Advent 2022—The Lord is Come

Introduction

 The first pages of scripture all the way to last words of scripture is political. God made Adam to rule the earth (Genesis 1:27) like He rules heaven. Instead, Adam ruled the earth like Satan rebelled against heaven. Every disease, murder, tragedy, and conflict exists in this world because the kingdom of darkness. Christmas is when we celebrate the light coming into the world. A new kingdom was born 2000 years ago.

Text

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. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6–7 

Summary of Text

This text obviously foretells the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. We see in verse 6, He has a name unlike any other.

But also notice the political language in these 2 verses. The government will rest on the Son’s shoulders (v.6). One of His names is “prince of peace” (v. 6). The increase of His government will have no end (v. 7). And the zeal of the God of armies will ensure that His just and righteous government will be established forever (v.7).

I want us to understand our faith is a political faith. We worship a king who rules a kingdom.

I also want to correct incomplete teaching. I believe we’ve so spiritualized the kingdom of Christ that we don’t understand what Jesus did at Christmas and what Christmas does to us.

It’s true that the disciples wrongly believed the Messiah would come and establish a worldly kingdom to overthrow Rome. But a worldly kingdom is much different than a kingdom on earth. Jesus came to establish a kingdom on earth and it’s not like any other kingdom. But it’s still a kingdom.

The Son’s Government Will Have No End

To prove the political nature of Jesus’ kingdom I’m going to look at three places in scripture. 

Daniel 2—the Rock that Grows into a Mountain

In the OT, the prophets foresaw that the kingdom of heaven would come to earth and dominate the kingdoms of this world. In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had nightmares he couldn’t understand about a great state made of different material: a golden head, chest and arms of sliver, belly and thighs of bronze, iron legs, and feed mixed with clay and iron (2:31-33). In His dream, a stone struck the statue at the feet of iron/clay which destroyed the entire statue (2:34-35). And when that stone crushed the statue, it pulverized it into dust (2:35). Then that stone grew into a mountain filling the entire earth.  

Daniel interpreted the dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. His kingdom, Babylon, was the head of gold and other kingdoms would come after him (2:37-39). The torso of silver represents the Persian empire (8:20) and the legs of iron represent the Greek empire (8:21). The mixed kingdom of clay and iron represent Rome. The stone will destroy the statue at the feet—during the time of Rome. Listen to what Daniel says will happen.

“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Daniel 2:44

Here, Daniel explains how the statue representing the empires of earth will be destroyed by the little rock which grows into a mountain. Now, the obvious question following is what is the rock that destroyed those kingdoms and grew into a mountain? We find an answer in the

New Testament. When Jesus rebuked the Sanhedrin for their tyranny against Israel, he said the following:

But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone’? “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” Luke 20:17–18

Jesus uses the same imagery in Daniel of a stone pulverizing something into dust. We know from elsewhere that Jesus is the stone that builders rejected (Acts 4:11).

So, putting all this together, Jesus came into the world to destroy the worldly empires. And He will take over the entire world. The stone will grow into a mountain filling the entire earth.

Jesus—the leaven that fills the entire loaf

Jesus says something similar about His Kingdom in Matthew 13:33. He says His kingdom is like leaven in a loaf of bread. It grows slowly and effectively.

So, Jesus came to bring a kingdom here on earth. He began His ministry telling people the kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 3:2). And He ended His earthly ministry telling His disciples that He had all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Jesus viewed His earthly ministry as putting leaven in dough. Eventually, the leaven will affect the entire lump of dough. This is why elsewhere the apostles refer to the work of Jesus as filling all in all (Ephesians 1:19-23)

Paul—Jesus is reigning now.

I referenced this next passage last week in hopes to prime your minds for today.

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 1 Corinthians 15:25

Paul agrees with Daniel and Jesus. After Jesus accomplished His earthly ministry, He ascended into heaven. And on the day Jesus went to heaven He told his disciples that he has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Jesus is the king of the kingdom that grows into a mountain covering the whole earth. Jesus is the king of the kingdom that spreads like leaven through bread.  

Herod Got it

If you turned to Matthew 2, you would see that the kings of the world understood what Jesus kingdom means.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Matthew 2:1-3

 Magi were political elites. They were people invited to king’s parties. And when they figured out that a king was born in Bethlehem, they went to find him.

