Christ Our Hope

Happy December 1! We are officially in the Christmas month of the year! It’s exciting.

I love Christmas. I love the excitement and joy of Christmas. I love the memories of Christmas. I’m all for Christmas. It’s on of the biggest holidays of the year. Our culture goes crazy for this holiday - lights, shopping, travel, etc. If there’s one time of year when you’re likely to get together with people, when you’re going to go all out, it’s Christmas. It the time of year for making memories. Memories that often as time marches on are bitter-sweet as we remember times past. Why is this time of year like this?

Our culture has turned it into the holiday. Built into our routines, it helps us celebrate something and have something fun and to look forward to. It’s inspiring, fulfilling. But often we get pulled into forgetting.

Around about 2024 years ago, a baby was born. Lowly, small, helpless. Most of us start out that way. Yet there was something different about this baby. All of us when our children are born I think hope our kids will change the world. Haha, but truly this baby would not just change the world, but save it.

That baby is the reason why we need to celebrate. Because that baby was no ordinary baby. That baby was God with us - in the flesh - one of us. That baby grew up, living a life like ours, and then gave His life to set us free from sin death.

Series Intro

You’ve probably heard way too many Christmas message in your life saying exactly what I just said “we forget about Jesus, don’t forget about Jesus.” I’m not trying to re-invent the wheel. Rather, I am feeling the tug in my spirit to focus in. To gain a better depth of understanding as to the significance of Christ’s birth. For the month of December leading up to Christmas, we’re going to focus in on the Scriptures our advent readings are based on. We’re going to explore what they say about the Christ who was to come, and did come. My prayer for us is that we will get a renewed sense of awe and wonder at what God did for us at Christmas. Together may we gain new worship for the Creator God who came to save His creation. I hope you will see with new clarity the depth of love God has for you. For some Christmas is a happy time of year. For other’s it’s a hard time of year. For most there’s bitter-sweet in the whole thing. BUT, all of us need to hit our knees at Christmas time especially, because it’s at that time that God’s promise to bring a Saviour was fulfilled. So let’s take some time to journey to the manger together, and focus in. Allow the Holy Spirit to renew your sense of worship, your sense of hope, and your awe as we consider the true meaning of Christmas: Christ.

Isaiah 9:1–7 ESV

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 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.

Jesus is our hope.

Why?

Because He Restores

Because He is the Promised One

Because He Reigns Forever.

This is one of the best loved prophecies about the coming of Christ in the OT. It speaks of peace, righteousness, justice. It shows us in stark clarity who the Messiah would be. Jesus is our certain hope of a future that will be amazing. Today we’re going to explore three reasons for hope that we find in this passage.

DEFINE HOPE

Jesus Restores (v. 1-5)

To start, let’s get some context:

The book of Isaiah was written by the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, who lived during the time of the divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. He had one of the longest ministries of any of the prophets, serving the southern kingdom of Judah. His ministry overlapped with four Judahite kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Most likely, when this prophecy about the coming Messiah was spoken would be during the reign of Ahaz. We read about Ahaz in 2 Kings 16:2-4

2 Kings 16:2–4 ESV

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

So Ahaz was not a good king. During Ahaz’s reign the growing superpower of Assyria was starting to advance more and more towards Judah and Israel. According to 2 Kings 16, Ahaz decided to align himself with the Assyrian king. Isaiah spoke out against such policies, pushing the people to be pro-God, instead of pro-Assyrian (Cornerstone, p. 6).

In chapters 7-8 of Isaiah, Isaiah prophecies the coming invasion of the Assyrians, which would be a judgement on Israel. We read about this happening in 2 Kings 15 29:

2 Kings 15:29 ESV

In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.

These would be dark days for the people of Israel. Bitter suffering and heartache. In the midst of this prophecy of judgement, Isaiah opens chapter 9 with hope:

Isaiah 9:1 ESV

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The land of Zebulun and Naphtali, the first to be invaded by Assyria, would experience suffering. Yet there was coming a time when God would restore - when hope would return. Isa 9 2 says it well:

Isaiah 9:2 ESV

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

Light would come into the darkness. The darkness of oppression and of their circumstances would only last for a time, but hope was coming into the world. Isaiah did not say when, but the promise was certain. God had said this suffering would not be a forever thing. As our text later shows us, someone was to be born. A Son would be given who would bring this about. This is Jesus!

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

In fact, when it says in verse one that Galilee of the nations will be glorious, it is true! Jesus started His ministry in Galilee! (Matthew 4 12-15). We see Jesus written heavily throughout this passage.

As we go into verses 3-5 we begin to see things that would sound amazing to an oppressed people, and have an end-times focus. When this One to come comes there would be a doing away with war, as we see in v 5. In v 4, the rod, yoke and staff of oppression would be broken, just as in the days when God used Gideon and freed his people from the oppression of Midian. Instead, there will be joy. Leaping and dancing as when someone sees a bumper crop. This is the time coming, ushered in by the One God was sending. From darkness to light, from weeping to rejoicing, from oppression to freedom, and from war to peace. God would restore, that was his sure promise.

