It would be great if you could keep that passage open in front of you as we look at it this morning,
but before we do that, let us pray together.
Father, as we turn now to your word, we ask that the words of my mouth
and the meditations of all of our hearts would be pleasing to you, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Now to say that 2020 has been a difficult year is probably the biggest understatement in the world.
We've all had tough times. Many of us have felt lonely.
It has been hard for every single person for different reasons.
And speaking with many people in our church, the physical darkness of our lovely Scottish winters doesn't seem to help much either.
As the days get darker and darker, the difficulties of 2020 seem to get harder and harder.
But celebrating Christmas in the middle of this darkness is actually incredibly fitting
because it is in the context of darkness that this wonderful prophecy of Isaiah was first heard.
This prophecy that is read out in churches across all of our world in the run up to Christmas.
Isaiah was a prophet, a man sent by God with a message to his people.
And Isaiah was speaking in one of the darkest times in Israel's history.
That's why it begins in verse 2 with the people were walking in darkness.
Because as Isaiah spoke these words,
there was a looming army en route to destroy the nation of Israel
and to carry them off into exile.
Imagine the darkness that they felt in their hearts,
knowing that in just a few months, weeks, maybe even days,
their lives would never be the same again.
Torn from their homes and scattered across the known world.
This passage isn't about doom and gloom,
but it is in this context of utter darkness and despair
that a wonderful message of hope is proclaimed.
Continue reading with me in verse 2.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
On those living in a land of deep darkness,
a light has dawned.
So it is in this moment of darkness that a great light can be seen.
And as we read on to verse 6,
we see that this wonderful light,
this wonderful message of hope,
comes in the form of a baby.
So put yourself in Israel's position at this point in history,
hearing this.
Enemies crouching at the door.
An army on a destruction path
that will cut through the heart of your home.
And your promise of deliverance and hope is a baby.
Now we have had
eight babies born into the church family this year.
And if you speak to every single one of those parents,
I guarantee you,
they will testify to the fact
that their babies are utterly dependent on them for everything.
A baby can do nothing for itself or by itself.
So what on earth can this baby do for us?
Maybe that's what they were thinking.
How can this baby be a source of great light and hope
to a nation that is plunged in darkness?
Well, the key is found in the four descriptions
that we read in verse 6.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given
and the government will be on his shoulders.
He will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
and Prince of Peace.
Now as we look back,
we know this baby is Jesus.
And this prophecy was written
some 700 years before his birth.
And yet these four descriptions are just as powerful now
to us in our times of darkness
as they were to the nation of Israel back then.
So let's take a look at each of these descriptions
of this little baby that we gather to celebrate
at Christmas time.
The first description we see
is that Jesus is a wonderful counselor.
So the majority of people in our world today
understand the idea of a counselor.
Someone who helps you think through
and work through some of the good
and some of the bad experiences
that you've been through in life.
And they use a bunch of different methods
all with the purpose in mind
of helping you be as healthy as you can be.
But often the focus in counseling sessions
can be that you have the power
within yourself to be well.
That you are able in and of yourself
to be fixed.
But Jesus is not a counselor
who comes alongside us
and tells us to try harder,
to do better.
He isn't a counselor who tells us
that we have the power within ourselves
to be sorted.
No.
Jesus comes alongside us
and he guides us
to the way that we should live.
And he draws alongside us in our pain
and kneels with us in it.
Often people can think of
Jesus like some mean fitness instructor
who shouts from the sidelines
that you need to do more,
be better, work harder,
and stop complaining.
But that is warped.
The message of Jesus
is completely the opposite.
Jesus draws alongside us
in our times of darkness.
He draws near.
He literally takes on flesh
to dwell with a sinful humanity
to guide us to the truth
that hope is not found in ourselves,
but true hope is only found in him.
Friends, in your darkest times,
in those moments where you feel like
breaking down and crying,
in those moments when you are
at your wit's end,
Jesus is the wonderful counselor
who draws near,
who comes alongside
and sympathizes with us.
Why?
Because he knows pain.
He knows suffering.
He knows what it means
to walk in darkness.
But even more than that,
he draws alongside
and he points us
to the place
of deliverance.
He doesn't pat us on the back
and say it will all be fine.
But he comes and gives us truths
that will carry us
through the storms
of life.
He comes and gives us
deliverance from our sins.
He offers light
in our darkness.
He offers life
to the spiritually dead.
