Series Subject: The kingship of Jesus and the nature of his kingdom

Series Purpose: To show that Jesus is our coming king, to describe his peaceable kingdom, and to explain why we have reason to celebrate during Christmas

Series Relevance: After years of exile, Israel longed for the coming Messiah. Isaiah prophesied that God would send a perfect king to restore his people and inaugurate God's peaceable kingdom. Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. He brings new life to the Davidic dynasty, as he was filled with the sevenfold Spirit of God. He establishes God's peaceable kingdom by making all things new and satisfying the ancient curse of sin. In the end, God will draw believers from every people group to himself through Jesus. Not only that, but he will deal faithfully with the remnant of Israel in the Last Day. As we wait for the kingdom to be present in full, we experience the peace of the kingdom through our relationship with Jesus Christ. Christmastime provides the perfect opportunity to renew our loyalty to King Jesus, and his great mercy gives us reason for joy.

Series Big Idea: Jesus is the king God prepared perfectly to bring new life and make all things right. He inaugurates God's peaceable kingdom by changing even our most natural desires and satisfying the curse of sin. One day, Jesus will redeem believers from all nations, along with the remnant of Israel. As we wait for his return, we have reason for joy this Christmas season if we have experienced God's salvation.

Title: The Best Christmas Tree

Subtitle: Jesus is our coming king.

Text: Isaiah 11:1–5

Subject: The kingship of Jesus

Purpose: To show how Jesus is perfectly anointed to fulfill God's purposes

Relevance: After years of exile, Israel longed for the coming Messiah. Isaiah prophesied that God would send a perfect king to restore his people. Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. He brought new life to the Davidic dynasty, as he was filled with the sevenfold Spirit of God. He came to teach justice and righteousness, and he will return again one day to judge all peoples. As we wait for his return, Christmastime provides the perfect opportunity to renew our loyalty to King Jesus.

Big Idea: Jesus is the king God prepared perfectly to bring new life and make all things right.

• Some say that Christians trace their interest in Christmas trees back to Germany in 725 A.D.
• In the pre-Christian era, the oak was the sacred tree for the Germanic peoples.
• Legend has it that the missionary to the Germans, St. Boniface, chopped down the sacred Donar Oak in order to stop sacrifices near Geismar.
• St. Boniface is said to have replaced the oak with a fir tree, the angular shape of which he used to teach the pagans about the Trinity.
• If we were to get our idea of a Christmas tree straight from the Bible, it would look more like that oak stump than the fir tree.
• The prophet Isaiah lived about 700 years before Christ.
• Israel was on the precipice of God's judgment, and Isaiah was the prophet of doom.
• The final verses of Isaiah 10 depict the Assyrians rampaging toward Israel.
• Assyria has made Israel a nation of withered branches and dead stumps; but God promises that Assyria will be chopped down.
• As the prophet gazes across this barren landscape, he sees a sign of life.

• Isaiah prophesies that a "shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse."
• Jesse was the father of David, the king who inaugurated a royal dynasty of 20 kings that ruled 500 years, until Jerusalem fell in 586 B.C.
• After Jerusalem's fall, Israel would have no more kings.
• The situation seemed to thwart God's promise from 2 Samuel 7:16, that David's kingdom would last forever.
• After 600 years, a king is born from Jesse's long-dormant stump.
• Mary and Joseph, both descendants of David, are forced by Roman decree to return to Bethlehem, the home of Jesse and the birthplace of Jesus.
• The shoot that rises from the stump of Jesse bears fruit; the childless king becomes the father of a greater nation than Abraham's.
• The Lord of lost causes, who stirs life from a dead stump, is undaunted by the grave itself.
• If there is a dead stump in your life, ask King Jesus to grow there.

• Isaiah 11:2–3a describes Jesus as the king with a sevenfold spirit.
• Revelation 5:6 also describes Christ the Lamb in this somewhat cryptic way: "He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God sent out into all the earth."
• In other words, Jesus was perfectly and completely filled with the Spirit of God.
  • Illustration: Jesus Enjoyed a Full Measure of the Spirit [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• These verses portray the coming Messiah as fully equipped for governing.
• Jesus' perfect wisdom and knowledge were evident in his parables, the Sermon on the Mount, his prayers to the Father, his answers to trick questions, and his perfect reading of hearts.
• Jesus Christ is the king with unerring insight and infinite wisdom to balance justice and mercy, law and grace, and time and eternity.

