The scripture reading this morning is Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40, if you'd like to follow along as I read, this section of Isaiah from chapter 40 on to the end, chapter 66, is probably the most central place in the Old Testament, speaking of of Christ, the Messiah, and the great Old Testament passages are there, like chapter 53. Chapter 40 here is, this is the text beginning in verse 1, that Handel wrote the beginning of the Messiah. Most all of you have listened to the Messiah, and as it begins, comfort, comfort by people, And just as a bit of a side note before I read that, I didn't know this until recently, but John Newton, you can get his works. By the way, somebody borrowed, I don't think the culprit is here, but somebody borrowed volume one of this five-volume set a long time ago, and it's like disappeared. So unless Bev has it or something, then I don't know, probably some disgruntled person took it, but that's very difficult to replace. But at any rate, this fourth volume, and it's almost 500 pages long, John Newton writes a whole series of sermons following George Friedrich Handel's scriptures in the Messiah, all right, you see. Newton, of course, lived in the 1700s. I think Handel must have been somewhat, but even by that time, everybody was listening to the Messiah. But this is how the Messiah begins in chapter 40, verse 1. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned. that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries, in the wilderness, John the Baptist, isn't it? In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low. The uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. A voice says, cry. And I said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God comes with might. and his arm rules for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. Who has measured the spirit of the Lord or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are accounted as the dust on the scales. Behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him. They are accounted by him as less than nothing, an emptiness. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness compare with him? An idol. A craftsman casts it and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in, who brings princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, Scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth when he blows on them and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare me that I should be like him, says the Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high and see who created these. He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he's strong in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He doesn't grow. He doesn't faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint. And to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. There's the word of the Lord. One of the greatest chapters in the whole Old Testament then. We're going to continue looking at Isaiah, specifically, chapter 9, verses 6 to 7. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And a central text concerning the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so let's ask the Lord's blessing then on the ministry of his word. Father, as we come to this great section of Isaiah, and consider particularly the Lord Jesus Christ coming into this world, given to us as a Savior, as the indescribable gift, we pray, Father, that you would help us to comprehend with more clarity just how great this gift of your son is and how thankful we should be for him. We ask your blessing then, Father, as we open up your word. We pray that you would open it up by your spirit to our minds and understanding and increase and strengthen our faith, Father, that we might give more and more glory to you. Pray this in Christ's name, amen. Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 and 7. I've got them printed out there in the handout for you. These are the verses we will be considering. 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." Well, here is this prophet, Isaiah, he was called by the Lord, you remember his calling comes in chapter six. where he's, in the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord, lofty and exalted. And he sees him in the temple, and he says, woe is me. My eyes have seen the Lord. I am a man of unclean lips, and I am of a people of unclean lips. And so then the Lord commissions him, sends that angel, remember, with the hot coal to touch his lips, and then And then he commissions him to go and preach. Who will go for me? Send me. Send me, he says. And so he tells him to go to this people. And so here at the beginning of Isaiah's ministry, the Lord tells him, I commission you to go preach to this people. They're hard-hearted. And by the way, Isaiah, they're not going to listen to you. But you go preach to them anyway, even though they won't listen. Well, how long should I preach? Just keep on. Keep on and be faithful. And this was all happening about 800 years before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is an amazing passage of scripture, these two verses. There's no question that they speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. foretelling the coming of Christ. And in this, Isaiah chapter 9 is in this section of Isaiah from chapter 7 to chapter 12, which is often called the Immanuel section, God with us. That term is mentioned numbers of times. back at the beginning of the section, chapter 7, verse 14, very familiar to us. