by thebaileydrink
Isa. 9:6 – For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Shortly after my salvation I found myself in Bible College preparing for the ministry. In that first semester I was taking the class of Isaiah. It was in the fall not long before Christmas when I remember hearing Isaiah’s prophesies about the birth of Christ. I was totally overwhelmed by the passages in Isaiah 7 and 9 that dealt specifically with His virgin birth and the supernatural nature of His ministry. I couldn’t fathom how Isaiah could have written those words 700 hundred years before His birth. I was getting a glimpse of the supernatural nature of the birth of Christ for the first time and I was totally stunned. God had become a man. He had become a man for me. The prophetic nature of the birth of Christ had captured me. Since then I have sensed the prophetic nature of Christmas. It hangs in the air at this time of the year. Here is how Bonhoeffer describes this verse.
“It is still seven hundred years until the time of fulfillment, but the prophet is so deeply immersed in God’s thought and counsel that he speaks of the future as if he saw it already, and he speaks of the salvific hour as if he already stood in adoration before the manger of Jesus. “For a child has been born for us.” What will happen one day is already real and certain in God’s eyes, and it will be not only for the salvation of future generations but already for the prophet who sees it coming and for his generation, indeed, for all generations on earth. “For a child has been born for us.” No human spirit can talk like this on its own. How are we who do not know what will happen next year supposed to understand that someone can look forward many centuries? And the times then were no more transparent than they are today. Only the spirit of God, who encompasses the beginning and end of the world, can in such a way reveal to a chosen person the mystery of the future, so that he must prophesy for strengthening believers and warning unbelievers.”
So that brings me to this thought, there is something mysterious and supernatural about Christmas. It seems to build up until Christmas Day when it literally fills the atmosphere. What is that? It is the Lord’s confirmation of the importance of His Son’s birth. As the day draws closer we too can prophesy with Isaiah, “A child is born for us, a son is given to us, His name is called Wonderful”.