Immanuel, What Child Is This?

God Centered Theology

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Today, I want to turn our attention to Isaiah chapter 9, and I want to consider Immanuel, meaning

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God with us, asking the question, what child is this? According to the

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U .N., about 360 ,000 babies are born every single day.

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Every day. This amounts to a little over 130 million every year.

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We have, by far, one of the most beautiful babies of those 130 million in our congregation.

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And, in fact, you, well, y 'all over here probably couldn't, but y 'all over here probably saw the rest of them going out.

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Everything from baby to, you know, my girl's age at 7, to youth, they're all important. But starting out that young is when you really got to start pouring into them.

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You can't wait until they're youth. You've got to start when they're a baby. But we certainly have many in our midst that are wonderful, but more than 130 million every year.

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Now, this is certainly far more than what was being born during the time that Jesus was actually born.

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Obviously, we have far more people living on the planet, and far more people, although with abortion being what it is, it's hard to say, but I would venture to say that far more are being born now than then.

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But there were still certainly quite a few children being born every single day of the year, even during the time of Christ.

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Billions of people have been born, walked this planet, have died, that none of us have ever met, much less known about.

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So what is it about this child, the child born in Bethlehem?

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What is it about this child whose birth that we celebrate, not only with a Christmas holiday, but with a full holiday season?

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What is it about this baby that was born that makes it, in particular, so unique and special?

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What we're going to look at this morning is two things. Number one, we'll be looking at the identity of this child.

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And then number two, we'll look at the attributes of this child. Number one, the identity. If you have your

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Bibles, turn to the ninth chapter of the book of Isaiah. That is where we will be primarily, but we will also look at a few cross -references.

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In the book of Isaiah 9, verse 1 it says, "'But there will be no more gloom for her who is in anguish.'

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In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, with contempt. But later on He, God, shall make it glorious by the way of the sea on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the

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Galilees." Now this first verse of Isaiah 9 is quoted in Matthew chapter 4, right on the heels of when

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Jesus was carried out into the wilderness to be tempted. And He begins His public ministry, and He begins it by quoting this very verse.

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See, the one thing about Scripture, the one thing the world would love to just relegate

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Scripture to just, you know, opinion, or that's just your interpretation. But my friends,

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Scripture is God -breathed. And one of the things we know about Scripture is that it was written before Christ was born, and Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of Scripture, not only in who

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He is, what He does, but also Christ Himself would quote the

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Old Testament to show the people that He Himself is who the Old Testament was spoken of, with the coming

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Messiah, the suffering servant of the book of Isaiah. Everything we see, we see unfaithful

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Israel and the people of Israel, but then we see true Israel, true faithful Israel summed up and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

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And Jesus is quoted, this verse in Matthew chapter 4, making it known that this gloom, and this darkness, which primarily at this time, and also in context is speaking to the coming

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Babylonian captivity, which would have the people of Israel for 70 years. So, you have a very real, near fulfillment when in the time of it being written.

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But you also have the far fulfillment coming in the sense that Jesus Christ will be the one to bring light where there is darkness, as it says in verse 2, when it says, the people who walk in darkness will see a great light.

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This is not only true at the moment of Christ's birth, but we will find its true and most complete fulfillment in the

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Second Coming of Jesus Christ, when He sets all things right, when sin is judged, when the eternal state is ushered in, and we live forever and ever with our

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Lord and Savior. It says, the people who walk in darkness will see a great light.

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Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. Not only will the people of Israel in their captivity finally see light when that captivity is ended, but mankind in general will see a great light in Jesus Christ.

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The light that is able to dispel the darkness, the light that is able to break the chains of sin.

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This coming child, the coming Messiah, the coming Lord will be the great light that will be a light to those walking in darkness.

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And just in case one would say, well that's just the Old Testament, we couldn't possibly know that Jesus is this light.

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We see in John chapter 8, skipping over to the New Testament, John chapter 8, verse 12,

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Jesus Himself says, and Jesus spoke again to them saying, I am the light of the world.

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He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.

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You see all throughout Scripture, you see this comparison and this contrast of light and darkness.

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It's used metaphorically, it's used for illustration, but it's also used to sum up everything that Jesus Christ is.

