Seventh Day of Advent

ISAIAH 9:6
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.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
In the verse we have just read we heard one of the greatest prophecies concerning the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Throughout this prophecy we have a wonderful display of the Person of our Lord Jesus, whose birth we celebrate at this time of the year. First, Isaiah declares that He will be a child born. Jesus entered into human flesh just as you and I do, through birth. As we heard in our first reading this week the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus is fully man.

But then Isaiah declares that He is also a son…given. Jesus Christ is more than a mere man like you and me; rather, He is the eternal Son of God who has been given. Jesus is more than just a child, He is God of God, very God of very God, as our Nicene Creed declares and which we confess in our worship each Sunday. Jesus is fully God, for only God could accomplishwhat Jesus accomplished.

And what did Jesus come to accomplish? Look closely at the important phrase added to each of the two statements: He wasborn and given to us. Jesus Christ was born and given to us; He came to save His people (see verses 3 & 4), us, those whom the Father gave to His Son from all eternity; those whom the Father gave the Son as His inheritance so that they might be brought into the eternal covenant of salvation through the saving work Jesus accomplished on their behalf. Again, we confess this very truth every Sunday in our worship service using the Nicene Creed, when we say, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. Jesus is our Savior.

In this season, set aside by the Church, we celebrate the birth of Jesus and the reality that God gave Jesus to us and for our salvation. As St. Matthew will write, and which we will read in a couple days, Jesus came to save His people from their sins. He was given to us to do what we could not and cannot do for ourselves—save ourselves from our sin and God’s judgment against our sins. Let us also celebrate the reality that God has given us, you and me, each of us, to His Son for our salvation, and that He is mighty to save.

—Pastor Galen Sorey, Christ Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

PRAYER
Our eternal and most blessed God and Father, we thank You for the gift of Jesus, given by You, and for our salvation. We thank You that in Your eternal and unchanging love You have given us to Your Son, to save and to keep through all our lives. Thank You for the gift of Your Son and thank You for the gift of our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN.

ADVENT APPLICATION
Discuss with your family how each of us can know with assurance that Jesus Christ came for us and to save us. Discuss the magnitude of our own sinfulness and our total inability to save ourselves. Discuss the unchanging love of God displayed to us in the person of Jesus Christ and His being given to us and for us and for our salvation.