Isaiah 9:1-7--God's Kingdom

When we read about Jesus’ life we can sometimes wonder how people missed the coming of Christ. Perhaps they were looking for a king as they envisioned a king, but Christ had a different vision for his kingdom. The book of Isaiah was written about 700 years before the birth of Christ, and in chapter 9 Isaiah talks about the coming of Christ. He talks about the lifting of despair and the joy that Galilee will experience when Christ is born.

I wonder how often we fall into the same trap of not recognizing Christ’s kingdom. We live in a fallen world so we see and experience the pain in that and long for Christ’s return. In simply waiting for Christ to return and put things back in order do we miss that he has already come. Just like 2000 years ago are we looking for a kingdom yet to come only to miss what Christ has already done? The kingdom is already here, at least in part. Faith, hope and love are all attributes of the kingdom that we have now. Look at what verses 2-7 say about what has changed with the birth of Christ. We do not just longingly wait for the second coming to experience the kingdom; we get to experience the kingdom now.

Enjoy your family and time away from work, but be sure to take some time to ponder the celebration of Christ’s birth and what that brings us today. Let’s celebrate the kingdom that Christ has brought with his first coming. He is coming again and we can rest in that knowledge, but like our brothers from 2000 years ago let’s not lose sight of what he has already done when he came in the form of a baby and laid in a manger.

Posted by Jim