2017-12-09

December 9

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)

Did Jesus have to be born a child? Could God have simply sent Jesus as an adult, in all of His bright-shining, all-powerful divinity, to immediately take the throne? Sure, God could have chosen to do that. However, as is shown throughout the rest of Scripture, we needed Jesus to be born a man so that He could relate to our weaknesses and absorb God’s wrath on the cross on our behalf.

Jesus was born as a human, but He is so much more. He is God the Son, a part of the Triune God, which is why we can call Him “Mighty God” and “Eternal Father.” Twenty-first century Christians have the privilege of looking back at the fulfillment of this nearly 3,000 year old prophesy from Isaiah. However, like those who waited for the Messiah, we also eagerly wait for the day when our Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace returns, establishes His government, and rules in peace forever.

The government of Christ will have no end. Since we have nothing in human history to compare this to, it’s difficult to wrap our minds around this reality. But consider this: Although all the empires and man-made governments throughout history have had to fight in order to maintain their power, Christ’s rule will be maintained in peace for eternity. There is no plague, revolt, or invasion that will overthrow His eternal kingdom.

  1. What earthly powers are you in awe of? What impresses you about them?
  2. Why do you think people tend to give more of their awe and attention to earthly governments than to Christ’s kingdom?

 

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