Expecting God to Make it Right
Expectations • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Pray.
Did you see the news this week?
The aggies hired a new football coach in preparation for winning the national championship next year.
I want to say this to you as a means of entering into this season. We are, by human nature, men and women who anticipate and have great expectations of what is to come. That’s in our nature. We have done it our entire lives. We have habitually pursued the next thing. We have perpetually desired whatever is next. Even on our good days, we are haunted by the thought that there are better days ahead.
Our experience is not that today is awful and tomorrow will be better. Even when today is awesome, tomorrow is going to be better, and we have habitually been chasing that. Even in our “I’m not looking forward to that,” what we’re saying is, “I can’t wait to get past this…” (Whatever this is.) “…to get to this.” Sometimes that’s simple. Sometimes that’s a day off.
Most frustrations are birthed out of unmet expectation.
This is how it is with life!
With that said, I want to have a talk, because this whole season is built on anticipation. I want by the mercy of God to drop an anchor into some crazy water to make sure we get underneath all we’re celebrating here in a way that will sustain, create awe and rejoicing in our hearts, as well as redeem anticipation and expectation to a place that it actually begins to shape our lives.
Today we talk about Hope. The hope that comes through the incarnation, coming of God in the flesh. How that was an answer consistent with God but also very surprising.
Text - General
Text - General
Isaiah is written hundreds of years before Jesus would walk the earth and we often talk about the prophecies that are fulfilled in this text. One of the more often quoted is the one we just read and are focusing on today. Fulfilled prophecy is tricky. Sometimes we look at it like it was some where hidden answer key that everyone missed. I think prophecy in the OT is something we should spend some more time studying because I believe it will help us understand more of what God is doing in the present. See this text was meaningful for the people when they heard it AND it took on new meaning in the coming of Jesus.
The first verse serves as introductory and paints the scene for context. The context is the land of Naphtali, Zebulun, and Galilee. These regions during the Assyrian campaign were hit the hardest. Wiped out. Literal extermination camps. The ultimate darkness. It is in this darkness does God through the prophet proclaim something so powerful. Hope is screamed into the shattered dreams and lost nation.
Verses 1-3: Hope described
Light versus darkness:
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
I love that the first line, the first word in the middle of destruction is…look up there is light in front of you. And notice that this in the past tense here. One commentator put it this way:
Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary iv. The Royal Hope (9:1–7)
It is a sure hope—so sure that, according to Hebrew idiom, it is even written in past tenses as though it had happened already.
Biblical Hope is more than optimism, it is tied to God’s character alone as a basis for trusting that the future will be better than the present.
Because we believe in the light that has already come.
What does that hope look like for the people of Israel?
enlarged nation
harvest time
warriors rejoicing
When this light arrives (both in time and individually) then it is like harvest time or the feeling of warriors dividing up their plunder.
For those in the kingdom, there is plenty. Enough to share. Enough to live sacrificially. For those in the kingdom there is victory even when things look bleak.
This sounds like prosperity Gospel. Believe everything is going to be alright and it will be. But it is not. It actually does not deny hardship or struggle and it points beyond the circumstances to the one who will do the rescuing.
So how can this be? For the ones standing in the land of Naphtali, Zebulun....how can this be? What is this light? Now the prophet explains this hope:
Biblical hope is always framed by God’s character and is consistent with history
This is the fulfilment of our history: Remember when....
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
He points to their past
13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
And remember what happened with Midian’s defeat…Judges 7, when my people were surrounded and I delivered them.
“The yoke is suffering endured, the rod is suffering inflicted and I delivered my people from both....I will do it again.”
So what will it be like? It will be consistent with who I am, who I always have been.
And as a side note for just a second…Jesus is the fulfilment of history. No one denies his existence anymore. Preach this out....In Matthew 4, Jesus comes out of the desert temptation and he quotes this text. Matthew is interpreting Jesus as the answer to this prophecy.
2. Biblical hope is consistent but also surprising
Now consistent but new, I am going to give you a king:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Couple of points really quick then I want to spend some time on these titles:
A child is born, a son is given…ponder these words.
the people of this king: their shoulders are delivered when his shoulders accepts the full responsibility.
He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Wonderful Counsellor: Literally “a wonder of a counsellor” no this does not mean Dr. Phil. This phrase is the closest word Hebrew has to supernatural. It is the ultimate wisdom of God. Wisdom far beyond our own grasp. The full answer for our lives. The wisdom literature in the Bible: proverbs, ecclesiastes, job…books wrestling with the world and our purpose in it....Jesus becomes the ultimate expression of this.
Mighty God: Full strength. The first time in prophetic words that I can tell in Isaiah that this coming king is called God.
Everlasting Father: In Israel’s history, they longed for a king. then they longed for a king like David....now the promise of a king that will reign for evermore. And father…not in the familial sense but by way of His concern, care and discipline for those entrusted to him.
Prince of peace: We think of some prince crowned in royalty but this term is not meant to denote that, instead this corresponds closest to our english word for administrator. And this peace is not a cease fire, but a healing and restoring action.
Friends, the incarnation of God, Jesus coming, Wonderful counsellor, mighty God, Everlasting father, prince of peace....is the true dawn of light over the darkness of the world. This is what we tie ourselves to in this season:
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
So what land of Naphtali or Zebulun are you walking through right now?
that second verse:
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
The land of deep darkness is the “shadow of death.” This is the darkness before Christ’s light is shone.
What shadow of death are you passing through?
loss?
dreams
bad expectations
marriage
maybe something in you. an addiction that you are pretending is not there
Maybe your life in general
There is a light that has already dawned. He is the one who brings supernatural wisdom and purpose. He is the administrator of our wholeness, He is the mighty warrior fighting on our behalf....and he reigns forevermore. He is the fulfillment of our lives, he is the fulfilment of history.