Christmas Is About HOPE, Not Fear

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

It is a fact that before the coming of Jesus, more than seven hundred years after the prophecy of Isaiah,
no one clearly understood that the promised servant of the Lord would also be the Davidic king, whose coming would simultaneously be the visitation of God.

Jesus told us not to be afraid “of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But, rather, fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell.” (Luke 12:4–5). We are to love God above all others; so also are we to fear Him above all others. The reason is: He is God. One major reason it is so important to know God and to think much about Him is, we will never know and fear God if He rarely crosses the horizon of our thought.

Although God is to be feared, the reason is that His love and grace and holiness, all of His perfections, combine to provide the most glorious future possible for His own—for us.

God Speaks of Hope

A Child To Be Born is Our Hope: Isaiah 8:11–9:7

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

This prophecy is difficult to comprehend outside of its historical context. The time is about halfway  through the eighth century before Christ. The southern kingdom, Judah, is on the one hand fairly prosperous, but at the same time is facing a coalition of forces in the North combining together against the them.

The Promised Child Speaks of Hope After Judgment

Judah at that time, though materially prosperous, was wal-lowing in various sins. Isaiah 2:6 Their land is full of silver and gold; and the land is full of idols. All different types of sins were controlling God’s people. They possessed a sneering condescension, delighting in all that was deceitful in society. This is Judah in the eighth century BC. God tells them through Isaiah: Assyria will crush you, because you will not place your trust in Me.

God Reminds Isaiah

Don’t Follow The Fallen. Trust Me.

Isaiah 8:11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

Don’t Fear The Fickle & Feeble. Verse 11

God was warning Isaiah “Not to follow the way of this people.” Because of fear, God’s chosen people were making deals with pagans that eventually turned on them.

Don’t be so afraid of these things that everybody in the culture fears. When things go wrong, it is easy to become panicky and to develop a kind of paranoia and then act on our paranoia. We are not to live our lives in fear of what others fear. They cannot see God’s hand in events. Our response is to be verse 13: “The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy. He is the one you are to fear. He is the one you are to dread.” God is different. Because of this, we are too.

Isaiah was not to act like the Judeans who failed to make God the most central fact of their existence. He was to pass this message on to the people. “The Lord is the one you people are to regard as holy. He is the one you are to fear.”

Sooner or later, people discover that God is either their sanctuary, or a stone that causes men to stumble. In substantial measure what we ultimately find God to be is shaped by our attitude to Him. He does not change. He is what He is, but if you try to marginalize Him, you don’t remove Him. He’s still there,
so you will trip over Him. Sooner or later, you confront Him, and have to face Him. You cannot possibly escape Him.

Don’t Trust What is Futile and False. Verses 19

When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God?

God’s Promise of Transformation

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Always Remember: God’s timing is on a far larger scale than ours.

You’re in the middle of the 7th century here. By about 735, the Assyrians are pressing in on the North.
The exile in the South finally takes place about 587 BC. Seven centuries go by between this prophecy and the arrival of Jesus. So when the people are told to trust God, they’re not simply being told, “Trust God and your life will be fine.” No. Trust God across this sweeping pattern of God’s purposes for His people.

Ultimately our hope is in Christ’s coming again. He came as predicted, but the consummation is not yet. We too, like those in Isaiah’s day are expected to trust God, to take Him at His Word. We are not to fear and follow what our culture fears and follows. We’re not to find false security in whispered voices of disorienting darkness or in complex conspiracy theories, but to remember that God is in control and Jesus IS coming back. Have faith. Fear and follow Him, only.