SERMON TITLE: Joy of Emmanuel
TEXT: Isaiah 7:10-16
SPEAKER: Cody Ohnmeiss
DATE: 12/05/2021
You can watch the sermon here.
You can find the sermon notes here.
Good morning Gateway Church. It is always an absolute joy to be together worshipping with one another each weekend. I’d also like to welcome those joining us from North Main as well as any guests worshipping with us for the first time - thank you for being with us today. As it always is, my prayer for us today is that we will be challenged and encouraged as we dive into God’s Word together.
Today we are continuing in our Christmas series which we are calling “Repeat the Sounding Joy” - as we look at the Joy that’s centered around the Christmas season. Last week Pastor Josh preached on the Joy of the Nations from Isaiah chapter 2, and this week we will be looking at the Joy of Emmanuel. We’re gonna do that by looking at Isaiah chapter 7 - that’s our passage for today - so if you would, please turn with me to Isaiah chapter 7.
And as you’re finding Isaiah chapter 7, think back to what Shaun read moments ago from Luke chapter 1. This passage shows an angel - Gabriel - appearing to Mary and telling her that she will be giving birth to a Son, whom she will call Jesus. And in this troubling moment, knowing that Mary was afraid, the angel comforts her in verse 28 by telling her that the Lord is with her. Little did she know that not only was the Lord with her then, but that she would give birth to the incarnate Son of God who would be called “God with us.”
So with that, let’s look at our passage for today as we seek to better understand what it means that Jesus is called Immanuel, and what joy comes with that truth. Again, we’re in Isaiah chapter 7, looking at verses 10-16 this morning.
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 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. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. Isaiah 7:10-16 ESV
If you’re someone who grew up going to church, or has gone to church for a long time, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard this passage before, probably in a sermon around Christmas time. It’s a passage that’s filled with hope, filled with joy, and filled with a promise that God later fulfills through his Son.
But in order to best understand what’s going on here, it would be helpful to get the entire context of what’s going on at this time and why God is giving this prophecy to his people.
So first, who is King Ahaz? Ahaz was the king of Judah at this time. Remember: After Solomon’s reign as the King of Israel, there was a dispute on who would be the next king. So the nation split into two kingdoms - 10 tribes in the north (Israel) - and 2 tribes in the south (Judah).
So Ahaz - King of Judah - we know from 2 Kings & 2 Chronicles that he was not a good king. In fact, the Bible says Ahaz did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. But he found himself in a situation where the kings of Israel and Samaria were allied against him. They had a plan to attack Judah and force Ahaz out as king so that they could get Judah to join them in their resistance against the very powerful Assyrians.
The prospect of this potential attack absolutely terrified Ahaz. But God had a different plan in mind. So, through the prophet Isaiah, God essentially tells Ahaz this, ‘You have nothing to worry about. The kings of Israel & Samaria are nothing but burned-out embers. (Basically saying, they’re burning stumps - they were on fire for some time, but they’ve been put out). In fact, within a matter of a few decades, they won’t even be around anyway. PAUSE. You need to have faith in me.”
Even after hearing this from the Lord, Ahaz didn’t trust God. So still seeing his lack of faith, the Lord tells Ahaz to ask for a sign. Picking up in verse 10,
10 Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz: 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead. 12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.” 13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? Isaiah 7:10-13 NLT
Man, what would you give to be in Ahaz’s shoes here? Alright Ahaz, you don’t trust God? Ask for a sign of confirmation - and make it whatever you want - so that he can show you right now that his power is higher than this world, and as deep as the grave.
Ahaz’s response, “NO.” Doesn’t that just make you want to grab Ahaz and say, “Are you crazy, man? The Lord is telling you to ask him for a sign, and you’re just going to refuse it?” Not so fast though! Let’s lay off of Ahaz for a second, and put ourselves in the spotlight. Is this not something that we do to God when he gives us signs? Some examples:
We can see that Isaiah isn’t thrilled with Ahaz in this situation by his response. He says, “Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well?” But putting ourselves in this situation - God is asking you to be faithful, and trust Him, but, like Ahaz, you just can’t let go of trying to be in control.
Oftentimes when we read stories in the Bible, we naturally plug ourselves in as the hero of the story. Do any of you do that? Like every time I read the story of David & Goliath, I always plug myself in as David - and I think about the “Goliaths” in my life that I have to tear down - because my faith in God is so strong and bold (HAHA). But NEVER do I plug myself in as one of the petrified Israelites who are standing back behind the faithful one who’s going out in front to take down a giant with a sling and stones.
