The Promise - Immanuel, God with Us
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
The Promise
The Promise
6 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. 7 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.
As we celebrate Advent...
Advent means the Coming of someone special or important...
We are talking about the coming of Jesus Christ. His first coming or first Advent.
We will be looking at 4 ways to see the Advent. The Promise, The fulfillment, the realization of Advent, and a Celebration of Advent.
SO today we look at the Promise God made in the OT, in many different places yet we only have time to mention a handful.
When I say Promise, what do you think about? As people we know a promise because we are too familiar with people making promises and not keeping them.
We are inundated with politicians making promises in campaigns and so we get jaded and learn not to put too much hope in promises. A promise is a description of intent about a circumstance or action that someone is taking responsibility for.
When I was young my mother always taught me that life isn’t fair, things happen that can change our families plans, they will do their best to provide everything they can for, and she will be committed to never making a promise she thinks there is even a change she can’t keep to us kids.
I believe this is because of so many dashed hopes and broken promises in her own life… She was raised by a single mom with her younger brother, her father was the Milk man, and he left them when she was just 2 yrs old, and her step father ended up being someone committed unthinkable acts against all the young females in our family, and especially my sister and I.
Life is a broken messed up place, where the effects of Sin and the Fall in the Garden of Eden is still felt in painful ways to this day. In fact while we gather here to worship together in our safe warm building, people are suffering and live with pain...
Parents who are supposed to provide love and help, commit horrible atrocities against their kids, people look out for themselves and don’t have the time or energy to help others who suffer around them.
Promises seem like the breeding ground of broken Hope, unmet expectations, and a source of pain that it is better to guard against...
we live in a world that rejects the idea that believing in someones promises is ever good thing, it can only lead to heartache...
Is it any wonder, that when saves people out of darkness into his marvelous Light, when he raises us from spiritual death unto spiritual life, and calls us into his family… that we struggle to believe his promises?
Why is all this important? We know that the first Advent happened… Jesus already came and we are convinced of that, yet there is a promise of a second Advent that will give us hope in life… Jesus is coming back, and the NT is full of God’s promises for his children in the church, and if we struggle to believe him because of our past brokenness we will miss out on true joy and peace in this life.
My heart is not to just share with us biblical information about the promise that he already fulfilled, but to use that to give us hope for all the promises of God and see us live victoriously in life as we go into our world and preach Christ unashamedly and boldly!
So how can we believe that?
Listen a promise is only as good as the one makes it… Advent is about seeing God make and keep his promises!
If the Promise is made by God, then the Promise can’t be broken
If the Promise is made by God, then the Promise can’t be broken
We need to believe this!
Let’s look at the promise we heard read today, and so celebrate the true of this Season when the world has to acknowledge that this celebration is not like others.
We started this morning with reading , yet in order to understand this, we have to know what is happening in the greater story. Let me give you a quick over view of the OT with just a couple stops along the way so we can understand our main text today.
God creates everything, including humanity, and we know that Adam and Eve the first humans rebelled against God and ate fruit from the tree they were commanded not to eat from. But something significant is happening in this pre-fall condition of creation… God walked with his creation in the cool of the Day
His presence is with his people… yet sin entered in and broke that relationship…
In the beginning God was with us, but Sin separated us from God
In the beginning God was with us, but Sin separated us from God
Sin separates us From God, Because God is Holy… everything else in the Ot is a story about how God will once again restore his creation and redeem his people who have been destroyed by Sin.
God does this by making a Promise to Abram in in which there is a covenant ritual and God puts Abram asleep, because he knows that mankind will not be able to live up to their end of the covenant… explain briefly...
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
gen3.
What is so significant here is that we see before sin enters in, God almighty, his presence is with his creation. In the beginning God was with us… This is the way God created it to be, and this is the goal of the promise and the fulfillment… this is the goal of Advent, and this is what makes our salvation so wonderful… Eternity with God as we were created to be!
… Please feel free to read at home...
so as the story continues we see that all of creation is running a muck and sin is causing everyone to want something else beside union with God. So in the very beginning of just Genesis, the first book of the OT, we see a flood because of how sinful people are, and a reset happens with Noah and his family.
