The Child of Promise

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.
Isaiah 9:1-9 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

The promise

   Isaiah was speaking to Israel. But this was split in two kingdoms. A northern and southern kingdom that fought against one another in civil war. The northern kingdom was falling to the assault of the Assyrians. This is the context that Isaiah was preaching in. The prophet was painting a picture of abundance, peace, and joy against the backdrop of Israel's northern territories being conquered, ransacked, and plundered. God is giving a promise of future peace and perfection written in past tense. In other words, consider it done.

  How will this come about? Through a child, a son, a king filled with wisdom (counselor), God (not just a man), loves the people like a father loves his children, and mighty/strong. We are not given advice, a solution to a problem, but rather God gives us himself. That is what we need and truly want. In Him is where we find all glory, beauty, and satisfaction.

The challenge

   God offers us this gift of his son. And we go, Meh. We are not excited. It is six hundred years between the promise of the prophet and the birth of Jesus. And even now, we still await the fullness of the coming kingdom. We are still awaiting the fulfillment of this future reality.

   Sometimes, our present reality can cloud the present. And often make it impossible to see the perfect and distant future. We lose sight of the heaven we are promised and then we will seek earthly pleasures and glory. We will look for idols rather than God. We chose the immediate tangible pleasures over the perfect joy of Christ in our future. That is the essence of spiritual maturity. All that we have in Christ becomes more tangible than our current reality and circumstances.

The promiser

God loves us. Loves enough to do a crazy foolish thing to come in weakness and frail baby form. To die being mocked and jeered as a fool so that we could have life.

The prince of peace and the Paradise He brings

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots 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 loins.  The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.  The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.  They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.- Isaiah 11:1-10 ESV

Rev. Charles Han

How do we summarize the story of the Bible? Four words: Creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.

The Prince of peace

The prophet is telling of the sins of Israel and the coming judgment of Assyria. And then from this transitions to speaking of hope. There is a coming Messiah who comes from Jesse. Why the reference to Jesse rather than King David? Jesse was a man of humble means. He is a sprout of Jesse, yet also the root of Jesse. How can this be? Both sprout and root? Jesus is of God and also God incarnated in flesh. Both before, the source, as well as after, the coming one. One of the Holy Spirit, who does the will of God, which we cannot do.

The Paradise he brings

What does heaven look like? Is this a literal description? I believe this is a figurative description. Describing the peace and contentment of heaven. It is a poetic description. Jesus has come and he is coming back to bring a Paradise of perfect peace. He will bring Shalom. Not just inner serenity, but flourishing & wholeness. Justice and fulfillment. The way things ought to be, restored. Lions represent the enemies of Israel, the dangers and rending of all that they held dear. The weak not being bullied by the weak. The children playing by the nest of snakes... a compete reversal of the child of Eve and the serpent from the fall in the garden of Eden. Jesus is the one who will repair broken relationships, hearts, and lives. He brings hope to the citizens of heaven. Regardless of the troubles of this life, it is tiny in comparison to eternity in heaven. Why are we so focused on the tiny sliver of time before eternity?