• Because he possesses the infinitely perfect Spirit of God, Jesus knows what is going on deep within each person (Isaiah 11:3b).
• Based on what he sees with infallible accuracy, Jesus will set things right and render perfect justice (4a).
• Jesus does not favor the poor because they are more righteous, but because they seldom enjoy true justice.
• Jesus used Isaiah's words from 61:13 to announce his entrance into ministry.
• What made Jesus perfectly righteous was not only that he kept all of God's laws without fail, but also that he was as merciful as God is.
• For those who will not be poor and needy before this king there is only the hammer of his judgment (4b).
• Righteousness and faithfulness are the marks of our king.

• Israel waited 600 years for their Messiah King, and by the time he came many had given up hope.
• We have been waiting all these centuries for our great king to come again.
• While we wait, this king reigns within our hearts and is quietly conquering hearts around us.
• Now is the time to renew our loyalty and trust in King Jesus.

Jesus Experienced a Full Measure of the Spirit
There has never been but one manhood capable of receiving and retaining the whole fullness of the Spirit of God.

Title: Peace on Earth

Subtitle: Jesus establishes God's peaceable kingdom.

Text: Isaiah 11:6–9

Subject: The peaceable kingdom of God

Purpose: To show how Jesus restores peace to our broken world

Relevance: The promise of peace is something every heart longs for. Jesus, our coming king, establishes God's peaceable kingdom on earth by making all things new and satisfying the ancient curse of sin. As we wait for the kingdom to be present in full, we experience the peace of the kingdom through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Big Idea: Jesus inaugurates God's peaceable kingdom by changing even our most natural desires and satisfying the curse of sin.

• One phrase of Scripture that all people—whether secular or religious—appreciate is the angels' declaration of "peace on earth."
• The birth of Christ cements our hope that one day Christians will live in Christ's peaceable kingdom.
• In Isaiah 11:1–5, the prophet describes the kind of king Christ will be.
• In Isaiah 11:6–9, he describes the type of kingdom Christ will create.

• Creation has been out of whack ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden.
  • Romans 8:19–22
• Isaiah 11:6 indicates that when Jesus establishes his kingdom, nature's most fundamental hostilities will cease.
• The Hebrew word for "live" suggests that the wolf will be the lamb's houseguest.
• The world will enjoy such profound harmony that there will be no predators; there will be no need for the protection of leashes, cages, or stalls.
  • Illustration: John Wesley on God's New Creation [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• The phrase "and a little child will lead them" alludes to God's command that Adam and Eve subdue the earth and rule over its creatures.
• In Christ's new kingdom, even the smallest child will have a natural authority over God's creatures.
  • Illustration: A Good Master in "The Magician's Nephew" [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• In the Garden of Eden, animals were vegetarian.
  • Genesis 1:29–30
• It isn't wrong to eat meat; God commanded Israel to eat meat in connection with sacrifices and provided quail in the desert.
• Nevertheless, all animals were vegetarian in the beginning, and they will be again in the new kingdom.
• Making carnivores vegetarians will require a complete change of nature.
• Jesus will so profoundly recreate the world that animal biology will promote the peaceable kingdom.

• Eliminating the human taste for sin will be a greater miracle than eliminating the carnivore's taste for meat.
• Isaiah 11:8 suggests that the youngest child will be safe not only from the venom of snakes, but also from the poison of Satan, the Serpent.
  • Genesis 3:13–15
• Satan will no longer tempt the child.
• The enmity between humans and Satan will be over forever.
  • Revelation 20:10
• The curses against men and women will likewise be ended.
  • Isaiah 65:22–23

• Isaiah 11:9 summarizes this passage beautifully.
• The "holy mountain" is Mt. Zion, which represents both the hill where the temple stood and the new Eden.
• In that peaceable city, no one "will either harm or destroy."
• People from all nations will worship Christ there.
  • Revelation 21:24–27
• Knowing the Lord is how we experience the peaceable kingdom in the present.
• Jesus came to forgive sin so that we could be reconciled with God.
• We can know God only after we are reconciled with him, because then his Spirit lives within us.
• Christ made our reconciliation possible with his blood.

