A Babe Born to Save the World

A Hero Is Born.

Good morning church, my name is Zachary Reynolds. I had a great privilege of taking some of our high school guys to see the new Aquaman movie this past week. And let me just say… It was very very disappointing.

First off, never. Never, should you have slow motion kiss scene during a big battle. Don’t get me wrong I love some good romantic movies, anything with Tom Hanks and Meg Kelly, I’m there. But not in Aquaman. Anyways, the whole theme behind Aquaman is that when he was born, he was going to be the hero that brought two worlds together, the world of the land and sea. From a birth, a hero who was prophesied to be a hero, a savior, a redeemer. And he’s not the only one. Superman, in his original writing, was a hero who was sent by his father to the planet Earth in order to save and redeem it. When he turned thirty he decided to start saving people and become superman. Sound familiar?

And it’s not just superheros. In the popular series, Harry Potter, we see a a prophecy over a young kid of one that will battle against the Dark Lord, and will die in order for everyone else to live. He is brought back to life and defeats the Dark Lord once and for all. The list goes on and on and all of them stem from one single story, the greatest story ever told.

And it’s not just superheros. In the popular series, Harry Potter, we see a a prophecy over a young kid of one that will battle against the Dark Lord, and will die in order for everyone else to live. He is brought back to life and defeats the Dark Lord once and for all. The list goes on and on and all of them stem from one single story, the greatest story ever told.

Open your Bibles to

Read

Opening Prayer

Isaiah wrote these words to the people of Israel during their time of oppression from the Assyrian people around 700 years before the birth of this coming King. This prophecy was a message of hope to a people who were suffering and facing hardships. It was the announcing of a coming Savior and the birth of a King. Now I know what you are thinking, usually baby announcements are fancier. Now days when Sally and Sam has a kid they have a huge announcement post with the sonogram photo and the photo of the mom who thinks she already has a baby bump and the dad who looks like he is petrified and excited all at the same time. You have the gender reveal party, and all of this other stuff! So an announcement like this may not seem all that exciting to us today, but to the people of Israel, it was the single greatest announcement they had ever been given.

Vs. 2-3

Jesus is our light and our joy.

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

God can speak of our walking in the light, because he is the author of this story.

FIrst off I want you to notice this is a prophetic text, yet their is a lot of past tense verbs within this sentence. Those who walked in darkness, those who dwelt in the land of darkness.

We have reward in the victory although we had no part to play in it.

Vs. 4-5

An army of 300 men lead by Gideon took on and defeated 135,000 Midianites soldiers. The only explanation was God. God destroyed the enemy through the unspectacular, through an insignificant agent. On that day it was 300 men. In this story it is perhaps even more unspectacular. It is a young baby boy who was born in a manger to a young couple who were not significant in the eyes of the world. But this was not just any boy.

Vs. 6-7

This is not, these are the names you should call him, NO SIR! This is the declaration. YOU WILL CALL HIM THESE NAMES. YOU WILL BOW BEFORE HIM. IT IS NOT OPTIONAL.

Wonderful Counselor- Wonderful means incomprehensible. You won’t be able to understand it. You can’t fathom it. You don’t fully understand the goodness of God, the love of God, the grace of God, and the peace of God. No sir, but you are about to. You are about to taste the greatest goodness you will ever experience.

Counselor was a wise king, who had understanding and care for his people. He is not a king who sits up on his throne, NO He was the king that came down and carried our burdens, that shouldered the punishment for your sin, and that took the rod, took the nails, took the cross so that the wrath of God may be satisfied and he could do away with the pain caused by the oppressor forever.

Mighty God- His person and power. Jesus is God. He is mighty. He was the one that defeated all of our enemies. He is the one that gave Moses courage to tell Pharoah to let his people go. He is the one that gave David the faith to sling a stone to kill Goliath. He is the one who stood in the fire with Shadrach, Messach, and Obendigo. He is the one that healed, that walked on water, that the literal clouds, mountains, and earth obeys and worships. He is the mighty God.

Everlasting Father- His relationship with us. Everlasting. For ever.

Prince of Peace- What he brings for us.

Vs. 5. He has won our battles. He has won your battle with sin, with grief, with depression. It is time that you come to realize that. That you understand and rest in the fact that he has given us victory. Through the birth of a child, wrapped in swaddling cloth lying in a manger, he would save, redeem, and restore the world and his people.

We listed all of these superheroes and Iove those stories. But their is one major detail that none of the stories gets right about the greatest story ever told. Jesus was the not the hero who came to die for the innocent. He is the hero that came to die for the villians. He came to die for me and for you. Because he loved us.

Isaiah 53:5 ESV

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

:5-

Let us rest in that this Christmas season, and celebrate him for being our wonderful counselor, our mighty God, our everlasting father, and our prince of peace.

Lord Supper direction. Closing Prayer.