In Peter Allison's sermon 'Given to Us', he explores Isaiah 9, focusing on verses 6 and 7, which prophesy the birth of a child who will bring light to those in darkness and establish an eternal kingdom. This child, identified as Jesus Christ, fulfills promises made to Abraham and David, serving as a covenant head and the source of blessings to the church. Allison explains the profound implications of the Messiah's birth, emphasizing his dual nature as fully human and divine. He discusses the roles and responsibilities of parents and connects these to how Christ, as the Son given to the church, blesses and leads his people. The sermon highlights the titles given to Christ—Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace—and their meanings, illustrating how these aspects reflect his character and mission. The sermon concludes by focusing on the eternal nature of the peace Christ brings, achieved through his reconciliation of humanity to God.

Isaiah chapter 9 for our scripture reading. We'll be looking at verses 6 and 7. Let me just read the first 7 verses for the context. Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her, by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who dwell in the land in the shadow of death.

Upon them a light has shined. You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy of the harvest. As men rejoice when they divide the spoil, for you have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle and garments rolled in blood will be used for burning and fuel of fire.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice, from that time forward even forever, The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. His law is truth. Heavenly Father, Please open your word to us. Open our eyes so we may see, our ears that we may hear, and our heart that we may understand.

We ask this because as natural men, we cannot understand the things of the Spirit unless you Lord reveal them to us, unless you teach us. We ask for faith to believe your word, to rest in its promises, to heed its warnings. And I ask that you would sanctify my sinful lips that through a vessel of clay the riches of your grace may be opened to us this morning through Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, those of you that are parents or have been parents or just even been around children for any length of time, you know that, and gotten to know them, you know that sometimes children will ask the really deep philosophical questions about things to which we as adults have become somewhat oblivious.

Questions such as, you know, why is the sky blue or why does the garden have to be watered? And of course if we're trying to be helpful parents at that point or helpful aunts and uncles, that begins a chain of events that might go something like this. Why does the garden have to be watered? Well, because plants need water to live just like you do. Why do plants need water to live?

Because plants get their energy to live from water and carbon dioxide that we breathe out, and the sunlight plus a few minerals from the ground. Well, why do plants need sunlight to make energy? Well, because the sun provides the energy for the tree to turn the ashes back into firewood. The heat that you get when you burn the wood comes from the sun and so on. And so this line of questions will go on and on until you either get tired of the process or you somehow bring this process to the final cause of everything, the ultimate answer to all questions for which there is a why or for which there is no why.

And so there in this passage there is a similar causal or cause and effect chain that's presented here in the verses that we read. And it uses the word for to introduce each new cause or each new reason. For The sequence begins with the promise of light shining on those in darkness. The reason those who dwell in darkness have seen a great light, according to verse four, is because the yoke of the burden and the rod of the oppressor have been broken. And the reason this oppression has been broken, as given in verse 5, is because the enemy's army and their instruments of oppression have been totally destroyed.

Their bodies injured, their clothes are soaked in blood, their feet are barefoot, the army itself has been burned up. And the reason the oppressor's army has been destroyed is the next step in this causal chain. And the cause is something absolutely amazing, completely unheard of, unique in all of history. It's the answer for which there is no why. The ultimate cause of this great victory is that a son has been given to us, a child has been born to us.

You see verse 4, you see the yoke is broken, that's the grounds for joy. Verse 5, for every soldier's clothes and war boots are burned up, that's the enemy's destruction, that's the grounds for the deliverance. Verse 6, for unto us a child is born, this child, this son is the grounds for the destruction of the enemy. Now this chain of four statements continues through the rest of this chapter actually, and it's what ties these two parts of the chapter together. And we'll look at them in the weeks to come, Lord willing.

But for now, we want to posit this final four statement that is the grounds for the destruction of the enemy, the oppressor, that ultimately is what brings light to those who are in darkness. For unto us a child is born. Now the order in the Hebrew, which indicates what's being emphasized, is for a child is born to us. The word child is in the masculine form so it's a male child that is born, a son. And this, I think, naturally raises some questions.

