March 23, 2016 – Isaiah 7:14

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). Isaiah 7:14Isaiah was given the message about the coming of the One and Only Son of God in the 8th Century BC, before Christ.  This prophecy indicated that the people of Judah awaited the coming of Jesus long before He was born.  His name, Immanuel, means that God is with us here.  His arrival was a time of rejoicing – then and now.The manger scene, visited by shepherds who came to see this baby who was heralded by an angel choir, we celebrate during the Christmas season.  The wise men from the East sought the baby to worship Him.  They asked King Herod where the baby lay.  The Star of Bethlehem led them to Jesus, just as God sent a cloud and a pillar of fire to lead the children of Israel through the Wilderness to the Promised Land.Isaiah describes the baby in chapter 9, with the names, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.  His virgin birth was a miracle and each moment of his life was without sin.  Why did He come?  He was sent to give us salvation, by being a blood sacrifice for our sins.  In three years of ministry, Jesus taught twelve men.  And these men wrote and taught the two commandments Jesus gave us.“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  And he said to him,“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:36-39.  His sacrificial death on the cross is our salvation when accept Him and live faithfully in His love.For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Isaiah 9:6-7