Jesus is a wonderful counselor
who will walk with us
through the storms of life.
And friends,
from my own experience
of the few years
that I've had
on this earth,
I can tell you
that there is no better place
to be than in the arms
of a wonderful counselor
in whom
deliverance
can be found.
So Jesus,
this baby
that we celebrate
at Christmas
is described
as a wonderful counselor.
But secondly,
he's described
as mighty God.
Now we might be tempted
to look at the typical
nativity scene
and see a defenseless baby,
a crying infant
with no power,
a child who's done nothing
and can do nothing
by themselves.
But oh how wrong
we would be.
Because as we look
at the person
of Jesus Christ,
we are seeing
the very image
of the invisible God.
Here's what Colossians 1
has to say
about Jesus.
The Son
is the image
of the invisible God,
the firstborn
over all creation.
For in Him
all things
were created,
things in heaven
and on earth,
visible and invisible.
Whether thrones
or powers
or rulers
or authorities,
all things
have been created
through Him
and for Him.
He is before
all things
and in Him
all things
hold together.
But God was pleased
to have all His fullness
dwell in Him.
This little baby
is the one
who flung the stars
in their place.
This little baby
is the eternal Son
through whom
and for whom
all things
were created.
And this is
the eternal Son
who has supremacy
over everything.
Meaning that Jesus
is the Son of God.
The one who rules
and reigns
over the entire universe.
The one who is
in absolute control.
And the one whose power
is beyond comprehension.
The one whose glory,
majesty
and wonderful nature
could not be described
even with every single word
in every single language
on this world.
His glory
is unfathomable.
Friends,
if you want to know
what God is like
you only need to look
at Jesus Christ.
The person
of Jesus.
The one
in whom
the fullness
of God
dwells.
Now what a wonderful
message of hope
and light
in the darkness
that is.
As the darkness
looms,
as times of despair
and pain
come your way,
look to Jesus.
The eternal
Son of the Father,
God in the flesh,
the mighty God
who humbled himself,
took on flesh,
left his place
of glory
and came into
a sinful world.
Why?
So that those
who walk in darkness
can say that they
have seen a great light
and that they
can have deliverance
from their darkness
and walk
in his light
because he is
mighty God.
Wonderful
counselor,
mighty God.
And the third
description we see
is that Jesus
is everlasting
father.
Now maybe it's
strange to think
of a baby
as being our
everlasting father.
It's a bit of
an odd phrase
that maybe takes
us a while
to get our
heads around.
But it means
that Jesus
is our father
forever.
And this
conveys two
wonderful truths.
Firstly,
Jesus
is everlasting.
He has no
beginning.
He has
no end.
The life
of Jesus Christ
did not begin
at that first
Christmas
about 2,000
years ago.
but there
has never
been a time
where Jesus
did not exist.
That's where
what we read
about in John
chapter 1,
that wonderful
passage that
teaches us so
much about
the Godhead.
John 1
says this,
in the beginning
was the Word
and the Word
was with God
and the Word
was God.
He was with
God in the
beginning
and the Word
became flesh
and made
his dwelling
among us.
So Jesus
is everlasting
but secondly
he is described
as our
Father.
And the
Bible
normally speaks
about God
the Father
when it
uses the
word Father.
So why
is Isaiah
using the
description here
of Jesus?
Well the
overarching
feeling that
a good
father has
towards his
children
is love,
isn't it?
Sadly we
live in a
sinful world
where that
isn't always
the case.
but fathers
are called
and are
supposed to
love their
children.
And there
are countless
stories out
there of
fathers doing
wonderful
things out
of a
sacrificial
love for
their
children.
Just one
that I
read about
yesterday.
In 2019
Rick Buckley
from Michigan
underwent
surgery to
give his
eight-year-old
daughter
Charlie
his kidney.
And if he
wouldn't have
gone through
that surgery
she would
have died.
And when
he was
asked about
it he
said that
he was a
match.
So he
didn't have
to even
think about
it.
It was the
easiest decision
he's ever
made in
his life
because he
loves his
daughter.
And any
parent would
do that
for a
child.
Good
fathers
love their
children.
And as we
look at the
life of
Jesus there
can be no
doubt in
our minds
that he
loved people.
He sat
with those
on the
fringes
of society.
He went
towards those
who were
deemed unfit
and called
broken.
He healed
those who
were sick.
