For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6-7

There are those passages in the Bible that we seem to hear a lot at Christmas. Isaiah 9 in one of them. Because we’ve listened to them so often, they are probably pretty familiar. Because of that, it’s easy to kind of pass over their importance. Let’s not let it slip by us this time.

These verses were written by Isaiah, one of the greatest prophets of Israel. Isaiah was passing along God’s words at a time when God’s chosen people had turned their backs on God and had stopped counting on God and His promises. Because of this, and after a lot of warnings by God, Isaiah’s message warned the Israelites of the judgment that was coming their way. But because God’s love is unfailing, even His message of judgement carried hope.

These verses are all about a future in which God once and for all provides a way out from under the weight of our sins. Fast forward about 800 years and we see this message of hope coming to life in the Christmas story. The baby God, if you will, was forming in Mary’s body? He was the same promised Savior Isaiah was writing about.

If we want to nurture our sense of wonder, let’s take a moment and let this awesome truth sink in. Long before God sent Jesus to this earth, He knew the plan. God’s sending His own Son to live and breathe and walk this earth was always the plan. God has always known that Jesus would be the answer to a perfect relationship between God and His children, which is excellent news for us! But to see this plan come to life, Jesus had to come to earth. Immanuel! And that’s what Christmas is all about. Let’s not forget that as we celebrate.

Because of the saving faith that we have with Jesus, the future God has in store for us is full of hope!