Matt 1:18-25 – an unexpected birth; God-orchestrated, meticulously planned.
The promised Emanuel – Isaiah 7:10-16. verse 14. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son and she shall call his name Immanuel. We know what this means now but what did it mean to Ahaz?
If there was only one text in the Bible to point to that bolsters my conviction, that causes me to conclude without a shadow of doubt that this message is from God, that I need to listen to this message and respond accordingly, it would be this text, Isaiah 7:14.
God is faithful to His covenant despite the foolishness of His people and their leaders.
We will be talking about stability in unstable times.
Matthew chapter 1 is the reality, the miraculous conception. This context in Isaiah is different. What is the context then? Look at verse 3 – then the Lord said to Isaiah, go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son, Shear-jashub at the end of the conduit of the pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field
What is this point of naming his son? His name means something. It is a sign. His name means a remnant shall return. That is important for us to know. Ahaz and his people are in the predicament they are because they need to return to the Lord. (Read verses 1-9 to get the whole context.)
In the midst of this turmoil and uncertainty involving Ahaz and Isiah, there is this prophecy given to assure them. Our God is awesome and reliable.
Preliminary conclusions:
1. Stability in unstable times
2. We spend way too much time thinking about what we’re going to do and not nearly enough time thinking about what God can do. That was Ahaz’s problem. The message to Ahaz – and to us – you’re thinking about only what you can do. Focus on what God can do. This is the point of Hebrews, we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens, who intercedes on our behalf. We can go to him in times of need. When we can say “I got nothing” we can go to Him. Heb. 4:14-16.
3. We need to accept Gods story. Healing and hope are always in Immanuel. We need a God-orchestrated life. 2 Cor. 4:13-14. That is our destiny as children of God, to be raised up with Jesus. What about in the meantime? Life has it’s challenges. Read verse 7-12.
What is your purpose here? It is to be the life of Jesus manifested in our bodies. We carry about in our bodies the dieing of Jesus. That will mean sacrifice. But there are positive results that comes from this sacrifice. We exalt Jesus in our mortal bodies. We do not lose heart. Though our bodies are decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day for momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal light of glory far beyond all comparison. Our afflictions are only momentary.
We do not look at the things that are seen but the things which are unseen.