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. And then God with us, Immanuel is mentioned at least a couple more times in chapter 8. The Gospel of Matthew tells us very clearly that Isaiah, there in 714, was speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, 800 years before his birth. Matthew 1, she will bear a son. And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, by Isaiah. The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. So the child of chapter 7, Immanuel, is the child of chapter 9. To us, a child is born. That child is then Immanuel. There's lots of mystery at that point, as Isaiah is preaching these things, surrounding his words. But he does add more detail when we get to chapter 11, which is still in the Emmanuel section of Isaiah. This is what the prophet says. He adds a little bit more about this mysterious child who turns out to be, a child and a king at the same time. Chapter 11, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, Jesse being right, the father of David, so he's from the line of David, and a branch from his root shall bear fruit. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear. But with righteousness, he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips. He shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness, the belt of his loin. So you see here that Isaiah giving us a very balanced and proper view of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's perfect in his judgments. He takes defense of the poor and of the meek. But at the same time, he's ready to slay and kill the wicked. Well, Isaiah is announcing, then, the Messiah many centuries before Christ came. And he's telling us some things about the Messiah's kingdom. And he will go on. This latter part of the book of Isaiah, chapters 40 to 66, speaks very specifically of the new heavens and the new earth, which is the real estate, the ground of the kingdom of God. Let me explain, we'll call on H.C. Leupold. He was, from days past, years past, he was a Lutheran scholar and very faithful to the word of God. And he does an excellent job describing the setting in which Isaiah preached. And the setting is important for us, the historical setting, for us to understand. This is what he says. In the days of the golden age of Israel's history, when David and Solomon reigned, Israel occupied a position in the world of time commensurate with her destiny as it had been divinely outlined. The nation in whose midst the salvation of mankind was to develop ranked with the world kingdoms of that day. David's territory extended from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates. Everyone felt that that was as it ought to be. The position of Israel after the death of these two monarchs, Solomon, David, rapidly declined to the sorrow of all. About the middle of the 8th century, OK, about 750 BC, a new aspect of international politics began to develop, Assyria. Assyria appeared on the scene and not only grew to large proportions, but also began to try to dominate all nations within her reach, including Israel. in the course of time. Now you remember, Israel subsequently split into the northern 10 tribes, which we refer to as Israel. And then really the true kingdom at Jerusalem was Judah and Benjamin in the southern kingdom. Once Syria is going to come from the north and will first then be attacking the northern 10 tribes. To see Israel reduced to the level of a tributary, one who gives tribute, to one of the ungodly world powers seemed to do violence to the very promises of God that God had bestowed upon his ancient people. It was into a situation like this Israel on decline, threatened by Assyria, that Isaiah, among other prophets, was sent to guide and direct Israel's course. And Isaiah, basically, his ministry was to the southern kingdom, but he also spoke to the condition of the northern kingdom. Israel eventually became a tributary to Assyria, But when the nation rebelled against that king, the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser, he came with invading armies and sadly devastated the northern half of Israel as far down as Naphtali. A major deportation of Israelites took place at that time, which you can read about in 2 Kings 15, and that devastation is what Isaiah spoke of, the gloom and anguish of chapter 9, verse 1. The chapter begins, but there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. Well, what is this gloom and anguish? It is the invasion and devastation of the land by Assyria. One more comment by Leupold here, once Tiglath-Pileser dies, Hosea, now this is not the prophet Hosea, but Hosea became ruler in Israel, and he revolts. This happens all the time. The prophets would say, submit, this is a judgment from God for your sin. You need to repent of your sin, but don't rebel against the conqueror. Well, they wouldn't listen. He revolted against Assyria and only accomplished bringing the Assyrian hordes upon him. Samaria, which had been, wrongly, but established as capital in the northern kingdom by, remember, Jeroboam does this. Samaria was besieged for three years. And it was taken. It was conquered, finally, in 722 BC. 27,290 deportees were dragged away and taken to Assyria. The southern kingdom of Judah at Jerusalem remained under King Hezekiah, to whom Isaiah was a counselor. And Judah would ultimately fall to the Babylonians years later in 587 BC. So most probably, Isaiah, as he's prophesying and preaching then to the nation, his ministry is probably happening about in 730 BC, somewhere in there. And while he's preaching to the nation, Upper Galilee Naphtali and so forth up in the northern part of Israel lay in ruins. That's the gloom and anguish that he's talking about here at the beginning of chapter 9. And yet, in that same verse, chapter 9, verse 1, in this section, the Lord