Do You Hear What I Hear?
Christmas at the Movies • Sermon • Submitted
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· 7 viewsThe reality of Jesus is the reality of how God wins the war all by Himself, secures an eternal kingdom better than we could ever imagine, and invites us to climb aboard.
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Transcript
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Do You Hear What I Hear?
God Makes Good On His Promises
There’s a Train Comin’
Hope for a Disenchanted People
How God Wins the War All By Himself
The reality of Jesus is the reality of how God has won the war all by Himself, has secured an eternal kingdom better than we could ever imagine, and invites us to climb aboard.
“When we gather together as the church and read words like , we are participating in a re-enchantment, a reminder that God is up to something, operating in our world in ways we don’t always see.” (CATM Study Guide)
“Look at Jesus. As the Wonderful Counselor, he has the best ideas and strategies. Let’s follow him. As the Mighty God, he defeats his enemies easily. Let’s hide behind him. As the Everlasting Father, he loves us endlessly. Let’s enjoy him. As the Prince of Peace, he reconciles us while we are still his enemies. Let’s welcome his dominion.” (Ray Ortlund, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners)
“At one point, a character comments with supposed sagacity, ‘One thing about trains. It doesn’t matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on.’ But ‘it does matter what we climb aboard, which dream we adhere to, and what we choose to believe in.” (CATM Study Guide)
Picture this: a child is getting ready for bed on the night of Christmas eve. A war is going on in his mind– “What is Christmas about? Is this Santa even real?! How can he be real... how can anything survive at the North Pole? It’s too cold for life to survive. And a flying sleigh?! Elves?! Give me a break!”
In the Polar Express, a young boy is battling through whether or not he believes in Santa.
This is where The Polar Express begins. Then all of the sudden there’s a loud, rushing sound outside his door. He looks outside and right there is a massive locomotive with a conductor that invites him on board to the North Pole. Through crazy twists and turns, danger, exhilaration, and joy, the train ends up at the North Pole, where all the children await the arrival of Santa. When Santa arrives, one of the bells on his reindeer falls off, the boy picks it up, but at first, he cannot hear it ring. The bell is said to be a symbol of the boys belief in Santa and Christmas. Eventually, the boy comes to a point where he believes, and can hear the bell.
The last quote by the boy in the story sums up, ‘At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah (his sister) found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I’ve grown old, the bells still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe.’
Now church, this movie about a mythical man named Santa and a mythical place where he lives
Now, this story is one that compels our hearts, because it takes hold of the desire in us for another 'world’ where things aren’t as they currently are. A space where there’s joy, happiness, and peace. Something within us longs for this.
Then, we’re faced with a greater question–Why do we long? What makes us want to believe that there’s something more? Why don’t we just take our lot as is? Is it just because we see others with all the things we want? Is it just socially conditioned? Or is it because there’s something within us that pulls us towards something greater? Something better?
Yet day by day, we often experience darkness, gloom, unmet expectations. Heartbreak, pain, violence, abuse. The problem is that the brokenness around us can almost deaden our senses to the potential of a better tomorrow, or even a better eternity. We start to question if this indeed is all there is. It blinds us to what could be.
With the difficulty and trials of this life, we can become numb to the wonder of something else. Weighed down by our struggles, our sins, the sins of those against us, the tragedies that go on around us, our experiences in life almost become ‘normal’. We lose sight of the possibility of more. It feels like life is what it is, and that’s all is.
On top of that, by and large our western, ‘enlightened’, society has lost our sense of wonder, hope, and the supernatural. We’ve undergone what scholars call disenchantment–the process of no longer believing in something beyond. We’ve rationalized ourselves out of the potential that there is more to life than what we hear, see, and can weigh on a scale.
By and large, our western, ‘enlightened’, ‘disenchanted’ society has lost our sense of wonder and hope. We’ve rationalized ourselves out of the potential that there is more to life than what we hear, see, and can weigh on a scale.
