Isaiah 9:6-7 "Foretelling The Kingdom" pt.2

Introduction

What good would a Kingdom be if there is no King to rule over it?

We already know that the divine intent was to establish the eternal rule of God’s Messiah coming through the line of Judah. We saw this last Sunday from Genesis 49.

But throughout History we have seen that the world has not necessarily met this divine intent with open arms.

This was true in Isaiah’s day as well. Uncertainty and conflict saturated the life experience of God’s covenant people.

Because of their perception of past promises and their anticipation of the fulfillment of those promises the people had many false expectations about what God was doing.

And God spoke the truth of Messianic hope to His people through the prophet Isaiah as he reveals the identity of His future King. Look back at your text to verse 6:

I. The Identity of the King (6).

There is clearly a divine element to the King’s identity but there is also the truth of this divine element intersecting with humanity.

This is not just God ruling from heaven but God coming into the world itself. It is the reality of Messiah coming into the world for humanity to encounter him in an experiential way.

A child is born in Bethlehem but in that event the eternal Son of God is given into the world. This event is the point of the human encounter.

Mary would have been the first human being on earth to have the encounter of the incarnation. It would have taken place at the point when she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

And when the time came she felt the Son of God kick in her womb. Mary developed a baby bump. She knew there was something alive on the inside of her that was connected to a uniquely special divine purpose.

A child being born is the mark of humanity but the Son being given is the element of the divine intention of God coming down into the world.

The second half of verse 6 expounds on the Kings identity being rooted in that divine element.

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace all direct us back in the direction of the Godhead being connected to the identity of God’s Messiah.

I would often go here as I used to debate with my Mormon friends because of the reference to “Everlasting Father”. They believe that the Son and the Father are two distinct beings with their own individual essence.

These verses that we are looking at here today often make their way into Christmas cards. Especially for Christians this is a key emphasis that we like to make this time of year.

Babies are born every day but only once in all of history did a virgin conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to God made flesh.

Christian we shouldn’t be surprised that the world likes to replace this focus. The implication of the Messiah Kings identity are huge. And the secular world understands this.

Perhaps you heard the report from St. Anthony Minnesota where a woman recieved an anonymous letter from someone in her neighborhood regarding the offensive nature of her Christmas lights. (Read it)

Christian it is not the lights that are the problem. The problem is what the lights celebrate and remind us of. The real meaning of Christmas is not a yearly light festival but Christmas is about the real light that came into the world to radiate the glory of God to men (Isaiah 9:2).

Arguments like expressed in the anonymous letter are rooted in humanistic relativism. This is the worldview that the only absolutes are derived from humanity itself.

It may surprise you to know that the eternal God in His decree of the incarnation didn’t check with the home owners association of a fallen world to see if it would be OK for His Son to come to earth and take over.

The real problem that a fallen world has with Christmas is with the identity of the King. Because this King is not just a figure head, but He actually exercises an authoritative rule and reign. Look back at your text to verse 7:

II. The Reign of the King (7).

“Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end,”

This statement is tied to the Davidic covenant. This is referencing the covenant promise that God made to King David in 2 Samuel 7:1-14.

Think about our Genesis 49 text from last Sunday that the Scepter shall not depart from between the feet of the Lion of Judah.

But when we get to Isaiah 9 Israel is divided between North and South into two Nations and both of those nations end up being overthrown.

Northern Kingdom falls to the Assyrians around 721 BC and the Southern Kingdom falls to the Babylonians around 586 BC.

God brought it to pass due to Israel’s idolatry.

By the time Jesus is born Herod is on the throne in Jerusalem and he is not even close to being a fulfillment of these prophecies related to the Davidic covenant and the line of Judah.

As a matter of fact he wanted to kill the Lord Jesus in order to keep his rule in tact. Needless to say he wouldn’t have liked Christmas lights in his neighborhood either.

This reign of the King that we see here in fulfillment of the Davidic covenant comes with an eternal upholding of justice and righteousness.

This is the rub with fallen humanity. Because there is no subjective standard at play in this rule.

The peace that comes is due to the way in which His work, rule and reign brings all things under the objective standard of the justice and righteousness of God.

But this is not just referring to a general reign that Christ will eventually exercise over the nations and those who rule in a political capacity in the world at the current time. We may think of it that way and it is certainly true but it is far more reaching in application than that.

Christian that reign reaches right down to the level of human hearts. That reign and rule reaches right into the areas of our struggles where we battle against His rule and reign over us and even as His covenant people we can struggle with this.

I am talking about those dark places where in the fallen nature of man we don’t like the true light of Christmas to shine either. Because we love the darkness more than the light.

You see Isaiah 9:6-7 is not just a statement regarding political rule but it is a statement about fallen man’s sense of autonomy (self rule).

This is the depth at which the gospel is confronting us. Why? Because the problems of the political and social dynamics of the world are nothing more than extensions of the fallen nature of man.

The whole history of a secular approach to human government is nothing more than the record of fallen man’s attempts at trying to do what only God can.

I know this not only because of my own personal study of world history, but because of the biblical declarations that tell me how the transformation actually comes through the gospel. And all true believers have experienced it.

The last line of verse 7: “The zeal of the Lord of host will do this.”

The term for zeal here denotes a jealous defiance over and against the attempts of men to rule themselves.

You can see this dynamic being expressed in Psalm 2. We know from biblical prophecy that the nations will increasingly form a global alliance that will bring about the rule and reign of the anti-christ.

Understand, this will be an attempt of the evil one to thwart God’s Kingdom plan. The same zeal that has established the plan of redemption in the Cross of Jesus Christ will be the same zeal that conquers all the enemies of His Messiah King.

And fallen man interjects to such assertions and demands that all people align themselves to collectively decide what the true outcome should be.

We should all get one vote and determine who the King will be and what the expectations and limitations of his rule will be.

And then they may make a contract with a company specializing in making voting machines and they call it “dominion” because it has an authoritative ring to it.

But the God of the Universe who by the very essence of His being has the original and absolute dominion over all things, has already cast the deciding vote. That vote is rooted in the eternal decree and it is the only vote that matters for all eternity.

On the final day we are all going to know for certain that the polls where closed even before God said let there be light.

Conclusion: We read in Rev. 21:23-24 the description of the eternal city:

23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,

In eternity the real light of Christmas stays on all the time.

But the issue that is pressing right now is, is the real light of Christmas shinning in your heart today?

Unbeliever there is nothing more crucial for you to come to terms with in this life than the reality of Jesus Christ in all that He is and all that He has done and your encounter with Him.

Believe the gospel by faith alone.

Christian the real light of Christ did not just come to save you but to sanctify your hearts before God.

Where are those areas that your autonomous heart refuses to release to the Lordship of Christ.

Those areas that you have dedicated to your own pride and self -rule? Christ has come to challenge all authority that resist Him. Christian surrender today into the refuge of His grace to you.

Confess and receive. Let’s Pray!