Unto Us a Child is Born
Notes
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Intro
Intro
You wouldn’t think John Wilkes Booth had anything to do with Christmas, but in a strange way he did.
In early April 1865, the bloody Civil War that had torn America asunder was drawing to a close. Richmond had fallen, Lee had surrendered, and the end was in sight. Motivated by anger and despair, John Wilkes Booth decided to take matters into his own hands. Entering the box at Ford’s Theater, where Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln were watching a play called Our American Cousin, Booth fired a bullet into the head of Abraham Lincoln. He died a few hours later.
The news deeply troubled a young minister in Philadelphia named Phillips Brooks. When the slain president’s body lay in state in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Brooks went to pay his respects. Later he preached a sermon on Abraham Lincoln’s legacy.
O Little Town
A few months later, hoping to lift his spirits, the church sent him to the Holy Land. The itinerary included a horseback ride from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. Back then it was a small village, far removed from the bustling city it would later become. By nightfall the pastor was in the field where, according to tradition, the shepherds heard the angelic announcement. Then he attended the Christmas Eve service at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Something about the beauty and simplicity of that visit stayed with Phillips Brooks when he returned to America. Three years later he wrote a Christmas poem for the children’s service at Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia. He then gave it to Lewis Redner, the church organist, who composed the music in time for the children to sing it in the service. It became a favorite Christmas carol when it was published in 1874.
The first verse gives us a poetic picture of Bethlehem as Phillips Brooks saw it:
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
The last two lines remind us that Bethlehem was more than a picturesque by-way in the Holy Land:
Read Isaiah 9:6-7
Read Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
I. A Child is Born vs. 6a
I. A Child is Born vs. 6a
Isaiah 9:6 declares both the humanity (“A Child is born”) and the deity (“A Son is given”) of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Most straightforwardly, Isaiah used the Hebrew literary tool of repetition to emphasize the point.
The Child is born, the Son is given. At the same time, we recognize the hand of the Holy Spirit in the specific wording.
For unto us a Child is born: This glorious prophecy of the birth of Messiah reminds Israel that the victory-bringing Messiah would be a man. Theoretically, the Messiah could have been an angel. Or, the Messiah could have been God without humanity. But in reality, neither of those options would have qualified the Messiah to be our Savior and High Priest as Jesus is. The Child had to be born.
Unto us a Son is given: This Child would be a man, but more than a man. He is also the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Godhead.
Theoretically, the Messiah didn’t have to be God. He might have been a sinless angel, or merely a perfect man like Adam. But in reality, neither of those options would have qualified the Messiah to be our Savior and High Priest as Jesus is. The Son had to be given.
What glorious truth! We needed a perfect, infinite Being to offer a perfect, infinite atonement for our sins.
We needed Immanuel, God is with us (Isaiah 7:14).
The Child could be born because the humanity of Jesus had a starting point.
There was a time when humanity was not added to His deity.
The Son had to be given, because the Second Person of the Trinity is eternal, and existed forever as the Son, even before adding humanity to His deity.
While Isaiah may have intended the repetition merely for the sake of emphasis, we rejoice in the Holy Spirit’s guidance in every word!
Jesus, the Messiah, is fully God and fully man. There was a time when the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, added humanity to His deity. He never became less God, but He added a human nature to His divine nature, and so became one person with two distinct natures, functioning together in perfect harmony.
That Jesus is both God and man tells us that man really is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and that perfect humanity is more compatible with deity than we imagine. It says that our problem is not our humanity, but our fallenness.
To say “I’m only human” is wrong because Jesus was fully human yet perfect. It is more accurate to say, “I’m only fallen.” But remember that the humanity that Jesus added to His Divine nature was not the sinful humanity we commonly know, but the perfect humanity of Adam and Eve before the fall.
Jesus remains a man eternally (Acts 7:55-56, 1 Timothy 2:5). He did not relinquish His humanity on His ascension; but He is now a man in a resurrection body, as we will one day have.
If Jesus were not fully man, He could not stand in the place of sinful man and be a substitute for the punishment man deserves. If He were not fully God, His sacrifice would be insufficient. If Jesus is not fully God and fully man, we are lost in sin.
II. Government on His Shoulder vs. 6b
II. Government on His Shoulder vs. 6b
God had promised David that his dynasty and throne would be established forever
And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
This is fulfilled literally in Jesus Christ who will one day reign from Jerusalem
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
This was partially fulfilled on Palm Sunday
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
It will be fully fulfilled when on his second coming
This kingdom is called “the Millennium,” which means “one thousand years.”
