Countdown till Christmas Unto Us A Savior Is Born Nov 29, 2015
30 Days until Christmas!! I was thinking about how easily Christmas seems to sneak up on us. Are you ready for it? I m not. But no doubt many of us over the next few weeks will be at Christmas parties, having dinner with family and friends, shopping. Christmas is the time for trimming trees and stringing lights and drinking hot chocolate and setting up a nativity scene. It s a time when we sing Joy to the world and we pray for peace on earth and good will towards men. Christmas it s the most wonderful time of the year. Or at least it s supposed to be. Yet it s a well documented fact that people struggle more with discouragement and depression during Christmas time than any other time of the year. One survey says 45% of all Americans dread the Christmas season because it s just another reminder of an absent loved one, or a lost job, or unrealized dreams as one more year passes us by. So what can we DO to get through these holiday blues? Some of you might be thinking spiked eggnog! NOT! I think you can sum up what we need in one word. HOPE! Hope is the essential ingredient for an abundant life, the kind of life that Jesus wants for us. The Bible says in Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick... When hope is crushed, the heart is crushed, The fact is we all need hope. Hope is a powerful force but it can fade away especially during the Christmas season. But here s the thing I believe that TRUE and LASTING hope is available to EVERYONE and is the result of a personal relationship with Jesus. And that s the core of Christmas. Jesus was so much more than a baby born a couple thousand years ago to a poor family on the outskirts of nowhere. There s something very different about the Christ child. And it s those differences, those qualities that can give us everlasting hope. 1-2
700 years before Jesus was born, a prophet declared the qualities of a Savior that God promised. It s actually God s greatest gift to us. Look at Isaiah 9:6, you may have heard these words before, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. In this verse there are 4 qualities that describe the coming Savior who we know to be none other than the Christmas child, Jesus Christ. Jesus was the child is born. Jesus was the Son is given. And when you put your faith in him and believe in these qualities, you ll have HOPE. So let s take a look at them. The first quality that Isaiah used to describe the coming Savior is QUALITY 1: WONDERFUL COUNSELOR The Hebrew word for wonderful means miracle and often refers to the impact that s created by a supernatural act of God. How about this for a supernatural act of God he sent his Son to be born as a human being, in a barn, to a poor virgin girl named Mary, to live a perfect life and then pay the price for all of our sin by dying on a cross. Talk about leaving an impact! It s also the greatest act of love ever demonstrated. The Bible says in Romans 5:8 God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So the wonderful in Wonderful Counselor doesn t just mean fantastic or amazing as a dictionary defines it, it also means miraculous. Jesus is a miracleworking Counselor who does what no one else can do for you. When we think of a counselor a lot of times we think of a therapist or a shrink. Someone you go to download your problems on, and then they give you their expert opinion and drugs. A counselor listens and then gives advice. 1-3
The biblical idea of counsel involves both careful listening and clear advising. It describes someone who is wise; someone who really knows how to live and will share that knowledge. Here s the big deal, the wisdom of Jesus applied to your life is supernaturally insightful. You can t get it from any other source. And the thing is we can t afford to be making decisions without a guiding word from Mr. Wonderful, Miraculous Counselor, and you can t call Him Wonderful Miraculous Counselor if you don t embrace His wisdom for your salvation, your family, your finances, your future everything. So how do we receive His advice? Christians have very rarely gotten a direct word from Jesus. Here s how it works most of the time. The more you are immersed in Scripture and hang around other believers, the more clearly you can discern the mind of Christ. His wonderful counsel comes through His Word and His people. Does that make sense? So the question is are you keeping regular appointments with your Wonderful Counselor? And are you following His instructions? His wisdom is in place whether we use it or not. Why not let this be the season to realize how Jesus longs to work in your life, Hebrews 4:16, Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Message: So let s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help. There you will meet your Wonderful Counselor. Jesus is the embodiment of God s unconditional love. And he died on the cross to pay the price for the sin of everyone who puts their faith in him. John 3:16 from the Amplified Bible says For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He gave up His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal 1-4
life. For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through him. As Wonderful Counselor, Jesus didn t just die so that you and I could get to heaven. Jesus died so we could get to God. The God of the universe wants a relationship with you. The second quality Isaiah uses to describe the coming Savior is QUALITY 2: MIGHTY GOD Webster's dictionary says that MIGHT is: 1. The power, force, or influence held by a person or group. 2. Physical strength. 3. Strength or ability to do something So, when we talk about Jesus being our "Mighty God" it means he has power, influence, strength, and the ability to do something. It s a no-brainer that God is powerful and has the ability to do anything, I mean He's God. But what does God's might look like? In Genesis God's might is shown in His "speaking" everything into existence. God's voice must have some serious mojo to make everything from nothing! Then you could look at what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah, or tons of other shows of power but I want to look at one that I think shows God's might to its greatest degree. It s this: Jesus as the mighty God is in CONTROL of ALL things. One of the attributes of God that s most comforting to me is his sovereignty. His supreme authority, power and control. His freedom from outside interference. His total dominion over ALL things. Just knowing that nothing happens in my life that s outside of his knowing and outside of his control. That the good, the bad, and the ugly things that happened in my life He knows about! And He cares! And he s working behind the scenes. 1-5
