his parents, we call him Jacob. There was a guy who was "beloved" of the Lord, a man after God’s own heart, we call him David.

We’ll look at five character traits of our Jesus.

#1 Wonderful

Wonderful – pele' – wonder, marvel; wonder (extraordinary, hard to understand thing); wonder (of God's acts of judgment and redemption). The word comes from pala' – to be marvellous, be wonderful, be surpassing, be extraordinary; to be beyond one's power, be difficult to do; to do an extraordinary or hard or difficult thing

Moses gives us a good picture of what this word means:

Exo 15:1-11 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. {2} The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. {3} The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name. {4} Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. {5} The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. {6} Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. {7} And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. {8} And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. {9} The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. {10} Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. {11} Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Incredible things like parting the Red Sea fall in the category of "wonderful".

In writing about Jesus, the 18^th century pastor John Gill writes,

He is wonderful in his person, and in the glory and beauty of it; that he should be God and man in one person, and have two natures, so different from each other, united in him; that he, being truly God, should become man; and that he should be born of a virgin;

Wonderful in the disposition of his mind, and in the qualities he is possessed of; in his love to his people, and his sympathy with them; in his humility, meekness, and patience; in his wisdom, conduct, courage, and greatness of soul:

Wonderful in his life; in his private life many wonderful things are recorded of him; as the direction of the wise men to him by a star, and their worshipping of him; the preservation of him from Herod's cruelty; his disputation with the doctors in the temple at twelve years of age; and his living such a mean and obscure life for thirty years together: and his public life was nothing but a continued series of wonders; his baptism in Jordan; his temptations in the wilderness; his doctrines and miracles, and his transfiguration on the mount:

Wonderful in his death; that he should die at all, who is the Prince of life, the Lord of life and glory; that he should die with his own and his Father's consent, and that for sinners, even the chief of sinners; and by dying procure life for us; abolish death; destroy him that had the power of it, the devil; and obtain eternal salvation and redemption: the circumstances attending his death were marvellous: such as the darkness that was upon the earth; the rending of the vail, and cleaving of the rocks:

Wonderful in his resurrection from the dead, which was by his own power, before he saw corruption, at the time signified by types and prophecy, and with the same body exceedingly glorious; and which has an influence on our justification, regeneration, and resurrection:

Wonderful in his ascension to heaven, both in the manner of it, in a cloud, and in the effects of it, receiving gifts for men, and giving them to them; in his entrance into heaven; session at the right hand of God; and intercession for transgressors:

Wonderful he will be in his second coming to judgment; the signs of it are many and marvellous; the manner of it wonderfully glorious; the different effects of it on men, filling some with joy, and others with terror; and the things that will then be done; as the raising of the dead; placing all nations before him; separating the righteous from the wicked; pronouncing their distinct sentences, and executing them;

In a word, Christ is wonderful, in all he is, has, or belong unto him.

Do you face difficult things in your life?

There is one who is Wonderful, able to do impossible things. There is nothing too difficult for Him.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that God is some big cosmic genie who will do anything you ask Him to. No, He is God. He does what HE wants to do. But don’t let yourself think that something is too hard for Him. Nothing is beyond His ability. Jeremiah prayed,

(Jer 32:17 KJV) Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

#2 Counsellor

I know that some of the modern translations pair this with Wonderful, but I like how the King James separates it. God is more than just a great counselor, He is also Wonderful. He is a Counsellor.

Counsellor – ya`ats – to advise, consult, give counsel, counsel, purpose, devise, plan. This was a Hebrew word used to describe various people who were in the position of giving advice (Ex. 18:19; 2Sam.15:12; 1Ki. 1:12; 1Ki. 12:6).

