During this 25 days of Christmas, we have seen Jesus through the eyes of the prophets. We even saw God say He was providing the prophetic witness as proof of His own existence and of Jesus’s divinity and lordship. Today, I want to hone in on the Christmas promise according to the prophets—namely Isaiah. Why, exactly, was Jesus born? Why did God the Son, the eternal Word, assume human flesh, live a human life, die a human death, and seek a kingdom of human people for Himself?
Isaiah is the most messianic of all the prophets. Isaiah was up against the prophets of other nations who claimed there were gods other than Yahweh. God chose to use Isaiah more than any other prophet to wage a war of evidence and proof against the claims of heathen nations to false gods. Isaiah, coupled with the Gospel accounts, is God’s apologetic of His own existence and work—simply because Isaiah’s predictions, and those of the other prophets, would have been impossible to get correct if there wasn’t a God in Heaven and if He didn’t somehow communicate with people. In Isaiah 9, we see exactly the reason the whole world has come to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this (Isaiah 9:6-7).
When we read Isaiah 8:1-9:5, we get a small grasp on the context of God’s promise through Isaiah. Israel and Judah would be in despair in exile. There would be a believing remnant. For this believing remnant, there would be a time when there would be no more gloom, light instead of darkness, growth of the nation, and increased happiness. When we get to Isaiah 9, Isaiah tells the people how God would bring about such longevity, prosperity, and happiness.
A child would be born. A son would be given.
This is the very idea of Messiah. Immediately, we know this child, Jesus, would be born to bring longevity, prosperity, and happiness to God’s people. Today, don’t make very much of those promises—but there they are in Scripture. Jesus wasn’t born because God needed to gain a following. He’s God. He needs nothing from us. Jesus was born because God loved us and wants His people to have longevity, prosperity, and happiness. He wants us to have those things according to His definition of them and not ours. This isn’t a “prosperity gospel.” God truly gave His only begotten Son because He loved the world (John 3). Because God loved the world, a son would be given for the sake of God’s people.
The government would rest on His shoulders.
“The government” here refers to dominion. The root word, משרה, literally means domination or to rule. I believe “The dominion,” with the definite article, refers complete ruling status over the earth and all worldly governments. When Jesus is born, He is born as the King of kings. He has dominion. In fact, the dominion rests on His shoulders alone. See, the church of Jesus Christ isn’t a kingdom of weakness or inaction. We serve the only king with real power to regulate all the worldly nations. When we pray, we pray to the only one who can do anything about everything. He establishes presidents and monarchs. He regulates the flow of human nations. This child born so humbly is the one who places stars and worlds, forms creatures, heals sickness, and raises the dead. His kingdom overshadows all others and He holds all people, no matter how powerful they think they are, to account. Jesus alone has all dominion from His birth.
His name would be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Here, we get a sense of what kind of king this child would be. “Name,” or שמ, can refer to a literal name or someone’s reputation or title. This child would be the type of king that was a wonderful counselor. Though He literally has all dominion and power, He would serve the good of His people. Instead of commanding them and bringing punishment every time the people in His kingdom didn’t do what He wanted, this King of kings would counsel His people to guide them and make them better people.
This child would be the type of king recognized as both Mighty God and Eternal Father. He would be God in the flesh sitting as King of kings because no mere human has the right to sit in authority over others. Only God has such a right.
This child would be the kind of king who sought peace, not conflict. Why doesn’t God simply wipe heathen nations from the face of the earth? He is a peace seeker in Christ. It is through His gospel, not physical violence, that He conquers the world for the good of His people. Brothers and sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ is more powerful than the sword. When we practice evangelism, we are bringing something more powerful than the sword as we take part in conquering the world for the sake of ultimate peace among the nations. This is part of the reason Jesus was born.
This child would sit on David’s throne forever. He would care about justice and righteousness in the world. Jesus isn’t a passive observer hoping people ask Him into their hearts so they can go to Heaven. He is active. He rules the world. Like a good king, He cares deeply about things like justice, righteousness, honor, and peace—such that, from His birth, there would be no end to the increase of His dominion or of peace. This idea brought about an interesting thought experiment for me. I automatically asked God if it was possible to have ever increasing dominion or peace. What happens once peace is finally realized worldwide? When the time comes for every nation to declare Jesus as Lord and Savior, how can Jesus’s dominion continue to increase? Either Isaiah is wrong about Jesus or Jesus’s peace and dominion will continue to increase forever. Increase, רב, can refer to quantitative growth. It can also refer to qualitative growth. Jesus’s peace and dominion isn’t merely increasing over lands and more people as the nations respond to His gospel. It also causes increase for those who are in His kingdom. Remember how God desires our longevity, prosperity, and happiness? Jesus’s dominion and peace will always continue to increase these things for us. Since the promise is that this increase, or profit, will never end, we can be sure that the promise is for us on this earth and the earth to come. Our existence forever wont be a static existence with which we only sing or whatever lame view of heaven we see on television or read about in books. The resurrection will be a time filled with ever increasing profit because of Jesus’s absolute dominion and peace if Isaiah’s promise is to be fulfilled. There will be no end to the increase, the profit, of Jesus’s dominion or of peace. In the beginning, God instructed people to tend His garden. In the end, our labor will matter more and more because Jesus is King of kings.
Look at the last verse. God’s zeal will accomplish this. It is not our work, passion, zeal, words, sacrifices, or followings that accomplish the work of God on this earth. God does it. He is the commander in chief. He is the one who gets things done. We are His people. We need Him. He doesn’t need us. He conquers the world according to His will by His own zeal. This is the truth Christmas reminds us of every year. The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. He shall reign forever and ever. Amen.
Alex Southern Baptist Chapel 
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