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He is that light, the great light in the great darkness of sin. The light referenced in Isaiah 9, that coming great light for the people who walk in darkness, references also the same author, but going over to the book, or rather the epistle of 1

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John. Same author, the apostle John, but in the book of 1 John, chapter 1, verse 5, says, this is the message we have heard from Him and announced to you that God is light.

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And in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

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Sermon for another day, but what John is touching on here is that anyone that claims to be in Jesus Christ, that claims to have repented from their sin and placed their faith and full trust in Jesus Christ, cannot and will not habitually walk in sin.

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Now this does not mean we will have sinless perfection in this life. We will be continually sanctified and set apart unto

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God as we are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. But you cannot claim to be in Christ and not submit to the authority of Scripture, to have nothing to do with righteousness, have nothing to do with holiness, to live completely like the unregenerate and those that continue to walk in darkness.

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The light of Jesus Christ has set us free from the bondage of darkness. He has raised our spirit to spiritual life.

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He has put in us His Spirit and that Spirit will live and operate in and through us.

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And so it says if you walk in the darkness, if you reject God, if you reject His Word, He says you lie about your condition.

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You lie about your faith in Christ because you do not practice the truth. But, one of my favorite theological words in all the

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Bible, but, but if we walk in the light, if the conversation of our life,

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Colossians 2, 2 -6, walk in Christ because we've been saved. Walk in Christ because we've been set free.

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Walk in Christ because we've repented and turned from our sin and placed our faith and trust in Christ. If we walk habitually in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.

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And the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sins, meaning that He will continually cleanse us from sin.

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Those sins that so easily beset us in the past. Those sins that had bondage or kept us in bondage, that were our slave masters.

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We are no longer a slave to sin, we are a slave to Christ, a slave to righteousness. And it is only by being a slave of Christ in this life that you are truly free.

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So we see very clearly that Jesus Christ is this child.

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Jesus Christ is this light. Verse 4, going back to Isaiah chapter 9 now.

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Actually, I skipped a verse. Verse 3, it says, you shall multiply the nation, you shall increase their gladness.

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They will be glad in your presence, as with the gladness of harvest as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

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For you shall, and this is a key verse, you shall break, you, God, you, the suffering servant, you, the coming child, you,

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Jesus Christ, shall break the yoke of their burden, and the staff on their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.

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Not only would God eventually break the yoke of bondage for ethnic Israel from Babylon in the 70 year captivity, but also the sign of Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14 that we covered, and we'll read again in a minute, that sign of the child to come will ultimately break the burden and bondage of sin over His people.

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And we see this very clearly in the cross. In fact, John MacArthur is quoted as saying that in the manger scene, if you do not see the shadow of the cross looming over that manger scene, you do not understand the true purpose for which this particular and unique child was born.

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Verse 5, for every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, and cloak rolled in blood will be for burning fuel for the fire.

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Another prophecy looking forward to that day when this child, this son of God, will return and deal with sin, and judge sin, and usher in a peace that will be everlasting.

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These accessories of warfare, and they mention a few here in verse 5, but all warfare will end.

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There will be no need for it. As much as politicians love to talk about how they can bring peace, they can't.

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Now they certainly can bring periods of peace at a time, but there will be no ultimate peace until Jesus Christ Himself brings that ultimate peace in the time that will be to come.

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And then finally that brings us to the familiar scripture of verse 6. It says, for a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us.

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Who is this child? Who is this son? Looking Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14, it says, therefore the

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Lord Himself will give you a sign that you will be with Him. Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call

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His name Immanuel. It means God with us. And we can look at a host of other scriptures, we're going to look specifically at a few scriptures to prove who this child is.

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It references the fact that this coming child will be called Immanuel. Chapter 8 of Isaiah in verse 8, it says in the latter half of the verse, and the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land,

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O Immanuel. All of the earth, all of creation is the land of Immanuel.

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It is the land of God. Moving forward in the chapter, the verse 10 of chapter 8 in Isaiah, it says, devise a plan, but it will be thwarted.

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State a proposal, but it will not stand. And it translates in the New American Standard, it actually translates it out and says, for God is with us.