begins to speak comfort to his people also through 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." And right in those words is Christ. He's talking about when Christ would come. So it's this message then that we have here of promise and hope to a sinful nation that was under then the judgment and discipline of the Lord. But you'll find this in Isaiah. You'll find Isaiah preaching these very powerful, convicting messages to the people, don't bring your sacrifices here anymore to the temple. Why should I even regard you, you know, for their sins? And he's rebuking them. But then he'll, then Isaiah will come right around and he's like, come, let's reason together, says the Lord. Your sins can be as scarlet, but they'll be as white as snow. And so he calls them to, to repentance. And you see, that's really, very characteristic of the gospel that we preach. We call out sinners, right? We present sin and what an abomination it is to the Lord. And we warn them of judgment to come. But at the same time, we preach grace to them. And here's God in today while it's still called today. Listen to his voice. Don't harden your heart against him. Repent and turn then to Christ. Well, so this is the setting here. Listen to these verses again, 6 and 7, now that you have kind of the background. For to us, a child is born. You see, here's the Latin. In the latter times, there's going to be a glorious time by way of the sea. Why is it? For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. We're going to look at that phrase in particular shortly. The government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. You can't accept that verse, those statements, without confessing the deity of Christ, that this child is also called everlasting Father. He's called mighty God. 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. You can see that if we were to look at just those two verses in detail, that would require a whole series then of sermons, you know, to look at what does the name Wonderful Counselor mean? And Everlasting Father, what does it mean for the government then to be on his shoulders. Well, Isaiah is looking ahead. The Lord is enabling him to look ahead. And 800 years before, Isaiah doesn't see everything clearly. It's like It's like he's hearing John the Baptist, but it's only faint, just voice crying in the wilderness. I hear, well, who is it? What is it? Well, he doesn't really know. God's not completely disclosing it yet. But he does announce that there's going to be a day come when a great light is going to shine upon these people who have, because of their sin, experienced this darkness, this devastation. Joy will be increased. The yoke of oppression and burden will be broken from them. All their enemies will be destroyed. Why is this? When is it going to happen? He doesn't say. Isaiah doesn't really even know. But it's going to happen because For to us, a child is born, a son is given. Somehow these promises are effected by a child, you see, who is also a son. And we know from our perspective, having read the rest of the book, that this is the Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew 4, and leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum by the sea in the territory of what? Zebulun and Naphtali. So that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light. And for those dwelling in the region and the shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. That, by the way, would have been, now the Jews had no excuse for not knowing that because those verses are right out of their Bible in Isaiah. They had read Isaiah. But they would certainly not like Matthew's application of those to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? To the Messiah. Why is that? Well, specifically it was, he's talking, what do you mean, Galilee of the Gentiles? Why would the Messiah be concerned with Galilee of the Gentiles, you see? So already there's this stumbling block in their prejudice. It's all about the Jews. It's all about Israel. It's all about us. Those dogs, those Gentiles, they're outside. Why are you talking about them? Here's another explanatory paragraph of this setting from Leupold. The picture of total gloom which closed the preceding chapter, chapter 8, gives way now, as chapter 9 opens, to a picture of brilliant light. The extreme devastation that the Assyrians visited upon the north in Galilee is to give way in the course of time. Even Isaiah himself does not seem to know how soon or how late this bright glory would shine. The darkness would give way to it. Scorched earth would give way to every possible blessing the Messiah would bring. The happiness involves a great deliverance, you see. So we know that this deliverance, we know from the New Testament, is far more than just deliverance from the oppression of Assyria, or from Babylon, or even from Rome. Because the child king savior who would come and is going to accomplish their deliverance, the deliverance of his people, is going to deliver them, not just from Assyria, but he's going to deliver them from the serpent, from Satan, from bondage to sin, the one who's behind all of these enemies, you see. So the Messiah's mission, the Messiah's redemption is far, far more Then the Jews wanted, they wanted, what did they want? They really wanted an earthly style king. They wanted a king that was gonna come in power and he's gonna smash Rome and all of their enemies and Israel would become the first place nation then in the world once again. But what do we know that this deliverance, that this child king was going to affect, what do we know about it? Well, it was going to be the deliverance of the true Israel of