The Love of Christmas

The Love of Christmas

Isaiah 9:6 “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.”

In his book The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman says that every person has an emotional love language. Understanding the love language of those close to you enables meaningful and authentic relationships to be maintained.

For some, their love language may be words of affirmation. It was Mark Twain who said, “I can live for 2 months on a good compliment.” Some have the love language of quality time, or maybe they have the love language of acts of service, or physical touch. The most obvious of the five love languages is receiving gifts. You know that a person's love language is receiving gifts because they are gift givers themselves.

My mother-in-law's love language just happens to be receiving gifts. In know this because she is generous and sometimes outrageous when it comes to giving gifts. Furthermore, those whom she loves are blessed, especially around Christmastime.

As much as my mother-in-law loves to give gifts, and expresses her love with gifts, her generous expression of love with those gifts can never go beyond the gifts that God generously gives to express his love for us.

The Bible says that “God is love.” Love is a part of the character and nature of God. He expresses that love through giving. Even so, I want to suggest that not only is giving an expression of God's love, but is also an aspect of his character and nature.

Take your Bibles and turn to Isaiah chapter nine. We will continue to experience the wonder of Christmas with Isaiah. I want to look at one verse this morning, Isaiah 9:6 “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.”

Did you notice what God is giving? The word says, “a son will be given to us.” God is giving a gift. The gift that God is giving will bring about everything God said he was going to do in the first five verses of chapter nine. Verses six and seven of chapter nine are the climax of this great section that starts back in verse one of chapter seven.

Think about this: how was God going to make Zebulam and Naphtali glorious? He would give a son.

How was God going to bring light to a people who are walking in darkness? He would give a son.

How would God turn fears into joy? He would give a son.

How would God free people from the oppression of Satan and the bondage of sin? He would give a son.

How would God bring peace and rest to weary souls? He would give a son. He gives because he loves us. He gives because giving is part of his character.

God generously gives to all, even those who will ultimately reject him.

God is a giving God and Christmas is God's expression of his loving and giving nature. In verse six I want to make three observations concerning the gift of Christmas. First, notice the gift of incarnation.

I. The Gift of Incarnation: Fellowship

We are told in verse six, “unto us a child will be born.” The child imagery is prevalent in the section that we have been studying in Isaiah. In chapter seven it would be a child who would be a sign of God's deliverance for his people. His name would be Immanuel, God with us. The ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14is Christ. Verse six of chapter nine is a continuance of the Immanuel prophecy in chapter seven.

The fact that the child would be born reveals the child's humanity. However, this child that would be born unto us would not just be a merely human child. This child would also be divine. We are told in verse six, “a son will be given to us.” Whose son would be give to us? One answer to that would be David's son, and that is true. Even so, there is another aspect, the divine aspect. Not only would this child be from the lineage of David, he would also be from divine lineage. He would be the son of the Most High God. He would be the son of the living God.

How could this happen? How could God become a man? It is possible due to the virgin birth that was prophesied back in chapter seven. God would, by immaculate conception, use a lowly Jewish girl named Mary as the instrument to bring his son into the world that he created. It is an awesome thought that Deity would take on human flesh. As John said, “The word became flesh, and dwelt among us.”

At the World Conference on Evangelism in 1989, one of the highlights of the conference was the testimony of Christians from all around the world. The most moving testimony came from a Chinese believer who imprisoned on account of his faith in Jesus Christ.

The man was forced to stay in a dark and damp dungeon. Every day he had a work assignment to do. His job was to clean the sewers deep underground. Many times the man found himself standing knee high in human waste, but he didn't allow the pollution and smell affect his faith.

Every day he worked in the sewer he would sing, “I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses, and the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses. And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever none.”

The captors realized that they couldn't break his spirit so they let him go, and this man went to tell everyone his story, and everywhere he went, revival broke out.

The gift of the incarnation is about God becoming a man and walking in the cesspool of our sin, the stench of our sickness, and the sewer of our suffering so that he could provide deliverance and release from our dark situation. He came so that he could walk with us and talk with us and tell us that we are his own. He came so that we could have sweet fellowship with the Lord. This sweet fellowship that God desires with us is made possible through the gift of reconciliation.

II. The Gift of Reconciliation: Friendship

I agree with one commentator who says that the imagery of a child and son in verse six not only speaks of the divine and human nature of the child, but also reveals God's means of delivering people from bondage.

It is interesting that the Lord says through Isaiah in chapter fifty-five, “my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts.” Of all the ways God could have delivered people from bondage, he chose a child.

God dealt with his enemies, not in power, but with vulnerability, transparency, and humility. That is how powerful God is, he can conquer with what we would consider weak.

For God to turn the enmity between God and man into friendship, he would become vulnerable and humble and take on the form of a bondservant, a man. In his vulnerability he voluntarily sacrificed his life so that man could become friends with God, instead of remaining God's enemies.

The Gift of the incarnation was given for the purpose of reconciliation. God came to us vulnerable and transparent in the person of Jesus Christ to voluntarily sacrifice his life so that we could be reconciled to God and become friends with God.

The gift of incarnation is the gift of fellowship. The gift of reconciliation is the gift of friendship. The third gift we see is the gift of domination, which is the gift of Lordship.

III. The Gift of Domination: Lordship

Notice how this child is described in verse six, “The government will rest on his shoulders.” When I look verses one through seven of chapter nine, I never see this child referred to as a king. Yet, we know that he will be royalty because he will sit on the throne of David. We know that he will have a kingdom that is everlasting and unending. So this child will be a king, but not just any king.

When the Lord says that “the government will rest on his shoulders,” he is saying that this child will be the King of all kings. This child will be the Lord of all lords. That is why we call Jesus Christ the King of Kings and the Lord of lords. He has total dominion and domination over everything.

Today, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. The King of all Kings and the Lord of all lords has all rule, power, and authority over every name that is named, both now, and in the age to come. Everything is under the Lordship of Christ. Everything is in subjection to Christ. The question for you today is are you in subjection to Christ, or are you still trying to fun you own life? If Jesus is the King of all kings don’t you think it would be wise to let him rule your life, knowing that he loves you? If Jesus is the Lord of all lords, don’t you think it wise that you bow your knee and confess with your tongue that Jesus is Lord, knowing that he can save you if you do?

How does God overcome our enmity? He does it by showing us his love. He shows us his love by sending his one and only son that those who believe in him shall not parish, but have everlasting life.

The gift of Christmas is the gift of God’s love.

In 2000, Toni and Ricky Sexton were taken hostage in Virginia in their own home by a couple on a crime spree. The Sextons decided to turn their hostage experience into an opportunity to show the love of Christ. The listened to the couples troubles, they shared the gospel with them, read the Bible to them, and prayed for them.

During the negotiations, Ricky refused to be released because the couple said they were going to end the standoff by committing suicide. The standoff had an unusual ending. Before the couple surrender the couple gave the Sextons $135 and note that said, “Thank you for your hospitality. We really appreciate it. Please accept this money. It really is all we have to offer. Love, Angela and Dennis.”

Love has a disarming power, and that is how God comes to us, with love, amazing love. He wants to conquer your heart today, not with brute force, are war like tactics, but with love. Will you surrender today? Will you say, Okay, Lord, I give you my life today? Will you allow the gift of Christmas, Christ Jesus to come into your life today?