How about Cain & Abel? Think about that story - you have an innocent younger brother, and a jealous older brother who’s getting overshadowed by his younger brother and letting anger overtake him to the point that he does something he’ll regret. Everyone in the room right now who has a sibling is probably thinking: No Cody, you don’t know mybrother/sister, I am totally the Abel-like sibling in my family. I never let anger get the best of me.
Why do I share that? I don’t want us to read this story and only consider ourselves as Isaiah - the faithful follower of the Lord - who’s delivering a message to a scared king. If we’re honest with ourselves, more often than we should be, we’re Ahaz. We’re the one who is in the spotlight - struggling to trust God - even though he’s standing right in front of us saying “Don’t be afraid.” “I am with you.” And that’s what his sign means in verse 14 - the text says,
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. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. Isaiah 7:14-16 ESV
There’s your sign, Ahaz. The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and will call his name Immanuel. And although he couldn’t see it then, the reason God gave Ahaz this sign was to give him assurance and hope. That assurance & hope is found in that word, Immanuel - which means God with us. That’s what God is telling Ahaz, he’s assuring Ahaz by saying that he is with him at this time, and giving him hope through a prophecy about a coming son who will be born of a virgin.
The amazing thing is that this sign, this promise - it wasn’t just for Ahaz - but it’s also a promise of hope for us today. As we saw earlier, this coming son - this son who was to be called God with us - is Jesus. And this promise of Immanuel means a lot for us Christians today - it’s a promise that was summed up well by John Calvin when he said, “Immanuel. This name was unquestionably bestowed on Christ on account of the actual fact; for the only-begotten Son of God clothed himself with our flesh, and united himself to us by partaking of our nature. He is, therefore, called God with us, or united to us; which cannot apply to a man who is not God.”
So the lynchpin of the Son of God being Immanuel, the whole reason that we can call Jesus Immanuel, is that the Son of God became human without ceasing to be God. (Repeat). The Gospel of John chapter 1 tells us that in the beginning was the Word, and goes on to say that the Word was God. Jumping down to verse 14, the apostle writes,
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 ESV
This promise of God being with us could only ever be fulfilled in the person of Christ. And while it was God’s Son who was the only one able to fulfill this promise, Jesus still became human just like us. He still took on flesh - and despite the world’s hostile darkness, Jesus entered the world to save it. One of the many amazing truths about Jesus being God with us is that the Son of God came from the Father full of Grace & Truth.
Being full of Grace, that’s really good news. God could have chosen to become human as a judge - where all of us would be found guilty before him and be sentenced to eternal punishment. But he didn’t become human in that way.
Instead, the Word - who is God - became human to be gracious to us. In fact, God sending his Son to be with us is the ultimate act of grace - all other acts of grace are made complete in the fullness of Christ. And this is a righteous, God-exalting grace that would unfailingly lead straight to Jesus’ death on the cross.
This is why Jesus became human, he had to. He had to be human in order to die in our place. The Son of God became human so that Jesus’ death on the cross would be possible. Look at Hebrews 2:14-15:
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. Hebrews 2:14-15 NLT
When we look to the death of Christ, we can see the fullness of grace most brightly shone - as it was there that God’s love poured out and our sins were paid for.
So the Son of God came full of grace, and also full of truth. Part of that truth was in fulfilling the law. While grace & truth both had been evident in the law, these two qualities were fully revealed in the Word becoming human.
When we consider how much Jesus embodied the reality that he came “full of truth,” John’s words as he closes his account of Christ become even more lively. In the last verse of his account of Christ he says,
“25 Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” John 21:25 NLT
Jesus was so filled with truth that John confesses here that the story of Jesus’ life is so magnificent that he can’t even fully communicate it. Let’s put this into perspective - I’m going to use myself here, but feel free to use yourself instead.
So I’m 25 years old - that may come as a surprise to some of you since I’m so mature and sophisticated, but it’s true! So I’m 25, and I feel as though I have lived a pretty active and adventurous life in a lot of ways. But if someone had to put together an account of my life, it probably wouldn’t be more than a few pages if I had to guess.
But comparing that to Jesus - who was about 33 years old when he was crucified and most scholars agree that his ministry didn’t start til he was about 30 - his 3 years of ministry were so full of teachings, parables, miracles, and more that we can’t even begin to imagine some of the amazing things He did.
And that example is a true testament to the character Christ displayed. A character that the apostle Paul reflects on in his letter to the Philippian church. He said this,
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8 ESV
The Son of God took on human form to shower us with grace, and set an example in truth. An example in love and humility that we should strive to duplicate in our everyday lives. Walking in Christ’s example makes us more loving, more helpful, more servant-like, less proud, less selfish, less withdrawn, and more caring.
