‘For Unto Us…’

‘For Unto Us…’

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

We come to consider one of the most sublime prophecies regarding the first Coming of Christ.  Isaiah bears the title of, ‘The Evangelical Prophet,’ and proves himself worthy of that title over and over again.  In our text for the next few days, we find Isaiah personalizing the prophecy to a particular group when he says, ‘For unto us a Child is born. Unto us a Son is given.’  Who is this group to whom God has given this Child, and Son? To whom and for whom did Christ come in the Flesh? Christ explained this Himself. He pointed out that the primary focus of His earthly ministry was to the ‘House of Israel.’  He made His chosen nation of Israel the primary sphere of His preaching, His miracles, and His discipling. Having said that, He also declared that He would expand His work to a larger group, when He said, ‘and other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.’ Therefore, we may include ourselves as being those to whom God has given this Son.  He has come ‘to seek and to save, that which was lost.’ We are the ‘lost’ who are in need of this Savior. We happily include ourselves in this group to whom the prophet refers. Therefore we say, ‘For unto us a Child is born. Unto us a Son is given.’ We are overwhelmingly glad for this unspeakable gift which God had delivered to us in the Person of Christ, His Son and our Savior.

Our Glorious and Generous God,
we rejoice that You have given to us Christ,
Your Only-Begotten Son.
We praise You that He is Your unspeakable gift,
unto us, who are so greatly in need of a Savior.