Restoration means “the act or process of returning something to its earlier good condition or position, or to its owner.” - (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/restoration)

We see restoration clearly in this verses. No doubt this would have sounded great to an oppressed people. God’s going to restore what was lost - not just the land but joy and peace! For the people in that time, this would have sounded amazing no doubt, but we cannot miss the eternal significance of this prophecy, lest we make the same mistake many made in the NT. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey, one week before his crucifixion, people shouted:

John 12:13 (ESV)

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

Yet one week later these same people were calling for His crucifixion. How does that work? Well at least in part, they thought Jesus would overthrow Roman oppression, but he had come for something so much greater. His goal was to overthrow the power of sin, satan, and death, and restore. Evil defeated. Restoration: of relationship with God, freedom from sin and death, and peace were the Messiah’s goals. He went to the cross and paid the price. Now, we can be in right relationship with God. Now, all the sin and wrong things we’ve done can be washed clean because Jesus paid the price for us. All who call upon Him will be saved.

If we miss that significance - of the One who will eternally restore - we miss the hope of the Messiah: Jesus Christ. If we miss the eternality of Christ’s birth, we devoid His coming of its power and wonder. Isaiah speaks to a people who are no doubt frightened of the coming Assyrian threat. Indeed, they would experience judgement for forsaking their covenant with YHWH. But Isaiah says “listen, it won’t always be this way! God loves His people so much that He will accomplish something amazing in order to restore what has been lost.” Surely, as the rest of this prophecy will show us, this restoration goes far beyond the borders of little Israel, and expands into the heart and soul of everyone who knows Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

How does that restoration penetrate your life right now? If you know Christ, that means your relationship with God is restored. Instead of standing condemned before God, you stand justified, and can once again know God as our Father. There is this sense of already not yet.

1 John 3:2 ESV

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Already we are God’s children, but we wait for the full benefits of salvation, the beauty and peace of this passage in eternity.

This is our first reason why Jesus is our certain hope: He has brought and will bring in fullness restoration! Vv 1-5 paint a picture to a desperate people of One who will come and reverse their oppression and their hurt. But with eternal perspective - as we’ll see more - not just temporary restoration to land, but total reversal of the curse of sin and death.

Jesus is the Promised One (v. 6)

As we move to verse 6, we get the next reason for hope. Explicitly stated now, there is this promise: a will be child born - a son given. What is the purpose of His coming? To hold the government upon His shoulders. He will rule and reign. The government, the role of ruling the people, will be on the shoulders of Christ.

Let’s unpack this verse for a minute, because the way in which it describes the Messiah to come not only clearly pictures Jesus, but also clearly shows us how amazing our Lord is.

We start with this, one of the most remembered prophecies in the Bible:

Isaiah 9:6 (KJV 1900)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:

This is a complete picture of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord. We know He is fully man, as Galatians tells us:

Galatians 4:4–5 ESV

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

To be born of woman and born under the law one must be human. There is no other way around that. All humanity is subject to God’s law. And all those born of woman are human. Yet what was His purpose? To redeem all of humanity who sat cursed by the very law that told us how to live right with God. We broke this law, and now sat condemned. As sinners, would would save us? We needed one of our own kind, but without the sin that plagues all humanity. How then - being born human and under the law - could Jesus redeem us?

Yet we also know Jesus is fully God.

John 1:1 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Who is the WORD? Jesus! This verse tells us that not only was Jesus there at the beginning with the Father, but is Himself fully God! Isaiah describes one who would be born - as Jesus was, therefore fully human yet without sin; He is the One who is given. God the Father gave His only begotten Son - for you. God the Son came in human form, experienced birth and life and death, in order to save us. Fully human, fully God. Perfect, able to take our place, living a life like ours with all it’s temptations and pitfalls, yet never stumbling. Jesus went to the cross sinless, and took on your sin to make you clean. Wow.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

It is this One who will have the government on his shoulders. It is interesting in Matthew 28:18, right as Jesus gives the great commission to the church he says this:

Matthew 28:18 (ESV)

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Indeed, Jesus Christ has all power and authority. It is upon Him that the Kingdom of God will be grounded. He will be the One who rules.

You know it’s interesting: we just watched the United States vote in Donald Trump for a second time. Trump has become a world leader once again, leading one of the most powerful countries of our time. Yet even he cannot come close to the matchless authority of the True King.

The way Isaiah describes Christ is powerful:

Wonderful Counsellor

Mighty God

Everlasting Father

Prince of Peace

Wonderful counsellor: God will show through this One great wisdom to do miraculous things. The miraculous and wisdom both find their source in God, and it is Jesus who will come working these things. Talk about being qualified to rule! (NAC; Tyndale).

Mighty God: This title shows us Jesus: the Mighty God, God of gods and Lord of lords.

