Isaiah 9
Notes
Transcript
From Gloom to Glory
From Gloom to Glory
HOPE, Isaiah 8:22-9:7
Intro - Our focus today is on Hope.
We are a people that need hope.
-All of us have or will experience times and even seasons in our life when we need and extra measure of hope.
-Maybe you have battled depression and need hope. (I’ve been there.)
-Maybe you have a situation at work or with your health that seems out of control and you need hope.
-Maybe your marriage or a personal relationship is in trouble and you need hope.
-Maybe you are far from God and need hope that He will forgive you.
-We will see today that the foundation of our hope is found in Jesus Christ.
AND THAT HE DOES GIVE HOPE! Pause.
What is hope?
Hope is - Faith that God will work in the future. Hope is a forward looking faith.
There is hope. There is Hope in Jesus Christ.
Transition - Our passage today starts with gloom, discouragement, but ends in HOPE.
Here God’s Word written to you.
Read Isaiah 8:22-9:7
Pray
I. Isaiah 8:22, 9:2, We will experience deep discouragement.
In our passage today. We see this gloom, this hopelessness.
-There is darkness, distress, and anguish “Thick Darkness”
Illustration - I took a walk on Thanksgiving Day. At the track, He had Covid, his wife, and mother were admitted with Covid. Life was out of control for Him. He needed hope.
In our passage - Scholars think this is because the Old Testament - Northern Kingdom (think Samaria and Galilee) in Israel has chosen to not worship God, and after many warnings was taken Captive by Assyria and dragged to a new country they would never return from.
Life was bad. Their spiritual condition was bad. They would never see home again.
Pause
Our Nation is in the same place. We have rejected and denied God. We have put our middle finger of rebellion in the face of God.
As a result, God has pulled his hand of blessing away from the nation. We are under God’s discipline. We have lost His favor.
-One of the worst forms of discipline any individual or nation can experience is when God says, “You have rejected me for other god’s who are powerless and do not satisfy. I will withdraw my hands of blessing and let you go down the road to idolatry and ruin as far as you want.”
-Because of this...
-We can relate to the gloom and discouragement of those in our passage.
-IN OUR OWN LIVES - Many people that we know are blind to their need of Jesus.
If they die without Him they will be lost in eternal burning punishment. Pause
Can I give you a pastoral challenge.
-Regularly consider how hopeless you would be without Jesus intervening in your life.
-Regularly think about how God has been so generous to you to bring you to Himself.
-When you see that spiritually broken person, consider that that should be you too, but for God’s grace.
-Left to our own strength, we are incapable of fixing our sin problem.
-The humility you gain in meditating on the bad news, will multiply your joy in the Good News of Jesus. Pause
Transition - Our passage turns. We get the great news of God. Here is where our passage pulls up a dump truck full of hope and unloads hope on us.
II. The Light & Hope has arrived.
9:1-2, 9:6A Light has come
The HOPE IS THIS ...
The Son, The Christ, the Savior has come.
-The only one who will fix our problem of sin and rebellion against God has come.
-Who is He?
vs.2 He is the Light
-The light has shone on the people
-John 1:5,
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The darkness cannot defeat the light that has come into your life.
-This is why you are here this morning.
-This is why you spend time with the Lord every day.
-To shine light on the darkness
-To be free from the poison of sin.
-To draw close to the Savior
WE HAVE HOPE BECAUSE THE LIGHT HAS COME AND HAS OVERCOME OUR DARKNESS.
-You no longer have to live in darkness, The Light has defeated your darkness.
Will you say Amen?!
vs. 6a, The Light is also, a child. He was born. The light has flesh.
-The light is 100% human and 100% God.
-This baby is not a bastard child. He is a Son. He has a Father.
vs. 6a, Who’s son is He?
The Son of God
He is not a Son that was created by the Father.
This sonship shows his intimate relationship to the Father.
vs. 6, This Son was given
To whom was the son given?
-To you!
vs. 6, “Unto US a Son is given”
The Son is given to the people of God.
What was the Son given for?
-TO BE THE VICTOR OVER SATAN, SIN, AND DEATH.
-So prove He was God.
-To bring in a Spiritual Kingdom.
-Jesus came to save you, so that you could have life & life to the full.
SLOW - Do you know Him?
-Are you close to Him? pause
In Revelation, Jesus brings in the physical kingdom we see in the last half of verse 6.
Notice that - When Jesus, came his first priority was to usher in a Spiritual Kingdom.
The Jews were looking for a Physical Kingdom.
But, Why did He start with the Spiritual Kingdom?
Because - It is the Spiritual Kingdom that brings eternal change in the children of GOd.
*GOd is more concerned with the holiness of his people than a hollow happiness of his people.
*God is more concerned with your godliness than your shallow gladness.
Illustration - When Susan and I first were married our first year of marriage was rough. We battled. I’m ashamed to admit that we had wooden night stand that had a small round indentation, a small round scar on it.
-In an argument, in hurt and fury I took my wedding ring off my hand and slammed it down on that night stand and walked away.
You know what Susan and I learned? We had to let the light of God into deeper areas of our lives?
