"A Light Has Dawned" (Audio) - Dec 26, 2004 Text: Isaiah 9:1-7
Title: "A Light Has Dawned" Text: Isaiah 9:1-7
Larry Kirk December 26, 2004
A LIGHT HAS DAWNED
Certain key words are often connected with both Christmas and Christianity. One of those words is hope. Hope is important in the Bible, and it's important in life. I have already mentioned to you a book titled Hope the Heart's Great Quest, which concludes that every human heart yearns for hope.
But what is hope? In the Scriptures, hope is a kind of confidence in the future that lifts your spirits right now. My favorite illustration of hope goes like this: Imagine you're up in the mountains staying in a cozy cabin enjoying a beautiful white Christmas with your family. The plans for the evening are hot chocolate, a fire in the fireplace, and opening the Christmas gifts.
But you go for a hike before supper. The sun goes down, and you get lost. It starts to get cold and dark, and you're more than a little worried because you realize this could be dangerous. But then you see a familiar tree, a landmark beside a distinctive rocky outcropping. Your heart leaps with joy for you know where you are. You know that right over that little ridge you'll be able to see the cabin. And as you top the ridge, there it is, all lit up from the inside against the night skyline. You smile. Your spirits lift immediately. You've got renewed energy.
You still aren't there, and as you make your way back you sometimes lose sight of the cabin, but you still know it's there, and when you top the rise again, it comes into view once more. Even though you are not yet home, you know where home is. You know you will be there soon and what's waiting for you when you arrive. That's the biblical picture of hope. Hope lifts your spirits now, because you see with the eyes of faith the certainty and goodness of your future in light of God's promise.
The prophecy of Isaiah that we are looking at this morning was given to lift the spirits of God's people on a path that was, for a while, pretty dark. It describes the good things that will ultimately and fully come about at the end of human history, when Jesus Christ establishes His kingdom on earth. But because the kingdom of God is also being experienced partially and spiritually in the lives of believers today, it describes great gifts of grace that we can taste in this life, when Christ rules as king in our lives. It's a message of hope for all time and for all of us.
No Matter How Deep the Darkness, God Has Promised That a Light Will Dawn
Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” If you look at the context, you will see that Isaiah is speaking about the future. But he is seeing it so clearly in his vision and with such certainty that he describes it as having already happened. He speaks as if standing in the future when the darkness has passed and the light has already dawned.
Light here is a symbol of God's truth, God's presence, and God's grace. Isaiah helps us understand the difference between the darkness and the light by describing five good things that will happen when God's light dawns on this world in a new way.
The Dawn of God's Light Will Bring Relief for the Distressed
Verse 1 begins, “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.” The first word in verse 1, “nevertheless,” tells us that Isaiah is linking this with something that has previously been described. Here's how the last verses of the preceding chapter described the people. Isaiah 8:21-22 says, “Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.” The people that Isaiah describes are suffering the consequences of their own choices, but in their distress they grow angry and they look for someone to blame. They blame the government, and they blame God. Then they look around them for some way to fix their problem here on earth but don't find any answers.
What Isaiah is showing us is that the darkness is not just on the outside but on the inside. It's not just the circumstances of life but the way we respond to those circumstances. Isaiah pictures people who have brought darkness and distress on themselves by their own choices. Now, instead of responding to God's discipline with repentance, they curse Him, blame others, and grope around for a fix anywhere but in their own hearts.
What Isaiah says is echoed at the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation. Revelation 16:11 pictures a time at the end of history. God is pouring out His judgment on the world. But verse 11 says: “They cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.”
Scripture is saying it's not as if the darkness is just out there in the world. The darkness is within the human heart as well. But here's where hope is found: no matter how deep the darkness goes, no matter how dark the darkness is, God's light can penetrate the darkness and bring relief to the distressed.
So don't lose hope when you pray for people who are struggling in different kinds of darkness and distress. Don't lose hope when you look at either your own struggles or at the world today. When Christ came into our world, the Bible says He came as light into the darkness to bring relief to the distressed. When you receive Christ and live by faith in Him, you receive that light and that relief. But everything that we saw when Jesus lived on earth, and everything we experience through His presence in our lives today are just a preview of the even greater gifts that will be given at the end of history. That's cause for great hope.
The dawn of God's light will bring relief for the distressed.
The Dawn of God's Light Will Bring Honor for the Humbled
Verse 2: “In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan.”. Zebulun and Naphtali were tribal areas in the northernmost part of Israel. God had warned these people through His prophets that, if they kept turning away from Him, He would allow the Assyrians and Babylonians to conquer them. And that's what had happened. When the Assyrians invaded, they came down from the north through Zebulun and Naphtali, These were the regions that God hit first and hardest. They were humbled, but the prophet said they would be honored.
And they were. Roughly seven hundred years later, Matthew 4:13-17 talks about Jesus, saying, “Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali--to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: ’Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-- the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.’"
