Today
is the second Sunday of Advent, the time provided us by the Church to prepare
ourselves for the celebration of Christ’s birth.
As
I said last week, although we celebrate Christ’s birth of December 25, Jesus
did not become flesh on that Christmas day. He actually took on human flesh nine
months earlier – in March of that year – when He was conceived by the Holy
Spirit in the virgin womb of Mary, His mother. It was at His conception that
Jesus became fully human while always remaining fully God. This is not an
insignificant point - especially in our culture when so many millions of
maturing babies are destroyed by abortion in their mother’s womb.
A
few weeks ago, as I began to prepare myself for the Advent messages, I thought
this season would be a good time to remind us of some of the more than 300 Old
Testament prophecies that promised humanity a deliverer from the spiritual
darkness that has metastasized like a deadly cancer originating in the Garden
of Eden and thoroughly infected the whole of Creation itself.
Last
week we looked at the first of those prophecies – the one in Genesis 3:15. Today
we’ll examine a few more prophecies, these from the early chapters of Isaiah and
directly linked to that promise in Genesis.
First,
Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those
who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”
The
human eye is drawn to light. But we know from experience that just because
people see light doesn’t guarantee they’ll walk toward or in that light –
especially when that light directs us to God.
I
chose to ignore that ‘light’ 53 years ago. I’ve told the story before, and I do
it again to make the point. I was a happy atheist in my late teens and early
20s. I did what I wanted, when I wanted, and with whom I wanted. I was all
about ‘Me’ – doing what was right in my own eyes.
Now
then, my attitude was not and is not unique to me. Every honest person in this
sanctuary will testify that such things were also true of you.
I
remember I was stopped at a traffic signal and a question suddenly broke into
my thoughts: What if there IS a God? The light was still red, so I had
time to ponder the idea. But then, as suddenly as the question crossed my mind,
a realization roared back. If God exists, then He does not approve of my
lifestyle. I need to change.
But
I didn’t want to change. And so, when the light turned green, I told
myself, “There is no God.”
You
and I meet people like that all the time, people who make irrational decisions to
turn away from God’s light, all the while their lives are shrouded in deep
darkness. They struggle with addictions, loneliness, heartache, chronic
illness, deaths of loved ones, and on and on it goes. And many of them crawl
into bed at night, no longer expecting or even hoping tomorrow will be better. They
know from long experience that it won’t.
Yes,
they put on their happy face, they tell others that they’re okay. But when they’re
alone in their apartments or homes, reality catches them off-guard, and they
know they can’t escape the inescapable truth: They’re living a shadow
existence. A hopeless existence. An empty existence.
Does
that remind you of something in the 23rd Psalm? We studied that Psalm
some time ago. Listen again to verse four: (Psalm 23:4) “Even though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear
no evil, for You are with me.” You may remember the Hebrew word David
used for the ‘valley of the shadow of death could be translated ‘the valley of
deep shadows, deep darkness.’
On
the other hand, those who see the light AND walk in the light discover a marvel
they could not have imagined. They discover their Creator, whom we call God. They
discover He loves them despite whatever they’ve done and for how long they’ve
done it. That’s precisely why He promised us a Redeemer in that passage
in Genesis 3:15; It is precisely why He sent His Son, Jesus, to receive in
Himself the wrath of the Father that OUR sins deserve. You might remember God’s
promise in Isaiah 53. Speaking of the Redeemer, the prophet tells us: “But
He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed
for our iniquities; The chastening for
our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are
healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own
way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on
Him.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)
Yes,
our well-deserved punishment for our sins fell on Him – Messiah Jesus. As St Paul
reminds us: (Romans 5:8) “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Those
who see the light and walk in the light discover a new life-direction, a
totally new life-trajectory. They discover hope where they had none, peace of
heart where they had only unrest. They discover a full future – a GOOD future –
where only empty promises and a fearful destiny now abound.
What
was the light that the people who walked in darkness would see? Isaiah reveals
the answer a few verses later. (Isaiah 9:6) “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.”
And
in case you’ve forgotten, the child of chapter nine is the same child of
chapter seven: “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she
will call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
Yes,
the context of chapters seven and nine applied to a local event in the 8th
century B.C. But that’s how biblical prophecy typically works – a two-fold (or
even a three-fold) fulfillment. First there’s the immediate fulfillment, and then
there is the fulfillment further out in time. A person can’t read the Old
Testament quotes found in the New Testament without recognizing the undeniable
truth of prophetic Biblical interpretation.
That’s
also why the promise of light in darkness applies even to 2025. Whether in
pulpits or pews, whether in the dining room or down the street – many think
they’re on the dark periphery of God’s attention. Their concept of self-worth always
defaults to interpret bad things that happen to them are because God is not
paying attention to them; Or that He is perpetually angry with them; Or that
God doesn’t even exist and bad things are nothing more than the so-called ‘Luck
of the Draw.”
But
those who believe the Scriptures such as Genesis 3:15 we keep referring to, and
the passages in Isaiah 9 and 7 – those who trust God’s infallible word KNOW that
they are always at the center of God’s attention. That’s why they’ve
learned to interpret bad things that happen to them as the result of God’s
loving discipline, guidance, and/or instruction. They learn to understand on a
deeper level the words of the Psalmist: “Before I was afflicted, I went
astray, but now I keep Your word” (Psalm 119:67), and “It
is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.” (Psalm 119:71)
In
all Biblical history, God never inflicts ‘bad’ things on ANYONE capriciously,
maliciously, or cruelly. “Bad things” as we might call them are ALWAYS divinely
designed to bring good to those who suffer.