Everlasting Father: This is hard, because Jesus is God the Son, not God the Father. Nevertheless what it points us to is his infinite being - He was and is and always will be! He is the creator and sustainer and ruler for eternity.

Prince of Peace: This is demonstrated particularly in verse 7: He will bring everlasting peace. He is the Prince of peace, the possessor and giver of it.

In Jesus, we have the certain hope for a Messiah. Isaiah shows us the Messiah: the One who would fulfill these roles, who restores. It is God the Son himself who will be our portion, our saviour, our Messiah. None other than our own creator and sustainer will come, being both born fully human and given fully divine in order to bring, in God’s timing, this full restoration which will usher in the kingdom of the Son.

Jesus Reigns Forever (v.7)

The third and final reason for a sure hope in Jesus is that He will bring peace.

Isaiah 9:7 ESV

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.

Notice what Isaiah says? The Messiah - Jesus Christ - will have an expanding government. His reign and power will increase - quite in contrast to the failing nations of Israel and Judah. But so will peace. There will be no end to the great rule of Christ, and the peace that He brings. It will be everlasting, says Isaiah. What characterizes such a government? Justice and righteousness. This would have been in stark contrast to the king Ahaz, who sacrificed his own son on alters to false God. And it remains in stark contrast today.

You know, one of the biggest things in our society right now is the collective outcry for justice and righteousness. In almost any major topic you’ll find people calling out for this. Justice for those who are mistreated, the fight between rich and poor, justice and restitution for those who suffered in residential schools, unfair arrests or police violence, or those who have been victims in crimes committed. Our world is overrun with the injustice - we cannot keep on top of it.

To be righteous means to be in the right, or to be right. In our world today there is a lot of disagreement over “right.” We just had a provincial election in which there was a lot of debate over the right way of responding to gender, healthcare, sexuality, addictions and mental health, you name it. Bring up the right topic (of which there are many) and quickly you can divide a room many different ways based on what folks consider “right.” And with that sense of right comes our sense of justice.

The advent of Christ’s birth ushered in a new age in which we see the beginnings of a kingdom in which Christ will rule. He will establish what is right and there will be complete justice. Moreover, there will be perfect peace. We see glimpses of this now. When we as Christians are committed to the principles found in God’s Word and choose to live our lives by them, we are living in an other-worldly manner. We are living according to the Kingdom that is coming.

We also see this in that the church can become the combining of many different races, united together in peace by God’s Spirit. When this happens, it is beautiful and an example to our world of the peace in Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 11:1 ESV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

We are assured even of what we do not totally see. We see glimpses of this coming reality Isaiah describes, but we are assured of it’s full coming soon.

The one who was to sit on David throne forever, ruling over not just Israel but all God’s people in the Christ - Jesus. His ever-expanding rule will encompass not just Israel, but all nations. We see the start of this with the gospel going forth not just to Jews but Samaritans and Gentiles in Acts. Only our Lord is able to do this, but be assured that it will happen.

And as a guarantee, the end of verse 7 states that the zeal of the Lord, or the passionate commitment of the Lord, will accomplish this. The final victory that will bring all of this into reality will be accomplished by the passionate commitment of our God to His people, of which we are a part.

Think about it: At any point in the story of salvation, from the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God, to the multiple times God’s people turned away from Him in the OT, to the moment when human crucified their our Saviour - at any of those points God could have said, “nope, not doing it.” He could have wiped the slate clean and started again. He could have not made us in His image, with the ability to reason, with choice. Yet when we turned our backs on God, in His love He sent the One who fulfills everything that Isaiah spoke about: our Saviour.

Our third characteristic is that Jesus reigns forever! There’s no doubt. Yes, now we only have a taste of the joy of being part of Jesus’ eternal kingdom. Much is still to come. When Christ returns, the fullness of what Isaiah described will become reality for eternity.

Conclusion

Jesus is our hope.

Why?

Because He Restores

Because He is the Promised One

Because He Reigns Forever.

See, the child who Mary gave birth to that night in Bethlehem may have looked like a helpless baby, but there’s a reason why angels sang and shepherd couldn’t shut up about what they had seen and heard. Magi travelled long distances to do what, give some gold to a 2-year-old? I have a two year old, and trust me he’d be happier with a dinky car! But these wise men as well had been arrested by the fact that God had quite literally come down to earth, taking on human form and living our life. Something amazing had happened. The one that would fulfill the promise in the garden to redeem humanity from sin; the One who Israel waited for and the world desperately needed; the One Isaiah prophesied about: our Messiah had come.

God loved you and me so much that He did all this. Can we get a sense of awe and excited anticipation at what Christ has done and will do?! As we journey to the manger over the next weeks, let’s get our hearts right. Christmas is a beautiful time, but we need to be right about why. Jesus is the Messiah, and that night God did something incredible. He came down to earth for us. Do you realize the hope that holds for anyone who trusts in Christ as Lord and Saviour?

Salvation call

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Doesn’t it sound good?

Notes:

1-5 Things will not be this way forever -

6 One will come -

7 He will rule rightly -