A CHILD IS BORN. A SON IS GIVEN
TEXT: Isaiah 9:6, 7
INTRODUCTION:
This text is one of the most well-known of all the OT texts prophesying the coming the Messiah. The prophet Isaiah is called, “The Evangelist of the OT,” and his name is translated as: “Salvation of Jehovah,” which is almost identical in meaning to the name of the Messiah whose birth he was prophesying: Jesus, whose name in Hebrew is Ye shu’a, which interpreted in English is “Jehovah our Salvation.” These verses in our text are a more complete exposition of the earlier verse: Isaiah 7:14, where the prophet says, “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” The verses in our text expand on the characteristics that relate to “Immanuel,” which means: “God with us.” Isaiah tells us that the virgin’s child shall be the royal son of King David, with rights to the Davidic throne. He will be called Wonderful. That word interpreted means: a miracle, a wondrous thing. He will be a Counselor. He is Wonderful and He is my Counselor.
He has supernatural wisdom, and is the authoritative teacher of the truth; in fact, He IS Truth personified -- He is the Mighty God, which is literally translated as: The Almighty God. He is also the Everlasting Father. He will be and is an eternal Father to those that are His. He is the Father, for eternity, to all those He has given to His Son as an everlasting possession. He is also the Prince of Peace, Who will heal the rift between God and man that was caused by original sin; and when the curtain has rung down on the final act of this earth’s play, and eternity begins, He will be the Prince of His people, and we that are His will have eternal peace. That word: “peace,” mean more than just relief from strife or war, but of welfare and prosperity, rather want and sorrow.
Notice also that the prophet uses the present tense: “is given,” not “will be given,” for God the Holy Spirit showed the prophet, that in God’s timing, it is already an accomplished feat, although the birth itself would have to manifest in time, some 700-plus years in the future. The Jews of course, claimed that the word “us” in our text referred only to them – that they were and would be the only ones who would be granted salvation by the Messiah. But the word “Us” refers to all those who by grace through faith, will find mercy and become His eternal children: Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, male and female, from every race, color and creed – those who will by grace become God’s own people through their union with Christ.
The word “given” should also be emphasized also, because The Heavenly Father GAVE the gift of His Son to a lost a dying world, so that those who are hell-bound might find their way to heaven. But my focus for this Christmas message shall be on just a portion of this scripture: “…a Son is given,” using these titles of Christ as headings: The Son of Man, the Son of David, the Son of Mary, and Son of God
I. The Son of Man is Given
A. Jesus used this title: “THE SON OF MAN,” more than any other title He gave of Himself. I counted 81 references in the Gospels to Jesus calling Himself “the Son of Man.” It’s interesting that although He referred to Himself as The Son of Man, no one else in the NT used that name when addressing Him.
B. God also referred to Daniel as “the son of man” once, in Daniel 8:17. Daniel also referred to the person he saw in his vision in Daniel the 7th chapter as “The Son of Man, **READ** DANIEL 7:13, 14 (PINK) READ** This is the first reference to the Messiah as the Son of Man, a title that Jesus applied to Himself. He will be enthroned as ruler over the whole earth, and his kingdom “will never be destroyed.”
1. I believe one reason Jesus may have used this so often, was because the Jewish scholars all recognized this vision of Daniel as being a prophecy of the Messiah.
2. He wanted to say to them plainly, I am the One that Daniel saw in his vision. I am the Messiah.
C. Jesus referred to himself as "Son of man" from three perspectives.
1. He used it to describe His humble condition, such as in Matt. 8:20, where He said, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay His head.”
2. Secondly, when He used it to refer to His coming suffering, death, and resurrection, as in Mark 9:31, when He prophesied to His disciples: “the Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; after He is killed, He shall rise again.” And especially in Mark 10: 33:33, 34. “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles: and they shall mock Him and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him, and the third day He shall rise again.”
D. And thirdly, He used it when He referred to His future coming in glory to act with sovereign power at a final judgement. **READ MATT. 25:31-34; 41 PURPLE.
E. The scripture that comes to my mind here is the revelation God gave the apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men…” (KJV).
F. I like the late Greek scholar, Kenneth Wuest’s interpretation of this scripture. His says, “After weighing the facts, Jesus did not consider His being equal with deity as a treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards, but He emptied Himself, having taken the outward expression of a bond slave, and entered into a new state of existence, that of mankind.”
G. A Son is given: The Son of Man
II. The Son of David is Given
A. Jesus is first given this title by Matthew in the genealogy, in the very first verse. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David…” The Book of Matthew is the gospel written by a Jew, to Jews, about a Jew.
1. Matthew is the writer, his countrymen – the Jews, are the readers, and Jesus Christ is the subject. Matthew’s purpose is to present Jesus as the King of the Jews, their Messiah. This genealogy of Jesus -- His birth in the city of David: Bethlehem, along with His baptism, messages and miracles all point to the same conclusion: that Christ is King!
2. This title shows that Jesus Christ is the rightful heir to Israel's throne, as prophesied by Jeremiah. He said, “Behold, the days shall come, says the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth” (Jer. 23:5).
B. Matthew's point here is that His ancestors depend on Him for their meaning and purpose in life. It says, God sovereignly directed the history of Israel and preserved David's line, all because of His plan to send Jesus.