• The kingdom described in Isaiah 11 is our native land, our eternal home.
• Jesus will prepare a place for us all in that kingdom.

John Wesley on God's New Creation
Randy Alcorn writes of a remarkable sermon by John Wesley. In it Wesley said:

Man was God's vicegerent upon earth, the prince and governor of this lower world; and all the blessings of God flowed through him to the inferior creatures … so when man made himself incapable of transmitting those blessings, the communication was necessarily cut off … But will 'the creature,' will even the brute creation, always remain in this deplorable condition?

God forbid that we should affirm this … They will be restored, not only to that measure of understanding which they had in paradise, but to a degree of it as much higher than that."

A Good Master in "The Magician's Nephew"
In C. S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew, Aslan declares Frank, a cabbie on Earth, King of Narnia. The talking animals make crowns for the king and his queen, Helen, and express their delight in being ruled by these humans.

One of the animals in attendance is a horse named Strawberry, who drew Frank's carriage in London. He toiled daily for his master, and sometimes Frank, who was a good man, whipped Strawberry to make him move faster. When Aslan crowns Frank as king, Strawberry marvels at the change in his master. "My old master's been changed nearly as much as I have!" he remarks. "Why, he's a real master now."

Title: Banner Day

Subtitle: Jesus will draw all people to himself.

Text: Isaiah 11:10–16

Subject: Who will dwell in God's kingdom

Purpose: To show how God's kingdom will be populated by people from all nations

Relevance: Israel looked forward to the day when God would judge the nations and return Israel to its Promised Land. But God promises to deal with the Gentiles in a way Israel might not have expected. Instead of destroying the nations, God will draw believers from every people group to himself through Jesus. Not only that, but he will deal faithfully with the remnant of Israel in the Last Day. Ultimately, all believers—Jews and Gentiles alike—will find a home in God's peaceable kingdom.

Big Idea: Jesus will redeem believers from all nations, along with the remnant of Israel, when he comes again.

• Isaiah 11:1–5 promises the coming of a king from the line of David who will exalt the humble and crush all who rebel against God.
• Verses 6–9 describe the peaceful kingdom this king will inaugurate.
• Verses 10–16 explain how this king will draw people to himself from all over the world.
• Verses 10 and 11 both begin with the phrase, "In that day," which indicates the Day of the Lord.
• It isn't a 24-hour day; it's an era in which God will intervene in history for the final time.
• The prophet calls Jesus the root of Jesse.
• In verse 1, Jesus was called the "shoot from the stump of Jesse;" he is both the new branch and the source of life for Jesse's line.
• There are two groups of people discussed in these verses—Jews and Gentiles—and they're treated separately.
• When the Bible speaks of "the peoples" and "the nations," it means everyone except the Jews.
• In the church there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles who trust in Christ.
• Nevertheless, I believe that one of the End Times miracles is that God will deal differently with Jews and Gentiles.

• Jesus is called a banner in Isaiah 11:10 and 12.
• A banner is a "standard erected in a conspicuous place for communicating important information."
  • Illustration: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• Jesus is a rallying point.
• This image calls to mind the rod of God, which symbolized God's presence among the armies of Israel (Exodus 17:8–15).
• It also alludes to Numbers 21:4–9, when the pole was raised so dying people could look to it and be healed.
• Jesus is both the living rod of God, who guarantees our victory, and the one upon the tree to whom we can "look and live."
• Jesus himself makes this connection in John 12:32.
• The eyes of people all over the world are searching for Jesus, the banner of God.
  • Illustration: God at Work in India [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• Some, when they lay eyes on Jesus, will rally to him.
• Jesus' place of rest is his home; we will share that home with him for eternity.