We see a tower being built for prideful. sinful reason - and God confuses the languages to separate people.
We see many people spread out all over and live very sinful lives and yet God makes a promise to a man and woman who can’t have kids on their own… A promise comes to Abram and it is significant...
In there is an interaction between God and Abram… A promise comes to this barren couple...
gen15.5
5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
So God promises something more than anyone could ever possible imagine. A barren couple will have more kids than there are stars in heaven...
How Could he believe that? Where would all these people live, since the world is full of sinful people who oppose God? It was hard enough for Abram to have the land he has.
Gen15.
7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
God tells him I am the one who will give the Land. And yet Abram, like us would say, “How do I know it will happen?”
Back then the greatest act of assurance they could do was to make a covenant and to spill blood in a sacrifice, so watch what happens next...
9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
gen15.
What you need to know is that this kind of a sacrifice may seem gross because they are splitting animals in half, but here is why… They would split animals in half and they would set half of the animal on one side and half on the other side, so as to leave an aisle in between to walk across. The reason for this, is because this would symbolize that each party to the covenant will walk through the animals cut in half making the statement that the one who fails to keep the covenant being made will be destroyed just like these animals are.
That is a pretty serious condition of a promise… How many of us would want to enter into that contract?
gen15.
But something significant happens here that sets all the rest of the OT on a different course...
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
Why did God put Abram to sleep??? If he is asleep, he can’t walk through the sacrifices… EXACTLY!!! but wait that would mean he is entering a covenant but he isn’t sworn to keep it… EXACTLY!!! Watch what happens...
13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
gen15.
Anyone remember the story of how Egypt puts God’s people into slavery? Remember Moses??? These aren’t stories that just developed, but part of the promises of God in fulfilling a covenant promise to Abram...
gen15.14
14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
Here we have a promise of the 10 plagues… And wealth from Egypt...
15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
God even goes into detail about how old Abram will be, and then tells him he is waiting on sinful people to continue to reject him more before he allows them to be destroyed… God Knows everything and takes everything into account when making promises!
Now that he makes these promises to Abram, will he wake him up to walk through the sacrifices???
gen15.17
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
Remember I said that the pre-fall state of relations between God and humanity was his presence being with them? Since the world is sinful, God doesn’t come down in any form that is recognized because he is holy, so we have a unique pictures of a smoking fire pot and torch that passes through the pieces, this represents God God making the covenant promise official… But Abram does not do it too?? Because God is swearing by himself that his promises will come to pass.
Why Did I take all this time during Advent to explain this?
Because we need to know that God makes promises based on his own eternal nature… When he promises something it will surely come to pass because he swears by himself, and if it didn’t happen then he would cease to be God!
This is a the groundwork that was laid for the rest of Scripture… God swears by himself that there will be a people he will obtain, they will children of Abraham...
The story goes on… suffice it to say God’s people find out what God desires from them in their daily lives, they get the Law from God after he delivers them from Egypt. And this is because the nature of God is to Delver his people and then call them to Holy Living… it was then and it is now… We were dead and now we are alive… we were in darkness but we have been called out into his marvelous Light… and now we live according to his Holy standards because we are new… and just like that, in the OT he delivered his people and then gave them the Law...
Needless to say, they can keep the Law, they continue to Sin. They desire to be like everyone else in the world, they want a king, and God eventually gives them a King… It doesn’t go well at First, then he gives them David as a King, and even though there are many broken sinful people constantly messing up good things that God is blessing his children with, more promises come...
While David was the Best king, the promise of one like him would come after him...
in God speaks through the prophet Samuel that he is establishing David’s throne, yet there there is more to this Promise...
2sam7.12-
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
Notice this promise to David, the King of Israel, when he is dead and gone, his kingdom and throne will remain… being established by someone in his Family line… this person will be the Son of God, and we know that though he never sinned, even this promise was fulfilled once our sin was taken up by him, and so he was disciplined with the rod of men… - he who knew no sin was made sin for us!!!
HIS kingdom and throne will be established forever...
