This is the first installment of a 3 part (at least) series on the advent of our King Jesus. We will be looking at the arrival of Jesus and the hope of His return in the coming weeks.

The Promise of Hope

Isaiah 2:3 and many peoples shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

This prophecy in Isaiah goes back a long way and yet it speaks of things that are still hoped for to this day. In this series we are going to be looking at how God has and continues to fulfill this and other similar prophecies through the coming of His Son Jesus! We will see as we examine some of these prophecies just what it is that makes Jesus so absolutely unique in the history of the world.

The goal of God in salvation is clear in this passage. He wants to gather the nations to himself and transform this chaotic and sinful world into a world of peace where everyone is taught by God. Then humanity will finally give God the honor He deserves as he takes his rightful place as king and judge of the whole earth. But wait a minute, isn’t Jesus the king and the judge when he returns? Yes he is, and that is where the fun begins.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

A whole series could be created just to examine the list of names ascribed to this child. This list of names is absolutely amazing, when you consider Isaiah is talking about a human child. Two names really stand out in this regard, Mighty God and Everlasting Father. If you think about this in terms of the cultural context, you have to wonder - what was Isaiah thinking about? How could a child be the Mighty God which on the face of it sounds blasphemous even today, to say nothing of what that would have sounded like in Isaiah’s day. And to call a child the Everlasting Father is no less impossible and bazaar. But there you are.

From a 21st century Christian perspective we read this passage without blinking, un-phased by the outrageous nature of such a claim. This is why taking the time to pause and reflect periodically is so very important. We can so easily become numb to the inconceivably great promises of God. We can listen to this world lie and fight everyday and lose heart that anything will ever improve. But Isaiah speaks of a child who will be the Mighty God and the Everlasting Father and that brings those who believe a hope that this world can know nothing about.

Now to say that a child will be a Wonderful Counselor or a Prince of Peace could possibly be understood as something a great human king may achieve. But “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father” is in an entirely different category of things. And while scholars and wannabe scholars may bicker about exactly what Isaiah intended with those titles, he goes on to say this human child’s government would increase without end and that He will reign in justice and righteousness forever.

This is no ordinary child, this is no ordinary human king, this is no ordinary earthly kingdom, this is Jesus. He has come, He has conquered sin and death, and He is coming again to fully realize the promise of the Kingdom of God.

How do we walk in this truth today?

Today we find ourselves in the time between. Between the birth of the King and the time He returns to judge with justice and bring about true and lasting peace on earth. The bible tells us this is a time of trouble and trial, but also a time of anticipation and preparation. So how are we to live today in light of all of this?

While He was physically present with us on earth Jesus taught us to pray.

(Our Father)Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We can walk in the promise of the Kingdom of God by actively participating in this prayer today. We can each be a small part of the answer to this prayer by living in a way that is consistent with the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom has come and will continue to increase, until the consummation of the age where evil is finally destroyed along with all those that love and practice it.

While the knowledge that this day is coming brings great peace, Jesus left us here for a reason. While no human can pretend to know all the reasoning of God, we can know what he has told us to do, and how we are to do it.

Love

It begins and ends with love. John is the New Testament writer with perhaps the most to say about the love of God. For example, “God is love”. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him may have everlasting life”. And “having loved His own He loved them to the end”.

But what kind of love is this? Certainly not the fickle desire driven feeling that is generally described as love today. That fleeting feeling did not empower Jesus to stay faithful to God’s will all the way to the cross. The love that was strong enough to carry Him to and through the pain of the cross was based on His commitment to benefit all of us and honor His Father, no matter the cost.

When teaching this I have found the following definition of this type of love to be helpful:

Love = Benefiting others at my expense

This definition describes the love of Jesus for us and this definition helps us to understand how we can love even our enemies as Jesus commands. I can do things that benefit my enemy but I have no idea how to have warm fuzzy feelings about someone who truly and intentionally hurts me.

So how do we become a part of the answer to our prayer for God’s “kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven”? How do we walk in the truth of this Advent season?

We can love someone today. With a love that flows from the Spirit of God to everyone we meet. A love we demonstrate with our actions.

In doing this, we create an instance of the Kingdom of God on earth and perhaps more importantly, we demonstrate that The King - is our King, and that one day soon he will come again. When we love by our actions we truly function as the body of Christ, we become the physical manifestation of Christ on earth. We expand the Kingdom of God to every place we go. This is a way that we can participate in the “increase of His government that will have no end” as Isaiah foretold.

Advent is a time of anticipation of this fullness. Advent is a time of celebration that God has sent His Son Jesus as a humble impoverished child, in order to bring His everlasting Kingdom to earth. Advent is a time to reflect on the promise of this child that was born to be king, who defeated death by his life, death, and resurrection. Advent is a time to walk in faith and obedience knowing that our King Jesus walks with us, and works in us and through us, as we work in faith and wait with anticipation for Him to come again.

Have a great week!

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