Sermon series: The Isaiah Oracles
Sermon series: Knowing God
Introduction
Romans 1:18 is one of the most important verses in the Bible - one of those searing statements that scorches away the veneer of deadly self-assurance. It describes the condition of every human being on the face of the earth apart from Christ. It tells us the reason why the Gospel, by which sinners are made right with a holy God, is so necessary! For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth…
That verse tells us that right now, in this moment, God is unveiling His wrath (He is making known His steady, unabated anger) against all godlessness (That's every word, thought, and action that reflects a lack of reverence for God. It's God's reaction to the belittling of His glory that goes on all the time around this world!) and unrighteousness (that's every moral wrong in our character and our life).
The reason we need the rescue of God's salvation is because God is violently opposed to every expression of evil. And He is not waiting to pour out His wrath on sin one day in the future; He is actively coming against millions upon millions of acts of ungodliness and unrighteousness in this moment around the globe.
Why don't people see this? Why don't they connect the dots, understand their dilemma and flee to Jesus? Why aren't there droves of people who look around and say to themselves, "Surely this is not the way life is not supposed to be!" and come to Christ?
Because v. 18 says people ... who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. All of us are spin doctors. Every one of us is spring-loaded to put his own failings in the best light and the failings of his adversaries in the worst light. We soften our own sins with mild words and skewer others with hard words. Or worse, we see the sins of others and are completely blind to our own. And when the truth hunts us down and corners us, we dodge. We distort. We evade and mislead and blame someone else and lie. That's suppressing the truth.
Straight up statements like this from God point up the facts for you and me and our families and friends and next door neighbors and co-workers: we need a Rescuer, Someone who is both willing and able to step forward on our behalf, Someone who knows all the details about us and loves us anyway, Someone pure enough to remove our sin and guilt from us, Someone strong enough to personally take the hell we have coming from a holy God, and Someone committed enough to change us from the inside out.
Lay hold of that reality and then consider THE CHARACTER OF just such a SAVIOR, given not by His contemporaries, but by a man of God who pre-dated the arrival of this Heaven-sent Hero by 700 years. We are spending time this Christmas season with Isaiah, who had the burden of proclaiming God's truth while his nation eroded before his eyes under the leadership of King Ahaz.
Ahaz was the godless 20-something year old king of Judah who faced a grave national crisis. Judah was threatened in two ways: internally, a moral, spiritual rot was corrupting God's people; externally, the impending attack from multiple enemy armies was creating wide-spread panic.
Isaiah was sent by God in this desperate hour to put Ahaz in mind of unbreakable promises from on high. In Isaiah 7, God goes out of His way to stir Ahaz's faith with bold assurances and an amazing validating sign. Along with this positive reinforcement, there was also warning: If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all (Isa. 7:9). "If you don't trust Me now, King Ahaz, you will see everything you're trying to do unravel."
With the grace of God and the wrath of God brought to bear upon the king's heart, you would think that this young man who had been raised to cherish and love and trust the Lord would flee to Him for refuge and lead his nation back from the brink. Instead, Ahaz shoved God to the sideline, trading His presence and power for an alliance with the pagan nation of Assyria.
And so it was that the sun began to set for southern kingdom of Judah. To put it as Romans 1 does, Ahaz and those who followed him suppressed the truth, so the wrath of God would be revealed against their ungodliness and unrighteousness.
Chapter 8 of Isaiah's prophecy details how this happened. The shadows of a growing despair and deep gloom descended on Judah. Ahaz and the majority of the people of Judah had departed from God; so God handed them over to their sin and to their enemies. Already, the northern-most part of Israel had felt the lash of the Assyrian war machine.
As it became increasingly apparent that the godless plans of Ahaz were failing, people began turning to superstition and even the occult to find guidance, to find some reason for hope. King Ahaz even burned his son as an offering to the despicable false gods of the Canaanites (2 Kings 16:3). It was a time of moral darkness, frustration, anger, and hopelessness under the judgment of God.
Let me ask you a question: Is this all you can expect for those who depart from the Lord? Is judgment God's only response to the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men? Is that all we should expect in our own nation, with the degradation that we see within and the threats to our security without? "Well, we're on the downhill slope now. God is judging us." But is that God's only response?
The resounding and repeated answer throughout the Bible is "No!" During this age of hope, God warns us with judgment to flee the wrath to come. But He also woos us with His kindness. He makes a way to deal with our sin. He builds a highway that leads us back to God. And when by grace we see it for ourselves, it feels like the best news we ever heard!
Something happens to Isaiah between Chapter 8 and Chapter 9. Right in the midst of describing to the people of Judah what they can expect as a result of their rebellion against God, the Holy Spirit sort of fast-forwards time for Isaiah. Suddenly, the prophet sees the future God will bring, and the contrasts to the present gloom in Judah are so fantastic and so beautiful that one can barely read it without tears. This section of Isaiah 9 begs to be sung.
