ISAIAH 9:6 CHRISTMAS: PRINCE OF PEACE
ISAIAH 9:6
#isaiah96christmas
INTRODUCTION… Cool Gifts for Christmas 2021 (p)
Christmas, more than any other time of year, is a season of giving gifts. It is part of what we do and what makes this time of year special. I am a full-service pastor so we are going to begin today in this ‘season of giving’ with some cool gift suggestions to get you warmed up to giving gifts and give you some good ideas. I have given you, thus far, fantastic ideas for gifts which I understand some of you have purchased. Today, we are very very very close to Christmas. It is in fact tomorrow if you didn’t know. If you haven’t purchased gifts by now, you are a procrastinator extraordinaire and you are in trouble. I am here to help!
#1 The Homemade Coupon Book. Go home and get out some scissors and paper and cut paper into squares. Those are your coupons. Then, write on your ‘coupons’ things for another person. Here are some options: ‘Dishes for a week.’ ‘Day of no complaining.’ ‘Car wash.’ ‘You automatically win an argument.’ “Dinner date.’ You put together this coupon book and give it to them. You are gifting them you so how can they complain?
#2 The Re-Gifting Trick. This requires sleight of hand and a devious mind. As you unwrap presents, pick out one that you receive at the beginning of opening presents and drop it into a gift bag you have laid to the side. Slide it under the tree. They will open the gift and think… wow… we both got the same gift! This is dishonest, but might work in a pinch.
#3 The Treasured Possession Ploy. Go home and pick out something that you moderately like in your home. Wrap it up and gift it to the person saying that it is a “Treasure” that you decided you wanted them to have. You come off looking like you have sacrificed something important to you and the day is saved. You only gave up something you moderately liked. Win. Win.
#4 Homemade Card with Poem. Ever since we were little, we come to understand that if you make something for someone, they love it. That is why moms and dads all over have refrigerators covered in things they have no idea what they are. We never lose that. So, go home and fold a piece of paper in fourths and make some art. Draw left handed. Go crazy. Even if you can’t draw… not the point. Then, on the inside of the card: ‘Roses are Red, Violets are Blue… then fill in the blank… blah blah blah you.’ This works for anyone of any age because it is instilled in us from a young age to love such things.
Like I said… Full. Service. Pastor.
THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTMAS
Gift giving is definitely part of Christmas, but the reason that we celebrate and give gifts is because of the birth of Jesus. We who believe in Jesus make sure each year that we observe and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus because He is the greatest gift that the world has ever received! Jesus is worthy of being celebrated and we celebrate everything about Jesus… even His birth!
In the Church, “the earliest feast day in connection with the birth of Jesus was January 6, Epiphany, the Day of His Manifestation. This was originally the celebration of the birth itself.” Later, the Christ-mass was celebrated on December 25 because the Christians at the time did a corporate takeover to push out a pagan holiday at the same time each year. This happened under Constantine in the early 300s (The Story of Christianity, Gonzalez, 1984, page 96). The truth is Christians have always celebrated the birth of Jesus and we moved the date early in the Church to push out a big holiday not connected with Jesus.
Christmas is about the birth of Jesus because He is the greatest gift that the world has ever received! Jesus is worthy of being celebrated and we celebrate everything about Jesus… even His birth!
We celebrate the birth of Jesus because…
… the birth of Jesus is a supernatural event where God becomes flesh and dwells with us
… the birth of Jesus looks forward to all the magnificent miracles He would do
… the birth of Jesus looks forward to all that He would teach us and His life example
… the birth of Jesus looks forward to His meaningful death
READ MATTHEW 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with Child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for That which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son, and you shall call His Name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call His Name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a Son. And he called His Name Jesus.
Jesus is so important and so grand that even before His birth He had a nickname! His nickname in this passage from Matthew was “Immanuel” which is a significant name which means “God with us.” That nickname came from an Old Testament prophecy from Isaiah about the coming of the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ which means He is the plan for salvation that people were waiting on.
