We have a Christmas countdown chalkboard in our kitchen – everyday, I think, Yvonne (or someone besides me) updates the number – I started thinking, “why don’t we have a Labor Day countdown calendar, or July 4^th, or Mother’s Day, or Columbus (er, Indigenous People’s) Day?” Because waiting is baked into the fabric of Christmas – whether sacred or secular, there is more anticipation built into this holiday season than all the other holidays combined.

 

And, while kids are waiting for Santa, or anticipating where the creepy elf on the shelf is currently hanging out in your house, maybe there are more difficult things some are waiting for: the health diagnosis, the clarity in career, the change in your marriage, the longing for relationship, the lifting of depression and anxiety…waiting on something, maybe anything to change.

 

Today, we are celebrating the culmination of Advent, the arrival of Jesus – Contextually, Jesus was the long-awaited, promised Messiah, the one whom the nation of Israel was longing for to rescue them from the darkness of oppression, to free them from the occupation of Rome and restore them the once-great nation they were.

 

As we look at a prophecy in Isaiah 9, and see the promise of fulfillment for the Israelites, I want to bring you the same good news the angels brought to the shepherds in Luke 2: THE WAIT IS OVER! The longing of every human heart is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. – Isaiah 9:1-6 (ESV)

V1 – end of last chapter, Isaiah 8:22, judgment is pronounced on Israel – And now in chapter 9, Isaiah brings one of the more famous Messianic prophecies, a counter to the judgment of chapter 8 – “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 Naphtali, BUT in the latter time he has made GLORIOUS the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, the Galilee of the nations.” So, first, let’s make sure we understand what region he is talking about – last week, talked about Galilee, specifically Nazareth, and how it was a despised little town, mostly because of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic population – Remember, Nathaniel in Luke 1:46, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” - but here is how it got that way – when neighboring countries attacked Israel, they would most often attack from the north, so that area stayed in an impoverished, war-torn condition – in fact, many saw the people as a cursed people, because they were constantly living in brokenness - So, the GLOOM or dark cloud that hung over this region of Israel was being replaced with something GLORIOUS.

 

Maybe when you think about your life, you feel snake-bitten, constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, feeling like you are under a curse – I’ve been there – but what if, like Israel, God wants to turn your GLOOM into something GLORIOUS.

 

Illus – GLOWSTICK – literally created for brokenness, in fact until they are broken, they cannot be used for the purpose intended – AW Tozer said this, “It is doubtful that God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.” Or put another way, God does not use those he does not first bruise.

V2 – So, here, Isaiah moves from GLOOM and GLORY to DARKNESS and LIGHT – So, the LIGHT that is coming is a GLORIOUS LIGHT, something completely unexpected coming out of GLOOM and DARKNESS – Matthew 4:12-17, Matthew actually quotes V2, showing that Jesus was the fulfillment of this prophecy – but look at Matthew 4:17: The LIGHT was coming in the form of A NEW KINGDOM, and the invitation was to REPENT, or think in a new way about sin and what life can look like – John 1:4-5, “in Jesus was LIFE and that LIFE was the LIGHT of men – the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” – LIGHT shines brightest in DARKNESS – the DARKEST place in your life is where Jesus wants to shine the BRIGHTEST – And your worst failure, deepest broken place cannot overcome JESUS.

 

Jesus has stepped into my deepest failure, my broken marriage, my religious façade, my acting out of my need for validation, exposed, healed, restored, and now has reframed it through the lens of his light – he is using my past as a glow stick for his glory.

 

V3 – “Multiplied the nation…” – this is the promise by God to Abraham in Genesis 17:5, father of a “multitude of nations”- the LIGHT (Messiah) came for the WHOLE WORLD – increased JOY – uses two examples: Joy through PROVISION and Joy through VICTORY – So, here the coming MESSIAH is for all people, and the result of his coming is ABUNDANT JOY, PROVISION and VICTORY.

 

V4 – He has Broken the yoke, the staff and the rod – “as on the day of Midian” – He is referencing Judges 7, when God whittled down Gideon’s army from 22,000 to 300, and then used those 300 men to defeat Midian, showing that it could only happen BY the HAND of GOD.

 

V5 – He is bringing peace, and using the spoils of war as the seed for something new and better.

 

Ok, so let’s pause here – Isaiah says in these first 5 verses that God is promising GLORY from GLOOM, LIGHT in DARKNESS, an EXPANDED NATION full of ABUNDANT JOY, and a DEFEAT of the ENEMY – This is WHAT God is promising, and now we will see HOW he is promising to accomplish this:

 

V6 – Through a CHILD – he doesn’t match violence with violence, rather he comes in humility and vulnerability – “To us a child is born, to us a son is given” – Power-packed here – “a child is born…” – fully man (John 1:14), “a son is given…” – fully God (Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:15) – The power of the Christmas story is that God is not just FOR YOU, but in Jesus, he is WITH YOU – Isaiah 7:14, Immanuel, God WITH US - “and the government shall be upon his shoulder” – He is not just a ruler, but Colossians 1:16 says he is OVER ALL RULERS.

 

And he has 4 names:

Wonderful Counselor – we have our “go-to” people for advice, but his counsel is perfect. Always. He knows you. Psalm 139, sit, rise, thoughts, actions, he knows it all – So, he is PERFECT in WISDOM.

 

Mighty God – He names this coming child GOD – this is no ordinary child, not another in a line of kings – This child is GOD IN THE FLESH – PERFECT in POWER.

 

Everlasting Father – Jesus consistently said, as in John 14:7-9, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father”- and, just as a father cares for his children, Jesus has the heart of the father, and his fatherhood is ETERNAL – PERFECT in FAHTERHOOD.

 

Prince of Peace – This may be my favorite attribute of Jesus – he brings peace into every situation – When you follow the life of Jesus, he was constantly bringing peace into chaotic situations, turning water into wine, calming storms, healing sick, raising the dead, offering forgiveness and reconciliation – John 14:27, Jesus says he brings peace, but not the way the world does – Peace is not the absence of conflict, but a steady hand in the middle of your hardest moments – PERFECT in PEACE.

 

So, tonight, as we celebrate the coming of Jesus, think of it this way: It’s not that he CAME, but that HE COMES – and anyone who receives him, John 1:12 says, becomes a child of God.

 

If you are needing a solution in life, he is PERFECT in WISDOM

If you are feeling helpless or broken, he is PERFECT in POWER

If you are feeling sad or lonely, he is PERFECT in FATHERHOOD

If you are feeling anxious or worried, he is PERFECT in PEACE

GLORY for GLOOM, LIGHT for DARKNESS – The wait is OVER – Jesus has come.