A Child Has Come
by Sarah Wotten Corinth Missionary Baptist Church
Christmas season is officially here. Trees are decorated, and lights are strung. There’s a busyness in the air that will last until the last present is opened on Christmas Day. It’s a time when happiness is seen all around. We enjoy laughter and good food with our families and friends. We look forward to giving more than receiving. And, of course, there’s that paid time off work that we enjoy.
Amidst our Christmas gift lists and packed schedules, it’s easy for us to neglect the reason why we are celebrating Christmas at all. For the Christian, our joy this time of year should not be lessened if all the parties, gifts, and food were stripped away from us because our reason to celebrate is much grander than these events. Our reason to celebrate is because a child has come.
At the beginning of the book of Isaiah, the prophet is warning Judah that God will send judgement to the people because they have forsaken Him. The Israelites had dove so far into sinful rebellion that the people did not even recognize their Father anymore (Isaiah 1:2-4). There was largely no repentance, but only continual disobedience against what God had commanded His nation to do (1:5). Because of this, God said He was going to lay waste to the nation as a judgement against them (6:11). God would send a foreign nation to come against the people of Israel to destroy their cities, their farmlands, and even their very lives. The survivors would be full of anguish because of the utter destruction (8:22). Their lives will be defined by darkness.
Isaiah’s words paint a terrible picture. It’s a desolation full of hunger, thirst, and loss that none of us can imagine. But in the middle of this message of destruction, the Lord sends a message of hope. Those who were in anguish will no longer know gloom, but rather, joy (9:1). Those who have experienced a darkness so deep in their soul will see a great light (9:2). What could possibly bring about this sudden change? What can cause such joy while experiencing great sorrow?
Isaiah tells us the reason. “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,” (9:6, ESV). Those who once walked in darkness could rejoice in light because a child will be born. This child would be unlike any other ruler who Israel had known before. He would be God in the flesh who would rule with a wisdom greater than Solomon and with a might more powerful than David. He would bring about a peace that would last for all of eternity.
We have the privilege of looking back and seeing God’s faithfulness through all that He promised to do. God sent Jesus, born as a child in Bethlehem, to save not just Judah, but people from all nations. And while He will one day save us from the oppressive rulers of this world, He came the first time to save us from our greatest enemy – sin. This was why Judah desperately needed the Savior to come, and it’s why we need the Savior too. Jesus came to be the “…light of the world. Whoever follows [Him] will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” (John 8:12, ESV). The Light was promised in Isaiah, given in the Gospels, and even now comes to all who trusts in Him as the promised Savior.
This season leading up to Christmas, I want us to look at the titles of Jesus given to Him in Isaiah 9:6 and be reminded of why we celebrate the birth of our Savior. I am excited to slow down and meditate on the One who is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. These titles show us who He is, what He has accomplished, and what He will accomplish. I invite you during this Christmas season to consider with me the child who has been born and was given to us by God to be the life and light of men (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:4).