ISAIAH 9:6
I find it very interesting that Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet who gave this Christ to be born several nicknames all throughout his writings. Isaiah prophesied and predicted Jesus most notably in chapters 7, 9, 11, 28, 40, 42, 49, 50, 52, 53, and 54. He talked about the Christ a lot. This Christmas Season, I’d like us to talk about Christ a lot. I’d like us to focus on one passage were Isaiah prophesies to us about Jesus Christ and there are several names for us to reflect on and I believe these Names of Jesus are impactful and meaningful for our lives. It is going to be an Isaiah 9:6 Christmas!
CONGREGATION READ TOGETHER … READ ISAIAH 9:6 (ESV)
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.
The fourth nickname that the prophet Isaiah gives Jesus Christ in Isaiah 9:6 is “Prince of Peace.” We have already looked these past three weeks at “Wonderful Counselor” and “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father.” We now come to the “Prince of Peace.”
NOT PEACE
I think that when I say the word ‘peace,’ we all cringe a little bit inside whether we know it or not. Everything seems unsettled. Two years ago the entire world except for a few isolated tribes in the Amazon experienced a pandemic called COVID-19. Businesses shut down. Schools shut down. Life paused. And most importantly to remember… life was lost. People died. Masks came into use. Vaccines came into use. Those two items… masks and vaccines… have created tension filled opinions and we still deal with that even now. I know there was tension because even at our local high school football game there were protests about masks and vaccines. There is tension. The cost of most things is up. Gas per gallon is high. Visiting family and travelling is more difficult. Politics are still dividing us, but I have stopped watching the news so it might have calmed down some. Probably not. All of that seems to be swirling around us even now as 2021 comes to a close and 2022 is about to begin. So when I say ‘peace,’ we all cringe a little bit.
We find the birth of Jesus spelled out in Matthew 1-2, some of which I have already read, and also in Luke chapters 1-2. I’d like to read a portion from Luke 2:
READ LUKE 2:10-15 (ESV)
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a Baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with Whom He is pleased!”
In the four short chapters of the Bible that tell the Christmas story, Matthew 1, Matthew 2, Luke 1, and Luke 2, the phrase “do not be afraid” or “fear not” (depending on your translation) is mentioned five times. Five times we are told not to fear.
The time surrounding Jesus’ birth was anything but peaceful.
There was tension in Mary and Joseph’s relationship because he found out his betrothed was pregnant and he had done nothing to help her with that. Not only this, but Mary is unwed and pregnant and the folks where she lived would have looked down on her. She had to travel to see family to get out from under the judgmental eyes.
There was political unrest and politics going on locally and worldwide that impacted every family in Israel. The king over them was wicked and self-centered. The empire they were under was greedy and oppressive.
The entire world felt broken and was in need of a Savior.
PEACE
The birth of Jesus Christ was one of the most important steps in God’s plan to redeem the world because His purpose for living was to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). There is another way to say that and it involves heavy use of the word ‘peace’ which is why the Prophet Isaiah, 700 years before Jesus was born, nicknamed Jesus the Prince of Peace.
Jesus came to bring peace between a sinful creation and a holy God.
Jesus came to bring peace between sinful humans and righteous God.
Jesus came to bring peace in ourselves because of our sinful nature.
Jesus came to bring us peace with our past by giving us hope for the future.
Jesus came to bring us peace about the future because He made everything new.
The birth of Jesus was a flare in the darkness that peace had arrived. God sent His Son. They called Him Jesus. God sent His Son. They called Him the Prince of Peace because God the Father wants us to experience His perfect peace in the midst of tension and chaos and guilt and uneasiness and unsettling times.
CONCLUSION
Jesus Christ has the nickname and title of ‘Prince of Peace’ because He offers us peace with God. He offers us peace with God because Jesus took His perfect obedient faithful life to God and laid down His life for us on a cross and paid our penalty for our imperfect disobedient faithless life.
He is peace.
He is the Prince of Peace
PRAYER