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But it's still the same Hebrew word, it's still Immanuel, meaning God with us.

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And then you move forward, and we looked at this last time, so we're not going to spend a lot of time in this section.

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But when you look, and we looked at this last time, in the book of Matthew chapter 1, verse 18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows, when

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His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child by the

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Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

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But when he had considered this, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph son of David, the line of David, the kingdom of David, do not be afraid to take

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Mary as your wife, for the child who has been conceived in her is of the

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Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

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And then when you get down to verse 23, it quotes Isaiah chapter 7 and says, behold the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call

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His name Immanuel, which translated means God with us.

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I read all that, and I show you all that this morning to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the child, the son, the coming

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Messiah, the coming suffering servant of Isaiah chapter 53, this

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Immanuel, the one that is God with us, is none other than Jesus Christ.

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Now, man may not want to admit this. They may not want to deal with it.

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This is largely because man does not want to make Jesus Lord of his life. But as far as holy breath,

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Holy Spirit breath inspired scripture, which is completely inerrant, infallible, everything that the book of Timothy talks about is

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God breathed, good for instruction, correction, all the like. Scripture is clear. The Immanuel, the son, the child, the identity of this child is

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Jesus Christ, the one born in Bethlehem on the first Christmas. That's the identity of the child. Number two, the attributes of this child.

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Staying in Isaiah chapter 9 and continuing in verse 6, and I'll start at the beginning of the verse, it says, for a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders.

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First attribute here, this word government is not, don't think of this in terms of, you know, like the

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American government. It's a word meaning rule or dominion. So, it means that the rule and the dominion of the land, which

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Isaiah chapter 8 made it clear that it's Immanuel's land, the rule and dominion over that land, the sovereignty over creation will be this child's dominion.

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It rests on his shoulders because he not only created everything, but it is his to rule.

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And despite what man thinks, and thinking that he is in charge, all the governments of the world that think they are in charge, and they somehow rule this world, as much as they want to move to globalism, and somehow squash all

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Christian witness in the world, there is coming a day where every single knee that has ever been created will all bow to the same

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Jesus Christ, the same Immanuel, the same God, the child spoken of in the

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Old Testament, incarnated in the New Testament, died on the cross, ascended to Heaven, and now

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His Spirit indwells us in the third person of Trinity, every single knee. I don't care how rebellious they are.

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I don't care how much they hate God. They will bow their knee to the One upon who the dominion, and the rule, and the government rest on His shoulders.

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That's why any nation, any government, any people would do themselves a great service to recognize that God is sovereign, bow the knee to Him, and model the behavior after that sovereignty.

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Psalms 2 .9, the context of the psalm is about the nations and why they rage. In verse 9 it talks about this coming

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Messiah, and it says, "...that you shall break them with a rod of iron. This Son, Jesus Christ, will indeed rule all the nations."

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Next thing, His name will be called Wonderful Counselor. In 1

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Kings 3 .28, you can look it up later, but in 1 Kings 3 .28 it references the fact that correct justice, righteousness, is from the wisdom of God as it is revealed to us.

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It is the wisdom and counsel of God that we submit to, and not what man thinks. I've said this many times, and this is part and parcel with a lot of sermons that I preach.

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It doesn't matter what man thinks. All that matters is what God has said. And that wisdom, that counsel that is to be found in revealed scripture is perfectly fulfilled, perfectly summed up in the person of Jesus Christ.

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That's why He is said to be the Wonderful Counselor. He is also said to be the Mighty God.

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This Child is the Mighty God who has the power to break the chains of sin.

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There is no bondage. There is no sin. There is no sinner that is too great a sinner that God can't save.

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God's death on the cross will save every single person it was intended to save. And we are told in scripture that the ones that will be saved are the ones that have repented of their sin, and placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

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One of the things we don't think about, and you're going to have to bear with me because it's going to sound like heresy at first, but I have to explain it, is we always say salvation isn't works based.

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The thing is salvation actually is works based, but it's Jesus' works, not ours.

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That's one thing we have to remember. Jesus did do the works. He performed the perfect righteousness.

