A Miraculous Birth

Text: Isaiah 7:1-16

INTRODUCTION: A God Who Keeps His Word

Start with Genesis 3:15, God gave the first promise of redemption — that the offspring of the woman would crush the serpent’s head.

Humanity fell.

Darkness entered the world.

But God spoke a promise into the darkness.

That promise did not die in Eden; it traveled through generations.

In Isaiah 7, during a moment of fear, political chaos, and unbelief, God makes another promise — a miraculous birth that would be the ultimate sign that He is faithful.

Big Idea: God keeps His promises—always. The miraculous birth mentioned in Isaiah 7 points forward to the ultimate fulfillment in the birth of Jesus.

GOD PROVIDES PROMISES OF HOPE IN TROUBLING TIMES (vv. 1–2)

When fear rises, God’s promises stand firm.

Judah is terrified:

Two powerful enemies (Syria and Israel) are coming against them.

King Ahaz is shaken “like trees in the wind.”

In the middle of panic, God sends Isaiah with a message: “Don’t fear. I am still in control.”

The promises of God don’t stop when circumstances get bad. In fact, God often speaks His clearest promises when we feel most shaken.

Connection to Advent:

Israel waited through centuries of trouble, exile, and silence — yet God’s promise of a Savior held true.

Just as in Eden and in Isaiah’s day, God meets human fear with divine promises.

GOD INVITES US TO TRUST HIS PROMISES (vv. 3–12)

Faith receives what God freely offers.

God offers Ahaz a sign — any sign he wants — to strengthen his faith.

Ahaz refuses. Not because he’s humble, but because he doesn’t actually want to trust God.

God is not threatened by our weakness of faith; He invites us to trust Him.

“If you will not believe, you certainly will not last”

Advent Connection:

Mary, unlike Ahaz, responds to God’s promise with faith:

“Let it be to me according to your word.”

Where Ahaz doubted, Mary believed.

God invites us at Christmas to trust the promise that He is with us.

Key Idea: Faith is not about our strength — it’s about leaning on the One who keeps His word.

GOD FULFILLS HIS PROMISES THROUGH A MIRACULOUS BIRTH (vv. 13–16)

“The sign of all signs: Immanuel — God with us.”

God gives a promise Ahaz did not ask for: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

This has an immediate meaning for Ahaz’s time, but it also points forward to something far greater — a future, miraculous birth.

Matthew 1:22–23 reveals the ultimate fulfillment:

Mary, a virgin, gives birth to Jesus — God with us.

The promise from Genesis 3, the promise in Isaiah 7, and the promise fulfilled in Bethlehem all testify: God keeps His promises. Always.

We Must Expand Our Vision to trust God even when we cannot see what He sees.

Connection to Alex’s Week 1 Theme:

The promise in the Garden is answered in the manger.

What God spoke to Eve is fulfilled in Mary.

The story of redemption is one long testimony that God never forgets His word.

OUTRO — THE GOD WHO ALWAYS COMES THROUGH

From Eden to Isaiah to Bethlehem — the story is consistent: God promises. God moves. God delivers.

Advent teaches us that God is not slow, He is perfectly timed.

He keeps every promise — even the ones that seem impossible.

Application

God keeps His promises even when life feels unstable.

When you feel shaken, remember Judah’s trembling king — and the God who stood firm.

God invites you to trust Him, not because you’re strong, but because He is faithful.

Jesus is the ultimate proof that God always keeps His word.

The virgin birth is not just a miracle — it is a message.

Every promise God makes finds its “Yes” in Jesus (2 Cor. 1:19-20).

For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but has been yes in Him. For as many as the promises of God are, in Him they are yes; therefore through Him also is our Amen to the glory of God through us.

Landing Point

Isaiah’s prophecy is not just ancient history — it is Advent hope. A virgin would conceive. A child would be born. God would draw near. What began as a whisper in Genesis was fulfilled in the cry of a baby in Bethlehem.

The miraculous birth of Jesus is God’s declaration for all time: “I keep My promises.”