Bootstrap
Tom Harding

Unto Us The Son Is Given

Isaiah 9:6-7
Tom Harding December, 29 2021 Audio
0 Comments
Isaiah 9:6-7
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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

In the sermon "Unto Us The Son Is Given," Tom Harding addresses the profound theological implications of Isaiah 9:6-7, highlighting the doctrine of the Incarnation and the significance of Jesus as our Savior. He presents key arguments regarding the dual nature of Christ as both fully human and fully divine, emphasizing that the Son is given to the elect as a gift from God to provide redemption and reconciliation. Scripture references, including Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:30-33, and 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, bolster his claims, illustrating that Christ's birth fulfills God’s promises and that He is the mediator of salvation. The doctrinal significance lies in recognizing Jesus as the "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Everlasting Father," and "Prince of Peace," which affirms the Reformed understanding of God's sovereignty in salvation and the restorative peace brought through Christ.

Key Quotes

“For unto us a child is born, and a son is given. What a great mystery we have in the gospel.”

“He is not the mighty God unto all men, but unto us. Unto us, He’s our mighty God.”

“The government rests upon his shoulders. Our eternal salvation rests upon his shoulders, not ours.”

“He saves his people from their sin. He doesn't try to; God doesn't try to save people. He saves his people by his grace.”

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

100%
Okay, Isaiah 9, chapter 9, verse
6. Let's read this verse one more
time. And what really got a hold of
me here just this afternoon as I was looking this message over
again, in verse 6, are these words here, for unto us. For
unto us. Unto us, the Lord has sent us
a Savior. The Lord has sent us one who
put away our sins. For unto us, a child is born. Now that's speaking of the Lord's
humanity. He was born a baby of Mary. And of course we know He was
conceived of God the Holy Spirit. But unto us, The Son, this is
God the Son is given. God gave us His Son. What a gift. What a gift. And the government, the rule
of all things, shall be upon His shoulders. He's a broad-shouldered
Savior. And His name shall be called,
notice, Wonderful, capital W. That's his name. His name is
Wonderful. Everything about him is Wonderful, is it not? His
name is Wonderful. His name is Counselor. He's the
Counselor. He's the Wonderful Counselor.
He's the Mighty God. He's made unto us. For unto us
He's not the mighty God unto all men. Now, He is God over
all, but not all men worship Him as the mighty God, but unto
us. Unto us, He's our mighty God.
He's almighty God, isn't He? Unto us. Unto us, He's the everlasting
Father. Unto us, He's chosen. To you who believe, He is what?
Precious. And to you who believe, He's
the Prince of Peace unto us. You see how He's saying that
unto us? Unto us. God has chosen us in
Christ before the foundation of the world. And the Lord Jesus
Christ has made unto us everything we need. You remember that verse?
But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us. That's saying the same thing,
isn't it? He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption that we might glory in Him. Think about this as he says here
in verse 6. Unto us a child is born and a
son is given." What a great mystery we have in the gospel. The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ is often called a mystery. And it's a
mystery that must be revealed unto us by the Spirit of God
from the Word of God alone. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto His Children, we know
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
their foolishness unto him, but unto us. He's all together lovely. Unto us, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the unspeakable gift of God. Unto us, the Lord Jesus Christ
has unsearchable riches. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sin. You see what he's saying here?
Unto us. Unto us the Lord was sent for His children, for His
elect. or his covenant people. The gospel is often called a
mystery. In Ephesians chapter 5, when
Paul talks about that union and relationship between Christ and
his church, he loved the church and gave himself for it. And
then when he ends that chapter, he said, this is a great mystery,
but I speak concerning Christ and his church. And then in 1
Corinthians, Chapter two, the gospel again is called the mystery.
We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom
which God ordained before the world hath begun. Remember the
apostle Paul talking about the incarnate God, where he said,
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, Why
is that so great? God was manifest in the flesh. That's exactly what he's saying
right here in verse 6 of Isaiah 9. God was manifest in the flesh
as a real man. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. Look one page
over. Turn one page back to chapter
7. Isaiah chapter 7, look at verse 13, and he said, Hear you
now, O house of David, is it a small thing for you to weary
men? But will you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself shall
give you a sign, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son
and shall call his name Emmanuel. What does Emmanuel mean? Well,
that's quoted in Matthew chapter 1, Emmanuel being interpreted,
which is God with us, God with us, a virgin conceived by God
the Holy Spirit, a child is born, a son is given, God who inhabits
eternity, inhabited a body of a man prepared especially for
him. You remember Hebrews 10, where
it says, a body hast thou prepared me? A special body, because it
was a body without the guilt of Adam's sin reckoned. That's why that virgin had to
conceive that child, not of a man, but of God himself, God the Holy
Spirit. He's the seed of woman. God was
manifest in the flesh as a real man. God took on himself a form
of a servant, but even as the form of a servant, he thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. Even though he was made