Interestingly enough, even secular society has undergone recently a period of ‘re-enchantment’.
One professor, Murray E.G. Smith, in Early Modern Social Theory, while pushing for the positive of this ‘disenchantment’, and move towards rationalism/enlightenment, acknowledges that this secular society is still “haunted by the ghosts of dead religious beliefs.” Very interesting, right? Though society has largely took out awe, wonder, belief in something (or someone) greater, from time to time, you can’t shake the haunting feeling of something more.
What captures your mind during the empty space? What do you find yourself daydreaming about? When you have down time? What do you long for?
Western, ‘enlightened’, person – What captures your mind during the empty space? What do you find yourself daydreaming about? When you have down time? What do you long for?
The disenchanted modernity misses the ‘sense of wholeness that enchantment’ once provided.
Then, we’re faced with a greater question–Why do we long? What makes us want to believe that there’s something more? Why don’t we just take our lot as is? Is it just because we see others with all the things we want? Is it just socially conditioned? Or is it because there’s something within us that pulls us towards something greater? Something better?
And rather than trying to persuade a secular humanist of the historicity of the Scriptures, the reliability among practically all scholars that Jesus actually did exist, the amazing nature of biblical prophecy that seems to be fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ, I’d like to just ask this one question:
If this is all there is, why there is nagging longing, haunting, within our hearts for something more, for something better? Why do we feel like things aren’t quite as they ought to be?
Why do we feel like things aren’t quite as they ought to be?
Why do we feel like things aren’t quite as they ought to be?
Western, ‘enlightened’, person who rejects the potential of there being more than what we can measure scientifically – What captures your mind during the empty space? What do you find yourself daydreaming about? When you have down time? What do you long for?
Western, ‘enlightened’, person – What captures your mind during the empty space? What do you find yourself daydreaming about? When you have down time? What do you long for?
Then, we’re faced with a greater question–Why do we long? What makes us want to believe that there’s something more? Why don’t we just take our lot as is? Is it just because we see others with all the things we want? Is it just socially conditioned? Or is it because there’s something within us that pulls us towards something greater? Something better?
If it’s all just a matter of rational measurement, etc., then everything just happens. What happens could never be ‘wrong’ or ‘lacking’, because everything is just going according to measurements, weights, and scientific reactions.
Moreover, I believe that if we’re honest, our hearts get glimpses of something more from time to time. We go to the peak of Mount Everest, 8,850 meters above sea level, and look out over the vastness of creation, and something within us is in AWE. We’re not just calculating mountain heights; something in our hearts stands in wonder and comes alive. Or we go down to the deepest KNOWN part of the sea, the Mariana Trench, 10,984 meters deep. If you put Mount Everest into the Mariana Trench, it would still be 2 kilometers under water. If you can go down there and not have your jaw drop in amazement and wonder, you don’t have a pulse. It’s so vast that we’re not just talking facts at this point.
Let’s talk people–what happens when we experience grace–the unmerited kindness of another–and it sparks something in our hearts. We experience compassion and care for those in need–and it moves something deep down. We see the sacrificial love of a parent working three jobs and holding it down at home so their family is provided for, and it stirs something within us. We see a 95-year-old married couple who’s been married for 75 years, loving each other consistently, faithfully, and joyfully, and it draws us to want something like that. To stand in awe of that kind of faithful commitment. We long for these sorts of things.
So my question to us is, is all that there truly is just measurements, facts, brain reactions? Or are there things within us that are deeper than that?
I’m just trying to say, that we get glimpses in this life that there’s something truer that what we experience day in and day out. There’s a longing for true life deep down within us.
We’re faced with the question–Why do we long? What makes us want to believe that there’s something more? Why don’t we just take our lot as is? Is it just because we see others with all the things we want? Is it just socially conditioned? Or is it because there’s something within us that pulls us towards something greater? Something better?