Isn't it somewhat comforting to know that sometimes those parts of our lives in which we have experienced the greatest humiliation end up being the parts into which God, in His grace, sends the greatest light. The place of humiliation becomes a place of honor. The Bible's message of hope is that not only can that happen in our lives individually, but it will happen in a dramatic and final way at the end of human history.
God's light brings relief for the distressed and honor for the humiliated, and the third thing Isaiah tells us is that . . .
God’s Light Will Bring Joyful Blessing
Verse 3: “You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.” The farmer rejoices over a blessing received, and the warrior rejoices over an enemy conquered. God's people are going to rejoice in the same ways. When verse 3 says they rejoiced before the Lord, that is, they rejoiced with a grateful recognition of His hand behind every blessing received and every victory won.
When Christ rules as king in our lives, we too experience many blessings, we witness many victories, and we too should be joyful. We have good reason for great joy. But we should also recognize that every blessing and victory we experience in this life is just a preview of the greater blessings and victories to come at the end of history when Christ establishes His kingdom on earth.
There will be relief for the distressed, honor for the humbled, joyful blessings, and then . . .
The Dawn of God's Light Will Bring Freedom from Oppression
Verse 4: “For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.”
What was the significance of the “day of Midian's defeat”? We read about it in the book of Judges, chapters 6 and 7. Judges says the Midianites were like an overwhelming plague of locusts swarming all over the land and destroying everything. But when God delivered His people from the Midianites, He did it through an insignificant little group of soldiers led by an insecure leader named Gideon. The point is that God works through things that seem insignificant and in ways that seem impossible in order to bring salvation and blessing. He worked through Gideon with just a handful of soldiers. He works through a baby lying in a manger.
When it comes to living a life empowered by hope, whether you are looking at your personal life or at the larger picture of human history, God is saying look up! Don't look at the depth of the darkness, the complexity of the difficulties. Don't look at your own strength or the strength of God's people or any other human resource as if any of those things could or should give you an indication of what your hope should be. Look up. No matter what kind of oppression you personally face or we all face as human beings, our source of hope is God. He gives hope not only for our personal lives but for all of human history.
The Dawn of God's Light Will Bring Peace on Earth
Verse 5: “Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.” The prophet says that one day there will come a peace after which all the equipment and accessories of war will not just be stored until they are needed again but will be destroyed forever.
Isaiah 2:4 says a day will come when God will “judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” God promises that there will be a day when peace on earth is not just a hope but a reality.
Isaiah gave this message as a message of hope for his time. It's recorded in the Scripture to be a message of hope for all of us.
When I was a little boy, I got my parents to let me open one gift on Christmas eve. That one present would be just a little preview of all the gifts to come. What the Bible tells us is that every gift of God's intervention, salvation, deliverance, and blessing is not only a gracious gift in itself but also a preview, a foretaste, of a greater day to come when all the gifts of God will be given to His people. So in the Bible's story, the deliverance from Egypt, the deliverance from the Midianites, the return of God's people from captivity in Babylon, the healing miracles of Jesus during His earthly life and ministry, the presence of God's kingdom in the hearts of believers today through the presence of Christ and His gifts of grace--all these are not only great gifts of grace in themselves but also, at the same time, a foretaste of greater gifts to come.
Some may look at all these promises and say, “This is just a naive optimism for some day way off in the future when life will be better. This kind of message keeps people from dealing with the real problems of the world today.” But the truth is, believing in God's future promises does not diminish your willingness or ability to deal with the problems of today or to experience life in the today’s world.
Years ago, C.S. Lewis pointed out that many of those who have made the most difference in this life are those who have thought most highly of the next life. Lewis was making a point about heaven and life after death. Isaiah was really talking about the kingdom of God on earth at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. But what's true of the promise of heaven is also true with respect to Isaiah's promise of an ultimately happy ending for human history that will be experienced by all who belong to Jesus Christ. Faith in a future promise doesn't make you indifferent to present problems. It gives you strength and courage to fight for what's right, confident that one day the ultimate battle between good and evil will be won by God and goodness.
Look at the history of the fight against slavery in America and England, and you will discover that the people who led the fight were people who believed that one day all oppression would cease. They were not afraid to risk their fortunes or reputations, because they knew they weren't fighting for a hopeless ideal. They were fighting for the lasting values of the kingdom of Christ. Those values would one day be victorious, and all who fought for them would take part in their ultimate victory. Believing that human history is going to end happily for those who belong to Jesus Christ does not and should not make you apathetic about life today. What it should do and what it actually has done for those who have believed it most passionately is give us a hope that lifts our spirits now and inspires us to live for God's kingdom today.
Bertrand Russell was a philosopher who wrote an essay titled “Why I Am Not a Christian.” He believed there was no God and that human beings are just an accidental collection of atoms. As for any future hope for individuals or for history, he believed that:
[n]o heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labours of the age, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Man's achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins.