He taught
people about
their need
to be made
right with
God and
ultimately
he laid
down his
life in
the greatest
act of
love known
to mankind
so that
sinners like
you and
me can be
reconciled to
God, brought
into his
family.
There is
no greater
love than
the love
of God
for his
people.
That's why
Jesus is
described as
our everlasting
father because
he has always
been and he
will always
be and his
love has no
end.
Is it not an
immense privilege
to be counted
as sons and
daughters of the
living God?
To have Jesus
described as our
heavenly father
whose love goes
beyond words and
beyond boundaries.
it is a love
that we cannot
escape and
it is a love
that never
runs out.
So this baby
that we celebrate
at Christmas is
a wonderful
counselor,
mighty God,
everlasting
father and
the fourth
description is
that Jesus is
the prince of
peace.
Think back to
the nation of
Israel.
Sitting in one
of their darkest
periods in
history,
spiritually
nowhere,
rejecting God
and living as
they please,
refusing to
acknowledge the
God who has
saved them
countless times
from their
enemies,
refusing the
God who out
of love calls
them to repent
and to come
back to him.
What do you
think they would
want as they
look over the
hills and see
an army coming
to attack them?
They want
peace.
Well, what
wonderful and
comforting news
it is to hear
that Jesus is
described as the
prince of
peace.
Friends, this is
the message of
hope that should
carry us through
our times of
darkness.
As we walk
through the
valleys, as we
feel abandoned
and alone, as we
feel the pain and
darkness creeping in
at every second,
remember, Jesus is
your prince of
peace.
Peace in two
ways.
First of all, it
means peace with
God because Jesus
is the perfect
lamb of God who
takes away the
sins of the
world.
He lived the
life that we
never could in
complete obedience
to the Father's
will and yet he
died the death
that each and
every single one
of us deserves.
Bearing all the
weight of sin and
all the wrath of
God in our
place, he took
our punishment.
He took our
sin so that we
could be gifted
his righteousness,
his right standing
with God so that
we could be
forgiven.
Or as Romans 5
verse 1 puts it,
therefore, since
you have been
justified by faith,
we have peace
with God through
our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Friends, if you
are a Christian
this morning, you
are no longer a
stranger to God.
You are no longer
an object of his
wrath, but peace
has been made
between you and
the Almighty God
through the death
and resurrection of
his Son, Jesus
Christ.
And if you're not a
Christian this
morning, come to
this Prince of
Peace.
Come to the only
one who can give
you peace with God
and the only one
who can forgive you
and give you hope
and light in your
darkness.
So it means, first
of all, that we have
peace with God, but
secondly, it points
to a future day
where God and man
will dwell together
in perfect harmony
in the new creation.
That wonderful place
where there will be
no more pain,
where there will be
no more suffering,
no more tears,
and no more death,
for the old order of
things has gone
and the new has
come.
God's dwelling place
will be with his
people.
Now that is true
peace.
That is a peace
that will endure
forever and it has
been bought and
secured through the
blood of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus
Christ shed on the
cross.
And as verse 7
goes on to say,
there is no end
to this kingdom.
His reign, the reign
of this prince of
peace will last
forever.
He will rule with
justice and
righteousness and
that is a promise
that is not wishful
thinking because
this peace has been
bought with the
blood of Jesus.
Friends, this is the
wonderful person that
we remember this time
of year.
Not a defenseless
baby, but Jesus,
wonderful counselor,
mighty God,
everlasting father
and prince of peace.
This is our king
Jesus, the God
and God is the one
who accomplished
all of this.
So if you are in
darkness, friends,
remember that you
have seen a great
light.
He has revealed
himself to you in
the person of Jesus
Christ this Christmas.
Remember that hope
that can only be found
in him and run to
him.
Hope can be found
nowhere else.
Do not stay in
your darkness
because the light
has been revealed
to you.
Let's pray together.
Heavenly Father, we
thank you so much
that you sent your
son Jesus Christ
to reveal you to
us.
Jesus, we thank you
so much that you
willingly left your
place of glory and
came into our
sinful world to be
light in our
darkness.
But not only that,
Father, we thank you
that you sent your
son Jesus Christ to
be the solution to
our greatest problem.
That through his
death and resurrection
we are now counted
or can be counted as
children of you, the
great, awesome,
almighty, wonderful
Father.
What a privilege
that is.
And Father, would
you, would that be
the focus of our
Christmas this year?
Would we remember
that Jesus is the
reason for the
season?
In his name we
pray.
Amen.