Christianity answers this question like no other, friends. I’ll have a theologian, C.S. Lewis, help us out here:
With the difficulty and trials of this life, we can become numb to the wonder of something else. Weighed down by our struggles, our sins, the sins of those against us, the tragedies that go on around us, life becomes ‘normal’. We lose sight of the possibility of more. It feels like life is what it is, and that’s all is. And yet, we get glimpses of something more from time to time. We experience grace–the unmerited kindness of another, and it sparks something in our hearts. We experience compassion and care for those in need–and it moves something deep down. I’m just trying to say, church, that we get glimpses in this life that there’s something truer that what we experience day in and day out. There’s a longing for true life deep down within us.
C.S. Lewis says it like this,
“The Christian says, 'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
What captures your mind during the empty space? What do you find yourself daydreaming about? When you have down time? What do you long for?
Then, we’re faced with a greater question–Why do we long? What makes us want to believe that there’s something more? Why don’t we just take our lot as is? Is it just because we see others with all the things we want? Is it just socially conditioned? Or is it because there’s something within us that pulls us towards something greater? Something better?
What captures your mind during the empty space? What do you find yourself daydreaming about? When you have down time? What do you long for?
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
You don’t realize how dirty your glasses are until the light shines upon them—>
The Polar Express is cool and all and it’s a nice story about a boy who comes alive once again to magic, and to you might be ‘harmless’ belief in a mythical Santa Claus – and I like the movie, it’s a good film. I’d even argue that it can speaks and can awaken us to consider the wonder of the reality of Jesus.
But what I’m trying to say, church, is that, at the end of the day, The Polar Express is fictional.
In contrast, church, to be a Christian is to bank your life on the hope that Jesus indeed is who He says He is, and did what He said He would do, and is REALITY. That Jesus indeed conquered sin and death for us by taking our sin and dying our deserved death, and has given us eternal life by His grace.
That couldn’t be further than the truth, church. If what we’re banking our eternity and our hopes and our dreams on is false, it is the saddes
At one point in the Polar Express, a character comments with supposed proverbial wisdom, ‘One thing about trains. It doesn’t matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on.’
That couldn’t be further than the truth, church.If we get on a train in hopes of eternal life with Jesus, and that’s not what is reality, than we have wasted our time.
In contrast, church, to be a Christian is to bank your life on the hope that Jesus indeed is who He says He is, and did what He said He would do, and is REALITY. That Jesus indeed conquered sin and death for us, and has given us eternal life by His grace.
If not, then everything we’re doing here, church, at best, is a sham. We’re deceiving ourselves. In The apostle Paul says “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins…if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
Church, I’m not interested in hoping in a fairytale because it makes me feel better. Better isn’t a thing if we’re just random chemical reactions, etc. If the God of the Bible is not the God of the universe, and if Jesus’ work isn’t true, then we hang our hats now. We quit.
So, enchantment and wonder is a beautiful thing. The possibility of a better tomorrow. The possibility of a beautiful eternity. But here’s the thing – wonder and beauty is nice, but if what you’re hoping for, if what you’re dreaming for, isn’t real, it’s no longer enchantment, it’s the saddest story of all.
Church, I’m not interested in hoping in a fairytale because it makes me feel better. Better isn’t a thing if we’re just random chemical reactions, etc. If the God of the Bible is not the God of the universe, and if Jesus’ work isn’t true, then we hang our hats now. We quit.
As nice as wonder and enchantment is, as nice as the possibility of a better tomorrow, the possibility of a beautiful eternity is, here’s the thing – wonder and beauty is nice, but if what you’re hoping for, if what you’re dreaming for, isn’t real, it’s no longer enchantment, it’s the saddest story of all.
Oh, but church, Paul continues on with that statement, saying BUT IN FACT CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD…and he follows–FOR AS IN ADAM ALL DIE, SO ALSO IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE.