manifest in the flesh, he never stopped being God. He became
what he was not, flesh, but he remained what he was, almighty
and eternal God. So, unto us a child is born,
unto us his son is given. Now it's saying two different
things. He's saying two different things. A child was born, made
of the seed of David according to the flesh, but Mary conceived
in her womb by the power of God, God the Holy Spirit, A child
was born of her, a real man child, like any other man child that
was born with the exception of no sin, no guilt from Adam's
transgression. Such a high priest became us
who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin. In the
fullness of time, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law. So a
child is born unto us now. Unto us. Unto us. Unto his covenant children. Unto
his covenant people. And then he says secondly, excuse
me. Unto us a son. A son was given. given. He's made of a seed of
David according to flesh, but he's declared to be the Son of
God. He declared to be the Son of
God. He wasn't made the Son of God. He is eternally the Son
of God or God the Son. Hold your place there and let's
see if we can turn to Luke chapter 1 and we can read some more about
that glorious, glorious incarnation. Luke chapter 1, Luke chapter
1 verse 30, and the angel said unto her, fear not Mary, verse
30, Luke 1 verse 30. And the angel said unto her,
fear not Mary, for thou hast found favor with God, and behold
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son,
and shall call his name Savior, Jesus. He shall save his people
from their sin. He shall be great and shall be
called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever. and of his kingdom there shall
be no end. Saying the same thing as we read
over here in Isaiah 9 verse 6. Unto us now the child is born
and unto us the son is given. Now, we see Him as the Son of
Man in the Word of God. We studied that even in the Revelation. He's called the Son of Man who's
in the midst of the seven churches. Remember that? And He's also
called the Son of God. He's both. He's both the Son
of Man and both the Son of God, or God the Son. And He had to
be both. He had to be the God-Man mediator to put away our sin.
God alone cannot suffer, man alone cannot satisfy, but the
God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, made full reconciliation, brought
in everlasting righteousness for us, justified us by his redeeming
blood forever and ever and ever unto us. What a blessing we have. What a blessing we have from
God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ came to put away our sin. Call his name Savior for he shall
save his people from their sin. You reckon he got it done? You
reckon he got the job done? God said he did. The Lord said
on Calvary 3, it's finished, it's done. And then notice his
second statement in verse 6 of Isaiah 9, the government rests
on his shoulders. The government rests on his shoulders. Look at verse 7. Of the increase
of his government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne
of David, upon his kingdom to order it, to establish it with
judgment and justice from henceforth even forevermore. Sounds like
somebody's in charge. Sounds like the government, he
rules all things by the word of his power, to order it, to
establish it. His kingdom is a kingdom in which
he rules absolutely, sovereignly over all things, with judgment,
with justice from henceforth for how long? From everlasting
to everlasting thou art God, the zeal of the Lord of hosts. You reckon he's gonna get it
done? He will perform this. Remember it said of Abraham,
he was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded
that all that God had promised, and he promised a whole lot.
All that God had promised, he is able to perform. He's performed all things for
us. I'm having an issue here. Bear with me. Government's on
his shoulders. He is born, he is the king of kings and lord
of lords. God is king of all the earth,
but especially in regards to his spiritual kingdom. He is king in his kingdom. The
kingdom and rule of his church rest upon his authority, rest
upon his rule, rest upon his sovereignty. Whatsoever the Lord
please, that's what he did in heaven, earth, sea, and all deep
places, upon his shoulders. Our eternal salvation rests upon
his shoulders. not ours. Our eternal salvation
rests upon his faithfulness, not ours. Now, he didn't become
a king. or he didn't become Lord by something
we have done, God made him both Lord and Christ. He is King of
Kings and he is Lord of Lords, as it says more than one time
in the book of the Revelation. The wise men came and they asked
in that day when the Lord was about two years old, this was
not when the shepherds came, this is two years later, when
the wise men came and they said, where is he that born king? He was king when he got here.
He's not king by something we do. He's not Lord by something
we do. He is God our Savior by God's
determinate decree. You remember him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God? That's
why he's here as God our King. And the government, I love that thought, don't you?
We have local government, we have county government, we have
state government, we have National government, whenever
you have government, you have men or women that have designated
responsibility and designated offices in that government. But the head of all government
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He rules over the governor, the
president, the king's heart, is in the hands of the Lord,
and like a river, he turns it whether so ever he will. Doesn't
matter who the man is. The government rests upon the
shoulders of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's comforting to us. That's
comforting to God's people. Our God is in charge of all things,
all things. For unto us is a Savior born
unto you this day, Christ the Lord. That's what the angel said
to those shepherds in the field unto you this day. He was born
in the city of David, a Savior. A Savior. He is the Savior who
really saves his people from their sin. He doesn't try to.
God doesn't try to save people. He saves his people by his grace. A Savior, which is Christ the