Don t get me wrong. Jesus doesn t cause the bad and ugly things in life. But he allows them in order to grow our faith and mature our character more and more into His image. After all, there can be no transformation without tribulation. The Bible says in James 1:2-4 in the Message translation Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way Peter alludes to the same idea in 1 Peter 1:6-7. He s talking to Christians that were under the persecution of Nero some of the most sadistic and cruel persecution that Christians have ever experienced. He s saying there s HOPE coming. So live your life with one eye on eternity. There is wonderful JOY ahead even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through MANY trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. We can t forget that God accomplishes his purposes through our problems. That he has a reason, that he s working, that he s in control. So no matter what s happening in your life you can be confident that Jesus as the MIGHTY GOD is in complete CONTROL. He has ALL authority and ALL power and is quite literally holding your life together. That s MIGHTY GOD Jesus! Colossians 1:17 in him (Jesus) ALL things hold together. John MacArthur speaking on Colossians says this: Not only did Jesus create the universe; He quite literally holds all things together. He is the power behind every consistency in the universe. 1-6
Another commentary says What holds the universe together is not an idea or a virtue, but a person: the resurrected Christ. Without him, electrons would not continue to circle nuclei, gravity would cease to work, the planets would not stay in their orbits. Do you really think that if Jesus can hold the universe together that your problems are too difficult for him? There s NOTHING that can happen in your life that s outside the power of Jesus. I know there are families in our church that are really going through a difficult season right now. The good news is Jesus knows! Think about this I sometimes think God gives us the beauty of nature just to show off. The next time you see an amazing sunset think about it this way God s showing off. He s painting this amazing sunset for me. And if God can do that, he can most certainly take care of me. God can and will take care of you. Sometimes we tend to go, Okay Jesus. You can have these things but I m going to hold on to that one. How s that working for you? He wants you to put your EVERYTHING at his feet and just trust in who he is. That s why the Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:7 to cast some of your care on him. Not some Cast ALL your cares (your worries, your anxieties) on Him, Because he cares When you believe that as the MIGHTY GOD Jesus has EVERYTHING under control. Then you ll be filled with hope. The third quality Isaiah used to describe the coming Savior is QUALITY 3: EVERLASTING FATHER But isn t Jesus the SON of God the everlasting Father? This may sound a bit confusing but here s the deal. The phrase in Isaiah 9:6 The Everlasting Father is translated as being the Father of the world to come, which is speaking of the 1000 year reign of Jesus. It s when the world as we know it ends and Jesus returns. 1-7
And that helps explain the earlier phrase and the government shall be upon his shoulder. That s saying, Jesus will take over the running of the world. And that s what will actually take place in the world to come, the 1000 year reign of Jesus, when Jesus will TAKE OVER his Father's kingdom for 1000 years to rule and reign as a MIGHTY GOD, and as an AMAZING COUNSELOR, and as a PRINCE who brings PEACE. Jesus, as God the Son has all the divine attributes of our heavenly Father. Hebrews 1:3 says He [Jesus] is the perfect imprint and very image of [God]. Therefore Jesus has the same heart for us as the Father, and therefore Jesus as the everlasting Father ALWAYS keeps His promises. So when the Bible says in Psalm 46:1 that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, you can believe it. And when the Bible says in Psalm 84:11 that For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. you can believe it. When you believe that Jesus as the EVERLASTING Father always keeps his promises you ll be filled with hope. The fourth quality that Isaiah used to describe the coming Savior is QUALITY 4: PRINCE OF PEACE Jesus as the Prince of Peace has made peace between God and me. Jesus is the leader of peace and offers it to others. Before He died, He told His followers in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" When Isaiah refers to Jesus as the Prince of Peace he s referring specifically to the fact that Jesus has made peace between you and God. Before a person trusts Jesus with their life they are separated 1-8
from a holy and righteous God because of their sin. So there s a barrier between us. And there s a price that needs to be paid for that sin to be forgiven. God can t say, I know you didn t mean it. Boys will be boys and girls will be girls. So if you promise not to do it again it ll be okay. because he d be violating his nature as a holy and righteous God. So God has to punish sin. That s the BAD news. The GOOD news is Jesus took that punishment on himself on the cross. Before Jesus, all we can expect from the Father is his anger and fury. But Jesus took upon himself all of God s anger. The Father poured out the entire cup of his anger, upon his Son. That means there s none left for those who put their faith in Jesus. You never have to worry about God s anger because Jesus took it all. He took our place so God s no longer mad at you because of your sin. Jesus has literally made peace between you and the Father. Look at what it says in Colossians 1:19-20 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself ALL things whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making PEACE through his blood, shed on the cross. Jesus as the Prince of Peace has made peace between you and the Father. When you believe that you ll be filled with hope. So as we head into the Christmas season it s a great time to ask where are you at today? Which of these four qualities did you need to hear or be reminded of? Jesus, our WONDERFUL miraculous COUNSELOR, revealing God s love for us that s greater than the universe. Or that Jesus as the MIGHTY GOD has all your problems under control? There s never a time when something happens God says, Oh, I didn t see that one coming. 1-9
Maybe you resonated with the fact that Jesus as EVERLASTING FATHER always keeps His promises. All 7000 plus. Or maybe today s the day when you ve finally connected the dots and you realize that as a sinner you re separated from a holy and righteous God. And now you understand that Jesus wants to bring PEACE between God and you. True and lasting HOPE is available to EVERYONE and is the result of a personal relationship with Jesus. And that s the core of Christmas. The reason for the season. If you were to say, you know Scott, I GET IT. I don t understand everything but I GET that I m a sinner and I need a Savior. I want to invite you to just add a me too to this prayer. Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe that you died to pay the price for my sin. And I m sinner who needs a Savior. Will you forgive me of my sins and come into my life? And would you enable me from this point forward to follow you and to serve you? Thank you Jesus for being our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. I pray these things in your name. Amen. 1-10