The reality of what we believe, follow, listen to, is not a trivial reality, church. It is the only path to life. It is the truest reality of existence. What you do with the reality of Jesus is of eternal consequence. And receiving and following Him is the truest, deepest, life there is–in fact, all other life is momentary life that ends in eternal destruction apart from God.
At one point in the Polar Express, a character comments with supposed proverbial wisdom, ‘One thing about trains. It doesn’t matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on.’
That couldn’t be further than the truth, church. If what we’re banking our eternity and our hopes and our dreams on is false, it is the saddes
So, church, I invite you to open your hearts
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. So, church, I invite you not the enchantment of a mythical Polar Express, but, I invite you to climb on board for the next half hour or so to the enchantment of the one true reality of the universe. The train that leads to the other world for which we were created. The train that leads to eternal life, and lets look at it through the lens of Biblical prophecy 700 years before the birth of Jesus .
I know I’ve said a lot, but here’s my one point for this sermon today.
The reality of Jesus is the reality of how God has won the war all by Himself, has secured an eternal kingdom better than we could ever imagine, and invites us to climb aboard.
The reality of Jesus is the reality of how God has won the war all by Himself, has secured an eternal kingdom better than we could ever imagine, and invites us to climb aboard.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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
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 people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
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.
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.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
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.
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.
Oh, this passage breathes hope into us people who have been disenchanted by the brokenness of this world. This is one of the things that I love about Jesus–He doesn’t neglect the reality of the brokenness of the world. He doesn’t act like it doesn’t exist, or that we’ve gotta pretend it doesn’t affect us. He steps into it.
700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah is commanded by the LORD to speak these words to King Ahaz, the king of the Southern Kingdom of the people of God – Judah. (Israel, God’s people, were split into the northern kingdom (“Israel”) and the Southern Kingdom (“Judah”) due to beef.
In that day, the northern kingdom of Israel was in alliance with a pagan nation (that didn’t worship the One True God), and King Ahaz of the Southern kingdom was terrified of their political strength that threatened to overthrow him. 7 :2 says that “the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook of how the trees of the forest shake before the wind.”
Isaiah is sent to Ahaz by the LORD to promise Him God’s protection and faithfulness to his people.
Isaiah tells of how the northern kingdom, which was in cahoots with the enemy, will be overtaken by the Assyrians (side bar: isn’t it crazy that even God’s enemies are pawns in His hands to bring about His purposes?
Yet, Ahaz will refuse to trust God, Isaiah prophesies, and that the invasion of the Assyrians will even extend down into Judah. When Assyria plundered the northern kingdom, as Isaiah told Ahaz, they should have turned to the LORD, but instead they conformed their worship to pagan worship around them and forsook the LORD.
It becomes a period of deep darkness and despair for the people of God. Not simply because of what happened around them, but because of their own disobedience and lack of trust in the one true God. This is where our text comes in. Let’s get to it.
All the
BUT,
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. 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. 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 9:1-5
v. 1 | The northern kingdom of Israel was walking in darkness, in alliance with Rezin (King of Syria). For the sake of political gain and false protection, they aligned with the world powers that bowed down to false gods. They looked at the natural state of things (they were in danger of being overtaken by the nations), so they sought to create alliances with darkness.
Do we ever make allies with God’s adversaries as a means of solving the deficiencies in our hearts? Do we ever seek sin as our salvation? When God has said over and over that He is the true fount of good, that He is trustworthy, that He will protect, satisfy, and sustain us?
Isaiah prophesies that there will be a glorious reversal to come out of the very place where there is anguish and contempt. Out of the very place where people had disobeyed the God who created, cared for, and sustained them.