God, his people. He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, but one who is one inwardly, right? Circumcision is of the heart, not of the flesh. You cannot hope to understand the Bible and have a clear picture of God's plan of redemption If anyone continues, persists in holding that it's all about Israel, that it's all about the Jews, you see, that the physical descendants of Abraham are the true people of God, that's what it's about. The Gentiles are over here. That is a concept that the Pharisees had. But if we go that route, and those kinds of things are taught all the time. I mean, that's the stuff that's at the heart of dispensational theology. That's why you find professing Christians talk about Israel, Israel, Israel all the time. It's all about Israel, what's happening You'll pick up your newspaper and look at things and, oh, OK, this is that and so forth. And it's all going to fit because it's all going to be about an earthly Israel. But what Isaiah is seeing is a far greater, greater deliverance of that. And it's a deliverance of his people. You notice, as we read the opening there in Isaiah 40, comfort, comfort, my people. Who are my people? Well, they're his true people, the true Israelites who know him and are mourning. It's his church. It is his church then. This is a great redemption that the child king is given by the father. Isaiah itself, the book of Isaiah itself, by itself, was enough to hold the Jews accountable for knowing the true nature of the Messiah. He is a child who would be born, and he's going to be born of a virgin. And at the same time, he's mighty God. He's everlasting father, you see. And so they had no excuse for not recognizing the Lord Jesus Christ. It's just that the Jews are just like the rest of the world in sin. They don't want a messiah like that. They don't want a messiah that comes as a babe in the manger then, you see. And that's what we heard Lloyd-Jones talking about earlier. This stuff is foolishness. than to the natural man. Well, let's look a little more closely at how Isaiah describes this son. He is a child to be born. He is a son that is given. He has governing and kingdom authority that's been given to him. And his essence is expressed by these names given to him. wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. And we're told then that as a king, he has a kingdom. And his kingdom is going to increase and grow until it fills the entire creation. And it will be a kingdom that is characterized by perfect peace, justice, and righteousness, and it will never end. When Jesus told Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world, the Jews should have known that. But they didn't like it. This child king is out, we know from chapter 11, he is out of the root of Jesse. That is, he is in the lineage, the kingly lineage of David in fulfillment of the Davidic covenant that God promised to David, 2 Samuel 7. And your house, David, and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. That's the king, the child king that Isaiah says is going to come. And the whole thing is certain. It can't fail. Why? Because the zeal of God is going to accomplish it. It's done. It's there. Isaiah is talking here in these two verses in chapter 9 about a gift. A gift, right? Unto us, a child is born. Unto us, a son is given. By who? By the father. By the son's father. And so we think about gift-giving during this Christmas season. Everybody's busy with gift-giving and so forth. We have all kinds of Christmas traditions, which in and of themselves are fine and enjoyable and so forth. But as the world is busy going about its business, busyness with Christmas, how many people are actually thinking of what it really is all about? And in other words, how many people, as they're exchanging gifts, really realize that the greatest gift The greatest gift that could ever be imagined has been given to us by the greatest giver of gifts who there ever was, God the Father giving us the Son as a savior. So the world goes about its Christmases, but largely forgets or is not interested in the fact that this is the Christ mass. It is about Christ. It is about the son who is given. Hymns are sung in big cathedrals and so forth about Christ and Christmas and the child in Bethlehem. But really, Are the mass of people really that interested in this gift that is given? No, no they aren't. God so loved the world that he gave. And the Apostle Paul calls Christ, the son that is given, he calls Christ the indescribable gift. So, you know, even we as Christians have to have to wrestle with this to avoid unthankfulness. The fact is that God has given, we possess, if you're a Christian, you possess a gift that is so great it's indescribable. You see that in the opening verses of Ephesians, chapter 1. Paul is just spewing out about how God has lavished the riches of heavens upon us in his son. He has trouble putting it into words then, you see. This is the greatest gift that anybody could have ever imagined. It's like God saying, ask anything of me. But who would have asked for this gift? If God said to human beings, ask anything of me, and I will give it to you, well, we need a Savior. And he needs to come as an infant and be born and go to a cross and bear our sins. Nobody would have asked for that. And yet, that's the most valuable thing that could ever be given, and that's what God has given to us then in His Son. Many people today and many who profess to be Christians seem to want to redefine the gift, and they do that, don't they? And so many churches and pulpits preach this kind of a thing. They preach a Christ who is not the Christ of the Bible. Why do they do that? Because