Not all ideas that we get are good counsel …

Illustration

August, 1998, Montevideo, Uruguay

Paolo Esperanza, bass-trombonist with the Simphonica Mayor de Uruguay, in a misplaced moment of inspiration decided to make his own contribution to the cannon shots fired as part of the orchestra's performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture at an outdoor children's concert. In complete seriousness he placed a large, ignited firecracker, which was equivalent in strength to a quarter stick of dynamite, into his aluminum straight mute and then stuck the mute into the bell of his quite new Yamaha in-line double-valve bass trombone. Later, from his hospital bed he explained to a reporter through bandages on his mouth, "I thought that the bell of my trombone would shield me from the explosion and instead, would focus the energy of the blast outwards and away from me, propelling the mute high above the orchestra, like a rocket." However, Paolo was not up on his propulsion physics nor qualified to use high-powered artillery and in his haste to get the horn up before the firecracker went off, he failed to raise the bell of the horn high enough so as to give the mute enough arc to clear the orchestra. What actually happened should serve as a lesson to us all during those delirious moments of divine inspiration. First, because he failed to sufficiently elevate the bell of his horn, the blast propelled the mute between rows of players in the woodwind and viola sections of the orchestra, missing the players and straight into the stomach of the conductor, driving him off the podium and directly into the front row of the audience. Fortunately, the audience were sitting in folding chairs and thus they were protected from serious injury, for the chairs collapsed under them passing the energy of the impact of the flying conductor backwards into row of people sitting behind them, who in turn were driven back into the people in the row behind and so on, like a row of dominos. The sound of collapsing wooden chairs and grunts of people falling on their behinds increased logarithmically, adding to the overall sound of brass cannons and brass playing as constitutes the closing measures of the Overture. Meanwhile, all of this unplanned choreography not withstanding, back on stage Paolo's Waterloo was still unfolding. According to Paolo, "Just as the I heard the sound of the blast, time seemed to stand still. Everything moved in slow motion. Just before I felt searing pain to my mouth, I could swear I heard a voice with a Austrian accent say "Fur every akshon zer iz un eekvul un opposeet reakshon!" Well, this should come as no surprise, for Paolo had set himself up for a textbook demonstration of this fundamental law of physics. Having failed to plug the lead pipe of his trombone, he allowed the energy of the blast to send a super heated jet of gas backwards through the mouth pipe of the trombone which exited the mouthpiece burning his lips and face. The pyrotechnic ballet wasn't over yet. The force of the blast was so great it split the bell of his shiny Yamaha right down the middle, turning it inside out while at the same time propelling Paolo backwards off the riser. And for the grand finale, as Paolo fell backwards he lost his grip on the slide of the trombone allowing the pressure of the hot gases coursing through the horn to propel the trombone's slide like a double golden spear into the head of the 3rd clarinetist, knocking him unconscious. The morale of the story? Beware the next time you hear someone in the low brass section yell out "Hey, everyone, watch this!"

God is a GREAT Counselor and His ideas NEVER backfire.

Jer 32:18-19 Thou showest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name, {19} Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

Jer 33:2-3 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; {3} Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

I’m afraid that sometimes I don’t call on the Lord and ask Him for advice like I should. Why? Because I’m afraid I already know what He’s going to say, and I don’t want to hear it. So I go to everyone else for advice, looking for someone to tell me what I want to hear. Why am I so afraid of doing it God’s way when deep down in my heart I know His ways are best?

#3 The mighty God

God – 'el – god, god-like one, mighty one

mighty – gibbowr – strong, mighty

There are some folks, like the Jehovah Witnesses, who claim that this doesn’t mean that Jesus is God, but that He’s just a "god" (little "g"). They say that in contrast, Jehovah is "Almighty God".

This assumes that the Hebrew language is similar to English, and that whereas "mighty" carries the idea of strength, "almighty" must be something even stronger. It’s a false assumption. They are two totally different, unrelated Hebrew words, both which carry a similar meaning.

The word "almighty" in English is a translation of the Hebrew word shaddai (or, el shaddai for the complete title, "God Almighty"). This is a title used of God 48 times in the Bible, and there is debate among the scholars as to just what it means. The ancient rabbi scholars thought it meant "the one who is enough", and hence "almighty", whereas some modern scholars think it’s related to the word shadad which means "destroyer".

On the other hand, gibbowr is simply a different word, not even related to shaddai.

And in case some of your JW friends still don’t accept this, you can show them a couple of verses where God, Yahweh, Jehovah, is called "Mighty God" or, "el gibbowr".

(Deu 10:17 KJV) For the LORD (Yahweh) your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

Literally, "the God, the great, the mighty …". Moses is calling God, Yahweh, "mighty".

(Jer 32:18 KJV) Thou showest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD (Yahweh) of hosts, is his name,

What’s the big deal about believing that Jesus is God?

The Bible teaches that mankind is sinful. We are by nature people who rebel against the ways of God.

(Rom 3:23 KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

The Bible also teaches that the result of our sin is separation from God.

(Rom 6:23 KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

As you study the Bible you will find that from the very beginning, God began to set up a system whereby man could do something to pay for his sins. God’s system is not about doing enough good things to outweigh your sins because that doesn’t pay the price. It’s not enough. God’s system was to allow for one life to be substituted for another. This was the principle behind animal sacrifice. As the animal died and shed its blood, its life was substituted for yours, and your sins were forgiven (Lev.6:20).

