Merry Christmas Eve! Thank you so much for walking with us this December. We pray this series has been an encouraging aid in remembering the permanence of God’s promises toward us, and anticipating the future hope this brings us both in this life and in eternity.

As we anticipate Christmas tomorrow, I’d like to conclude with one of my favorite Messianic prophecies from Isaiah:

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
    yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
 He will delight in obeying the Lord.
    He will not judge by appearance
    nor make a decision based on hearsay.
 He will give justice to the poor
    and make fair decisions for the exploited.
The earth will shake at the force of his word,
    and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.
 He will wear righteousness like a belt
    and truth like an undergarment.

Isaiah 11:1-5

Here are some things that are blessing me as I meditate on this passage, both personally and as I consider what is going on in the world:

1. “The Spirit of counsel and might…” It can be tempting to equate seeking wisdom with passivity or delayed action, but wisdom that is truly from the Lord – the wisdom Christ embodied while he walked among us – is never weak or ineffective. It is incredibly powerful and knows when, how, and how much to act. It never does either too much or too little. That is why it can only from the Lord and is a sign of God’s Spirit transforming us as we renew our minds with his Word and depend on him to lead us day by day.
2. “He will not judge by appearance, nor make a decision based on hearsay.” This is the opposite of both our fallen human tendencies and our experience with other humans! In spite of our best intentions, it is impossible to be completely free from sinful motives or to be completely sure we know everything there is to know about a situation before we pass judgment. Jesus was the only man who was completely without sin, and who could also see into other men’s hearts perfectly (John 2:25). Yet he chose to bear God’s wrath for us and continues interceding for those of us who place our faith in him, instead of using that knowledge to condemn us (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25). Only he both judges righteous and also fulfills our longing to be perfectly known and understood.
3. “He will wear righteousness like a belt, and truth like an undergarment…” There have been several tragedies on the news in recent weeks, from the shootings connected to Brown University, MIT, and Bondi Beach, to the heartbreaking death of Jubilant Sykes. These remind us that, although Jesus has come once, our world is still very broken and in desperate need of the gospel. We wait in great anticipation of his second coming, when he will finally set everything to right and usher in the new Heaven and New Earth, and we will enjoy perfect fellowship with him and all God’s people. Until then, we are called to look forward to his coming and rely on his empowering grace to be ambassadors of truth and righteousness in this world that so desperately cries out for the eternal hope that only he can give.

Merry Christmas! May we be filled with the eternal hope of Immanuel – God with us!