Ultimately, this will be fulfilled in the Millennium, when Jesus Christ will rule the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Isaiah prophesied about it
Turn to Isaiah 2:1-4
This ultimate fulfillment of this promise is still waiting. But we can still see the government…upon His shoulder in many ways.
His name will be called: The idea isn’t that these will be the literal names of the Messiah. Instead, these are aspects of His character, they describe who He is and what He has come to do.
In Semitic thought, a name does not just identify or distinguish a person, it expresses the very nature of his being
We see four names
III. Wonderful Counselor vs. 6c
III. Wonderful Counselor vs. 6c
The Messiah is Wonderful:
Literally this title means “a wonder of a counselor.”
It speaks of the wisdom of his plan.
The word “wonderful” means “astonishing” or “extraordinary.”
The word “wonderful” means “astonishing” or “extraordinary.”
The writers of the Old Testament used it for acts of God which man cannot understand.
The word “counselor” means “advisor” or “ideal ruler.”
The word “counselor” means “advisor” or “ideal ruler.”
The glory of who He is and what He has done for us should fill us with wonder.
You can never really look at Jesus, really know Him, and be bored.
He is Wonderful and will fill your heart and mind with amazement.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
The Messiah is our Counselor:
Jesus is the One fit to guide our lives and should be the Christian’s immediate resource as a counselor.
He is a reliable counselor. Those who come to him will never be led astray.
He is therefore the perfect teacher and the ultimate counselor.
This gives us insight into his working. His plans are not our plans, his ways not our ways. He will accomplish things beyond human comprehension and he will do it in ways we cannot fathom.
Jesus can help you with your problems. He may use the presence and the words of another Christian to do it, but Jesus is our Counselor.
Jesus is our Counselor in the sense that as God the Son, He takes counsel with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our good.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
IV. Mighty God vs. 6d
IV. Mighty God vs. 6d
The Messiah is Mighty God:
He is the God of all creation and glory, the LORD who reigns in heaven, the One worthy of our worship and praise.
This speaks of the “Power of Accomplishment.”
It is first of all a statement of deity.
The baby born in the manger is not just the Son of God, he is also God the Son. All the fullness of God dwells in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Hebrew word is gibbor
The word means “strong one” or “the powerful, valiant warrior.”
The word means “strong one” or “the powerful, valiant warrior.”
It means manly, vigorous, hero, or champion
To be superior, achieve, and prevail
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Almighty and Mighty are interchangable
A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
You serve a mighty God
Wherever you go there is a mighty God backing you up
no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”
Those are the words of a mighty God
Now take the first two titles together and what do you have?
As the Wonderful Counselor — He makes the Plans.
As the Mighty God —He makes the plans Work.
All of his wonderful plans will be carried out with all of God’s infinite might.
There is in this little baby all the strength of Deity.
The power of God is in those
tiny fists. He has strength which is divine. The omnipotence of God is at his commands.
Whatever he desires, he is able to achieve
V. Everlasting Father vs. 6e
V. Everlasting Father vs. 6e
The Messiah is the Everlasting Father:
The idea in these Hebrew words is that Jesus is the source or author of all eternity, that He is the Creator Himself.
“Everlasting Father” does not suggest that the Son is also the Father, for each Person in the Godhead is distinct.
“Father of Eternity” is a better translation.
“Father of Eternity” is a better translation.
Among the Jews, the word “father” means “originator” or “source.”
For example, Satan is the “father [originator] of lies” (John 8:44, NIV).
If you want anything eternal, you must get it from Jesus Christ; He is the “Father of eternity.”
He is before, above, and beyond Time.
He is before, above, and beyond Time.
He is the possessor of eternity.. He is eternally like a father to his people.
This is not a statement about the Trinity, but about the character of our Lord.
All that a good father is, Jesus is to his people.
Because he is like a father, he cares for his people.
Because he owns eternity, he can give us eternal life.
VI. Prince of Peace vs. 6f
VI. Prince of Peace vs. 6f
The Messiah is the Prince of Peace:
He is the One who makes peace, especially between God and man.
The phrase literally means “the prince whose coming brings peace”
The phrase literally means “the prince whose coming brings peace”
This speaks of the effect of his coming.
This final title is the climax of all that has gone before.
The word “prince” means something like “General of the Army.”
It speaks of his high position.
The word “peace” speak of his basic nature.
Isaiah 9:6 tells us that God’s plan for world peace is focused on a one person—a baby asleep in a manger in Bethlehem.
He is the ultimate man of peace.
In the past, his coming made peace with God
In the present, those who come to him find peace in their heart whenChrist comes in.
In the future, his second coming will usher in a kingdom of peace.