Your Gracious and Benevolent King

(Isaiah 9:6-7)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
This morning,
Were looking at a very familiar subject
One that many other churches
In this city
And country
Will focus on today
The birth of Jesus Christ,
The Savior of the world,
Our Redeemer.

There are so many things

We could consider about His birth
If we had the time:

The fact that God promised to send Him

Even as far back as the Fall
When Adam and Eve needed hope
That all would turn out well in the end
After they made their tragic choice
To sin against God

We could look at how

He renewed that promise again and again
Throughout the Old Testament Scriptures
From that time, until He was born,
To encourage His people
To put their trust in Him.

We could look at the many other prophecies

And their fulfillments
Such as how He would be born of a Virgin,
In the town of Bethlehem,
In the line of David;
That His family would flee into Egypt
To escape Herods attempt to kill Him,
That they would return to Israel
And settle in Nazareth.
B. Preview.
All of these things would make an interesting study
And prove beyond any reasonable doubt
That Jesus is the Christ,
The Savior of mankind.

But what I would like us to focus on this morning

Is what this particular prophecy

Tells us about Jesus

And what He came into the world to do,
Because the eternal destination
Of each one of us here
Depends on how we respond
To what these verses say.
II. Sermon.
A. The first thing they tell us is who this One is that was to be born.

Obviously, He was no ordinary child.

Ive already told you
His coming into the world
Was so important
That God began speaking about it
From the very beginning
Right after Adam and Eve sinned
And fell away from Him.

The fact that He was born

Means that He is one of us
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us.
He is a part of the human race.
He had to be one with us
To be our Savior

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Adam and Eve sinned
Man sinned
You and I sinned
We owed the debt
And that debt was death
The wages of sin is death
Thats what you and I deserve
For all of our sins.

The One who would save us

Must therefore be a man
So that He could pay for us
Make the payment from our side
He had to be
A man who could obey for us,
And a man who could die for us.

But He could be no ordinary man

The crimes we committed
Every time weve broken
One of Gods commandments,
Weve committed a crime
Were against the infinitely holy God.
And so the only One

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Who could make a payment
Valuable enough to pay for them
Was God Himself.

Thats exactly whom Isaiah said this Child would be.

His name will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Notice the two names in the middle:
Mighty God,
Eternal Father
Or more accurately,
The Father of Eternity
The One who is eternal.

This One was none other

Than the Son of God Himself.

This Babe that was to be born

So many years ago in a cattle stall
And laid in a manger
Was no mere man
He is the eternal Son of God
Who became a man.

And as a man,

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He obeyed,
And He died
So that if you
Or anyone else
Would only trust Him
If you would only place your whole hope
Of ever entering heaven
On Him and Him alone,
You will be saved.

B. The second thing these verses tell us

Is what He came into the world to do.

Ive already answered that question in part:

He came to live and to die
That He might save all who trust Him.

But thats not all He came to do:

He also came to rule:
Jesus is not only
The only Savior from sin,
He is also the Lord.
Isaiah says, The government would rest on His shoulders.

He is the child God promised to David,

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To reign on his throne and over his kingdom (Isa. 9:7).
You might think
From what Isaiah says here
That He came merely to rule over Israel,
But its much more than that:
He came to rule the world.
Zechariah said of Him,
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation,
humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will
cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; and the bow of
war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; and His dominion
will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth (9:9-10).

After Jesus died on the cross,

And rose from the dead on the third day,
He appeared to His disciples
And to over five hundred at one time (1 Cor. 15:1-6).
He then ascended into heaven
And sat down at the right hand of God
Waiting from that time
Until His enemies were subdued under His feet (Heb. 10:13).
Thats what the Father promised Jesus
For His work:
Not only that He would give Him
All who would put their trust in Him,

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But that one day
Every knee would bow to Him (Phil. 2:10).

Thats why He would be called

The Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6),
And why Isaiah said,
There would be no end
To the increase of His government or of peace (v. 7).
The submission of His enemies
To His rule would bring peace.

The Father has given Him

All power and authority
In heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18),
Not only for the good of His church
To make sure that she can complete her work
And eventually arrive in heaven
But that He might establish Gods rule
And uphold His kingdom
With justice and righteousness
From then, until the end of time.

That Child,
Born of the Virgin,
Almost 2000 years ago,

Is not only God in human flesh,

He is not only the Savior of mankind,
He is the King of all kings
And the Lord of all lords (Rev. 19:16).

C. Now what does all this mean for you?

1. It means, first of all,
That if you want to see heaven,
You must trust Him
You must place your whole hope of heaven on Him.

You need to agree

With what God says about you:
That you have sinned and fallen short (Rom. 3:23)
You cant make it to heaven on your own.
Youll never be good enough.
Not only have you failed to obey God as you should
And He requires perfection
You could never pay the price
That even one of your sins deserves.

The simplest way to prove

That this is true
Is to consider

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That God His Son in the first place.

Why would the Father

Have sent His Son into a sinful and hostile world,
Make Him obey His Law from birth to death,
And put Him through
Such an agonizing death on the cross,
Pour out His wrath against sin on Him,
If you or anyone else
Could simply come to God without Him?
Paul writes, If righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died
needlessly (Gal. 2:21).
He wouldnt have sent Him unless He had to.

Jesus says He is the only way to God,

I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life,
No one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6).
Peter tells us, And there is salvation in no one else;
For there is no other name under heaven
That has been given among men
By which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

If you want to see heaven,

You must turn from your sins
And trust Jesus alone to save you.

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2. But you must also obey Him.

Jesus didnt come only to save
He also came to rule:
If you would see heaven,
You must submit to His rule.

In the movie, Chariots of Fire,

Which was based on the life of Eric Liddell,
Sandy McGrath,
Liddells coach and friend
Speaking with Liddells father
Following a church service,
Said Christianity sounded like a dictatorship.
Liddells father agreed,
Yes, it is a dictatorship,
But He is a benign and benevolent Dictator.
Thats what makes His rule so good
And any reluctance on our part
To submit to it so sinful.

Isaiah tells us that His government

Will ultimately bring peace.
But you cant have peace
Without justice and righteousness,

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And you cant have justice and righteousness

Without One who can ensure
That both are carried out.

Thats exactly what this King does.

He rules with justice,
And His Laws are the very definition
Of what is good and right,
Which is why not to submit to Him is so sinful.

If you would see heaven

You must submit to Him as your King/Lord
You must do the things
That show love and honor to Him,
And that are good and loving
Towards your neighbor.
When you do,
You show that His kingdom is within your heart
That you are a true believer.

Yes, Jesus is a dictator,

But He is a good and gracious Dictator.
Not only does He give you
Every good thing you have,

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Not only is what He requires good and right,
But He is also willing to forgive
All the crimes you have committed against Him
If you will only turn from your sins,
And trust in Him.

3. Is Jesus your Savior?

Is He your Lord?
If not, I invite you to trust Him this morning.
Dont let another reminder
Of Gods mercy and grace
Pass you by
Without receiving His gracious offer
Of pardon and acceptance.

Turn from your sins.

Trust Him alone to save you.
Then purpose to follow Him
All the days of your life,
And He will bring you to heaven. Amen.

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