HOPE: ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH
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Hope
Hope
This morning we begin a 4 part sermon series called Advent of the Messiah. The first of the series if you have not figured it out is Hope. Before we dive into hope, Let’s take a few moments of what Advent is all about. For some of you, this may not have been a part of your journey. You see advent is the time period in church history that we celebrate the advent of the messiah coming to this earth. Christ. God in the flesh. For us it is a time looking back at the process the people of God experience. It is also a time where we can celebrate that Emmanuel, God with us is here today. The Spirit lives within us. We also celebrate the advent of the second coming. Where Christ will return once again, not to present himself to mankind, but rather to gather his own.
Advent is a celebration. I time of remembrance of What God did for his people. What God did for us!
For me personally, I have spent months preparing for this time to present to you a celebration. A time so that we focus on the Advent of the Messiah. The one that came to rescue us from our darkness. This is why the candles are so important to me as it is a visual sign or presentation. For a flame cannot loose against darkness.
I was once teaching a small group of children the concept of darkness and light. How one candle will illuminate an entire room. We searched all over the building to find a room that could be dark, I mean really dark. I found an old storage closet and we pilled into the room. Brought a towel with us and placed it on the floor under the door to stop the light. It was as dark as we could make it. I asked the children to look around and could they see one another. There eyes began to adjust to the darkness and yet still they couldn’t see one another. It was at that point I lite the candle. It was truly amazing how much one candle lit the entire room.
Think about this for a moment before we look at the text.
Darkness has no control over light.
Darkness and light in the same room. Light will always win.
The video clip we saw about Isaiah and a possible perception of How God spoke to him show us that the small light played an important roll in the Advent of the Messiah.
So as we begin to look at Hope as one of the Advent themes, let’s pray
We will be working our way through Isaiah chapter 9 and spending some time on an all too familiar passage. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter nine. We will be begin reading
1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The Prophet’s Hope
The Prophet’s Hope
The prophet is telling the people of what will be coming. He is sharing Hope.
You will notice that the image we are using this Sunday for hope is a prophet stating with their hands raised up to God.
That is hope.
Where is your hope.
What have you hoped for lately?
I have a friend who is looking at a new ministry and has his hope on the details of this endeavor will work out. He is hopeful.
Students are in the last few weeks of class and are hopeful that they will get their assignments completed and good grades. They are hopeful.
Teachers are hopeful between all the Christmas concerts, parties and last minute lessons that they will survive these next few weeks. They are hopeful.
Maybe you are missing family, you are counting the days in which you will once again see them over the holidays. You are hopeful.
You job has turned into the mundane and you wonder if you are making a difference. You are hoping for a change, but you don’t know what, You are hopeful.
As we look into the life of he people reading these words for the first, second, third, hundred, The people were hopeful.
“There is no gloom for those who are in anguish.”
The prophet, Would imagine writing and then speaking these words, would have had his hands raised up stating this wonderful truth
“There is no gloom for those who are in anguish.”
In other words. Hope is coming.
You see the prophet was setting the stage for the people to place their hope in something other than themselves.
When life seems hopeless. Where do you go to find your hope. This Christmas season, this advent of the messiah, I hope you will gain a clear understanding where you hope should lie. Where you should place your hope.
Here is an interesting note this prophecy was written approximately 750 years before the birth of Christ. Yet Isaiah would have assumed, like all prophets, would take place sooner.
One commentator writes,
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 6: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel M. The Light and the Child (8:19–9:7)
In v.2, as in several of the succeeding verses, past tenses are used to speak of events that, though future, are certain because they are divinely planned and predicted through an authentic prophet of God. These prophetic perfects serve to present faith’s faculty of imagination with the assurance of things hoped for (cf. Heb 11:1).
Hope becomes the strongest when our faith is in God and not of ourselves. When we realize that God will give and provide the strength to hold onto His promises. That is the true Hope that one day all of this will be reviled. The prophet was looking forward to the day in which God would come. God would Emmanuel with us. God would be with us. One day we will be with Him.
Isaiah gave him four names or descriptions of who this child will becomce
The first two deal with his divinity. He had wisdom from God and his power will come from God.
Isaiah's envisions at time when God will deliver the people from the sadness anguish in contempt.
He foresees the beginning of the messiah's worldwide mission and the revelation, joy , and piece it will bring.
In a glorious new era God will deliver his people from war, multiply them, and give them peace in abundance .
God will accomplish this deliverance through the birth of a male child who will rule and righteousness,
He is David's descendants and whose dynasty God will extend worldwide forever.
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
Have you ever awoken in the middle of the night and feel you have to make a trip to the washroom. You attempt to get there without injury to yourself or awaken your spouse who is attempting to quietly enjoy more rest without the disturbance of a stumbling person half asleep taking a journey most often each night but continues to find the corner of the dresser or bed to bash their toes.
If you are laughing as this fits your description, you can identify with the people reading this verse over and over again.
You see they were walking in darkness and were faced with a great light and this light shone.
As I was preparing this message and reading this text over and over a thought came to me.
These people were walking in darkness.
Had they accepted the fate of darkness in their life?
Had they continued to go through life like eeyore in the Winnie the pooh stories. Given up all hope? Destined for a life of hopelessness.
Or were they waiting for God to once again come and redeem them.
The light has shone!
One writer describes this light concept by saying.
The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 17: Isaiah 1–39 Child of Hope
How true to the character of God! Not even the darkest gloom can keep the light of His presence from shining, even upon those who live in the land of the shadow of death.