In the summer of 1741, a 56-year old composer who was suffering from poor health following a stroke and was in considerable financial difficulty, was at the low point of his musical career. He wanted to do something different than his previous works, and had been reading much from the very book of the Bible you have open before you. Captured by the Scriptures, he set to work writing music that matched the glory and meaning of the biblical texts.
Twenty-four days later, George Frederick Handel had finished Messiah, the most famous oratorio ever written. We all know the majesty and triumph of The Hallelujah Chorus that concludes this masterwork. But you should know that the twelfth song of the first movement captures the exuberant, skipping joy of Isaiah 9:2-7. I'm not going to sing it, but I do want to read it.
Instead of the darkness and doom of the present time in Judah, we hear Isaiah in v. 2 saying, The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.
Instead of the fears and the tears in this struggling, small nation, Isaiah thanks God in v. 3, saying: You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.
Instead of the bondage, as hundreds of thousands are taken as prisoners of war by invading enemy forces, Isaiah describes a day when For You have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as You did on the day of Midian. (v. 4)
Instead of almost constant war, Isaiah sees the end of war: For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire. (v. 5)
Right in the middle of pronouncements of God's much-deserved wrath, with wars and rumors of wars swirling in Judah, Isaiah describes the great reversal for sinners. Light will come into their darkness. The fears and futility, the bondage and the guilt would be taken away. Joy in God will overtake those who once resisted and rebelled against God. And complete victory over every enemy will come for people who deserved the worst from a perfectly holy God.
Who is this glorious and powerful Hero, who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves? How will I know how to find Him? Isaiah tells us! Read his description of the character of the Savior: For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.
God's plan is a Person, a Messianic ruler unlike any other world leader. He is both human (a child will be born) and divine (a son will be given). The government will be upon his shoulders, meaning He rules as a King. Four titles underscore the character of this God-man who is a King, and they build upon one another.
I. Call Him Wonderful Counselor
Literally, "wonder of a counselor," and the word wonderful means "marvelous, extraordinary, beyond the normal capacity to perform." In other words, the counsel of this God-man transcends human wisdom. He doesn't need or want my counsel or any other's.
Romans 11:34 reminds us that His judgments and ways are unsearchably deep. "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?" Paul asks. And the question still hangs in the air to this day because He is the supernatural counselor, in a class by Himself. In any situation, in every challenge, He knows exactly what needs to be done. His plan of action is infallibly, wonderfully right. If you're looking for guidance in life, let me introduce you to a wonder of a counselor!
II. Call Him the Mighty God
Literally, this title is "the heroic, strong God." This child is God's Son, the Second Person of the Trinity and possessor of all the power of God. In a word, He is omnipotent.
If you tie this title to the previous one, it means that this God-become-man possesses the ability to carry out to the full all that His brilliant plans call for. That's why He is able to say, My plan will take place, and I will do all my will. (Isa. 46:10) In fact, this King is so powerful that He can absorb all the evil thrown at Him until none is left to throw, and still defeat His enemy!
And in this frustrating world, where I'm prone to grow weak and tired, I need a King who will be awake all night while I recuperate in sleep, a Champion who is strong enough to keep His word, and a Savior who is mighty enough to break the power of sin in my life. Call Him Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God. And…
III. Call Him Everlasting Father
Some translate this title as "Father-Forever." This child will be a father to me in the best of ways - loving, self-sacrificing, always looking out for my best. Ps. 103:13: As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. Fatherly compassion from this king will never come to an end. He is my Father-Forever.
Mingle this title with the two previous ones, and you realize that the effective plans of my Wonderful Counselor will always have my best as the goal, and the power to accomplish those plans will always be tempered to carry me along in a deep, loving involvement in my life. That's what it means to have a Father-Forever.
IV. Call Him Prince of peace
He will over-match all His enemies, He will conquer the hearts of His people, He will start something as a child that v. 7 says will never stop growing, and He will do all this without brute force, but by disarming His enemies and bringing peace.
The wondrous plans of my Counselor, who has all it takes to accomplish His designs, will only and always do what is right and best for me, and will never strong arm me, never force me. He woos and wins me with kindness and faithfulness and goodness so that I want to do His will.
Isaiah saw Him coming, the One who would be God's answer for sinners like you and me. He saw Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, He came with wisdom and purpose, with a perfect plan. Follow Him. As the Mighty God, He will accomplish all His purposes. The Devil threw everything he had at Jesus and couldn't thwart God's plans through Christ. Hide behind Him. As the Everlasting Father, He loves us endlessly. Enjoy being in His presence. And as the Prince of Peace, He reconciles us while we are still his enemies. Trust Him and welcome His rule.
Friends, I give you the world's final and greatest King, the King to end all kings, whose kingdom and peace will never stop expanding. I give you the Rescuer that we all need. I give you the Leader that we all long for. I give you the answer to the heart's great questions. I give you Jesus!