The Heart of Christmas: The HOPE of Redemption

One needs only to turn on the television or read the paper to see the darkness that is present in our world.  Whether it is a gunman massacring children in Newton, CT or a small child being stabbed right here in our parish, this world is full of evil and darkness.  Where do we find hope in such a dark world?  To whom or what shall we look?  God, in His Word, does not leave us hopeless and end the dark, but promises that one day this broken world will be redeemed and its darkness dispelled for good.  I want to show you today how the heart of Christmas is the hope of this redemption that God is bringing through Jesus Christ. 

In Isaiah 9:1-7, Isaiah proclaimed this HOPE of redemption to God’s people who were themselves about to enter into a time of deep darkness and distress.  God here was giving His people more than hope for their nation alone; He was giving His people the hope of the world.  All people need to know the HOPE of God’s redemption that we read about in Isaiah 9:1-7, because only God can fix this broken world.  What we celebrate at Christmas is how He is going to.  Let’s read about his hope together:

[9:1]  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.  [2]  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. [3] 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. [4] 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. [5] For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

[6] 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. [7] 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 9:1-7)

We want to answer this question today: how do we come to a deep HOPE in God in such a dark world?  This passage shows us two ways that hope can erupt in the lives of God’s people. 

I.              Hope Erupts from Knowing What God’s Redemption will Mean for His People (9:1-5)

a.     God’s Redemption Means LIGHT for a People in Darkness (1-2)

God’s People were about to experience a time of “distress” and “deep darkness”, full of gloom and anguish.  Isaiah 8:11-22: [11] For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: [12] “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. [13] But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. [14] And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [15] And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

[16] Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. [17] I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. [18] Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. [19] And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? [20] To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. [21] They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. [22] And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.

Notice first that this darkness the people are going to go through is a darkness of their own making.  “Both houses of Israel” had forsaken their God and king and the darkness they are going to experience is a being “brought into contempt” by God.  They are coming under the discipline and judgment of the God whom they have forsaken.  But God promises here not to leave His people in darkness forever.  This deep darkness will not be their end.  God promises to transform their gloom into glory by shining a “great light” upon their darkness.

We too are a people who either have walked or do walk in a deep darkness of our own making.  We stand in need of God to open our blind eyes to the light of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).  This is what it means to be redeemed (saved): to have been moved out of the kingdom of darkness into God’s marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).  It means that we have come to know Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world (John 8:12).  But this passage promises more than our individual redemption, it also promises a day when the light of God will shine on this dark world in a way that will dispel all of its darkness forever (this is partially happening now through the gospel).

b.     God’s Redemption Means JOY for a People in Distress (3-5)

God’s redemption will not only mean light for His people, but joy as well.  God will multiply both His people and their JOY (9:3).  God likens this joy to like the joy of harvest time and the gladness of dividing spoil.  It will be like the joy a hunter feels after the hunt of a lifetime, or the athlete feels after winning a championship. 

This joy will come through God’s great deliverance (9:4-5), as He breaks the yoke of their oppressors as He did in Judges 6-7 with the Midianites.  This is a reference to the story of Gideon, where the miraculous power of God was put on display in the deliverance of His people.  This deliverance will be so great that there will be a peace like the world has never known.  Items that are needed for war will be burned and used for other purposes.  Isaiah 2:4, also speaking of the coming Messiah’s reign, says “[4] He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”  This is Biblical gun control! 

This is why we sing, “JOY to the World!”  The coming of Jesus Christ into the world marks the arrival of infinite and eternal joy and gladness for the people of God.  This is another thing that it means to be redeemed: to experience the joy of God’s salvation!  Salvation ushers in the reign of Christ upon our hearts, bringing us joy, gladness, and peace with God forever.  What has you in distress today?  Do you know what it is to be happy in God?  You were made to be happy in God forever. 

II.            Hope Erupts from Knowing How God’s Redemption will Come to His People (9:6-7)

a.     God’s Messiah will Bring Redemption to His People (6-7a)

Here we see how God is going to shine this great light on His people and how He is going to restore their joy: through the sending of the Davidic Messiah!  Isaiah 9:6-7 picks upon the Messianic thread that has been running through the Bible since Genesis 3:15 and is a direct reference to the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7:12-16.  We learn from the New Testament that Jesus Christ is this promised Messiah (the child/son to be born).  [26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:26-33)

[68] “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people [69] and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, [70] as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, [71] that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; [72] to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, [73] the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us [74] that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, [75] in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. [76] And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, [77] to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, [78] because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high [79] to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:68-79)  Jesus is the LIGHT and JOY of the world!

Here in Isaiah 9:6-7, two descriptions are given about the coming Messiah.  We are first given His Name (6).  He will be called, “Wonderful Counselor,” meaning He will be a King of extraordinary wisdom.  We will “wonder” as His counsel.  He will also be called,  “Mighty God.”  This is an obvious statement of Jesus’ deity.  The baby born in a manger was Almighty God Himself, humbling Himself in human flesh.  He will also be called, “Everlasting Father.”  This is not a reference to God the Father, because the Father is not the Son, but is a reference to the fact that the Son, or Messiah, is equally eternal and that His rule will be like that of a benevolent father.  He will be a loving King who will eternally provide and protector His people.  Finally, He is called the “Prince of Peace.”  He will bring a global peace to the world and the nations will rely upon His counsel and just decisions in their disputes. 

The second description we are given about the coming Messiah is of His Rule (7a).  He will sit on David’s throne, and His rule will be characterized by peace, justice, and righteousness and will continue to expand for all eternity.  There will be no end to His Empire of grace. 

I would say that one glaring application from this passage is that Messianic hope needs to be rekindled among God’s New Testament People, the Church.  At the time of Jesus’ birth, Messianic expectation, though misguided, was at an all time high.  How much higher should our hopes be in the return of the Messiah who has come and conquered Satan, sin and death!  God’s people should be a people full of HOPE: bursting with light and joy because we know that God’s Messiah has come and will come again!  Too many Christians today want to rest their hopes in the wrong places.  Don’t rest your hopes in the American government; rest them in Jesus Christ and the government He is bringing to this world one day! 

b.     God’s Zeal will Bring Redemption to His People (7b)

Everything we read in this passage is crowned with the hope of this guarantee: “the zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”  This is an ironclad guarantee that full redemption (some of which we still look forward to) will come to the people of God.  The baby in the manger is the beginning of the fulfillment of this promise, and the cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ proves that there is nothing that will prevent God from redeeming His people and His world.

God is zealously committed to redeeming His people, which includes you (or can include you).  This should be reason for great hope and confidence this Christmas!   Christmas should be a time where God’s people fill up with hope, looking back to the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb.  And it should also be a time were we look forward to the coming rule and redemption of God.