• In Isaiah 11:11–16, God promises to preserve a remnant of Israel who will one day return to him.
  • Isaiah 10:20–22
  • Romans 9:1–6; 25–27
• The return of the remnant is the second Exodus; that's what the phrase "a second time" refers to in verse 11.
• This passage is full of imagery related to the Exodus.
• The phrase "the LORD will reach out his hand" is a familiar Exodus phrase.
• In verse 15, God promises to dry up the "gulf of the Egyptian sea," which is a reference to the Red Sea crossing of Exodus 14:21.
• I believe the Bible teaches that "in that day" God will draw Jews from all over the world back to Jerusalem and into a relationship with Jesus.
• Gentiles will be the instruments God uses to restore the remnant to their land.
  • Isaiah 49:22
• Verse 13 is a reference to the ancient rivalries between Ephraim, who represents the 10 northern tribes, and Judah, the southern tribes.
• Ephraim and Judah split after Solomon's rule.
• This verse promises that God will heal these ancient rivalries.
• Verse 14 promises victory over Israel's ancient enemies.

• Christmastime stirs up homesickness and a powerful sense of nostalgia.
• When we are homesick for heaven, the secret is to focus all our yearnings on Christ.
  • Illustration: The Fulfillment of Nostalgia [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• Jesus is our perfect home.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
During World War II, Easy Company planted the flag on Iwo Jima's Mt. Suribachi after 4 days of fighting—and 40 percent losses. It signaled the tide of battle had turned. Similarly, Jesus Christ is such a banner—a rallying point and symbol of victory.

God at Work in India
Lars Dunberg heads an overseas organization called Global Action. One of their ministries is establishing schools nicknamed GLOMOS—Global Module Studies—for pastors overseas. During one of those schools, Lars writes:

I noticed two turban-clad Sikhs as I looked out over the 400 people. First I thought they were from the Indian police, and I felt somewhat uncomfortable to see them sitting there in the middle of the audience. Then I asked about them discreetly to our coordinator, who smiled and introduced me to Mr. Singh, who told me the most fascinating story: "Two years ago I was living a miserable life in our extended family of 35," he said. "We would beat each other up with shoes and slippers, beat each other with wooden sticks and even with knives. There was no hope for us. Then one day a lady came and shared the gospel with me, and Jesus came into my life and gave me hope, life, and purpose. Later I found out that the lady was a student at something called GLOMOS where they encouraged people to share their faith with others.

"My life was suddenly turned around and I shared Jesus with the other 34 people in my family, who also came to faith in Christ. We live in a big house, and we wanted to open it up to worship Jesus. So we began visiting houses around us and went to people who were the worst of the worst. In the last two years, we have visited over 20,000 homes. From those homes people came to our new house church and eventually we ended up with more than 300 people who have turned to Jesus and are now part of our church. In the past few months we have baptized over 100 people."

The Fulfillment of Nostalgia
C. S. Lewis explains the Christian's sense of homesickness in The Weight of Glory:

Our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation. And to be at last summoned inside would be both glory and honor beyond all our merits and also the healing of that old ache.

Title: The Best Christmas Carol

Subtitle: God has turned our mourning into singing.

Text: Isaiah 12:1–6

Subject: The song of praise God wrote for Israel to sing

Purpose: To show how God's mercy gives us reason to be merry this Christmas season

Relevance: Though God's anger burned against Israel because of their rebellion, God nevertheless showed them mercy and reconciled with them through Christ. God's mercy replaced Israel's groaning with songs of joy. In the same way, God's great mercy toward us is our reason for joy during Christmastime. We express our joy by telling others what God has done for us through Christ.

Big Idea: If you have reason to be merry, you have reason to sing.

• Illustration: Reasons For Christmas Joy [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• During Christmas, Christians have plenty of reasons to be merry.
• Isaiah 12:1–6 records a song of praise written for the Jews to sing during their second Exodus, and it lists the reasons we have to be merry.

