A King Living Among His People (Isaiah 7:14)
Last week we talked about Jesus as a King sitting on His throne. THis flies in the face of what our culture things about Jesus.
WE see Him as a baby in a manger, or a preacher hung on a cross. However, the Bible paints a much different picture of who Jesus is.
We must have an accurate idea of who Jesus is because to be wrong about Him is to miss Heaven.
- If you think of Jesus as only a great teacher, you will not be saved
- you will not be saved if you believe in Jesus as the best of prophets.
This is one of those issues in life that what you don't know can hurt you.
If you will remmeber, I gave this illustration. I asked, "what if the only information you had about bears was from watching Winnie the Pooh."
If that was the only information about bears you had, when you encountered a bear in real life, it would cause you great harm.
Sadly, many people have the wrong information about Jesus. They only think of Jesus as a baby in a manger. At the end of their life, when they face Jesus as King of the universe, they will have an eternity with which to repent.
Last week we talked about Isaiah's vision of Jesus and how he saw Jesus as a king high and lifted up. I made the point that we neefd to have the same vision, and I talked about what that meant.
- To trust the fact that Jesus is King of the universe, in other words, Jesus is in control
- To trust the fact that Jesus is Holy, in other words, the decisions that Jesus makes are right and just.
- To trust the fact that Jesus is graciuos, in other words, Jesus loves you
This week I want to talk about a different aspect of Jesus. Yes, Jesus is the King of the universe who sits on Hist throne and will one day judge the world.
But the Bible also talks about Jesus as a King who lives among His people.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
The Old Testament is full of references to Jesus, God through the Old Testament is consistently pointing to the coming of Jesus.
He uses images and word pictures to build anticipation for the coming of Jesus.
Do you remember when you were a kid going to the movies? Before the movie started, they had the "Coming Attractions."
They would show previews of movies to cold "build anticipation." This is what God was doing through the first half of the Bible.
He gave different hints as to what Jesus was going to be like
- For instance, we read in Hebrews that the Aaronic priesthood was a "picture of Jesus," but Jesus is better because His sacrifice was once and forever.
- Again, David was a "picture" of Jesus, but Jesus is better bacause His reign will last forever.
Here in Isaiah 7, we see another one of these hints as to what Jesus will be like. He will be like a king who lives in the midst of His people.
Jesus is not a king who sits on a throne detached from His people. He lives in our midst.
He is Immanuel, God with us!
The presence of JesusJesus is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Jesus is a friend who sticks closer than a brother
Proverbs 18:24 A man that hath friends myst shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
We've all been through seasons where it seems like we don't have a friend in the world.
We've all experienced the feeling of loneliness, but the Bible talks about a friend who is closer thatn a brother.
How do we think about the friendship of Jesus?
The Bible says to have a friend, you must be a friend. So, the question is, has Jesus shown Himself friendly to you.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
We should distinguish presence from friendship. Just because someone is present in your life doesn't mean they are your friend.
However, with Jesus, we know He is our friend because He gave His life for us.
Last week we talked about the holiness of God and how non of us measure up to His righteous standard.
We have all sinned, which means all of us deserve death. But Jesus took our death.
"The christian God is the crucified God, not a compassionate spectator from the outside but truly a fellow sufferer who understands creatures' pain from the inside1 "
Jesus is with us because He understands us from the inside... He's been where we are. He's experienced what we have experienced.
This is the story of Christmas, the King of the universe, stepping down from His throne to befriend sinners.
We must be careful, though. Jesus did not come to earth to wallow with sinners. He came to save them.
- Jesus, as your friend, wants to lift you out of sin.
- Jesus, your friend, will not allow you to be comfortable in your sin.
Jesus has not, not will He ever excuse, sin. He will always call you out of sin. There ar4e some today who see Jesus not as a Savior but as an accomplive.
That's not who Jesus is. Jesus wants to lift us out of our sin. The way He does this is by grace.
Grace is more than unmerited favor. If I were to go to Dana's hourse and ask for a peanut butter sandwich, if she gave it to me, that would be an unmerited favor.
But there's more to grace than that.
The picture of unmerited grave in the Bible is more like this. I go over to Dana's house and key her car, slash her tires and poor sugar own the gads tank, and then I ask for a peanut butter sandwich.
If she gave me a peanut butter sandwich, that would be grace.
The Bible says that we were the enemies of God, but He sent us His son to die in our place anyway. That's grace.
That's what Jesus came to offer us.
You see, the friendship Jeus offers is not a friendship we deserve. We have rebelled against His holiness. But He left Hist throne in heaven to come and befriend a sinner like me.
Application.
The holiday season is the time of year when people feel most alone. The pressure of keeping up with the Joneses and providing for your family compounds this time of year.
The Christmas story is the story of a King sitting on His throne high and lifted who decides to come to the earth and live among His people.
1 John Polinghorne, "Exploring Reality" page 146