Who is this child that is born? And who is us? That's first person plural. Who is us? The people to whom this child is born.

And what is the significance of his being born? Well, humanly speaking, a child is born to parents, and would normally be identified by those parents to whom he is born. The parents to whom a child is born are given that child in the sense of a trust. That's what we mean by born to them. The parents are responsible to provide those things for a child that are needed to sustain life.

They are responsible to train their child that's been born to them in righteous living and in godly character. To teach their child that's been born to them to work and to instill in them good habits of industry, to lead them in worshiping their Creator, to instruct them in the Scriptures and so forth. And all of that of course comes at a cost. There is a sacrifice involved in that. That's why many people don't want to have any children born to them today, or they don't want very many born to them today.

But when parents faithfully fulfill these responsibilities, they are a great blessing to their children. And their children become as arrows in the hands of a mighty warrior. But when are not faithful in those duties, they hinder their children and set them up for a life of tragedy. But this child is not being given to parents to be cared for. He is being given to us to bless us.

It says the government will be upon his shoulders and of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from this time forth forward even forever. So instead of parents being the ones through whom blessing would come to the child, this child would be the one through whom blessings come to his church. You see this child is the fulfillment of the promise to several couples given in the Old Testament. Abraham was promised an heir through whom God would bless the nations. And Paul identifies that seed as Christ in Galatians 3.16.

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He does not say Paul says, and to seeds as to many, but as of one and to your seed, Who is Christ? Christ was that seed promised to Abraham through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed. King David was also promised an heir through whom his throne would be established forever. The prophet Nathan told David in 2 Samuel 7 in verse 12, When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, when you die, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom." See how this child that Isaiah is promising, the government would be on his shoulders upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it.

So Nathan says, I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever. I will be His Father, and He will be My Son. And if He commits iniquity, I will chase in Him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from Him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever." he's talking about Solomon because he talks about if he sins, I will chasten him, but I won't take my spirit away. And yet he goes on to say, this kingdom will be established forever. Well, certainly no human could establish a kingdom forever. But it is this child here who has been born to us that all the promises made to Abraham and to David regarding their heirs come to fruition.

This is the seed that is promised in the Garden of Eden who would crush the head of the serpent, that great deceiver, the father of lies, that first slave owner and oppressor. This is the child promised to Mary by the angel Gabriel who told her in Luke 1 when he came to her to announce this to her. He said, Behold, you will conceive a son in your womb and bring forth a son in your womb and bring forth the son and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the highest and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end." That's exactly what Isaiah is saying of this child that is born to us. But if this is the Jesus Christ who is born to Mary, in what sense then is he born to us?

Gabriel is saying this child to Mary, saying this child will be born to you, you will have the son and of his kingdom there will be no end and he will have the throne of his father David. In what sense then is this child born to us? Well this birth is rather graphically portrayed in Revelation 12. We read in the very first verse that now a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

And another sign appeared in heaven, behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his head his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to earth and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she bore a male child who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and his throne. Well, this male child that is born to this woman is obviously Christ, the Messiah. That's he's clearly identified as this one who rules with a rod of iron in a couple of other places in Revelation. He's also identified in Psalm 2 as the anointed one who would rule the world with a rod of iron.

So the woman here is a picture of the church. And while many things about this woman could be applied to Mary, the mother of Jesus, there are a couple of things in this chapter that prevent that conclusion. A little later in this chapter is something said that cannot be said of Mary. In verse 13 we read that the dragon persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child and when he is not able to destroy the woman he goes off to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandment of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The offspring of this woman is said to be those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony, the witness of Jesus Christ.

Well, those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ are believers, the corporate people of God who are called the Church of Jesus Christ. So this child is given to us, to the Church, to be, to care for us. That means here that the church or Zion is pictured as both the mother of the Messiah and the brothers of the Messiah. The male child is born of a woman and her offspring are those who keep the commandments of God. The church.