Listen
to Hebrews 12:7-11 “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals
with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not
discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become
partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore,
we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall
we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits,
and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to
them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may
share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be
joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it
yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
All
things, even suffering, are ALWAYS divinely designed to bring good to those who
suffer. That’s likely why St Paul wrote to the Christians at Ephesus and at
Thessalonica – as I shared with us a few weeks ago – (1 Thessalonians 5:18) “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ
Jesus” . . . AND (Ephesians 5:20) “Always giving
thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even
the Father.”
Let’s
return for a moment once again to last week’s Scripture text in Genesis 3:15 - “I
will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her
seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the
heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
That
text, along with today’s Bible references, is part of God’s many promises of a
Rescuer who, at His first Advent shredded sin’s dark veil that shrouds much of
humanity. And Bible-believing Christians can rightly ask unbelievers the
reasonable question: “How do people miss the inseparable connection of Christ’s
first advent with Genesis 3, Isaiah 7 and Isaiah 9?”
The
only way they can do that is to engage in Olympic-level theological contortions
to ignore, avoid, or willfully obscure the clear truths of Biblical prophecies that
point to that first advent.
In
the Gensis 3 passage, God promised a Redeemer who would crush the head of the supernatural
and super powerful creature known as Satan, the Serpent, the Devil, and Lucifer.
No rational human could ever seriously hope to overpower that evil one. Only
God could do that. Only God, who became Man and whose name is ‘Wonderful,
Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – only He could
crush the Serpent’s head and bring overwhelming light into his darkness.
As
the Holy Spirit tells us: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been
made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all
mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has
not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5, NIV)
And
while we’re on the wondrous subject of the redemption and rescue linked with Christ’s
first advent, let’s not forget that His first advent also guarantees the
fulfillment of prophecies regarding His second advent. Listen to this promise
in Isaiah 25 – God’s promise to all who not only believe in His first
advent, but who also follow the Christ in obedience. I add that important
qualifier because multiple millions of men and women – even in churches – ‘believe’
in Christ, but they do so only with their minds and not their hearts; Otherwise,
their belief would result in a godly lifestyle.
Here
is that passage from Isaiah 25: “The Lord of hosts will prepare
a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet
of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, refined, aged wine. And on
this mountain, He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples,
even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up
death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from
all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the
earth; For the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save
us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His
salvation.” (Isaiah 25:6-9)
Today
on this second Sunday of Advent we’ve looked briefly at three more prophecies
of God – promises of God – that foretold Messiah’s first coming.
Ever
since that catastrophic day in the Garden of Eden, Sin became an inseparable
part of our human nature. Sin incited Cain to kill his brother, Abel. Sin led
Lamech to boast of his murders (Genesis 4). Sin resulted in the event
surrounding the Tower of Babel. Sin led to the fiery destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. Sin is why the people have walked and continue to walk in darkness.
If
not for God’s promise of a virgin-born Savior, a Child born to us, a Son given
to us . . . if not for Jesus, you and I and everyone else on this planet could
never escape the darkness.
God’s
promises of a Savior are rooted in world history. And those promises are also APPLICABLE
to our personal day-to-day lives. I remember walking in darkness. I said at the
beginning of today’s message, my life was all about me, and I didn’t care who I
used to satisfy my selfishness. It was a terrible life, one that still fills me
with remorse whenever I think about those years.
But
I also remember when ‘light’ pierced my darkness and I saw myself as I was. I
can tell you, it broke my heart. Suddenly, my comfortable ‘atheism’ was no
longer comfortable, and my memories of childhood prayers brought me to my knees
as an adult, and I prayed.
Of
course, I didn’t know it at the time – I was completely ignorant of the New
Testament – but my prayer modeled the publican’s prayer in Luke 18:13 – “‘God,
be merciful to me, the sinner!’ And oh! Was He merciful! Which
is why I stand here today, the result of what was – and remains to me – His
incomprehensible mercy.
But
the point of application I want to make now is not about what God did for me, despite
my dark history. My point now is about what God has done – and continues to do
– in your lives, because you also remember when you walked in
darkness and you remember when God’s light shone around you. And you remember
when you prayed something similar to what I prayed – for mercy and for forgiveness.
And
here you are today – the result of God’s incomprehensible mercy toward you.
As
I bring this message to a close, there might be one or two, or a few here today
who now recognize your own past and current spiritual darkness – a darkness
that fills you with remorse over wasted years and lost relationships. If that’s
the case, you know what you need to do: Ask God for His forgiveness. He will
never cast aside any who humbly comes to Him in repentance.
Ronnie
Hinson wrote these lyrics in 1967. The song describes my life. I pray that they
also describe yours:
“There's
a Lighthouse on the hillside that overlooks life's sea, When I'm tossed about,
it sends out a light that I might see. And the light that shines in darkness
now will safely lead us o'er. If it wasn't for the Lighthouse,
my ship would be no more.”
“I
thank God for the Lighthouse, I owe my life to Him. Jesus is the Lighthouse and
from the rocks of sin He has shown the light around me, that I might clearly
see. If it wasn't for the Lighthouse, where would this ship be?”
Truly,
if it wasn’t for the Lighthouse – where would our ships be?
