Unto Us A Son Is Given

Unto Us A Son is Given

Isa 9:6

Introduction

Every year there is an increasing assault on the celebration of Christmas

There is always a push by those who want to take Christ out of Christmas because they don’t want non-Christians to be offended

I want you to know that without Christ, there is no Christmas

Christmas stands for “Christ Mass” which means to celebrate in Mass the birth of Christ

That’s the whole reason we celebrate because of Christ who was born…to live…and then die…and to live again!

This morning I want us to look at the Christmas story found in Isaiah 9:6

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (NKJV)

Pray

Trans: Listen, God did not have to send a Savior, but He did because of His magnificent love for us…how do I know? Because it says…

1. For unto US…

For unto us what? A Child is born – A Son is given

The Christmas season is about giving because it was first given unto us

God looked down on mankind and had great compassion…He desired for us to be redeemed back to Himself

We are His most precious creation and He wanted us back with Him

Isaiah had been given the prophecy a few chapters and about 200 years earlier in Isaiah 7:14 of Who was coming

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”

Notice in this passage again it says “the Lord Himself shall give”

To whom did He give? To US a child is born

What did He give? A Son…but truly if we look at Isa 7:14 again we see “the Lord Himself shall give”

What’s that really saying…look again “the Lord shall give Himself” to us!

Luke 2:11 says “For unto YOU is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

John 1:14 says “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us…”

1 John 4:4 says “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world”

Unto Us a Son is given…

Christmas time is great and I love this time of year…but it is time for me to reflect and see that UNTO ME was given the gift of His Son

Paul says in 1 Cor that it is an indescribable gift…why? Because He gave Himself as a gift…incorruptible, unblemished, without sin…an everlasting imperishable gift.

Trans: Notice secondly that it says…

2. He shall shoulder the government

Just as it is today…even back then government was considered a burden and was often times described as being on the back or shoulders

The Hebrew for government here is “misrah” which is where we get our English word “misery”

Webster’s defines government as “the form or system of which to rule”

When Isaiah was told the “government shall be upon His shoulder” he was saying that the burden of sin…the misery of sin shall be upon His shoulder

He shall take upon Himself the weight, the burden, the misery of our sin and will conquer it…he will rule over it…He will make it so that it cannot rule over us.

And it also represents that He will rule forever and ever…His kingdom will reign forever and ever

There are so many verses in the bible about this I can’t list them all but here a few

Isa 22:21 “And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

Jer 23:5 “Behold, the days come, saith 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.”

Matt 28:18 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth”

Jesus was born to rule and reign over everything…He shall shoulder the government; the weight of the world; the weight of our sin and the burden of sin

Trans: Lastly, notice that Isaiah says…

3. And His Name Shall be Called…

I wonder if Shakespeare had been musing through Isa 9 the day he penned Romeo and Juliet when he said “what’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”

Some things like roses are almost too beautiful for words…they outshine their name

700 years before the first Christmas, the prophet Isaiah knew of Shakespeare’s dilemma for no name, or a series of names, could do justice to the coming Savior