The Greatest Gift Ever Given

The Greatest Gift Ever Given

Isaiah 9:1-7 

 

Illus. Gifts.

 

This morning we will turn to Isaiah chapter 9, where we will study more promises given by the Lord through Isaiah, surrounding the greatest gift ever given. The promises given reflect a commitment from God as to what His greatest gift ever given will provide to His people. There are valuable promises given, promises we can possess, but that gift must be received by us.

 

Isaiah 9:6, For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

 

The great gift God was giving, was a child who would be born to us, a Son given to us! This Child, this Son was the Savior who at the time given was still to come. God was giving a promise, a commitment. And as we look at some of the specifics of this great gift, we will understand the context of Isaiah 9, the importance of this gift to them, and the important of God’s greatest gift to you and I.  As we look at the content of His promise, I want to make sure that what is given in this gift is not something we miss. This Child, this gift, is the gift of Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Savior of the world.

 

John 3:16-17,  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

I want to look at three different promises God gave in Isaiah 9 to the people in that day and us today surrounding who the Messiah would be and what He would bring. Specifically, we will look at; the great light He will show, the joy He will grow, and the name we can know. I want to let those three descriptors guide the rest of our time this morning.

 

1. Look For His Light in Your Life

 

Isaiah 9:1-2, But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.

 

• Verse 1 of chapter 9 starts with an interesting word, “but,” also translated “nevertheless,” later in this chapter it is translated “for.”

 

• It is a word that is put in place to create a strong contrast. Like saying, however, or “on the other hand.”

 

• In in this case it is a word that introduces a contrast to the circumstances the nation was in.

 

• In other words, they were experiencing some terrible things, but a change was coming!

 

That said, it is important that we again understand some of the context as we did last week…

 

• We looked last week at how this time in biblical history comes 200 years after the death of Solomon, David’s son. It was a great and united nation under his leadership, however, after his death, there was a division withing the 12 tribes of Israel. The 10 northern tribes did not want to remain under the rule of the throne of David, so they defected and for their own nation, called Israel with the capital city of Samaria. The two southern tribes wanted to remain being ruled by the throne of David, so they took the name Judah, and their capital city was Jerusalem.

 

• The king of Judah was a man named Ahaz, and we saw in Isaiah 7 that he was in a time of great trouble. There were two nations above Judah that were set on attacking them. The reason for their attack was that Israel to the north and Syria above them were being threatened by Assyria. It was a powerful nation to the northeast and their king, Tiglath-Pileser was an expansionist. He wanted to take out all the nation’s south of Assyria in hopes of getting all the way down to Egypt.

 

• Syria and Israel wanted to form an alliance with Judah, but Ahaz, king of Judah was not interested. Instead of joining forces with them, Ahaz sent money and messenger to Assyria, putting his trust in the Assyrians for protection.

 

• This was when the Lord spoke through Isaiah to Ahaz. He told him not to worry about Israel and Syria, that they were going to be taken out. Their plan of attack on Judah would not come to pass. But Ahaz needed to trust in the Lord if he wanted to last.

 

• The Lord, through Isaiah then tells Ahaz to ask for a sign of confirmation, so that he could trust that what the Lord was revealing was true. Ahaz had already put his trust in the Assyrians for protection however, and he declared “I will not ask!” It was there that the Lord gave the sign of Isaiah 7:14.

 

Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel.

 

• While Israel and Syria would attack, but just as the Lord said, they failed in their attack on Judah.

 

• While they were saved from Israel and Syria, they would not be saved from the Assyrians.

 

• The prophecy continued and Ahaz was informed that his trust in Assyria would prove to be a big mistake.

 

• In chapter 8, the Lord (through Isaiah) said that the Assyrians would not only take out Syria and Israel, but they would “sweep on into Judah (8:8).”

 

• Then the Lord gave powerful words to Isaiah that when all the difficulty took place, when the damage was being done, in the midst of the dark days, the temptation would be to give in to fear but the Lord continued, you are not to walk that way.

 

Isaiah 8:12-14, “You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ Regarding everything that this people call a conspiracy, and you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.

 

Isaiah 8:19, When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should a people not consult their God? Should they consult the dead in behalf of the living?

 

Isaiah 8:22, They will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.

 

• The picture is of a people looking around at all that was going on in their world, looking for any and everything except the Lord for answers.

 

• People would seek answers from mediums, spiritists, consider everything a conspiracy which would lead to fear, distress and worry.

 

• But there the Lord is, saying, “consult me!”

 

• Nonetheless, people will keep looking to the earth for answers, and when they do, they will be driven to distress, darkness, and gloom.

 

• But God has something to say about it, and what He says is that he was going to provide a light. He was going to offer glory in the place of gloom.

 

Illus. Consult.

 

Isaiah 9:2, The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.

 

• Whenever darkness is spoken of, there are various forms, there is physical darkness (the absence of physical light), there is intellectual darkness (lack of knowledge, or being in the dark), and there is Spiritual or moral darkness.

 

• The darkness referred to in Isaiah 8:22 is a word that depicts a spiritual or moral darkness, wretchedness, or wickedness.

 

• The people look to the earth for answers they are driven into distress, gloom, and darkness.

 

• But God was going to give glory in place of gloom, through a light that would show!

 

• In Matthew 4, we come to know that the light is specified. Not a physical light, but a Spiritual light…Jesus Christ!

 

Matthew 4:12-16

• This tells us that the glory given in place of gloom, and the light that will dawn upon those in darkness, was not just a light that would come for a specific situation at a specific time, but would come once, for all, and for all time!