Isaiah then moves to a description of what the light will do. What the blessing will be
Let’s look at these descriptions
3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
Isaiah provides a hope for the people by describing their new life. A hope, a promise
Increased prosperity by increasing the nation.
You see when you are in bondage, your spirit could be broken and a sign of numerical growth is the first sign of prosperity.
You become a known nation.
Increased its joy, the joy produced when the land brings forth a bumper crop.
A promise of deliverance. You see not only were the people tied to the land, they were also tied to defending the land. Their present doom and gloom was from being conquered and had lost their name, their land and their prosperity.
But the prophetic word to the people describes a new light.
A hope
I can image the people hearing this message for the first time and most likely those who read its message over and over again, The hope is coming in a form of deliverance. He will be mighty and will restore our name, our land, and our prosperity.
As we look in the time on the Advent of the messiah, and the Advent of Christ in your life, this season, what are you looking for?\
Are you looking like the people and wanting a name for yourselves?
Are you wanting significance in possessing something? They looked to land, but what do we look for?
Are you wanting prosperity?
These things in of themselves are not bad, but its a misguided hope.
Those things in our lives will give us hope in the fact that God will call us his own.
Isaiah’s familiar words now rang out.
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.
Another commentator writes,
Apparently Isaiah assumed that the messianic Child, Jesus Christ, would establish His reign in one Advent, that when the Child grew up He would rule in triumph. Like the other prophets, Isaiah was not aware of the great time gap between Messiah’s two Advents
A child is born....
In the message paraphrase, I love how he moved the words around for emphasis.
6 For a child has been born—for us! the gift of a son—for us! He’ll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness.
The people were looking for a mighty warrior. The hope like that of the many conquers in their past to come and restore their nation, their name, and their land, But God promises a child.
The hope for the future is found in a child.
The hope for the future is found in a child.
You see right from the moment God’s creation, mankind slipped into Sin, God set in motion a plan for redemption. Now Isaiah is part of the process prophesying about God’s redemptive plan and it will begin with the Advent of the Messiah as a child.
This was the hope that the people of Israel hung onto.
A child was promised like no other child.
This Child will also be given titles.
As a titles given to the child are specially significant. Let me quickly summarize them for you
He will be a wonderful counselor,
a King who rules with deep, divine wisdom, unlike the foolishness of human wisdom.
It was no surprise when Jesus began his earthly ministry that his words were unmatched to any teacher of His day. He was often described as one who spoke with authority.
When we place our hope in Jesus, we can look to the scripture to find deep divine wisdom that far exceeds our own thinking. We need to have Christ as the center of our lives and remove the foolish thinking of our human wisdom and come to rely on the wisdom of God. The first title given to him in this passage.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
He will be mighty God a title for God himself, implying that he will be divine and human and have God strength.
This child will be different than any other child. He is not of this world. He is not a new Creation as other children are, but transformed from Heaven to begin in the world to be Emmanuel. God with us.
I enjoy science fiction shows. Based on some truth and extrapolated to some writers wild imagination. One show, star trek the next generation had an episode that has a similar concept.
As the ship was floating through space, a life form pass by and was curious. He impregnated himself into the ship’s counselor and was born. As science fiction goes, the normal 9 months was shortened to hours. His growth was the same, and soon they had a young man experiencing what it meant to be human. As a different life form, it was soon apparent that he was not good to have his energy on the ship and he “died” and was transformed back to his previous form and left. Before He left, he spoke to his human mother and stated his purpose. To gain an experience.
Christ is not a passing cosmic life form that wanted to come to this earth to experience what it would be like to be human.
He is God. Took on the form of man to Emanuel with us. For us not for Him
He did it for Us. To provide Hope for us
The next title is
Everlasting father
This is not to be confused with the New Testament name for God the father but that means
never ending protector, indicating faithful God that is protecting his people as a good father does his children.
He was pre-incarnate, and eternal. everlasting. There is no begining and no end.
He came to this earth to call his children unto himself, like a father cares for his children.
Prince of peace
signifies a ruler who bring God's Prophet peace to mankind.
In context, these titles foretell the coming of a divine human, wise, powerful, and a benevolent King who ruled, justly on David's throne forever over the whole earth the Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
government … upon … shoulder—The ensign of office used to be worn on the shoulder, in token of sustaining the government (Is 22:22). Here the government on Messiah’s shoulder is in marked antithesis to the “yoke and staff” of the oppressor on Israel’s “shoulder” (Is 9:4). He shall receive the kingdom of the earth from the Father, to vindicate it from the misrule of those to whom it was entrusted to hold it for and under the Most High, but who sought to hold it in defiance of His right; the Father asserts His right by the Son, the “Heir of all things,” who will hold it for Him (Da 7:13, 14).
It is not a kingdom of mere might, and triumph of force over enemies, but of righteousness (Is 42:21; Ps 45:6, 7), attainable only in and by Messiah.
Our Hope
Our Hope
Where do you place your hope?
As we spend the next few Sundays looking at the Advent of the Messiah, this morning our challenge is to place the hope we have in Christ.
Does life seem hopeless for you, look to Christ’s name
do you sense a lack of direction in your life, Look to Christ.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
This morning if you have been searching for something different in your life. You have lost all hope, may I strongly encourage you to turn to Jesus. Turn to the Christ child, the messiah.
As the worship team comes forward to lead us in a song of response, may I encourage you to reach out to now arrived Messiah. Accept his truth this Christmas season and allow him to be the Emmanuel with you. His spirit will indwell with in you.
During the song of response, the front is open. If you feel led, come. There is no judgement on coming forward seeking prayer. we will be up at the front to pray with you.
Worship team, lead up.