The Gift of A Son

This message was an exhortation given at our 9 Lessons and Carols service.

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During the week, I posted the flyer for this carol on facebook and a friend commented asking me please is the 9 lessons in the Bible. I responded by re framing the Westminster Confession of Faith with what I called an intellectual answer. Listen to what I told him: “there are somethings not expressly set forth or mentioned in Scripture, however, their practise is common to human existence and can be justly practised without disobeying God. Celebrating anniversaries is common with humanity. We are celebrating the birth of Christ, a true historical event, therefore we are not in error.” 

But days after, for those of you who know anything about arguments, sometimes long after the argument, that solid point you could have used begins to pop up in your mind. Thinking through the conversation, I thought I could have pulled up a text in defense of a carols service. I was like how didn’t I think about this: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16). You will notice that there are two objects of our singing (I) One Another (2) God.  And in this carols service, we been doing just that. We have been teaching and admonishing one another by singing of what God did in sending his Son into the world. Music then is a powerful tool to teach doctrine. And for every song we have sung, you can attest we have been singing of the doctrine of the incarnate Son.

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child, and yet a King,

Born to reign in us for ever,

Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal Spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By Thine all-sufficient merit

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

We read Isaiah 9:6 before singing this (Pause).

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 Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This is what we are gathered this evening to celebrate. We are commemorating the birth of this promised child. A fulfilment of about 800 year old prophesy when Jesus was born. And you will notice that this prophesied child was no mere child: He was God manifested in the flesh: “His name shall be called Mighty God, Everlasting Father” These are no mere accolades (Pause) These speak of the divinity of this child we are celebrating today: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son” (John 1:14). Christmas then is when God took on human flesh.  But you will ask, why did God do that? The words of the hymn we read earlier gives a clue: “Born Thy people to deliver” This truly is why this child was promised, to deliver God’s people.

At the time when the prophecy in Isaiah 9:6 was made, God’s people had suffered various attacks from their enemies, they have been carried in exile to Babylon and back. And they were in danger of invasion by Assyrian army. God’s people then were living in fear, dejection and hopelessness. The opening words of the chapter describes their state in relation to the prophecy (Read vv.1-2). Before the prophecy, they were in gloom, anguish. They had been brought into contempt–they felt worthless and abandoned by God. They were living in darkness. This is a picture of distress, pain, fear, hopelessness, oppression.

And the story today is no different. We live in a world filled with fear, sicknesses, heart breaks, injustice, anxiety about the future, dashed hopes. And all these are a result of sin. They are just symptoms of a bigger picture. When sin entered into the world through the disobedience of Adam, the human race was plunged into a curse: a curse of separation from God, a curse of estrangement between humans and even creation itself. 

But for those of us who have believed in Jesus, Christmas for us  is a celebration of hope, when God walked on this earth to reconcile humanity to himself. We have hope because Christ is in us (Christ in you the hope of glory). We have peace because we have been justified(therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God). We have the Prince of Peace on our side, therefore no devil, no demon, no witch…what others fear out there and spend their time and attention on, shouldn’t be our bother.  This child has authority over the affairs of this world including your life: the government shall be on his shoulder. That is authority over all things.  He is a wonderful counsellor— we can trust him with our lives as he guides and leads us through life in his word—his word is a lamp unto our feet and unto our path. He is a Mighty God– a God not moved by the circumstances of our lives. He is in control, working out everything for his purposes. He is an Everlasting Father. A Father who is always with us. You may feel dejected, but he has promised never to leave us or forsake us. Matthew at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry tells us the Isaiah 9 prophecy has been fulfilled in the life of Jesus (Read Matthew 4:1-16)

If you don’t know  Christ by faith, all of your celebrations of the season are futile. It is empty merry making. To make the season meaningful to you, trust in Christ. Put your hopes and fears on him. He is God’s greatest gift to the world. No gift you receive this season is comparable to the gift of eternal life offered through Christ in his death and resurrection to save sinners. To the sinner who will believe, Jesus will be your Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counsellor, Everlasting Father. And you will surely find rest in him. Amen

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