 

• This also tells us that the Light the people in Isaiah’s day were longing for and looking forward to, is a light that has been given and we can presently look for.

 

John 1:1-5, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.

 

John 12:46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

 

• The Light of Christ is a light that all can see, even those walking in darkness will see the light. The light will shine on them. But it is a light that must be received, and that light, in order to provide true glory in place of one’s gloom, must be received.

 

1. Cling to the Joy He Brings

 

Isaiah 9:3, You will multiply the nation, you will increase their joy; they will rejoice in Your presence as with the joy of harvest, as people rejoice when they divide the spoils.

 

• The word here “joy,” is also translated “gladness.” The Light to come, would increase the joy of those who His light dawned upon!

 

• The word “joy” in our English language is defined as an emotion of delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good.

 

Illus. The pursuit of happiness…

• The joy that is described in Isaiah 9 is not depicted as a joy that the people find personally, but as a joy that finds them!

 

• The definition in a dictionary speaks of joy as something that is situational, something dependent on circumstances.

 

• Biblically is applied differently. The definition carries similarities, “joy” here is a Hebrew word that is like the New Testament Greek word, “chara.” It means joy, or gladness.

 

• While it carries a similar definition, the availability and application of joy in the life of a believer is not situational or based on circumstances.

 

Illus. Joy.

• When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the shepherds announce His birth as “good news of great joy.”

 

Luke 2:8-11, In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And so the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

 

• Isaiah continued; the people will rejoice in Jesus’ presence.

 

Psalm 16:11, You will make known to me the way of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

 

Illus. Increase Jesus, increase joy!

 

• Verse 3, there will be joy like the joy of the harvest. This picture hard work paid off, a time of reaping what was sown, the fruit of one’s labor.

 

• Verse 3, as people divide the spoils. This speaks to the feeling of joy one has in victory; the battle is won!

 

1 Corinthians 15:57, …Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Isaiah 9:4-5, For You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle, and cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

 

• Verse 4 to 5 give a picture of the victory we will find in Jesus. We are specifically pointed back to the Gideons great victory in Judges chapter 7.

 

Illus. The odds.

 

• The Savior, Jesus, brings this type of victory. Spiritually, that victory is now, physically and ultimately, it will all play out just as the Bible has laid out.

 

• When Isaiah speaks of every boot for the marching warrior and the cloak rolled in blood being fuel for the fire, it is a picture of a battle that had been won!

 

• There is joy, because in Jesus there is victory. No matter what is happening circumstantially, we can have joy presently.

 

• What is this Light exactly they may have been wondering, who is it that would bring that joy? What they had not seen, we have…A Child would be born, a Son would be given…

 

III.  Know Him, Not Just His Name

 

Isaiah 9:6, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.

 

Illus. Already not yet.

 

• The Child referred to in this text, has been born. The Son has been given!

 

John 3:16-17,  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

 

• Jesus was given to us, He already existed, the second person in the trinity. He existed before He was born.

 

John 1:1-3, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.

 

Philippians 2:5-8, Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.

 

Illus. Hark!

 

• When Isaiah tells us that His name will be called, we aren’t looking at names people would walk up and say to Him necessarily, but rather, these are characteristics of Christ.

 

• These will be characteristics on display throughout all eternity, but also available presently.

 

• Wonderful counselor, Might God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

 

• While many offer counsel, Jesus is a wonderful counselor.

 

• Many will offer you counsel (just ask them), but it won’t always be all that wonderful.

 

• Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that if we build our lives according to His words, we will stand tall no matter the storm.

 

• Mighty God is the next characteristic. It is a characteristic that make His wonderful counsel quite important!

 

• He is Immanuel, God with us! The Hebrew text identifies Him as “El Gibor,” and in the very next chapter that is how Yahweh is referenced.

 

• Eternal Father, literally, “the Father of Eternity,” Which depicts Jesus as the source or author, it is a depiction of Jesus as creator. It doesn’t mean He takes the place of the Father in the trinity, but rather that through Jesus, as John 1 tells, all things came into being…Not one thing came into being apart from Him (John 1:3).

 

• Then, Prince of peace.

 

• Most will define peace as the absence of trouble. The dictionary defines peace as: the normal, nonwarring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world.

 

• I find it interesting that the definition of peace calls the “non-warring condition” of nations and the world as “the normal.”

 

Illus. “The Why’s of War.”

 

• For the Christian, peace can be “the normal,” because in Scripture, the word “peace” is not applied situationally, but rather personally and is given from the Prince of Peace despite what is going on around us, or in our world.

 

Quote: Peace is not the absence of trouble, it’s the presence of God. – J Oswald Sanders,

 

• It is the peace that is associated with God’s presence in the midst of trouble, in the currents of conflict, and can be known not matter what is going on.

 

Isaiah 26:3, You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. (NKJV)

• The word peace in Hebrew is “shalom.” It carries the definition of completeness, soundness, welfare, safety, peace.

 

• Isaiah 9:6 calls Jesus the “Prince of Shalom.” He was at that point the One who was to come, there would be no end to the increase of His shalom!

 

• In the Greek, which is the original language of the New Testament, the word for peace, is “Eirene” (eye-ray-nay), which carries the same meaning of wholeness, with all essential parts together.

 

• As the angels announced Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:14, His birth is noted as arrival of Eirene, or our English word, peace.

 

Romans 5:1, We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:14, He Himself is our peace…

John 14:27, Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.

Illus. A Psalm.

 

Isaiah 9:1-7