For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
Isaiah 9:6a
It seems like yesterday, but seven years ago, our worst nightmare came to an end. All my (Matt) wife ever wanted was children. We’d had two miscarriages and two failed adoptions. During that season, there were many tears, times when I’d yell at God – and even times I doubted His love and goodness.
I knew all about God’s sovereignty; I often taught on His providence, love, grace and care for His people. I knew and studied the Bible front and back, so I knew these things and tried to teach them faithfully. However, it’s one thing to know something, but do you really believe it?
You see, when we had money in the bank account, good health and were simply having fun with life, it was pretty easy to believe God was in control, loved us and cared for us. But when we lost the first of two babies on the day before I lost my job and shortly before the prospects of another vanished into thin air? Well, let’s just say I said, “I believe; help my unbelief” a lot.
Allow me just to drop all pretense here and say I struggled to believe. In just a few shorts days, our world turned upside down. It was undoubtedly a crisis of faith. I knew God was good and I knew He was sovereign, but I was struggling to believe.
Many believe Isaiah was written between 740 B.C. and 686 B.C. God’s people faced many threats and had many struggles before, during and after this time. The northern kingdom was in captivity (722 B.C.), the kingdom of Judah was dealing with idolatry, and Assyria was a threat to them both – and then Babylon.
Feelings of doubt and “woe is me” surely surfaced. A few centuries later, and there’d be complete silence from God’s prophets for 400 years. And yet Isaiah is teaching them even with his name, which means “the Lord is Salvation,” or “the Lord saves.” Does He? They knew this, but did they believe it? Would their nightmare ever end?
On March 6, 2015, our nightmare ended when a judge dropped a gavel declaring Kaydence, Leigha, Alivia and Gracie to be our daughters – forever. On Dec. 25 (just kidding, we don’t have an exact date for Jesus’ birth), the children of Israel’s nightmare ended when “a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us” came to fruition.
A Child Will Be Born
Isaiah’s prophecy of “a child will be born for us” speaks to Jesus’ humanity. As the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 says, Jesus “was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary …, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind ….”
After all, Jesus would hunger (Matt. 4:2), would nap (Luke 8:23), be tempted (Luke 4:2), wept (John 11:35) and die (Mark 15:37).
A Son Will Be Given
But this Jesus wasn’t just a man; otherwise, this news wouldn’t end their nightmare. You see, they’d had prophets and kings, but this one, y’all, was fully God! That’s what this whole “son will be given” is all about. He wasn’t partly God, sorta God – He was fully God!
After all, briefly, this Son is declared eternal (1 John 1:1); omnipresent (Matt. 18:20); omniscient (John 2:24); omnipotent (Rev. 1:8) and immutable (Heb. 1:10–12).
That’s how this Son could be the nightmare-ender for the Israelites. After years in the darkness, the Great Light of the World had come – fully man, fully God. Think of it!
And Also To YOU
And yet, Jesus didn’t only come to end the Israelite’s nightmare, He came – fully God, fully man – for you. Jesus didn’t just end the nightmare for the Jews; He does so for you. He does so for your church. The child (humanity), the Son (deity), did all of this to reconcile you with the holy and righteous God of the universe!
Now that’s good news!
This is the second in a series of posts excerpted from Kyle & Matt’s book, “The People Walking in Darkness: Christmas Reflections on Isaiah 9:2-7,” available now.
Published December 11, 2020