-As we sought help and asked God to repair, His light began to replace our agendas with His agenda for us.
-God gave us marriage not for happiness, but for holiness.
-The light of God has come to you to bring you hope.
-Will you embrace it?
-Pause
Transition - And we see that this Spiritual Kingdom is not just for the Jews.
III. 9:1, 3 Hope is brought to me. (Hope is brought to to the Gentiles.)
-In the Old Testament you had to be part of the Nation of Israel to be God’s believing people.
-If you were a gentile & a believer you had to be made a Jew.
-Faith in the God of the Bible was very inclusive to one group of people.
-It is very likely that if you lived in Old Testament times right now, as a Gentile, that you would be excluded from faith because of you nationality, because you were not a believing Jew.
BUT HOPE IS BROUGHT TO THE GENTILES.
God has invited all nations to himself. This is prophesied 600 years before Jesus came.
Look at how verse 1 unpacks how nationality doesn’t seperate you from God.
vs. 1, “He has made glorious the way of the sea” (The sea of Galilee), “Galilee of the nations”
-Northern part of Israel (Tribes of - Zebulun & Naphtali) that was heavily gentile in New Testament times. This was a border area, so it was effected by nearby countries the most.
-Jesus spent significant time in and around this northern part of the sea of Galilee where many gentiles lived and worked.
-Jesus preached repentance to this area & these people.
-Jesus made this way glorious (vs.1) by coming to it, doing miracles, and declaring the Good News.
-Christ brought hope to the gentiles.
He does not exclude on the bases of nationality.
-As Americans who love our country we look down on other nations as less than.
-We look down on Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela.
-In our national pride, we have a spiritual pride and spiritually look down on those people as well.
-If you go to these lesser countries and get away from the resort - worship in the local churches. Serve the local people and talk to them.
-You find something these people have hopes and fears just like you.
-Some of them know Jesus in ways you could only hope to know Him.
-But God has promised to save people from every tribe tongue and nation.
Jesus Christ was the first missionary to the Gentiles and in doing so, fulfilled the promise made to Covenant made to Abraham.
Fulfilled the Covenant with Abraham
Genesis 17:3, 2000 years before Jesus was born, God made a covenant with Abraham.
-In this covenant God promised and prophesied to Abraham that he would be a father of many nations.
-As Jesus preached to and did miracles for Gentiles in northern Galilee, He (vs 1) made glorious the way of the sea.
-Vs 3, He multiplied the nation.
-He brought hope to those who were hopeless.
-He began to bring those from different nations to himself.
He transformed gloom to joy.
Those who were not God’s people became God’s people.
God calls us to join Him in spreading the HOPE of His Son to the Nations.
Will you be like Jesus and help reach the nations with the Hope of Christ?
Transition - Not only did Jesus show us His Hope, but He showed us His glory.
IV. The Glory of the Son revealed, vs 4-5 (read)
Define Glory - God’s holiness & greatness on display.
Verses 4-5 have are difficult to interpret until you see the last word in verse 4 “Midian”.
In Judges chapter 7 there is a story about how a judge named Gideon was called to fight the Midianites.
-God sent Gideon & 300 men to fight against an army of several hundred thousand warriors.
-It was a suicide to attempt for 300 men to enter this battle against hundreds of thousands.
-In the middle of the night, God told these 300 men to surround the giant army, shout and make some & see what God would do. The army was woken, God caused the army to be so confused, that in the dark & chaos they fought amongst themselves and killed each other.
Every single enemy died.
300 men defeated several hundred thousand.
The point is - only God could do this.
The point is this in our passage… This Child Savior King, has defeated an enemy that you are powerless to defeat. He has defeated the one who brings hopelessness and gloom in to your life.
vs. 4, Jesus has broken the rod of your oppressors, Sin & Satan.
When He returns He will set up a heavenly Kingdom on earth.
He will rule and reign forever.
Transition - Who has done this work for us? Verse 6 & 7 tell us. REAS vs. 6-7
V. Who is this Son? (Who is this Child who has been born) vs 6-7
-Who is this Son? HE IS THE ONE WHO BRINGS US HOPE.
-Wonderful Counselor - He is infinitely wise, you can go to Him with any question.
-Mighty God, Infinitely strong - There is nothing in your life too great for Him.
-Everlasting Father, He is infinitely caring. - No matter what you have done, He still loves you.
-Prince of Peace, - The rest in our souls finds its spring in Him.
-How will He Govern in the future? With the greatest justice & righteousness.
Will you say Amen?!
Closing
The Son, Jesus Christ is your Hope.
He desires to put his greatness on display in & through your life.
He wants to give you Hope and be your Hope.
-How will you respond to God’s Son?
-Keep Him at a distance?
-Will you Go you own way?
-Will you Disobey Him?
-Keep you heart far from Him?
-In your busyness pretend He isn’t there.
-This is Gloom
Or will you give Him Glory? Will you find your Hope in Him?
-Trust Him?
-Praise Him?
-Draw close to Him?
-Follow Him?
-Take delight in Him.
Allow Him to lead you from gloom to glory?
Pray.