That's an honest statement of the alternative to faith in God's promises. It says there is no real meaning to life today and there is no happy ending for history to come. Christian Scripture gives you a better hope for human history and, with that greater hope, greater motivation to live life courageously and joyfully.
But when this faith in God's promises for the future is attacked, the most important issue is not really whether it is helpful or hopeful but whether it is true. Is it true? If it is true that human history will end with the fulfillment of all of God's promises and the establishing of God's kingdom, wouldn't you want to know that?
Well, the Scriptures tell us clearly that it is all true. Jesus emphatically told us that we can base our present lives on this future hope. He talked about the blessings of His presence in our lives today, but He also talked about the future, the promises that would one day be fulfilled. A big part of living as men and women of God in this world is believing in what God has promised for the future.
No matter how deep the darkness in which we walk at any point in life or in history, God has promised the dawning of a new and better day. How does this whole new and better day come about? Isaiah tells us. He says all of these things will happen because “to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (verse 6).
The New and Better Day Will Come Because a Child Is Born and a Son Is Given
Verse 6 continues, “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.” All of the promises mentioned are going to come because of a gift given by God. The gift is a person, and the person is Jesus Christ. No one else in human history has received all of these titles. No one else has deserved them. He does.
In most religions you can separate the principles of the religion from the person who founded it. But you can't do that with Christian faith. All the hopes for a better day center on a person. His titles tell us that He meets all of our needs.
He Is the Wonderful Counselor
The word wonderful used here always means something that exceeds human capabilities. It's supernatural counsel. Isaiah is saying that God's kingdom will come, and Christ the King will rule with the supernatural wisdom of His own counsel. In light of that, shouldn't we make His counsel our rule of life today?
In his book The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard says that when Jesus Christ came into the world He brought the best information possible on the most important matters in life. He talks about Jesus as the ultimate expert on all the most important issues of life and character. Then he says, “Strangely, we seem prepared to learn how to live from anyone but him” (Dallas Willard, p. 55).
Life is difficult and demanding. It can be confusing, but ultimately here is a solution for every conceivable challenge and situation. Go to Jesus Christ, get His counsel, and then do what He says. He gives His counsel through His Word, His people, and his Spirit. Ask for His counsel on your life's issues now. Say, "Lord, what should I do about this situation, this person, this problem, this fear?" Allow Christ to counsel you.
But He is not only the Wonderful Counselor.
He Is the Mighty God
The shepherds elbow their way through the doorway of the stable that is dimly lit by a flickering torch and see a tiny infant. But in that infant body lives the spirit and personality of the Son of God, who has existed from all eternity together with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
Because He is Almighty God, He will fulfill His promises and establish His kingdom in His time. And because He is Almighty God, He can give you power that you do not possess today. His power is received by faith; it is poured into our lives in response to prayer.
He is the Wonderful Counselor and the Mighty God, and third . . .
He Is the Everlasting Father
Psalm 103:13 reads, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” As our eternal king, Christ is in reality what in old days kings often called themselves and seldom were: the father of His people. Jesus Christ cares for us with the compassion and concern of an ideal father. You never need doubt His love for you, His acceptance of you, or His willingness to take care of you.
He is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and fourth . . .
He Is the Prince of Peace
The peace Christ gives to us is a gift that cost Him a lot. He had to pay for our sins, so that we could be at peace with God. He had to come into our world and endure human hatred and personal suffering while perfectly keeping the laws that we had broken, so that we could be at peace with God. He had to die on the cross and rise again, so that we could be at peace with God. His life, death, and resurrection were and are a gift of God.
If you receive Him, He gives you the gift of peace. Peace with God, the peace of forgiveness and eternal life. No one earns that gift. We all receive it the same way--humbly by faith. It's not a change that you make in your life. It's not a promise that you make for the future. It's a gift that you receive by faith in Christ.
If you have not received Him and you want to, here's what you can do. Say, “Lord Jesus Christ, I believe in You. I believe You lived, died, and rose again to give me peace with God, and I receive You. I turn to You as my Lord and trust in You as my Savior.”
What the Scripture teaches us to do through the words of Isaiah is to look at what God gives us in Christ and promises to give us through Christ and to have a hope that strengthens us in life.
God has promised us all the goodness and glory of His kingdom. We already have a taste of the kingdom because we already have a relationship with the king.
The illustration with which I began this message falls short in one way. What Christmas tells us is that God has given us hope not only by giving us, through the words of the prophets, a glimpse of home, but He has actually sent His Son to meet us on the way and to walk with us. He's even brought some of His gifts for us, to give us a taste of the goodness toward which we are heading and to give us strength and joy on the way.
So don't be afraid, or anxious, or discouraged. Believe in Christ's presence and in God's promises. Stir up your faith and be filled with hope as you walk with Christ into a future filled with light.