The LORD gives a sign like no other.

 

Sermon for Christmas Eve, December 24, 2020

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward mankind.  Amen.

Isaiah 7:10-14  ¹⁰The Lord spoke to Ahaz again.  He said, ¹¹“Ask for a sign from the Lord your God.  Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.”  ¹²But Ahaz responded, “I will not ask.  I will not test the Lord.”  ¹³So Isaiah said: Listen now, you house of David.  Is it not enough for you to test the patience of men?  Will you test the patience of my God as well?  ¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign for all of you.  Look!  The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel. (EHV)

The LORD gives a sign like no other.

Dear children of the heavenly Father,

            King Ahaz was afraid.  Neighboring armies were threatening the kingdom of Judah, and Ahaz was so afraid that he was willing to seek help from a dangerously powerful, wicked, idolatrous nation against those lessor neighbors, even Israel.  In His mercy, the Lord God of heaven and earth sent His prophet to offer His protection, but it was readily apparent that the one true God was no longer Ahaz’ God.  When King Ahaz didn’t believe the offer of God’s protection, the Lord offered to give him a sign—a visible proof to show Ahaz that he could trust the Lord, but Ahaz refused God’s offer.

Many people in our world are also afraid.  Some are afraid of troublesome neighbors.  Some fear a tiny yet terrible virus.  Government officials fear losing their power, while many people fear the government’s power.  Lots of people, even among ourselves, feel afraid even when they can’t identify what it is that makes them feel scared.  Sadly, like King Ahaz, many don’t trust the one true God.  Yet, the sign God offered to King Ahaz remains a powerful sign, to any and to all, that God is faithful and we can trust God to rescue us, because The LORD gives a sign like no other.

The Lord spoke to Ahaz again.  He said, “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God.  Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.”  God made an offer of pure, unselfish generosity.  Ahaz had done nothing but reject God’s help, yet God was loving and so faithful to His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He was willing to help even one of the worst of Judah’s kings. 

Many people think God only helps those who love and honor God, but God often sends His messengers with promises and calls to repentance because “He is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)  God wanted Ahaz to repent of his wickedness and return to trusting his Creator as his forefathers had.  Furthermore, God was carrying out His plan to bring salvation to the world through a descendant of King David, and as wicked as Ahaz was, he was in that line of descendants that led to our Savior, (Matthew 1:9) so God was concerned for that man’s eternal welfare, just as He is for ours. 

Ahaz was given the opportunity to ask for any miraculous sign he could think of, from the depths of the underworld to the heights of heaven.  Ahaz could ask for anything—there was no limit—yet Ahaz chose, instead, to rely on his enemies’ idols.  Ahaz responded, “I will not ask.  I will not test the Lord.”  Such is the mindset of the unbeliever.  Ahaz refused the most powerful help in the universe; he refused even to consider testing the God who was bending over backward to help him.

Firmly in the devil’s control, Ahaz brazenly defied the invitation to test God.  Ahaz likely knew enough of Moses writings to remember the Scripture which condemned the tests of the rebels, but Ahaz wasn’t being humble, obedient, or pious.  He was arrogantly defying the living God’s open hand.  Such is the case of anyone who rejects God’s promises, yet will not read the Bible, attend church services, or accept the outreaching hand of a Christian friend.

God’s patience with Ahaz was running out, yet God remained merciful to the world, so The LORD gave a sign like no other.  Isaiah said: “Listen now, you house of David.  Is it not enough for you to test the patience of men?  Will you test the patience of my God as well?  Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign for all of you.  Look!  The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.”

A sign like no other.  There are two amazing miracles promised in God’s sign, the first is a virgin birth.  This is such an amazing sign that many stumble over it, imagining that it just can’t be.  They believe a virgin birth isn’t possible because in the whole of history, it has happened only once.  However, our human experience cannot and should not control what God does.  Just because a new baby comes into the world, ordinarily, through the coupling of man and woman does not mean that God is limited.  Yet, because it is a one and only event in all of human history, no one should doubt that it really, truly is God’s promised One in that manger bed in Bethlehem.

There is more than adequate documentation in the Bible to show that Mary was indeed a virgin when the angel, Gabriel, came to her with the news that she would bear the promised Messiah.  Mary herself wondered how this was possible.  The reaction of her betrothed husband, Joseph, also verifies the account.  Even the infant, John, in Elizabeth’s womb, testified to Mary’s honesty and purity at the time she brought forth her first-born Son.  For numerous reasons, we trust that in Jesus’ birth The LORD gives a sign like no other.

Now, for the shocking part: that first miracle of the sign given to King Ahaz is the lessor part of the sign.  The greater part comes at the end of the promise.  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.”  This Child to be born in such monumental, unusual circumstance is the One and Only.  Already these hundreds of years before the Messiah would enter the world, the world is told that this one and only Child to be borne via a virgin birth will be God with us.

Names in the Bible often have meaning.  This one has the greatest meaning of all.  God with us means that this Child is God Himself come down to earth to share our humanity.  God with us means that God isn’t leaving our reconciliation, redemption, and salvation in the hands of frail sinners like you and me.  All the laws of the Bible and every other religion, state, or society couldn’t bring us one inch closer to God, so God Himself came down to be with us.

Ahaz tested God’s patience, just as every sin, and every sinner, tests God’s patience.  Every time we violate even one of God’s commands or His will for our lives, we are defying the love of our God.  Every time we fall even a smidgeon short of perfect holiness, God’s perfect justice demands retribution and the punishment of death.  There is no room in heaven for any type of sin—certainly no room for sinners of any kind.  God told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no human may see me and live.” (Exodus 33:20)

At the same time, heaven is occupied and ruled by one God who is love.  Every part of God’s being wants to do what is needed to save you and me.  Therefore, God sent His Son from heaven to earth, so that the Son could do for us what we could not do for God.  Because of this promised Sign, born of a virgin, John was able to testify, “We have all received grace upon grace.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God.  The only-begotten Son, who is close to the Father’s side, has made Him known.” (John 1:16-18)

Dear friends, when you gaze into that manger bed this Christmas Eve, see there the fulfillment of all God’s promises, and see the Sign that has amazed the world since the promise was given to King Ahaz.  A miraculous birth took place there in Bethlehem—a Virgin gave birth to a Child without the input of a man.  More importantly, though, than even that, is that this Child is God with us.  That Baby in the manger is the exact image of the holy God of heaven, who came down to earth to live in perfect humility, righteousness, and holiness, so that you could have perfect peace with the God who created mankind in His own image, an image of unblemished holiness that was lost in the fall but is restored through faith in Christ Jesus. 

That Baby came also so that having lived in perfect obedience to all His Father’s will on our behalf, God’s Son, Jesus, could give His human life on a cross outside of Jerusalem so that justice is satisfied, and you can be counted holy and perfectly fitted to enter heaven as God’s own dear child.  Our God and Savior promised those who believe and trust in Him, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)  This is the Savior who by His life, death, and resurrection has taken away every fear that might ever trouble us, for He has opened the gates of heaven to all who believe.  That is what you see and believe, when The LORD gives a sign like no other.  Amen.

Now, the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless in connection with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.