When Jesus Christ was born onto the earth, He came as the "Lamb of God". He was to be the one who would take away the sins of the world. Now for Him to be God’s perfect sacrifice, Jesus would have to be sinless Himself. Otherwise, when He died, He would only be paying for His own sins. But the other part necessary for Him to be a sacrifice for all of our sins was for Him to have enough "life" to be able to pay for more than just one other person. When we come to understand that Jesus Himself is God come in the flesh, and that laying down His life as a sacrifice wasn’t just the act of laying down a single, finite life, but instead an infinite, immortal life, then we understand that He was able to pay for ALL of our sins. He paid an infinite price, to pay for an infinite amount of sins.

All that remains now is for that payment to be made to your account.

One day you will stand before God and have to pay up for all of your sins. You can pay the price yourself and spend eternity in hell, separated from God, accurately paying the price of your sins. Or, you can allow someone else to pay the price for you. You can do that by asking and trusting Jesus to pay that price.

Paul writes,

(Rom 3:25a NLT) For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us…

Jesus is the "Mighty God". He is strong enough to save you.

#4 The everlasting Father

Father – 'ab – father of an individual; of God as father of his people

everlasting – `ad – perpetuity, for ever, continuing future

Some have translated this, "the Father of eternity". In this sense, it would refer to the fact that Jesus is the one that has opened up the door of eternity to us. It was Jesus dying in our place that made it possible for us to inherit eternal life.

But frankly, this title gets some of us a little confused. When we think of Him as God, and now He’s called "Father", we get confused because the first person of the Trinity is called the "Father". How could Jesus be a "son" and a "Father"?

It’s really silly if you think about it. I’m a son. I’m a son to my father, Richard T. Cathers Sr. But I’m also a father. I’m a father to David Tomlin Cathers, Daniel Josiah Cathers, and Timothy John Cathers.

It simply refers to the fact that Jesus is our Father in the sense that it is through believing in Him that we are born again. It is through Jesus Christ that we become born of God, the children of God. The writer to the Hebrews even refers to us as the "the children which God hath given me" (Heb. 2:13).

#5 The Prince of Peace

Prince – sar – prince, ruler, leader

Peace – shalowm – completeness, soundness, peace

There are two aspects of Jesus being our Prince of Peace. First, when Jesus returns, He will set up His kingdom on earth, and there will be no more war, no more need for cruise missiles, and no more threat of nuclear holocaust. But secondly and more importantly, it refers to the peace with God that we can experience right now in our hearts.

Paul writes,

(Rom 5:1 NLT) Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

Illustration

This is a testimony of a man who eventually became known as "First Mate Bob" on the long-time religious radio show "Haven of Rest":

One winter morning in San Diego, after I had wandered many miles along the waterfront, in a daze, I turned my steps wearily toward my hotel room. I had been drinking heavily for weeks. My mind was tortured by the thoughts of the wife and four children whom I had deserted. Just yesterday, it seemed, I had been a radio executive, in charge of two radio stations in Los Angeles--KFVD and KFAC. The home in which we lived, Beverly Hills, the cars, the servants--the things money and social position can provide for a man and his family--were just a memory. I had dragged my family down with me until they were living in a little hovel, and then, I had deserted them.

I had suffered a complete nervous breakdown and, worst of all, I had completely lost my voice. For a year and a half, I had not been able to speak one word aloud, each effort to talk was just a whisper. The future held no promise.

I opened the door of my hotel room and flung myself into a chair in utter despair. My gaze fell upon a (Gideon) Bible on the floor. In a distracted sort of way, I picked it up and started to read. Old familiar words I had learned as a child, words of life, quick and powerful, leaped out of those pages and found their way into my heart.

I fell to my knees, and spread the Bible upon the chair, and made a vow that I would not leave that hotel room, if I died of starvation, until there came into my soul a knowledge that my sins had been forgiven, until I knew that I passed from death unto life. With a surge of joy, I realized that God's promises were even for men like me.

In that hotel room, I found Calvary's Cross; there I laid my burden down; there, the old man died, and a new one was born. From that place I walked in newness of life, a new creature in Christ Jesus, praise His Name!

God straightened things out between my wife and me, and today she and I and our four children are back together again. The "peace that passeth all understanding" has loosed the taut nerves and muscles which had prevented normal speech, and God gave me back my voice.

-- Paul Myers, "Down and Out from Beverly Hills: One man's encounter with a Gideon Bible," in "The Golden Age of Hymns," Christian History, no. 31.

Do you know His peace today?