Church, remember how I said that oftentimes the brokenness of reality around us leads us to despair and lose hope and wonder in what can be? How things get so bad, we tend to blame God. “God, where are you?!” Why have you left me out here like this? Why did you let evil happen to the person that I love? Why did you allow this person to break my heart? God why are my enemies seemingly advancing against me? These difficulties and realities of the world tempt us to lose trust. They cloud our vision and dull our sense of trust. It’s kind of like this:
I’ve worn glasses since I was in the third or fourth grade. If you know me, you might realize something I’m notoriously guilty of – not cleaning my glasses. Just yesterday, Angel asked me – Jake, what’s on your glasses? I took them off, and behold, they were dirty. I proceeded to clean them. My vision was clouded because of the dirt, dust, and smudges. It kept me from seeing clearly. And here’s the crazy thing, oftentimes I don’t even recognize it. Any of us got some dirt or dust (or sin) clouding our vision that we don’t even realize it? Any of us dwelling on the brokenness around us that our vision for God’s promises are blurred? That we don’t see clearly the hope we have in Jesus?
Now, while someone pointing out to me that I have smudges on my glasses helps, there’s something, church, that gives me even greater clarity. It often happens when I’m driving.
I’ll be driving with my glasses on, and then all of the sudden, the SUN glares in my eyes. And church, when the sun glares in my eyes, I can see all of the dirt, dust, and specks on my glasses that are distorting my vision. There’s something about the light that does that. It exposes. It brings clarity. It helps us to see things for what it truly is.
v. 2 |
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.
Isaiah says to the people of God, amidst your walking in darkness, amidst you dwelling in a land of deep darkness, you have seen a GREAT LIGHT; A LIGHT HAS SHONE.
That light, church, is the light of Jesus. Out of a land of deep darkness, light has shone. The beauty of the light is seen most clearly in the depth of darkness.
v. 2 | Light shines on those who walked in darkness. It’s a great light. A light that is unmistakeable. Out of a land of deep darkness, light has shone. The beauty of the light is seen most clearly in the depth of darkness.
Jesus says of Himself in – “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
And when that light of Jesus shines on your life, church, nothing is ever the same. The light of Christ exposes the darkness around you. But moreso than that, church, the light of Jesus exposes the darkness of our own hearts.
I’m getting ahead of myself church, but what I want to let you know today is that the light of Jesus shining upon our glasses shows us more than the reality that we are dirty, but the reality that we in fact need new eyes.
No, church, no amount of windex for your glasses will enable you to see rightly.
Find the best optem
No man-made prescription will allow you to see and hope in the one true God amidst your brokenness.
Travel the world if you may, see the greatest optometrists in the world, but they will not give you what you need to see clearly.
Not even the greatest laser eye surgeon will be able to reconstruct your cornea to see the light of the glory of the good news of Jesus.
Oh, but church, there is ONE, promised in Isaiah, who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He, by miraculous love and grace, takes upon our brokenness, our clouded glasses and defunct eyes, and gives us His heavenly prescription. The Scriptures say that He takes out our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh, that beats and responds to the truth of His grace. To come alive to the truth of His kingdom. To love Him rightly because He has loved us first.
He is the promised One here that shines in the darkness.
But for now, let’s get back to our text:
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. 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. 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.
v. 3 | What God is about to do is going to result in multiplied joy among the people. It’s the kind of inbreaking that you experience when you’re waiting for the harvest to come...you’re waiting, and waiting, and checking the ground, and waiting...it’s been dead season long enough, right? You’re waiting for the light to break in.
In Matthew’s day, Israel knew what it was like to be in darkness. The intertestamental period (the time from Malachi to Matthew) was a period of God being ‘silent’. (400 years...the worship of Israel was half-hearted, foolish, and disobedient. God promises vengeance upon those who are unfaithful to Him...He ‘all but’ closes the door of His presence).
The Greeks, Romans, Sadducees and Pharisees all come on the scene during this time. Roman province, etc.
v. 4 | The light breaking into the darkness looks like the yoke of slavery and the rod of oppression being broken.