Lord. Now look, let's look at these things here a few minutes.
His name. You see that? His name. Well,
his name is something, isn't it? His name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, we often sing songs in our
songbook that say, that use the name just Savior, Jesus, Jesus,
and that's okay. We understand what they're saying,
but there's a lot of people, preachers included, A lot of
people, when I'm preaching, I'm in the pulpit, or I'm ever talking
about our Savior, I always say Jesus our Lord, or the Lord's
Christ, or the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't ever just use His name
of humiliation. Jesus. Jesus. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, His name, God has given
Him a name which is above every name, and at that name every
knee shall bow, every tongue going to confess he is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. Unto us his name is everything. He is the one that is altogether
lovely. Neither is there salvation in
any other name. You remember Peter said that
to that council, Peter and John. When they said by, when that
cripple was healed, and whose name did you do this? And Peter
said, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, neither is there
salvation in any other, nor the name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved. His name is everything. He's
Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Sidcanu, Jehovah Shema, Jehovah Rapha,
all those names. I did a whole series of messages
back 20 some years ago. I started with A, B, C, D, E,
F, G, I don't know if you remember that, all the way through the
alphabet, talking about finding in the word of God every name
in the word of God that starts with A. Advocate, every word
in the book of God that started with B, C, D, E, all the way
through the alphabet. I may do that study again some
day. But his name shall be called,
and here we have wonderful, unto us he is wonderful. Now he's
not that to everybody, is he? Some men hate him. Some men despise
him. He despised and rejected of men.
We read a moment ago in John chapter 1, he came into his own
and his own received him not. They said, away with this man.
We don't have this man rule over us. He wasn't wonderful to them,
was he? The only reason he's wonderful
unto us is because he has made us to differ. He has made us
to differ. We would have said the same exact
thing away with Him. We have no king but Caesar. But
unto us, because of His grace, who made you to differ from another?
What do you have that you didn't receive? But unto us, His name
is Wonderful. Unto us, His name is Counselor. Unto us, He is our Mighty God. He is our God and Savior. Unto
us, He is the everlasting Father. Unto us, He is. We are begotten
of His Word. And unto us, He is the Prince. He is our Prince of Peace. Now,
let's look at those things for just a moment. His name is wonderful. Now look that word up in the
original, and it has to do with a miracle. He is a miracle. He is a miracle. Or you could
put it this way, a marvelous thing. You remember that angel
told Mary, you'll conceive and bring forth a child, that holy
thing, you shall be called the God Almighty. Wonderful. He's a marvelous thing. His name
is above every name. The Lord Jesus Christ and everything
about His person, everything about His redeeming work is wonderful,
is it not? Can't we use that word to describe
everything about His person? Well, He is wonderful. He is
a wonderful Savior, an able Savior, able to save through the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. How about His redeeming work?
Oh, it's wonderful, isn't it? The shedding of His blood that
obtained eternal redemption for us. Isn't that wonderful? The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
die to make salvation a possibility. His death was an effectual atonement
for the sin of God's people. Effectual, powerful, and glorious. It's wonderful. His person is
wonderful. His work is wonderful. In Psalm 107, don't turn there,
but when we study through the Psalms, you go back and read
Psalm 107, and four times, I looked this up again today, four times
in Psalm 107, we read this statement. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works toward the children
of men. His work, He's wonderful in His
person. He's wonderful in His priestly
work. He's wonderful in His redeeming
work. He's wonderful in His saving
work, is He not? Everything about His priestly
work is wonderful. How He effectively put away our
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He's wonderful in His covenant
love toward us. He's loved us with an everlasting
love. What a wonderful love! We have
so much so that he said, here in his love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us. And he sent his son to be the
sacrifice for our sin. His mercy, his grace, and his
love is all wonderful, is it not? He's a wonderful mediator
between God and sinners. He's a wonderful advocate. Thank
God we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. We have a wonderful intercessor, don't we? He ever
lived to intercede for us. Boy, I need an intercessor right
now, don't you? To make our worship acceptable
unto God. We have a wonderful savior who
really saves his people. How about the surety? Well, he's
a wonderful surety, isn't he? He's a guarantee of our salvation.
Can't you say that in your heart? He is wonderful. Unto us now,
not unto all men, but unto us, he is wonderful. He is wonderful. And then secondly, he says he's
a counselor. He's a counselor. He's a counselor. He's a wonderful counselor, is
he not? Isaiah 28 says, this also comes
from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, excellent
in working. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only counselor. No preacher should ever get into
the counseling business. Now, I'll help you if I can,
but I'm not your counselor. He's the mighty counselor. He's
a counselor. We point center to the Lord Jesus
Christ for wisdom, learning, and spiritual matters. He's the
answer to all your questions. Christ is all and in all. He
is the one who is able and willing to reveal the gospel unto us. It comes by His revelation. The Father has given Him power