C. 17 verses in the NT describe Jesus as the “son of David.” But how could Jesus be the son of David if David lived approximately 1,000 years before Jesus? The answer is that the Messiah was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the seed of David.
1. God spoke to David through the prophet Nathan and said, “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever (II Sam. 7:12, 13).
2. Jesus is the promised Messiah, which means He had to be of the lineage of David.
D. The title “Son of David” is a Messianic title. When people called Jesus the Son of David, they were testifying that they believed He was the long-awaited Deliverer and fulfillment of the OT prophecies.
E. Jesus was addressed as “Lord, thou son of David” many times by people who were seeking mercy or healing.
1. The woman whose daughter was being tormented by a demon in Matthew 15:22 said to Jesus: “Have mercy on me O Lord, thou Son of David…”
2. The two blind men by the wayside in Matthew 20:30 cried out to Jesus for help saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.” Blind Bartimaeus, cried out, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me”
3. This title of honor they gave Him declared their faith in Him. Calling Him “Lord” expressed their sense of His deity, dominion, and power, and calling Him “Son of David,” expressed their faith that He was long-awaited Messiah who was prophesied to come through the line of King David.
III. The Son of Mary is Given
A. The Incarnation was planned by God from the very beginning…the virgin birth was a supreme moment in the out-working of God’s eternal plan.
B. When the Angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her she had been chosen by God, that a child would be conceived in her womb, and she would birth this child sent from heaven, Mary was confused, and said, “How can this be, since I have never known a man.”
C. She knew it would be impossible for a child to be conceived in her womb because she was a virgin. But Gabriel explained to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the son of God.”
D. So, Mary accepted by faith what the angel said, and answered, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to you word. And the angel departed from her.” She was saying, “I am a vessel, ready to be to be used for His glory.”
E. John Piper, former pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, comments on this scripture. He says, “Jesus was not born by the union of a man and a woman, but by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit replacing the seed of a man. And what can this mean except that the human nature (from Mary) and the divine nature (from the Holy Spirit) (were) united in the person of Jesus? Mary contributed humanity. The Holy Spirit contributed divinity. Jesus was born, with a divine nature and a human nature in one person.”
F. His body was formed in his mother, so He was fully human. But he was divinely conceived, and since the baby’s blood comes due to the fertilization of the egg in the mother’s womb, and since God the Father was His Father, His blood came from the Father, therefore it was holy blood, untainted by sin’s curse.
G. He had a human body, a human mind, and human soul and spirit, and human emotions. If this hadn’t been the case, He could not have been “…tempted in all points like as we are…” (Heb. 4:15). He was and truly is, the Son of Mary. He had and still has a human mother, just like all of us, and who, we are sure is in heaven, worshipping Him as her Lord, but He is much, much more than the Son of Mary
IV. The Son of God is Given
A. Don Stewart commented on this point, and said, “Jesus could not empty Himself of His Deity - He could not stop being God. He was always God the Son. He could not exchange His Deity for His humanity…at any time during His time on earth. It would have been impossible, because God cannot cease to be God.” On the Mount of Transfiguration, prior to His crucifixion, Jesus allowed His inner glory to shine forth for a brief time. Matthew 17:2 says, He “…was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light.”
B. The scriptural proofs for Jesus as the divine Son of God are too many to detail in this sermon. But some scriptures referring to Jesus as the eternal Son, equal to God Himself are:
1. Matthew 11:27 where Jesus says: “All things are delivered unto Me of My Father, and no man knows the Son, but the Father, neither does any man know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
2. Matthew 17:5: “While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him.”
3. And Hebrews 1:1-3: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; Who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…”
C. What Jesus meant by the phrase “Son of God” is that the Son of God is of the same nature as God. Remember what He said to Phillip, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”
Closing:
Contrary to the belief of Muslims, Jesus is not God’s Son in the sense of a human father and a son. God did not get married and have a son. God did not mate with Mary and, together with her, produce a son. Jesus is God’s Son in the sense that He is God made manifest in human form (John 1:1, 14). Jesus is God's Son in that He was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 declares, “The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’”
The baby born that night long ago in a stable in Bethlehem, who was the Son of man, the Son of David, the Son of Mary, and the Son of God, is no longer a babe in a manager, but is now sitting on the throne in heaven, dispensing mercy to all who call upon Him for salvation. Christmas is the greatest gift of all time, because the creator of Life and Light, was made flesh, and as the Apostle John says, (He) “…dwelt among us.” And He still dwells in all of those, who by grace have been partakers of His salvation.
Because Christ came, those who are trying to work their way to salvation by keeping rites and rituals, and trying to do “good works” – can become children of God by adoption. Those who are by birth and nature the children of the devel, have opened to them a way to become God’s children by spiritual adoption, so that we can speak to our heavenly Father, and even call Him “Papa” or “Daddy.”
C. H. Spurgeon preached on this text and said, “All the wonders of the universe shrink into nothing when we come to the mystery of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ…there have been sights matchless and wonderful at which we might look for years…and say: I cannot understand this. This is a deep into which I cannot dive…I cannot climb it. It is too high. But all these things are nothing compared with the incarnation of the Son of God…Infinite and yet an infant…eternal and yet born of woman…almighty and yet drawing nourishment from His mother’s breast…supporting the universe and yet needing to be carried in His mother’s arms.”
For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). AMEN.