Now it might seem rather strange that the church or Zion is both the mother and the brother of Christ. But this is exactly what Jesus himself said in Matthew 12. When his family came to see him one day while he was teaching, Someone in the crowd alerted him to the fact that his mother and brothers were there to speak to him. But Jesus said to the one who told him that, he said, who is my mother and who are my brothers? And he stretched out his hand toward his disciples, and he said, Here are my mother, and here are my brothers.

For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. This is an identical description of the woman in Revelation 12, who gives birth to the male child. The child born to the woman in Revelation 12, then, is the child who is born to us, to the church, to Zion, to the people of God. This child was promised to Israel nearly 750 years before his advent. When you think about that, think about how long the people of God waited and for this promised one.

750 years. Our country is only a third of that. And this child was of course promised long ages before that even. Back in Abraham's day, 2, 000 years, back in Eden, creation 4, 000 years. That's a long time to wait.

But that should give us some perspective on God's timing. Now what is the significance then of this child being born? It might seem a bit odd to ask what the significance of this child, what the significance is of this child being born. You might think, aren't all humans born as children? Well, yes, of course, and that's exactly the point.

That's exactly the point. The fact that this is a child who is born, born of a woman. That was a necessary aspect of his human nature. But it is because he did have a human nature. He was fully human.

Fully God and fully man. But he is no longer with us in the flesh. His glorified body is sitting in the heavens at the right hand of the throne of God. And we no longer know him in the flesh. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says, therefore from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh.

Yet now we know him thus no longer. And so Jesus would not allow anyone to worship his glorified body. When a woman wanted to venerate Jesus' mother in the flesh, Jesus redirected her praise. In Luke 11, it happened that he was speaking a certain woman from the crowd, raised her voice, and said to him, Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breast that nursed you. But he said, more than that, Blessed are those who Hear the word of God and keep it.

This child that is born to us is secondly called a son that is given to us. Now we already know that Christ was a son because child we saw was in the masculine, but this is not Simply another repetition of what we already know. Calling Him the Son identifies Him as the Messiah, who is the Son of God, the Son of man, the Son of David. This son of David is also David's Lord. Jesus made this point to the Pharisees in Luke 20.

He said to them, how can you say that the Christ, how can you say the Messiah is the son of David? David himself said in the book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Therefore David calls him Lord, how is he then his son? After Gabriel told Mary she would conceive a child, Mary asked the angel, well, how can this be since I don't know a man? And the angel said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you.

Therefore, also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. So the Messiah, this child that would be born to us who would have a human nature is also the Son of God, who has a fully divine nature. This Messiah then is given to the church and gives himself for the sake of the church. This Messiah is given to the church. This is a son who is given.

A son, a child is born to us. A son is given. And here are a few places where this is brought out, this fact that the Messiah is given to us, the Son. The Messiah is given to us as our covenant head. Thus, Isaiah 42, thus says the Lord God, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it.

I, the Lord, called you in righteousness and I will hold your hand. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the gentiles to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. The Messiah is given to us as a covenant head. The Messiah is, Christ is also given to us in the incarnation. Jesus told Nicodemus, right, God so loved the world that he gave.

He gave his only begotten son. And Christ gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father. Or 1 Timothy 2, the man Christ Jesus gave himself a ransom for us to be testified in due time. Or try this too. Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous for good works.

The Son, this is the Son that Isaiah says is given. It's been given to us as our covenant head. He's been given to us in his incarnation and in his death. He's also given to us as the head, as our head of the church in Ephesians 1. And he has put all things under his feet and gave him, the Father put all things under his feet and gave him the Father put all things under his feet and the Father gave him this son to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

A head is somebody who exercises authority for the benefit of those who are under that headship. Somebody whose exercises power to protect and defend, to organize. This Messiah then is the ultimate reason behind all of redemption. He is the one through whom every grace, every spiritual blessing is mediated to us. He is the one who defeats the oppressor, who sets up a kingdom that not only never ends and never loses, The Messiah sets up a kingdom which never stops growing and bringing peace.