This oppression broken is going to be like when God broke the rod of oppression of the Midianites in . The Midianites drove out the Israelites, to the point where they were hiding in caves and the Midianites took all their crops, etc. (Of course, this is because the people had “done what was evil in the sight of the LORD (). talks of how the Lord is going to defeat the Midianites with a measly amount of Israelites (so they don’t think they won the battle on their own). God brought it from 32,000 people to 300 to defeat the Midianite army of 135,000.
There’s a reason that God says it will be the kind of oppression-breaking that was experienced in the days of Midian. Because Jesus is the Deliverer who Delivered ALL BY HIMSELF.
v. 5 | Burning of boots and bloody clothes of the enemy soldiers signifies a victory in holy war where spoils were dedicated to God and military equipment was set on fire.
We need a decisive victory against the darkness. I don’t want a victory where the darkness is allowed to live on probation. God is so holy and good that He doesn’t allow evil to coexist with Him. He has no room for evil. We struggle with this not because it’s an indictment against the character of God, but because it reveals our misunderstanding of evil. We play with evil. We mess around with evil. We don’t see evil for how destructive it truly is. We need to repent of our friendship with evil.
The Answer: When God Brings a Solution We Didn’t Ask For
The Answer: When God Brings a Solution We Didn’t Ask For
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. 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.
Isaiah 9:6-7
v. 6 | In the frailty of humanity comes the solution...a child born...more clearly, a son given.
No ordinary son. tells us that this son that is given is the fulfillment par excellance of . This Jesus is the Son born of the virgin, who is in fact Divine. He is the one–Jesus, who will save the people from their sins ().
Look at the description of the character of the Son:
Wonderful Counselor. Though the world has been searching for solutions and guidance to navigate through life, all have come up short. The Son is the One who’s counsel is wonderful. In fact, His counsel is all-extensive. He is the One who stretched out the skies, dispensed the dirt, rolled out the grass, saturated the seven seas, and breathed human beings into ‘being’. There is no knowledge outside of His scope of understanding.
Mighty God. This One is Mighty. In fact, there are no amounts of workouts that can get you up to Divine Deadlifts. Crossfit can’t compete with Him. Leg day can’t lift a muscle to Him. Your 4.4 X 40 doesn’t phase Him–He’s simply faster. Michael Phelps can’t freestyle swim against Him. The World’s Strongest Man looks scrawny to Him. Tiger Woods can’t tee off against Him. Muhammed Ali can’t mix in the ring with Him. Church, I’m trying to tell you that God is Mighty!
Everlasting Father. People need to be cared for. I know that you may have experienced an ever-absent father...not this One. He is ever-lasting. None can love like He can. None can provide like He can. None can protect like He can. You’ll never feel safer than when you’re in His strong embrace. He is EVERLASTING. That means that when you think as far back in time past as you can, you’re nowhere near his ‘born-date’ (in fact, He has none. If you think as far forward in the future as you can, you’ll never get near His death certificate–In fact, He has none. He always is and that is what it is. He is the Father Who Was, Is, and Is to come.
Prince of Peace. | A prince is a representative of the King. The Son is going to be the representative of the King of peace; God Himself. He is the One who will show us what the King of peace and His Kingdom of peace looks like. Peace is this comprehensive word, shalom, which is the completeness, wholeness, and wellness that comes from being in right relationship with God, man, and all creation. There’s so much to say about the PEACE that Jesus brings (‘the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him’, ‘having been justified by faith, we know have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (), etc.).
“Look at Jesus. As the Wonderful Counselor, he has the best ideas and strategies. Let’s follow him. As the Mighty God, he defeats his enemies easily. Let’s hide behind him. As the Everlasting Father, he loves us endlessly. Let’s enjoy him. As the Prince of Peace, he reconciles us while we are still his enemies. Let’s welcome his dominion.” (Ray Ortlund, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners)
v. 7 | This Son that is given, who becomes Ruler-King, is the perfection of everything that we long for in a leader. Cause, believe it or not, church, we’re created to be led. Our fall in sin has just unfortunately created within us a desire to not submit to God’s good rule.