So God not only creates us, he not only promised to have a people so great they couldn’t be numbered, he not only swore this as a covenant in which he himself will keep, he now even says that through his sinful people he will bring one to forever establish a kingdom and a throne...
who will this be???
well the story gets a little complex and for sake of time allow me to gives you the quick version… David’s kingdom gets divided into a nothern and southern kingdom after his death… Israel should be one but they are divided and now other nations will come and conquer them because of there disobedience to God...
How can the promise come is everything is such a mess?
Enter Isaiah the prophet… he is called by God to tell his people and the kings what that plan of God will be...
And just before the Text we started with there is a king called Ahaz… He is not a godly leader and yet Isaiah asks him to ask God for a sign of deliverance from the impending doom of the coming kingdoms who are marching against God’s people...
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?
So God says ASK me, let it be as be as big of a sign as you want, so my people will know that I am with them… In the end this is all about God’s people knowing that God is with them. If he is, then they will be OK, and if not, there is no Hope!
This guys acts holy but God knows he is not… He is wearying God and God’s people. SO A promise is made… Watch!!!
is7.
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Now this is a Sign!
A Virgin will conceive and have a Son...
And while there is some debate over whether this is something that was fulfilled in Christ or something that happened at that time… the Bible tells us in that this is Jesus being born here.. this promise finds its fulfillment in Christ!
The promise is fulfilled in Christ
The promise is fulfilled in Christ
Notice his name shall be called… this language is strange? is this saying that this baby will have the name Immanuel? NOPE, it is saying that this baby shall have a description given to his Name… Immanuel, which means God with us.
This means that when the promise is fulfilled we can be sure that this virgin birth will be GOD WITH US!!!
So Jesus is GOD!
The Promise is FROM God and the Promise is FOR God to be with US!
The Promise is FROM God and the Promise is FOR God to be with US!
Immanuel is a description of this child to be born… But Isaiah goes on to help us understand this Promise so we will be sure when this promise is fulfilled...
6 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. 7 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.
is9.6
In this text, we hear of a Promise… a Child to be born…we know already this child will be born of a Virgin, we know that this is given by God… And we see these royal names being given to this child here… Just like Immanuel being a description of the Child, these names will describe the life of this child that is promised!
These names here will show this child has both Human and Divine qualities, because he is IMMANUEL GOD WITH US!!!
First notice in vs 6
is
6 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.
This child is BORN and GIVEN… Born being consistent with Humanity, yet Given is pointing to his Deity.
The Promise is both Human and Divine in nature
The Promise is both Human and Divine in nature
and notice also that the Government will be on his shoulders...
Does this mean some generic sense that all governments are built on God’s control? NO! It is true that God is Sovereign and in control of everything but this verse speaks of a government that in built ion his shoulders… This is not about how God is over every government, even though he is, we see that elsewhere in scripture. Here we see a Government built on him???
We know that Jesus Christ is redeeming for himself a people from every nation, race, tribe and tongue… in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham of a people who can’t be numbered… The church is that Place where the citizens of heaven gather...
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
Jesus is the cornerstone and foundation of his church which he governs and this is built on his shoulders… His shoulders took the cross for our sin! His Church is built on that and the profession of that by true believers… as we saw 2 weeks ago...
in Isaiah he later re-enforces this...
22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
This by the way is the same language we saw when Christ said he was building his church on and 18… Binging and loosing, opening and shutting the kingdom with keys...
Clearly this promised child is establishing a kingdom that has specific workings that are best understood within the church! Jesus is the King of his kingdom, the Church!
but now look at the names promised for this KING...
A “Wonderful Counselor” is with us
A “Wonderful Counselor” is with us
The promised child born to a virgin will be known as wonderful counselor...
that word Wonderful might be better translated to MIRACULOUS… The best way to describe God’s mighty works are that they are Miraculous or wonderful… and this promised child will be a Miraculous COUNSELOR.
A counselor is someone who provides supreme WISDOM! If you don’t know about Jesus, he proved in his life to not only be miraculous in working God’s will, but supremely wise in his counsel.
This coming King will possess Miraculously Divine Wisdom...
A “Mighty God” is with us
A “Mighty God” is with us
This title declares that our God is a warrior who protects his people!
What great assurance we can get from knowing this! This is a divine attribute that is ascribed to a “Child born to us”...
Those who first heard this would’ve been reminded of what they knew of their God...