It never stops growing and bringing peace. And Isaiah then goes on to name this wonderful Messiah, this wonderful child that's born and son that is given to us. And His name will be called Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Now names, you know, are more than just how you get someone's attention. You know, when we name children, we do so with thought.

There is meaning behind it. The Shem, the name, is a revelation of who someone is. It's a revelation of character, of nature, of identity, of essence. And that's the case here with all of Jesus' names. Jesus is the wonderful counselor And EJ young notes in his commentary Just the connection of this word the significance of this word wonder.

It's not in its adjective, it's not an adjective in Hebrew, it's a noun, a wonder. It's a wonder. It says not merely is the Messiah wonderful, but he is himself a wonder through and through. And the root of this word, which is Pele, occurs in Psalm 78, and it gives us some idea of what a wonder is. Marvelous things God did in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

This word wonder is the root, this root word is used to describe the miracles that God performed in Egypt, namely dividing the sea, the safe crossing of the Red Sea, the leading by the pillar of cloud and fire, the cleaving of the rock in the desert, and the providing of water. These were wonders, things that we have no explanation for, things that are completely marvelous. They're incomprehensible to us. Miracles are that which only God can do. You know, when Jesus performed wonders, people recognized that he did things only God could do.

So to say that he is a wonder or wonderful is to say that he is incomprehensible, that he is on par with God. And he is also this wonderful counselor or the counselor of wonder, because in him is hid all knowledge and wisdom. Paul said to the Corinthians, but of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. This one is the one who teaches us all that we know. And Isaiah elaborates on this in a few chapters later in Chapter 28, going through all the things that that the Lord teaches us.

You know, it says David says that the Lord taught his fingers to make war. And Isaiah twenty eight. He talks about all the routine things that we do to live, to grow food and so forth. But he closes that section with this statement, this this instruction and how to do basic things like plant and grow food. This also comes from the Lord of Hosts who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.

The Lord of hosts is a wonderful counselor. He is able to teach us all that we need to know, to give us wisdom, which is more than just knowing something, it's knowing how to apply that knowledge. This one, the Lord, this child that's given to us, is able to teach us all that we need to know and how to apply that knowledge in every area of our life. And we are taught to simply ask Him for wisdom when we need it. And He delights to give it to us.

And He even does it without uprating us, without reproaching us for not having it. He's a wonderful counselor. He is the wonderful counselor. He's also the mighty God. He is God, Elohim.

But he is also the mighty God, the victor, what we think of as a hero today. This is the strong warrior, the conquering hero. The mighty men were the men that the Bible lists that did all these wonderful things for David David list these mighty men and things that they did how they one person would kill a thousand enemy soldiers or 800 and so on. Those were mighty men. And Psalm 24 says, Who is this King of glory?

The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. This child that's born to us, the son that's given, is the mighty God, mighty in battle. There is no enemy that he cannot conquer. There is no enemy that can resist him. There is no enemy that can thwart his purpose.

Those who are protected by him are protected from everything, even the evil one. He is also the everlasting father or eternal father. Both mean the same thing, but only God is eternal. Isaiah 57 says, for thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

We are taught that God is the scriptures teach us that God is three persons. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father. There's one God in three distinct persons. And so we have to ask then in what sense, how is The son here being called the father, if they are separate and distinct, and this is not saying that Jesus is God the father.

He's God, But he's the second person of the Trinity not the first person And so how how is Isaiah saying that Christ is the eternal father without blurring these persons of the Trinity We have to say we would describe it this way that Isaiah is not describing the interpersonal relationships of the Trinity. He is describing the relationship of Emmanuel to us. Remember, this is the one who is prophesied in Isaiah 7. The virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. He is God with us.

