Filed under: a buttery garlic sauce.
What do you want for Christmas?
This year, I asked for a few things, but my heart has made quite the transformation since last Christmas and I had a hard time thinking of things that I wanted. Why, you ask? Mostly because I don’t need anything, really…I have everything I want, I have everything I need, and I am ultimately content with where I am. Content in the sense that if I had to stop here, I would be fine with that…However, I do have quite the discontent with those who are too content in the present, so they become stagnant. We are being sanctified to God’s end, not our own.
Anyways.
We now move into a widely known portion of Isaiah…chapters 7-11. A large section, I know, but we’re focusing on one significant theme in these chapters…the prophecy of Jesus Christ. People have been quoting this for centuries…Handel with his Messiah, more Christmas cards than anyone can count, Christmas songs of the modern age…everyone remembers these verses as they pertain to the prediction of Jesus’ birth and destiny:
Isaiah 7:14 - “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 9:2 - “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who have dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”
Isaiah 9:6-7 - “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
Isaiah 10:24-27 - “Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: ‘O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. And the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”
Isaiah 11:1-5 - “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.”
Later on, we will look at the person of Christ, but these passages cover the destiny and mission that is set before Him. They all proclaim a reoccurring theme of a man who, when we look at these verses, seems like a guy who would emerge from the womb in armor and with a vengeance. When I sat down and studied this strange image, a few ideas came to mind.
1. Christ came into the world not wearing armor, but in a stable…as humbly as possible. These passages make Him sound like a politician, a militant force, or the like, not a baby. But could it be that He was, in fact, wearing armor? I don’t mean literally, of course; I mean, like what we read in Ephesians 6…”Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” The armor that would be given to us upon the death and resurrection of Christ that atoned…could it be that Jesus was born into and continued to dwell in this armor as long as He was on the earth? We see it when He is beaten and bludgeoned for our transgressions. We see it when He spends 40 days in the wilderness being tempted and tried. He was the full embodiment of God, anyways.
2. When we see this image, how in the world can we remain in a place of desperation? If the might and strength of God can be embodied in an infant, how much more can it be seen and demonstrated in us, with our speech, our movement, our actions? Oh yes, the truth that Jesus was the Son of God and we are merely humans with a deeply rooted sin nature…that does pose a problem, doesn’t it? Wrong. When Christ died for us, He bridged the gap between humans and God Himself by creating a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit within us. This means that people can “see the Lord in you/your actions” (ever had someone say that to you?), that means that the Lord’s might can be demonstrated in us when we rely on Him for strength, endurance, confidence, etc. SO…if the might of God lives in you, why are you still hurting like you are? This is a question I ask myself everyday.
3. All of these great names applied to a baby. Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Everlasting God. Goodness…can you actually wrap your mind around that? I still can’t. When He was born, He was already being worshiped, He was already setting out on this mission. He was given the mission upon birth of reconciliation, of sacrifice, of conquer. This, my friend, is why Jesus sounds like a politician, a militant force, a Counselor, a Prince, Mighty, a GOD…
He is.
We wake up on Christmas morning. A tradition in my house…my sister and I have to wait at the top of the stairs until my mom has everything ready. I’m pretty sure she thinks my sister still believes in Santa. My sister rushes down the stairs…Christmas music is playing. The house is warm and smells like coffee. I have to stop for a moment at the top of the stairs before I can come down because when I descend, I think of the real meaning of Christmas. Christmas is about the power of God dwelling within an unlikely warrior, sending Him on an unlikely charge towards a cross, and presenting the miracle of an unlikely resurrection, an unlikely rescue for sinful people. It’s unlikely, but its true. And that’s what pushes me to tears. I can be as angry as I want, but the unlikely happened for me, for everyone in my living room, for a world, and not one of us deserved the Gift besides the Gift himself.
And I, an unlikely vessel, became a vessel of the Holy Spirit. Because a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace found Himself as a child to be nearer to me, so that I would draw nearer to Him. An honest, good-seeking politician. A militant force on crusade for my soul.
-CFG
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