The Promise of A Child

One of my favorite twitter contributors is Church Curmudgeon he portrays himself as a cantakerous cranky old man in a humorous way. . The other day he tweeted this parody and I thought it worth sharing this morning to help put us in the mood for the sermon:

Church Curmudgeon

@ChrchCurmudgeon

Oh, the sermon was simply frightful

And the choir is tired and spiteful

Our hunger is starting to show

Let us go, let us go, let us go!

Well, he doesn't show signs of stopping

And our eyelids are slowly dropping

Oh, why do you torture us so?

Let us go, let us go, let us go!

When we finally get dismissed

How we love to go out in the snow

But since Pastor has six more points

When that will be we don't know!

Well, the sermon is dragging longer

And the pastor is preaching stronger

But by now we're not listening so

Let us go, let us go, let us go!

@ChrchCurmudgeon

Oh, the sermon was simply frightful

And the choir is tired and spiteful

Our hunger is starting to show

Let us go, let us go, let us go!

Well, he doesn't show signs of stopping

And our eyelids are slowly dropping

Oh, why do you torture us so?

Let us go, let us go, let us go!

When we finally get dismissed

How we love to go out in the snow

But since Pastor has six more points

When that will be we don't know!

Well, the sermon is dragging longer

And the pastor is preaching stronger

But by now we're not listening so

Let us go, let us go, let us go!

Well maybe we ought to

Read:

Read:

Introduction:

We have seen in the last two sermons how that even in darkness and judgment God’s hope is present and real. In the darkness, he sent a great light. In war, oppression, and bondage God sent a deliverer who would bring great joy.

We see in the two verses of our text who this Liberator is.

Five Characteristics About the Liberator

1. He is a Child - A Son -

This first characteristic is given in parallel style. “For unto us, a child is born. Unto us, a Son is given.”

A child is born does not indicate gender. It only implies a child of a young age. It’s a generic reference to someone who is defenseless, innocent, non-threatening.

We are given more specific and descriptive identification next: Not just a child —but a Male Child. A Son.

Not just a Male Child but a powerful Person. The leader of great world power.

This also gives us one of the basic tenants of the Christian faith. This Messianic deliverer was not going to be a superhuman half God half man but rather he is:

child-man

Son - God

This Child- Son will rise to be a leader - next, we see what type of leader

2. The Government will be on His shoulders

“The Government on His shoulders” Goes back to the yoke is a sign of servitude is broken. The staff on the shoulder - is like the whip that strikes and beats, which is also broken.

The government on the shoulders implies two things

Kings and rulers used to wear the ensign of office on their shoulders this was a “token of sustaining the government.”

It also refers to the government being placed upon the Messiah’s shoulder. He will have the authority to administer God’s kingdom (Bromiley) It means to take on the government to reign.

The shoulder is the part of the body that is known in Biblical times to carry heavy loads.

They were used to Assyrian kings, Persian Kings, Philistine Kings, Roman Kings - but this King was going to be different -

“But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (, KJV 1900)

“And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: In that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.” (, KJV 1900)

This God-Man Governor is further described -

3. He has four descriptive names

Giving these four descriptive names imply two things. ]

Naming was an act of dominion. In the creation story, God named some things - the heaven, the earth, the dry land - it was a sign of his authority and sovereignty over the created things.

Typically parents name their children, because they are their children.

As one said, “the neighbor kids down the street may call our children by many other names, but that is not their real names - they have no authority or right to exercise dominion over them.”

The name also refers to a persons reputation or fame such as in talks of the “men of renown.” literally “men of a name.”

It also reveals aspects of the character.

We see this first in Where “The Lord proclaimed the name of the Lord” and then follows a list of divine attributes

He is “Lord”

“Merciful”

Gracious

Long-suffering (slow to anger)

abundant in goodness and truth

and more.

This is the same type of listing we find in our text in “This list of names signifies the very essence of his character.” (Kaiser)

This is the same type of listing we find in our text in “This list of names signifies the very essence of his character.” (Kaiser)

Wonderful - God’s very name is “Wonderful”

This is what the one who visited Samson’s parents said his name was “Wonderful”

It is also what the LORD said about the miracle God was going to do for Abraham and Sarah. She was ninety years of age and God’s question to Sarah who wasn’t fully convinced yet “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” ()

This term “hard” is anything too hard for the Lord… is the same word used for “Wonderful”

Wonderful means something unusual it has the sense of something of an extraordinary nature making it mysterious or difficult to comprehend.

Counselor - This actually is a noun. He is called a “counselor” for He is one who gives counsel to His own who respond to Him. Gary Staats, Covenants and Related Texts, (Austin, TX: WORDsearch, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "Lesson 11: ".

Throughout the first part of the book especially, the folly of human wisdom is derided, for usually, such counsel lacked any spiritual wisdom (1:26; 3:3; 5:21; 19:11-15; 28:7-10; 29:9-14; 30:1, 2; 31:1-3; 47:10-13). By contrast, the Coming One would give wondrous counsel, unfailing in the depth of its wisdom. John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah Chapters 1-39, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 247.

Throughout the first part of the book especially, the folly of human wisdom is derided, for usually, such counsel lacked any spiritual wisdom (1:26; 3:3; 5:21; 19:11-15; 28:7-10; 29:9-14; 30:1, 2; 31:1-3; 47:10-13). By contrast, the Coming One would give wondrous counsel, unfailing in the depth of its wisdom. John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah Chapters 1-39, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 247.

The Mighty God - A God whose might is unparalleled. “There’s no God compared to Thee oh God.”

The Everlasting Father - This isn’t referring so much to parenthood “Father” as it is a never-ending reign and life.

The Prince of Peace - He will bring peace, peace between God and man, peace to man’s troubled life, eternal peace.

4. His Kingdom Will Have no End

We are told how this will be accomplished

5. Accomplished by the zeal of the LORD Almighty

Zeal = as used in this passage is the sense of excessive fervor to do something or accomplish some end. In other words - this is God’s pet project. This is something God is going to accomplish no matter what.

Dr. John Oswalt a tremendous scholar, writer and teacher on the book of Isaiah writes on this thought of zeal.

Zeal and jealousy are two sides of the same concept. Both bespeak a kind of concern for someone that desires an exclusive place in that person's affections. "Jealousy" as it is used today connotes a petty, self-centered, unreasoning interest. But its better connotation depicts a consuming concern for the other's best and an unwillingness that anything should hurt or destroy another (cf. ; ). Isaiah knew that God loved (desired) his people intensely. He could not adopt a blasé, disinterested attitude toward them. That being so, the prophet was confident that God would not react casually to the bondage which would be the result of their drift from one false lover to another. No, he would not rest until, in the power of his holiness (), he had restored them to himself and given them that kind of government which would allow them to find themselves in him. John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah Chapters 1-39, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 248-249.

This promise of hope, brought into the open by the angelic declaration of tidings of joy brought lights, brought joy, brought the KING!

Today I want to make sure no one leaves here today without having the opportunity to have the Light, to have the Joy to have Him be the King of your life.