December 4, The Father gave the Son
For to us a child is born and to us a Son is given. Isaiah 9:6
During the reign of Ahaz, Judah trembled against opposing threats of the Syro-Ephraimite conflict coming against them nationally and militarily (Isaiah 7). Nevertheless, God promised that eventually Assyria and Babylon, would fall (Isaiah 8). Amid unbelievable devastation subsequent to Ahaz and Judah’s disobedience, a hope was building. And in chapter 9, the hope is announced: “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”
Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future, He will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:1-2)
The devastation would soon be consumed by the LIGHT that shines in the darkness. Isaiah 9:6 announced that “a child is born, and a son is given.”
Ray Steadman observed, “God’s answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child. The power of God is so far superior to the Assyrians and all the big shots of this world that He can defeat them by coming as a child.”[1]
God has made Himself fully known though His Son. A Son was given to announce the fullness of God, and the Father was pleased (Colossians 1:19-20).
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him, 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.
In history, this announcement gave hope to the temporary crisis of God’s people. This same announcement has brought eternal hope to our own crisis of sin and brokenness. The hope is Jesus, and the Father was pleased to give us this hope through the Son. And through the Son, many can become sons and daughters of God (2 Corinthians 6:18).
And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty.”
J. B. Philipps commented,
“On that first Christmas morning, the world must have seemed a hard place to Mary. At the end of a weary journey there was "no room at the inn." The only shelter offered to her was the "lowly cattle shed." I find this a great mystery and a great wonder. Every day science discovers more and more of the complex wisdom of God. Anyone who uses his mind has a much bigger idea of God than our grandfathers, or even our fathers ever had. Yet God has been here on the planet in person. What we are celebrating ... is not the feast of jolly old Father Christmas or good King Wenceslaus, or a beautiful fairy-tale. We are celebrating the visit of God. How marvelous!”[2]
Rejoice today that a Son was given so that you could become a son or daughter of God. This is Our Father. This is God. This is Christmas.
[1] Ray Steadman, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners (Wheaton: Crossway, 2005), 99.
[2] J.B. Phillips in For This Day. Christianity Today, Vol. 36, no. 15.