they don't like the gift, then, you see. They have a different concept of a savior. The savior that the Bible's talking about, well, he goes to the cross where he vicariously takes our sins upon himself and dies for them, pays for them, makes atonement for them. bears the wrath of God. But, you know, that's all so unpleasant. And we don't like a God that has wrath. And certainly, what Jesus must have been doing on the cross is just he's setting an example for us. That's what he did. An example of self-sacrifice. So as Christmas rolls around and so on, What we need to do is, well, we all need to be gift givers, and we need to be self-sacrificing, and we need to get into the Christmas spirit of things, you see. That's then what it's all about. But that's not what it's all about. The son that the Lord gave us, the child that he gave us, is not the Christ that so many people in the world want to embrace. Christ comes, here's a quote from John Newton, his greatness and goodness, his glory and his grace, when once known, fix the heart, no more to rove, no more to wander and fill it with admiration, gratitude, and desire. From it spring a cheerful, unreserved obedience to his commands and a deliberate, voluntary submission to his holy will. For his people do not serve him or yield to him by constraint, do this or else. No, that's the law. At least it's the only pleasing constraint, it's only the pleasing constraint of love which makes their duty, their delight, and their burden and grief is that they cannot serve him better. How does Christ conquer? He conquers us by killing who we used to be and making us new and giving us hearts then that love him. The world's king says, bow down to Caesar or else, might and power. You see, that kind of a thing. No, no. He makes a people for himself, a holy nation, a royal priesthood who love him. and whom he loves then, you see. So God has given us this greatest gift of all. Think about Christmas gifts that you've received in years past, okay, or maybe that you've given. Where are they? You know, the earthly gifts don't last. Even the best ones, but they don't last. I can remember when we, When our kids were little, there'd be a couple times I'd think, man, they have so many toys and things, they're piled up, they're all over the place and you just kind of, let's load them up and get rid of them and then start over again or something like that. You think about it, every single gift, earthly gift, that we give or receive in this life One day, sooner or later, it's going to end up in the landfill, right? The best it can hope for is to end up in an antique shop somewhere. But everything in this world is going to perish. Now, maybe, of course, this certainly couldn't be true of any of us when we were kids, right? I say that kind of sarcastically. You may have known a kid who, on Christmas morning, was given to selfish fits. And woe to the rest of the family and everybody there if that kid didn't open up the present and get exactly what they wanted, right? I had an adopted uncle. He was adopted, so he's only, like, two years older than me. But he would do that if, on Christmas morning, Paul didn't get what Paul wanted. It's like, look out, and tantrum, and just bad news. Needless to say, he didn't turn out well in life. But we look at something like that and we say, man, how wicked to be that unthankful for somebody to give you a gift. And you act that way. You turn up your nose at it or something. But this is the sinner's natural response to the indescribable gift. That shows you the blindness of man and his bondage to sin. He, Christ, came to his own and his own received him not. They didn't, no, we don't want, this is not the Messiah that we want then, you see, even though he did miracles right in front of them and so forth. But God has given us, as his people, the pearl of great price, the indescribable gift. Any person with any sense of reason, and this is the point of some of Jesus' parables, You know, if you knew that there was an incredible treasure buried in a piece of property and the property was for sale, you would do everything you could to get your hands on enough money to buy that piece of property or to get that pearl of great price. But the point being, the sinner doesn't do that. Here's God offering the indescribable gift in his Son unto us. A child is born, a son is given, a Savior who is Christ the Lord, a Savior to save us from our sin. And the world is saying, eh, that's not what I want, you see. That's the sinner's response. The only reason that was our response, too, as sinners, If you're a Christian, it's only because God got hold of you and gave you a new heart. Well, let's just take a few moments here to consider the fact that Isaiah says of this child king, the government would be upon his shoulder, the government upon his shoulder. And in connection with that, he's a prince, prince of peace. His government, his kingdom will be forever, eternal, and it will be characterized by peace. He will reign on a throne, David's throne, over his kingdom, and he will effect perfect justice and righteousness, you see. The Messiah's government. Now we know that the Bible emphasizes Christ's kingship and kingdom over and over again. So here's just a couple of examples. Psalm 2, the father says, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. That king is Christ. Micah 5, verse 2, but you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler. in Israel, whose coming forth is from old, from ancient days. Jesus answered Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the child is a king who rules then forever. His kingdom is forever. He is divine wisdom. He is