Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction/Welcome:

The news was shocking.

Unexpected and tragic.

Destruction, despair, and desolation had once again visited the nation.

Fear, anxiety, depression, rage, and a complete loss of hope was gripping those who were still alive.

Entire generations of family members were simply gone.

Neighbors, friends, co-workers, and loved ones were dead.

Man-made governmental systems had failed the people and those who remained were living in darkness and questioning what the future held for them.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Now, I’m not talking about recent events.

I’m talking about the year 734 B.C. (The real good ole days!)

In 734 B.C.

An Assyrian king invaded and slaughtered the northern kingdom of Israel.

His army conquered vast portions of land, killing thousands, plundering property, and then carrying off those who were still alive back to a city called Babylon so that they could be their slaves.

Now, there is a lot of history here and I’d love to dig into it, but that’s not what a young prophet of God does when he writes about a future perfect King that would one day come and save them from their oppressors.

In that moment of deep darkness and despair, Isaiah reminds his audience that God’s not done yet.

He reminds them that their story is not over.

He sounds a rallying call to those who would listen to him that God is still working miracles and that he is still fighting for them.

I don’t know what you are going through today, but I do know this: the same King that Isaiah wrote about over 2,000 years ago is still the same King of Kings that is running after you!

I want to remind you that your story is not over!

I don’t care how old you are or how young you are.

God is not done with you.

God is still fighting for you.

He is still pursuing you.

He is still changing you.

He is still saving you.

He is still in control, even when everything seems SO out of control.

ATTENTION:

This should be good news to you and I today.

We’ve looked at how this future perfect king is our wonderful counselor and mighty God.

Today, we are going to look at how this future perfect king is our everlasting father.

You may not realize it, but Fathers or Father figures are really important.

IMPORTANCE OF FATHER FIGURES STATS

According to a recent USA Today article citing several studies focusing on the importance of fathers or father-figures in the development of a child’s life, we find that when a father or father-figure is actively involved in a child’s like, then:

1.

They are less likely to be involved with the criminal justice system

2.

They are more likely to delay sex

3.

They do better in school

4.

They stay at their job longer

5. They’re less likely to gender stereotype

NEED: It’s unfortunate, but as family structures break down and as father’s become absent or distant, so does our understanding of our Creator.

SERMON STATEMENT: The prophet Isaiah, writing over 700 years before the birth of Jesus, foretells of a future perfect king that would be unlike any king that Israel had ever had and they needed a king to come and take care of them and fix them; provide for them and protect them; love them and guide them; much like a good father does for his family.

TRANSITION: You and I need the same thing today.

A father who can protect us and provide for us.

A father who loves us and guides us.

A father who fights for us and takes the weight off of our backs and leads us down paths that lead to peace.

Unlike Isaiah, we no longer have to wait for this future perfect king to come because he already has and his name is Jesus!

Jesus is the everlasting father that Isaiah is talking about in Isaiah 9:6.

Jesus is out Everlasting Father.

READ Isaiah 9:6

POINT #1: JESUS IS YOUR EVERLASTING FATHER

Explanation:

Isaiah is not writing about the trinity here in Isaiah 9.

He most likely had no concept of God being triune, or 3-in-1.

After all, he was writing about a future perfect king that would one day come and save Israel.

That king did come, 700 years after Isaiah wrote these words, when Jesus, the Son of God, was born of a virgin.

READ Luke 1:26-35

The Angel is telling Mary and us today that the future perfect king that Isaiah was talking about is going to be born of a virgin, he will be great, the Son of the Most High, and he will reign on the throne of David and his kingdom will never end.

Isaiah tells us that King Jesus will be:

Wonderful Counselor

Mighty God

Everlasting Father

Prince of Peace

Isaiah giving this future perfect king “Four descriptive names [or titles] ….

The first two, Wonderful Counselor (RSV) and Mighty God, deal with the character of the king.

The second two, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace, refer to the character of his reign.

Wisdom, power, concerned care, and peace will mark this promised deliverer.”

(James E. Carter and Peter McLeod, “Isaiah,” in The Teacher’s Bible Commentary, ed.

H. Franklin Paschall and Herschel H. Hobbs (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1972), 396.)

King Jesus is your:

Wonderful Counselor = who is perfectly wise and capable enough to make the best decision every time and can guide you through what may seem to be the darkest of valleys or deepest depression.

King Jesus is your:

Mighty God = who alone is God who gives help to those who seek him.

But, Isaiah don’t just paint King Jesus as a distant ruler who can counsel you, but also shows us that King Jesus comes alongside you to be present in your life.

Everlasting Father = This future perfect king doesn’t need protection and provision; love and comfort, training and guidance from a fatherly figure because he is the perfect father who will never walk away or become uninterested.

This future perfect king is the originator of externality and gives eternality to those who follow him, submit to him, and willingly receive his love, guidance, protection, provision, and comfort.

Prince of Peace = This future perfect king doesn’t need help in bringing peace to those he is leading because he is the author of peace who not only brings us peace by removing obstacles and oppressors from outside of our lives, but also brings us peace internally by removing the barriers and hostility that separated us from our Heavenly Father.

Jesus is the only one who could do this because he is the only person in all of human history to both divine and human.

This is the amazing reality we celebrate at Christmas!

Not the lights, trees, decorations, or gifts; but that the God of the universe entered into his creation and became one of its so that he could purchase our freedom and bring us back into relationship with God our Heavenly Father.

Jesus Christ is the only one who could do this because:

READ Colossians 2:9

And even though he came over 2,000 years ago, Isaiah reminds us that he is Everlasting, or quite literally according to the Hebrew words used here, Jesus is the Father or Originator of eternity.

READ Hebrews 13:8

Application: GOOD NEWS

This should be such good news for you and me today.

Jesus is not just some great moral teacher or past prophet that offers us a guide for living a God life like some self help guru does or magazine in the grocery store checkout line would.

Jesus is there Son of God, who is the king that Isaiah predicted would come and save us from ourselves and bring us back into relational unity with God our Heaven Father.

Transition: But not only is Jesus your king, he’s also your everlasting father and Isaiah tells us what kind of father he is to us.

POINT #2: YOUR FATHER IS PRESENT

Explanation:

Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Matthew tells us that Jesus is God in the flesh who is present in our lives.

READ Matthew 1:22-23

Application: JESUS IS YOUR IMMANUEL

What makes Christianity so different than all other religions is that we have a God who came to us.

Some have argued that the supreme miracle of Christianity is not the resurrection of Christ from the dead but the incarnation.

The beginning-less, omnipotent Creator of the universe took on a human nature without the loss of his deity, so that Jesus, the son of Joseph of Nazareth, was both fully divine and fully human.

Of all the things that Christianity proclaims, this is the most staggering.

J. I. Packer puts it starkly:

“God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child.…

The babyhood of the Son of God was a reality.