17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
deut
This Child is being described the same way they are to know their God!
Our Mighty God that is with us, is greater than any other gods or powers. And this is something we see is consistent with what the NT teaches us about Jesus...
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
Jesus is our MIGHTY GOD...
This promised Child will Govern and make war for and protect his kingdom and his people… he is a Mighty God!
An “Everlasting Father” is with us
An “Everlasting Father” is with us
Notice the EVERLASTING speaks of one who will never need another to come after him… there will be none to follow in his foot steps..
we live in a day where people try to say look there is another great one coming… many false messiahs that we were warned about in scripture, yet the promise tells us that he is everlasting!
This coming King will possess Divine eternity!
But why the name Father? For a child? Why declare he will be a father??? Does this mean he will be someone who gets married and have kids? NO...
what we need to understand is that in that time kings referred to themselves as Fathers to their subjects. Kings took care of their people, provided for them and protected them.
This promised King will show an Eternal Care for His People
Jesus does no t leave us as orphans, he is the same yesterday, today, and forever… from everlasting to everlasting he will care for his people, he promises us this!
A “Prince of Peace” is with us
A “Prince of Peace” is with us
This promised Child will be a Prince whose government will declare a divine peace…
We do not see peace in this life… this world is the opposite of Peace… What does this mean that he is the Prince of Peace???
Does it mean that Jesus makes Peace in us? Yes in the sense that we are in turmoil because of Sin, but that will not be fully dealt with until we are in eternity… So no not totally meaning peace within..
Well then what does it mean?
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have Peace with God?
God will judge this world for Sin, yet those who belong to him have been forgiven through the Blood of Jesus and will not be judged like the world because we are at Peace with him by the work of Jesus on our behalf!
The Prince of Peace fought for us and won a battle for us that we could not win for ourselves!
See when God saves us through Jesus’ work he saves us FOR him, THROUGH Him, TO him, and FROM him.
For him - we now belong to him because we have been purchased by his blood
Through him - By the work of Christ who is God incarnate, God in the flesh
To him - we are saved from this life into eternity to be forever united with God
BUT From Him - We are saved from the wrath of God that will come ion this world...
Our Prince of Peace took God’s wrath in himself so we wouldn’t need to…
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
ep
Jesus is our Prince of Peace! we know this now...
But this was a promise made to those who didn’t know what would happen in their world… they needed saved from their sin but were more concerned about being saved from the impending doom of other kingdoms coming against them.
They did not know what it looked like to be at peace for any stretch of time, and if there was it was based on promises that kings would make with each other, and those promises were often broken and so we come full circle that a promise is only as good as the one making it...
They need Hope, as do we… look at the next verse...
7 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.
This promised child will usher us into a kingdom that he not only rules but will; never pass away and peace will never end...
No promise will ever be broken in this kingdom by this Immanuel… for he is God with us...
He will establish and uphold his kingdom with justice and righteousness...
What does that mean?
Justice is speaking of right relations between people… A violation of justice is murdering, stealing, lying, rebelling etc… And true justice defends the cause of widows and orphans… Justice speaks of right living with others...
Is there any other place that we know that there should be right relations with others better than the church… This is why racism is to denounced in the church. this is why we are commanded all through the NT to watch how we live with one another and forgive one another...
Justice is about how we live with one another… but Righteousness speaks of a right relation with God… We know how that is possible.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
so only in Jesus can we understand Justice with each other and righteousness with God!
Do you see it???
This promise made some 700 yrs before the birth of our savior declared what we now live in because of the work of Christ on our behalf! from this time forth AND forevermore!!!
And if all this was not enough… he puts and exclamation point on the promise...
THE ZEAL OF THE LORD OF HOSTS WILL DO THIS
The promise delivered by God is kept by God
The promise delivered by God is kept by God
no one will be able to mess up this promise...
The reason why we share such joy this Christmas season is because Jesus came to do that which God said he would do… he is our true JOY our True Peace our True Salvation, found in our True Prophet and our True King because he is the TRUE GOD...
He is Immanuel GOD WITH US
Let us worship him now with Singing and celebrating the wonderful, miraculous, glorious story of his birth which is the beginning of our very lives!!!