But listen to this leader. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end. Endless peace and loving government. Government by the wisest being in existence, the strongest being in the planet, the loving-est being in the planet, and the One who represents the wholeness that comes when we are at true peace with God and One another.
God has promised a King with a coming kingdom where there is no pain, heartache, abuse, neglect, oppression, where the One in power only uses His power for the blessing and enjoyment of residents of His kingdom. and say this –
13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
and
12 He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.
David was promised an everlasting kingdom to be ruled forever by a king from His lineage. Jesus is the King from the lineage of David. – “and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”
| Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
[righteousness (sedaq) is the standard of right, equitable relationships between the two of us, and justice (mishpat) tzedakah are the actions that you take to create that standard and to do it.]
Holy standards of goodness and those holy standards exercised.
From this time forth and forevermore.
“The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
When God wins all by Himself.
The story of Jesus is the story of when God wins all by Himself. Aren’t we glad that our eternal state is secured based upon the wisdom, strength, love, and wholeness of what Jesus has done FOR us rather than what we can do for Him?! Church, if left to our own devices, we could not accomplish it.
With this story of hope and glory, we must come to terms with the fact that the zeal of the LORD is what gets it done. It is His salvation for us, His love to us, His strength. To see the beauty of eternity’s promise that God has purchased by the blood of His own son, we must come to realize that not only are our glasses dirty, but sadly, our vision is corrupted. We can’t see as we ought, not because stuff has gotten in the way of our seeing, but because our we need new faculties. Church, the zeal of the LORD has done this.
The brokenness in this world can tempt us to think that there’s no greater, truer, better world to come. Like the kid in Polar Express, we can start to doubt that there’s a world of beauty, truth, rightness, goodness. We start to think that brokenness is the new normal. BUT, Jesus steps into our worlds to show us of another world. And not simply to show us, but to secure for us that future world.
C.S. Lewis says it like this,
“The Christian says, 'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
The brokenness in this world can tempt us to think that there’s no greater, truer, better world to come. Like the kid in Polar Express, we can start to doubt that there’s a world of beauty, truth, rightness, goodness. We start to think that brokenness is the new normal. BUT, Jesus steps into our worlds to show us of another world. And not simply to show us, but to secure for us that future world.
The Disenchanted Modernity | The sense of wholeness that the enchantment of the spiritual, religious, provides. | Replaced enchantment with rationalism. | Re-surgence of enchantment. | Enchantment – The sense of wonder or delight.
– He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Around 730 B.C.
Remember Isaiah’s starting point of God’s prophecy.
Isaiah
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. 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.
Now, church, let’s fast forward about 730 years, to the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
So, today church, I ask you – Do you hear what I hear? Do you hear God speaking to your soul that “there is no more condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus?” “Do you
13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”
Matthew 4:13
save those who eagerly await his appearing
Galilee of the Gentiles – the region had consistently been invaded by pagan religion, destruction of war, etc. Out of this darkness the Messiah would come to bring eternal light and life. Jesus inaugurates thee inbreaking of Him kingdom in a place of incredible spiritual darkness.
The reality of Jesus is the reality of how God has won the war all by Himself, has secured an eternal kingdom better than we could ever imagine, and invites us to climb aboard.
The reality of Jesus is the reality of how God has won the war all by Himself, has secured an eternal kingdom better than we could ever imagine, and invites us to climb aboard.
Jesus shows us that God makes good on His promises.
Jesus shows us that God makes good on His promises.
He is hope for a disenchanted people.
God Wins the War All By Himself
Church, let me close by coming back to Polar Express. The silver bell that the boy rang was a symbol of belief in the miracle of Christmas; of Santa.
Well church, more than a fictitious story about belief in a fictitious man, the eternal train is in the station, and Jesus has rung the bell of salvation is ringing–the question is–
DO YOU HEAR IT?
Do you hear what I hear?