So the word father here Designates a quality of the Messiah of Christ to us He acts toward us as a father Thou O Lord art our father our Redeemer Thy name is from everlasting. Isaiah says. Kings are even called fathers, nursing fathers. Why? Because they are to serve the people in that land.

Queens are called nursing mothers because it speaks to their role. Fathers and mothers are called fathers and mothers. Why? Because of their role to provide for, to care, to walk with, to instruct those to whom they are the father and mother. And so this is what it is speaking of here.

It is speaking of his relationship to us is one of a father who provides for us, who teaches us, who guides us, who walks with us, who protects us, who defends us, who is always with us. What do children do when they get hurt? They run to their father or mother, don't they? Nobody else will do. They want the comfort of a father and a mother.

Jesus is our father in that sense. He's the one that we can go to for comfort when we are distressed. He's the one who knows us. He's the one who picks us up and holds us like a father. Psalm 103 says, like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him.

A father has pity. When your child is hurt, through no fault of their own, your heart goes out to them in pity. And you want to pick them up and you want to comfort them. And the Bible says that Jesus pities us as a father. And he knows us.

And he carries us and he holds us in the palm of his hand. And so the quality of his fatherhood is that it's eternal. We're earthly fathers. We get old and mothers, we get old, become incapable and we die. And our children have to go on without us.

But this Son that's given to us, He is our Father eternally. When our earthly father and mother forsake us in some way, then it's this father that takes us up. That's what Psalm 27 says. My father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up because he is the eternal father. He forever and ever guards us, supplies our needs, is the one who feeds us.

What tenderness, what kindness, what love is expressed here that he is an eternal father to us. But he's also the prince of peace. The prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. The world can give a temporary peace, but it's very temporary as we've seen recently with all the declarations of peace and so on.

It lasts a while. And then there's war again. Maybe it lasts a few years, maybe it lasts a few decades. Maybe it lasts maybe a little longer, very rarely. And then there's war again.

But this. This is an eternal peace. There is no end to the peace that this sun gives. And so in the cessation of war here, that is eternal, you have to remove the cause of the conflict. And as the world gives peace, they can't do that.

They can't take away the cause of the conflict. The cause of the conflict is sin. Where do wars and fights come from among you? They come because we lost and cannot have. We fight because we want something that we can't get.

And so for for peace, lasting peace, sin has to be removed. But for human sin to be removed, there has to be a state of peace between God and man. We have to be reconciled to a God whom we have offended. God's wrath against us for our sin has to be propitiated. And that only this son can do.

And when he does, then we are ever more at peace, reconciled to the Father. Paul said in Romans, therefore being justified by faith. What we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, having been justified. Having been declared righteous because of the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and the guilt of our sins taken away by his death, we are reconciled to the Father and there is now peace with God through him. He is the Prince, the very embodiment of peace.

He has procured that peace. He has removed the requirements that were against us, nailing it to the cross. In His own body He bore our sins that we having died to sins might live for righteousness by whose stripes we are healed. And when the peace of God is in our hearts, then that will be manifested as peace in the world, as peace among men, peace to one another. This is the Son, the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, The everlasting father, the prince of peace born to us and given to us.

May we receive him. As our savior, Heavenly Father, we thank you for this great gift that you have given to us in your Son Jesus Christ. Our words cannot express the depth of our gratitude of what you have given, what you have done for us as the mighty God who has defeated and conquered all of our enemies as the wonderful counselor who gives to us your wisdom, able to make the simple wise, able, Lord, your wisdom, able to bring, make us wise unto salvation. The Everlasting Father, the one who never leaves us nor forsakes us, but who walks with us when we go through the fire so that we are not burned and we will when we walk through the flood so that they do not overflow us for you are our Father and you are able to hold us where the floods cannot reach us and you are the Prince of Peace, the one who has bought everlasting peace, and for this we also give you thanks. Through Jesus Christ, amen.

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