And that leads us to the highlight of our sermon. The joy of immanuel. Why does God being with us bring us joy? Let’s just look at three simple reasons.
First, because of Immanuel, we are set free. Think back to the Hebrews 2 passage - when talking about Jesus being in human form, the writer said that ‘Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.’
At this time, many new believers were terrified at the thought of dying. And realistically, many people today are also terrified at the thought of dying. But the author of Hebrews here challenges us to rejoice in the truth that because Jesus became God with us - died a death that was meant for us, and overcame the grave - now death is something that we don’t have to fear - because earthly death for the believer, means life everlasting.
Not only are we set free from death, but also from sin. Because of the death and resurrection of Immanuel, we no longer are subject to the bondage of sin. Remember, the master plan of God sending his Son to be with us was not in order to deem us all guilty and sentence us to death; he sent his Son to be with us so that we may be deemed righteous in His eyes. And because of that righteousness that could only be given to us through the person of Jesus, there is no condemnation for us.
Second reason to rejoice, this one may sound a little strange at first, but it’s important - is that we don’t need to see Jesus physically in order to believe that he was, is, and always will be God with us. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says this,
3 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. 4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT
While this passage should absolutely cause us to mourn over our neighbors who don’t have faith in Jesus, it also gives us lots of reason to rejoice in that the Good News of Christ is not hidden from us, despite not seeing him physically. In fact, the ‘Glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God’ is that same glory we saw in John 1:14 that Jesus became human in.
In both contexts, Paul is talking to people who never saw the earthly Jesus, and John is writing his Gospel for people who never saw the earthly Jesus—people like us. The glory of John 1:14 and the glory of 2 Corinthians 4:4 is a glory that we see spiritually when we hear the story of Jesus.
Because Jesus, who is Immanuel, came into the world full of grace & truth, we meet Him in the Gospel accounts as well as other writings in the Bible. And when we encounter these writings that are inspired by the glory of Christ, we can see that glory in the love, and humility, and authenticity that perfectly pairs the fullness of grace and truth.
Now the last reason we’ll discuss this morning that causes us to rejoice in Immanuel: Because of what Jesus accomplished as God with us during his time on earth, one day, we will be with Him forever in Heaven.
God absolutely is with us now - that’s what we have in the Holy Spirit. But because of Jesus being with us in human form as our savior, we can now long for the day that he returns to draw us to himself forever.
That’s what we celebrate every Advent season, the season when we celebrate and rejoice in the truth that the Son of God came in human form, lived, died, and rose again. But we don’t stop there. We also celebrate the excitement we have as we long for the day of his return. In describing his return, the author of Hebrews writes,
28 So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:28 ESV
What a joy it is to be eagerly awaiting the return of our glorious savior. A waiting that is filled with hope, knowing that when Christ returns he will judge the world out of his righteousness, and we will be with him forever.
But until that day comes, we can remain assured that God is with us now. See, just as the Word (that’s the Son of God), made his dwelling among us, now the Spirit of God dwells in the hearts of those who have faith in Christ - interceding for us as we pray and live our lives.
With all of this in mind, this truth of Immanuel, we can always be assured in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in.
And may we all long for the day that we will be in the physical presence of Jesus forever.
In the second to last verse of the Bible, Revelation 22:20, John writes, “He who testifies to these things (Jesus) says, “Surely I am coming soon.” I can’t think of anything better to say than John’s response. In reference to the day where we will be in the physical presence of Christ forevermore, he says, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”
Let’s pray together.
Heavenly Father, thank you for time in your word this morning. Thank you that we are able to gather each week - coming together for the sake of growing with you and growing with one another.
Father, we praise you that you sent your Son to be with us. We praise you, Father, as you took on flesh not to bring immediate judgement on the world, but to save those who are lost. God thank you for your grace - grace that we experience because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. God, we thank you for your truth, that Christ perfectly embodied and fulfilled during his life, death, and resurrection.
Knowing that you are with us now, by your Spirit, Father we long for the day that we may be in your presence for eternity. A day with no more sorrow, a day with no more pain, and a day that will be filled with rejoicing, singing, and praising your name. Until that day comes, may we be encouraged and assured by your truth and grace. We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
A reminder - that there are prayer teams available up front who would love to pray with you for anything going on in your life.
For all of us, may we leave here rejoicing in this truth.
May you all leave here today filled with joy because God Is With You. Amen. Gateway Church - You Are Sent.
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