• Be merry if God's anger has turned to comfort.
• Although he loved Israel, God eventually grew so angry with them that he allowed thousands to be killed and the rest to be exiled when foreign armies took over their land.
• In Isaiah 9–10, the prophet describes how God's anger burned against the nation.
• God has as much reason to be angry with us today.
• To God, there are only two kinds of people—worshipers and rebels—and everyone starts in the second group.
  • Romans 3:23
• God's anger is righteous and just.
• In Isaiah 53:5–6, Isaiah prophesies about the sacrifice of the Messiah that would cool God's anger.
• Because of Jesus, God is no longer angry with us; he comforts us if we have turned to him.
• Who else but our Judge can say, "I will remember your sin no more. I have buried it in the deepest sea"?
• Be merry if the Lord is your strength.
• The last two lines of verse 2 are quoted from the song of Moses in Exodus 15.
• When God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, he didn't just give them strength; he was their strength.
• Likewise, the Lord is our strength, our hero and champion, in the face of the slavery and obstacles that keep us from all that he has promised us.
• At the burning bush, God told Moses, "The cry of the Israelites has reached me … I have come down to rescue them" (Exodus 3:8–9).
• Their cries and groans of bondage have been replaced with a God-song.
  • Illustration: Eclov Finds Freedom to Sing [see Illustrations and Quotations below]

• One of our biggest problems is drinking from the wrong wells; We dig all these wells—education, jobs, family, hobbies, vacation homes—but when we need a drink that refreshes our souls, we come up dry.
  • Jeremiah 2:13
• At the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles, the Israelites would gather in Jerusalem and build shelters out of branches.
• They lived in the shelters for seven days to symbolize their time in the wilderness.
• Each day the priests walked down from the temple mount to the Pool of Siloam where they gathered water in golden vases.
• When they returned to the temple, as trumpets blared and cymbals clashed, they poured the water on the altar while the people chanted, "With joy you will draw waters from the wells of salvation."
• That ceremony had been practiced for hundreds of years until Jesus, on the last day of the feast, stood and declared, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37–38).
• Jesus is our well of salvation and meets all the thirsts of our souls.
• Whatever weakness plagues you, drink from the well of salvation and find grace and mercy to help you in your time of need.
  • Illustration: "The Silver Chair": There Is No Other Stream [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• We drink by going to Jesus and asking in faith for him to quench our thirst from his inexhaustible well of salvation.

• Be sure God hears your praises (Isaiah 12:4a).
• Let others know about God's mighty deeds and his great name (verses 4b–5).
• Our lives should be marked by spontaneous caroling of the things God has done for us.
• Verse 6 would have reminded Israel of times when God had been among them in the pillar of fire or in the glory that filled the temple.
• Isaiah has been preparing them for something greater than that.
  • Isaiah 7:14
  • Isaiah 9:6
  • Isaiah 11:10
• Until the day of our Lord's return, who will sing such songs if not us?
• "What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You're rich enough."

What Reason Have You To Be Merry?
"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.

"Bah!" said Scrooge, "Humbug!" He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.

"Christmas a humbug, uncle!" said Scrooge's nephew. "You don't mean that, I am sure?"

"I do," said Scrooge. "Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough."

"Come, then," returned the nephew gaily. "What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You're rich enough."

Scrooge, having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, "Bah!" again; and followed it up with "Humbug!"

Eclov Finds Freedom to Sing
When I was in high school, I was a very depressed kid. I didn't show it on the outside. I was a clown and the life of the party, but I was sad. I went to a small country church and would sing quite often, but I was always pretending; I wasn't what I seemed. I hated the hypocrisy. There was one song I wanted to sing but resolved that I would never sing, unless I could do it honestly. I was sure God was fed up with me—that I'd resisted him so many times that he'd closed the door, saying, "Fine! If that's the way you want it, have it your way." But just a couple weeks before I graduated, a friend made me see that if I believed God's promise to save me, he would. God never slams the door on someone wanting him. So on a Sunday in 1969, I finally sang:

Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come
Why should my heart feel lonely
And long for heaven and home
When Jesus is my portion
A constant friend is He
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me
I sing because I'm happy
I sing because I'm free
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me.

"The Silver Chair": There Is No Other Stream
The Silver Chair is one of the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. At one point, a girl named Jill is thirsty almost to the point of death. Between her and a nearby stream stands the great lion, Aslan, whom she has not seen before.

"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.

"I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.

"Then drink," said the Lion.

"May I—could I—would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

"Will you promise not to—do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.

"I make no promise," said the Lion.

"Do you eat girls?" she said.

"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.

"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go look for another stream then."

"There is no other stream," said the Lion.

Lee Eclov is senior pastor of Village Church of Lincolnshire in Lake Forest, Illinois.