over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given to Him. He's the wonderful counselor.
You need Him as your Mediator and Savior. Would you know the
way of salvation? What's found in Christ our Counselor?
Would you know the will and purpose of God? What's found in Christ
our Counselor? Christ our Counselor. God who spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall anything to the charge
of God elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather is risen again, whoever lives to make intercession for
us. Oh, I need that counselor, don't
you? I need him to be my counselor. He is the wonderful counselor,
then watch this. Unto us, he's the mighty God. He is the almighty God. God, he was God in all things.
He's the absolute sovereign. over all things. He rules and
reigns as the mighty God. He is God our Savior. I like that statement. He's God
our Savior. He's always been the everlasting
mighty God. Always has been and always will
be. He is Lord of heaven and earth. Every attribute of deity is found
in the Lord Jesus Christ because He's God. He is the mighty God. Many times, he said, when you've
seen the Father, you've seen me. I and my Father, we are one.
The disciples asked, what manner of man is this that even the
sea and the wind, they obey him? No man speaks like that man,
because that man who's speaking is God. He is the mighty God. How long has he been the mighty
God? Always has been. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He is a very image
of the invisible God. The glory of God shines in the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because He is God with all power,
He's able to save to the uttermost. What kind of Savior do we need?
A mighty God. He is God. I love the way the
scripture calls Him God, our Savior. able to save to the uttermost. His gospel is the power of God
unto salvation." And then, watch this, the Lord Jesus Christ is
not only made to us, He's a wonderful, wonderful in His person, His
redeeming work. He's a counselor. He's a counselor
we need. He'll never lead us wrong. He'll
always tell us right. Because He's a mighty God, it's
impossible for God to lie. And then it says there, He's
the everlasting Father. Unto us, He is our Father. Now, Isaiah is not confused here
about the Godhead. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, these
three are one. These three are one. But in our
covenant relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, He is our
Father. We are His covenant children. In chapter 8, Isaiah chapter
8, and this is quoted, this will sound familiar unto you because
it's quoted in Hebrews 2 verse 13. Look at Hebrews, excuse me,
look at, excuse me, Isaiah 8 verse 18. I'll get my mind here right
in a minute. Isaiah 8 verse 18, this is quoted
in Hebrews 2, look at verse 18. Behold, I and the children whom
the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from
the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion." God gave him
a covenant people. He said, all that the Father
has given to me, they'll come to me, and those that come to
me, I will in no wise cast out. He is our Father. were begotten
by the Word of God. He made us adopted sons of God. He that hath the Son hath the
Father. The Father and the Son, they
are one. We read this in 2 John. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. He is made unto us the mighty God, the everlasting Father. Everlasting. He's the eternal.
He saves us with an eternal salvation. We need that, don't we? And the
last thing he says here, he's the Prince of Peace. He's made
unto us our peace. The Lord who is our peace. He's called the King of Righteousness. He's called the King of Peace.
The king of peace. He made peace for us. How did
he make peace for us? He made peace for us with his
own blood, didn't he? Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have an
atonement in the Lord Jesus Christ. He reconciled us unto God. He's made unto us. He is our
peace. He is our prince of peace. He gives peace. He's sovereign
in giving peace to whom he will. He said, I will have mercy upon
whom I will have mercy. He's the prince of peace. He
made peace for us with his own blood. God commanded His love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. This is Romans
5, verse 10 in Lebanon. verse 9, 10, and 11, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we now have received
reconciliation. Let me close by having you turn
to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. He is our peace. He made peace
for us with his own blood unto us. wonderful counselor, the
mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He reconciled
us to himself. Who did that? 2 Corinthians 5
verse 18. All things are of God. 2 Corinthians
5 verse 18. You got it? To wit, all things are of God
who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, has given to
us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that it namely, that
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, that
is, his covenant people, not imputing their trespasses unto
them, but has committed unto us, has committed unto us this
word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you
in Christ's head, be ye reconciled. Well, God made him to be sin,
and here it is, for us. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given. He is made unto us. He made him
to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. I got to have redemption, I got
to have a redeemer, and I got to have a righteousness. redemption
and righteousness revealed in the wonderful Counselor, the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Tom Harding
About Tom Harding
Tom Harding is pastor of Zebulon Grace Church located at 6088 Zebulon Highway, Pikeville, Kentucky 41501. You may also contact him by telephone at (606) 631-9053, or e-mail taharding@mikrotec.com. The website address is www.henrytmahan.com.

Comments

0 / 2000 characters
Comments are moderated before appearing.

Be the first to comment!

Joshua

Joshua

Shall we play a game? Ask me about articles, sermons, or theology from our library. I can also help you navigate the site.