Despite all of the troubles of this world, in Jesus we have a King that can redeem all things.

Transcript:

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end.

The celebration of Christmas completely consumes the attention of most children. I want to invite you to go back in your mind, those of you who are adults, to when you were a kid. Do you remember how excited you were? I remember being hardly able to sleep the night before, and restlessly waking at the crack of dawn so I could tear open those presents.

So great was our desire to unwrap them, to see what they had for us. As the years go on, that excitement begins to wear off. Things don't shine as they once did. We're happy and grateful for any presents we receive. But we don't long for them as we once did. As life goes on, we long for different things that can't be wrapped under a tree.

So with every year that passes, we start to look past Christmas. Seems trivial, not at all consequential for the real business of life. We are concerned about the future. What about this economy? What about our security? What about our retirement? What about our children and grandchildren? Yes, it is Christmas again.

So what?

There's no denying the importance of those concerns. They are important. But Christmas is supremely important because it encompasses all those things. Without Christmas, we could be assured only of one thing. That we will lose everything we hold dear. It is only because of Christmas that we can avoid ruin.

We are always seeking new leaders who will deliver us from all these things that we fear. One is removed from power, another elected. Promises are kept, promises are broken. Nothing really changes except the cast of players upon the stage. Something different, though, happens at Christmas. We mark the day when a different man was born.

He is everything we have looked for in others but have never found. He is the world leader that has the power to change the world. Now we are suspicious of anyone who would be a king. Wary of how he would use such power. But if there could be a good one, who would it be? If there could be one who would actually make things better, would we not go to the ends of the earth to find him?

Would we not seek him? That's just what we find when this king is born. We see the wise men seeking him in Matthew 2, verses 1 through 2. It says, After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked him, Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?

We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. Along with wise men we see shepherds. Shepherds were not trained in the study of the stars, but they needed no degrees to comprehend an angelic proclamation. As we find in Luke 2, verses 8 through 15. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord.

This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger. Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.

Wise men and shepherds alike eagerly set afoot to find this king. Not just any king, but the king, the messiah, the one mankind could actually call their savior. Now they knew that he was coming because it was foretold. Over 700 years earlier, the prophet Isaiah recorded what God revealed to him regarding this.

There would be a king, unlike any other king, who would bring lasting deliverance. In Isaiah 9, he says, Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who are in distress. In the past, he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future, he will honor Galilee of the nations by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. For You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy. They rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.

Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Now, King David was a great king for the people of Israel.

But what Isaiah is foretelling here is a greater king who is yet to come. One who would reign forever. Who would establish forever and ever justice, righteousness, peace. Isaiah says, all those garments of war soaked in blood are going to be burnt up. They will be no more. He says there is to be a child who will be born.

A son is to be given. And among other things, and he's given many wonderful titles, but among them is included the title, Mighty God. Mighty God! How can that be said of any man? Unless God himself comes to us in the flesh.

And as we know the rest of the story, and as we see this prophecy given by Isaiah, we begin to understand what God has been about all along. We have rebelled against God. We decided that we did not want God to be our true king, way back when. Our parents, Adam and Eve, decided they wanted to do their own thing.

But God has conspired all along that He would bring us back to Himself. That He would, in fact, truly be our King. And He would become that King through the line of David, born of the tribe of Judah. God Himself, through the Son, would take on human flesh. And this is exactly what we find in the message that is given to Mary when she is told that she will be pregnant.

In Luke 1, verses 28 through 35 it says, The angel went to her, to Mary, and said, Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God.

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end. How will this be? Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin.

The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. If you're looking at what Isaiah foretells in Isaiah 9 and you look at the message that is given here to Mary, it's very clear that Jesus is this promised king.

He is the mighty God come in the flesh. The one who would establish a rule that would last forever and ever and bring that righteousness, justice, and peace. All those conditions that we yearn for. All those things that we long to see in our own day.

And yet there are things that are curious about Jesus. He's clearly this great king. He is the mighty God. And yet, He's not born in a palace in Jerusalem. Rather, He's born in the small town of Bethlehem. He's born alongside a bunch of animals. And his bed is a feeding trough, a manger filled with hay.

Already we can see that Jesus is different than even just your average person, never mind any other royal figure. Paul points to this profound contrast of who Jesus is and yet how he came to us when instructing the Christians in Philippi. In Philippians 2, verses 5- 11, Paul says, In your relationships with one another, have the mindset as Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.

Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place, and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, e...