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He performed the perfect sacrifice. He made Himself available and voluntarily gave

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His life. Yes, it's a works, but the key is it's not our works.

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It's the work of Jesus Christ that you can't add to. It perfectly satisfied the wrath of God for sin, for all those that will believe.

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And that is the part of our responsibilities to repent and believe. We cannot earn it. The wonderful Counselor, mighty

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God, Eternal Father, He will always be our Father. The end of the age, the end of time, when

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Jesus Christ returns and sums everything up, won't change our relationship with Him. It will only magnify it.

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It will enhance it. Imagine, my friends, a world where we're able to serve

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God each and every single day without sin.

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The Prince of Peace, the Prince of Shalom, Emmanuel's rule and reign, which will be for all eternity, will be one marked of peace.

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Another Old Testament scripture that is prophetic, Micah chapter 5.

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It goes through and talks about Bethlehem. It says in verse 2, But as for you, Bethlehem, too little among the clans of Judah.

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From you, one, the child, will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel.

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His going forth are from long days ago, from the days of eternity. Therefore He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has born a child.

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Then the remainder of His brethren will return to the sons of Israel. And He will arise and shepherd

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His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the

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Lord His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth.

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And then notice this last phrase in Micah chapter 5 here, This one, this child, this coming

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Messiah will be our peace. His reign,

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His rule, His dominion will not only be marked by peace, but Jesus Christ Himself is our peace.

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Book of Colossians, which we have preached through most of chapter 1 and chapter 2, we covered this, the reconciliation back to the

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Father, the peace that Jesus Christ made by His cross through the shedding of His blood.

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He is and forever will be our peace. Verse 7, the last verse in Isaiah 9 we were covering this morning, it says,

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There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace. It will be for all eternity.

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On the throne of David, hearkening back to other prophecies, saying that it will be the throne of David, through the line of David, all that good stuff, over His kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness.

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From then on forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. This child

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Jesus Christ, His peaceful reign will be eternal. And it will be upheld by the child's justice, the child's righteousness.

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You see when we stand before God one day, and if you're here this morning and you've never repented of your sin, you've never placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the thing about Christianity is we gain right standing before God when we have our faith in Jesus Christ.

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But my friends, none of us, including your pastor, will ever stand before God and boast of any righteousness of my own.

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The very righteousness that saves me, makes me right before God, and the very righteousness that I now should be living out in my life as a

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Christian, will always be and forever will be the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

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And then finally, Psalm chapter 89, I want to read for you about six or seven verses and we'll close.

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Psalm chapter 89, it says, I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever. To all generations

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I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth. For I have said loving kindness will be built up forever.

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In the heavens you will establish your faithfulness, and the Lord is faithful. I have made a covenant with my chosen,

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I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations.

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Jesus Christ will fulfill this. And lastly, in verse 14 of the same chapter,

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Psalm 89, it says, righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before you.

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How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound. Oh Lord, they walk in the light.

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God's people walk in the light. You see the harmony and the consistency of scripture?

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The message that screams and leaps off the pages is that God's people walk in the light.

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In your name they rejoice all the day, and by your righteousness they are exalted. Notice that we will be exalted one day, but we will not be exalted by anything having to do with us, but by everything that Jesus Christ is and always will be.

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We are exalted, we are made righteous by the righteousness of Christ. Verse 18, for our shield belongs to the

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Lord, and our King, our King to the

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Holy One of Israel. The one singular thing that more people have a problem with more than anything else, they love the idea of Jesus being a

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Savior. They love the idea of Him being a loving Father. But when it comes time for Him to be Lord, and for Him to be

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King, they have a huge problem with it. Everybody loves the Bible until it says something that doesn't line up with your life.

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Everybody loves the scriptures that make you feel good. But if you're in disobedience to scripture, there comes a point in time where you must submit to the

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God of the universe. You must submit yourself to scripture. He will not only be the

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Savior, He is not only love, but He is also holiness, and justice, and righteousness.

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He's peace, He's all of it, but He is also King. He is Lord, and He will rule.

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This unique child, this unique Son of God, He is our

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Savior. He is our righteousness. He is our

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God. But never forget this one fact, my friends, He is our