Do you hear Jesus saying to the people, “I am the Good Shepherd…I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”
Do you hear Jesus saying to you, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
Do you hear Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, uttering the words “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Do you hear Jesus crucified on the cross, uttering the words “Father forgive them, for they know not what they’ve done?”
Do you hear Jesus on the cross speaking to the repentant thief, “Surely I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Do you hear Him, after taking His last sip of wine this side of eternity, saying, “it is finished.”
Do you hear that declaration that it is finished–that sins are atoned for in full. That Jesus has taken the full wrath of God that you deserved for your sins upon Himself, and do you hear the sweet words of your God saying to you,
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Hebrews 9:2
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Do
The only way to have true, eternal peace is to be properly related to the Lord. To be in right relationship with the one who created you–gave you life, breath, purpose, and meaning.
The train of salvation is today, church.
God gives us capacity for things that only he can satisfy. In a true sense, you were made for this. You were made to be rightly related to the LORD.
The only way to have true, eternal peace is to be properly related to the Lord. To be in right relationship with the one who created you–gave you life, breath, purpose, and meaning.
So, today church, I ask you – Do you hear what I hear? Do you hear God speaking to your soul that “there is no more condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus?” “Do you
God gives us capacity for things that only he can satisfy. In a true sense, you were made for this. You were made to be rightly related to the LORD.
Jesus has offered Himself for the sins of many. Today, your sins can be forgiven forever. You can receive His blood to cover you and His righteousness credited to your account.
God gives us capacity for things that only he can satisfy. In a true sense, you were made for this. You were made to be rightly related to the LORD.ess credited to your account.
Because church,
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Jesus will save those who have believed in Him. Who hear and respond to His song of salvation.
The only way to have true, eternal peace is to be properly related to the Lord. To be in right relationship with the one who created you–gave you life, breath, purpose, and meaning.
God gives us capacity for things that only he can satisfy. In a true sense, you were made for this. You were made to be rightly related to the LORD.
Not only will He save them, having won the battle all by Himself, but what He’s saved them for is a kingdom more true than the world we live in now, a kingdom of eternal peace, joy, love, and life. It is eternal life. The darkness does not have the final word, because our eternal light has dawned.
God Makes Good On His Promises
There’s a Train Comin’
How God Wins the War All By Himself
The reality of Jesus is the reality of how God has won the war all by Himself, has secured an eternal kingdom better than we could ever imagine, and invites us to climb aboard.
“When we gather together as the church and read words like , we are participating in a re-enchantment, a reminder that God is up to something, operating in our world in ways we don’t always see.” (CATM Study Guide)
Refrain:
Git on board, little children,
Git on board, little children,
Git on board, little children,
Dere's room for many a mo'.
1 De Gospel train's a-comin',
I hear it jus' at han',
I hear de car wheels rumblin',
An' rollin' thro' de lan'. [Refrain]
2 I hear de train a-comin',
She's comin' roun' de curve,
She's loosened all her steam an' brakes,
An' stainin' eb'ry nerve. [Refrain]
3 De fare is cheap an' all can go,
De rich an' poor are dere,
No second class aboard dis train,
No diff'rence in de fare. [Refrain]
“People get ready” by The Impressions
So, enchantment and wonder is a beautiful thing. The possibility of a better tomorrow. The possibility of a beautiful eternity. But here’s the thing – wonder and beauty is nice, but if what you’re hoping for, if what you’re dreaming for, isn’t real, it’s no longer enchantment, it’s the saddest story of all.
Why do we long? What makes us want to believe that there’s something more? Why don’t we just take our lot as is? Is it just because we see others with all the things we want? Is it just socially conditioned? Or is it because there’s something within us that pulls us towards something greater? Something better?
We come to a point where
C.S. Lewis famously said –
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it, I see everything else.”
So, today church, I ask you – Do you hear what I hear? Do you hear God speaking to your soul that “there is no more condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus?” “Do you
save those who eagerly await his appearing