everlasting. And get this now, his kingdom is over all creation. What does that mean? Well, you remember when we've been looking in Daniel, remember Nebuchadnezzar's first dream in Daniel chapter 2. There was that image, head of gold, chest and arms of silver, and then bronze, and so on, right? Iron, clay. A secession. a secession of kingdoms then. And then what happens, what happens last of all in Nebuchadnezzar's dream? A stone, it's not of man's creation, it's divine, it's God's doing. This stone comes sailing down from above and it smashes the image and every bit of dust of that image blows away and then this stone growing, and it grows, and it grows into a mountain that fills the whole earth. Now, the Messiah King, the Lord Jesus Christ, is your Savior if you're born again. He's your Savior individually, and he's my Savior individually. But his salvation, his salvation is not about just me or just you. His salvation fills the entire creation. In other words, Romans chapter 8, what is it? Remember, the whole creation has been subjected to futility. Why? Because of our sin. Because the curse is upon creation. And what's happening? It's groaning and groaning to be set free from the corruption, from the curse that has been brought upon it because of sin. Well, and I think that Paul, Lloyd-Jones gave this illustration, it's perfect here, and I think it's very accurate. How is the creation groaning? It's not a person, but in some way, we apparently are able to look at the creation everything around us, the trees, the star, everything, and see that somehow things are not, they're not right in the creation, and it's like the creation is yearning to be free of the curse. And this example, this illustration was great. It's like, think about the seasons. Think about the seasons, all right? Right now, it's winter. We can go out back. You guys can do that, too, at your place, I'm sure. But we can go out in our backyard, and there's a couple of garden plots there. Now, earlier in the summer and starting last spring, there was life there. And in the springtime, the trees and the plants are starting to sprout up. There's new life. There's new life there. And then it comes to fruition and the harvest and so forth. And the flowers are in all their glory. But what happens every single fall, every single year? The flower fades, the grass withers, right? The leaves fall off. So like right now, this time of the year, for the most part, you go out in creation, and what do you see? Dead, dead stuff. There's no leaves on the tree. It's just dead. And then it's going to start over again. And I think that the Apostle Paul is thinking about that. Things are not right. Really winter and cold and darkness and so forth shouldn't exist. That's not how God created things. The child king who is given to us, his salvation that he affects is going to correct all of that throughout the whole throughout the entire creation, then, you see. So it's important for us to understand this. It's not just, I'm saved, I'm going to heaven and so forth, but the whole creation is going to be put right. The miracles of Jesus foreshadowed that. Why did he give eyes to the blind and fix deaf people and fix lame people, and how come he provides food in the wilderness for the crowds and so on? Why was he doing that? Why did he raise people from the dead? He's showing us this is all aspects, not only who he is, but he's showing us what he's come to do, to correct all of these things. to correct famine, and disease, and hurt, and pain, and death, and so on. Listen to Isaiah 35 here. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad. The desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it. The majesty of Carmel and Sharon They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, be strong, fear not, behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. And the ears of the deaf stopped. Do you see that now? That's why when Jesus healed blind people and deaf people, instantly the Jews should have, oh, oh, this is the Messiah. That's what Isaiah was talking about. The eyes of the blind shall be opened. The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. In the haunt of jackals where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way, even if they're fools. They shall not go astray. Even the simplest-minded Christian has enough sense from the Spirit to stay on the narrow way and will arrive at life. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it. That's his elect. That's the church. The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. All of that is included in the package of redemption that Emmanuel, God with us, the child king, effects that Isaiah then promised. Here's one final quote from John Newton. This ancient song is still new. It has been. and will be taken up from age to age by the New Testament church with superior advantage. Men naturally look for something wherein to rejoice in glory. Little reason have the wise to glory in their supposed wisdom or the strong in their fading strength or the rich in their transitory well. But this is a just and unfailing ground of glory to true Christians that unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given. Father, we do thank you for the indescribable gift. We pray that you would forgive us for our unthankfulness. So often we're unthankful. We don't think about and really fully appreciate the gift that you've given to us. In this Christmas season, Father, as gifts are given in exchange, We pray that you would use the sight of those gifts to remind each one of us what the glorious thing that you've done for us and your son. And we pray this in Christ's name, amen.