Now, notice that Herod and all Jerusalem were troubled when they heard from the Magi that the King of the Jews was born. “He was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.” You see Herod and the higher ups had a good little racket going in Jerusalem. They were profiting from the Jews and were protected by the Romans. If the king of the Jews got in the way of that, they would lose all their power and money.

We all know the rest of the story. Herod lies to the Magi telling them he wants to also find the child to worship him. When the Magi find Jesus, Mary and Joseph, they bowed down and worshipped him (v.11). And they gave him gifts they would give a king. The Magi were not entering a carpenter’s home but a king’s home.

The magi leave without telling Herod. And Joseph leaves with Mary and Jesus because an angel warns them (v.19). Herod then killed all the young boys in Bethlehem (v.16). King Herod understood if Jesus was king, then He wasn’t.

But if only Herod understood Jesus was a spiritual king, not an earthly king, maybe he wouldn’t have killed all those boys. You know maybe the Sanhedrin and the Romans wouldn’t have killed Jesus if they only knew his kingdom had nothing to do with earth. No. Herod knew what we forgot. If the king of heaven would dare come down to earth to be born like us, to live with us, and to die for us, He isn’t going to leave this place to ruin. The measureless God was born as a baby you could hold in your arms.

What does all this Mean?

Here’s a variety of points for you to consider this morning.

1.     Jesus is not up for re-election. Evangelism isn’t asking someone to vote for Jesus in their life. He is building a kingdom. Powerless evangelism is “Do you want Jesus to be the Lord of your life.” True evangelism is “Jesus is Lord, so you better stop sinning and start trusting.” If Jesus is Lord, then Herod isn’t.

2.     Jesus Doesn’t share His kingdom. Jesus didn’t come to earth to share a kingdom with anyone. He doesn’t share a kingdom with Herod, Caesar, Trump, Biden, or Santa. We should be ashamed of ourselves at how we have taken the season where we celebrate the birth of the forever king and made it just like any other federal holiday. You may want to celebrate Christmas like you did when you were little—a little bit of Jesus with a lot of hot chocolate. But remember the Herods of today don’t want any sign of someone else ruling over them.

3.     Jesus doesn’t display authority the way our world does. Politicians use their political power to serve themselves. On Jesus’ inauguration day, He died for His people’s sin. Before Jesus ever punished or condemned the world, He first bled and died for it. While the kings of this world find new ways for innocent children to die, the king of kings came into this world to die as the innocent.

4.     Christmas is a King’s holiday. The Christian calendar started last Sunday with advent. Historically, Christians started each week with worship on the Lord’s Day and each year celebrating the birth of the Lord. As Baptists, we’ve sadly moved away from the Christian calendar. We think in terms of whatever calendar the government schools plan for us. And as Americans, we usually think of holidays as something the federal government recognizes (e.g., Labor Day and Independence Day). 

5.     Don’t Forget You’re a Citizen of the Kingdom. As American Christians, we run the risk of celebrating Christmas like a bunch of Americans. We buy the new fad all the families do for their kids. We watch the new movies all the families watch. And we shop a bunch. Meanwhile, our non-Christian neighbors shop in the same stores as us hearing throughout the mall “born is the king of Israel,” “Joy to the world the Lord is come,” and “glory to the new born king.” You see, the reason why no one wants you to say “Merry Christmas” anymore is because they understand what that means. We say it because Andy Griffith said it. They hate it because they know what it actually means. Jesus is Lord and they aren’t.

6.     Jesus increases His government through the faith of His people. Remember the prayer Jesus taught us to pray. “Our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Notice “on earth as it is in heaven.” The way we live on earth should reflect the way God rules heaven. So, I guess Heaven is a retirement village. Or an extracurricular. Most of you in here live the Christian life like the most important part is going to heaven when you die. I think you will be shocked when you get there how busy it is and how idle you were here on earth. Repent of your actionless Christianity and let this Christmas be the beginning of you making your little corner of earth more like heaven.

Conclusion

I encourage you to celebrate Christmas this year like it’s something that matters. The spreading of Christ’s kingdom matters, not just for heaven but here on earth as well. Keep in mind, the celebration of the Christmas holiday emerged during the rise of the Roman empire. Christians for centuries taking time out of their year to celebrate the birth of their king eventually overwhelmed Rome—like a growing mountain. We don’t even remember those Roman holidays. But we still remember Christmas. God loves to use the small pebbles of faithfulness that little families bring to make mountains of worship that overwhelm the entire world.