The LORD’s Zeal for Christ’s Kingdom

Sermon preached on Isaiah 9:1-7 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Christmas Eve Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/24/2021.

Sermon Manuscript

We’ve seen Isaiah prophetically announce Christmas in advance. His oracles especially emphasize the kingdom and kingship of the coming Messiah who would be born into this world. It is that kingdom I would like to further consider from this verse of Isaiah 9:7. Isaiah 9:7, “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.” There are three things I’d like to point out about this kingdom that this baby Jesus would ultimately usher in. It is an abundant kingdom. It is a kingdom of peace. And it is a kingdom that will never end.

First then, Isaiah foretells the abundance of this kingdom. This is what the word “increase” in the Hebrew means here. It is a word that means abundance. It speaks of the great magnitude and wide breadth of the kingdom. The Greek translation (LXX) translated it as “greatness”. In other words, in English we might hear the word increase and think it refers to ongoing growth, as if to mean Christ’s kingdom will just always be expanding bigger and bigger. But the Hebrew seems to be better understood as referring to the fact that his kingdom will be big and abundant. In other words, it seems to be describing how the final outcome of Christ’s kingdom will be huge and expansive. The NASB translates it as “His dominion is vast”.

Think about this from the Old Testament vantage point, from the heights of David’s kingdom. This prophecy speaks about how Jesus will enjoy the kingdom of his forefather David. Under David and then Solomon, the kingdom was pretty expansive, in a relative sense. Compared to other kings of Israel, the kingdom of God’s people reached its geographical heights under David and Solomon. This was in fulfillment to God’s promises to Abraham, patriarch of Israel. God had promised Abraham and his offspring wide reaching geographical borders in the land of Canaan. Such was enjoyed under King David and especially King Solomon. And so, when Isaiah prophesies that the Messiah’s kingdom will be abundant, it will certainly not be less expansive than in David and Solomon’s days.

Yet, what we find in additional prophecy, is that the expansiveness of Jesus’ kingdom will actually be significantly larger. For example, Daniel 2 speaks of how the Messianic kingdom will grow to fill the whole earth. And in Daniel 7, it speaks of how the Messianic kingdom will break apart all the kingdoms of this world and be over all. And so additional prophecy tells us that Jesus’ kingdom is so expansive and vast that it will be worldwide.

And yet, Jesus would also later tell us an additional aspect of the abundance of his kingdom. He would say that his kingdom is not of this world, and that is why his disciples don’t use physical swords to fight for his kingdom here. That is an amazing and wonderful revelation. Jesus’ kingdom is a heavenly one that transcends the kingdoms of this creation. Before Jesus left this earth to return to heaven, he said he was going to prepare a place for us and would come back to bring us to that place. Then in the book of Revelation we are told that such would come to pass at the end, when God makes new heavens and a new earth, that then Jesus would usher in a New Jerusalem out of heaven and place it down here on a new earth. There, we will reign with Jesus in his kingdom which will be a kingdom that is worldwide in that new creation. This is the full extent of the vast and abounding kingdom that Isaiah speaks of here.

So then, Isaiah not only prophesies of the abundance of this Messianic kingdom. He also prophesies of its peace. It is often pointed out that the Hebrew word, which is shalom, is a very rich word. It is not simply lack of conflict, like sometimes the English word can be limited to. But it is a more wholistic sense of completeness, contentment, and wellbeing. To have peace in the kingdom, means that life in the kingdom is good. It is not only one of rest from war from enemies, but it also is one of complete blessing. By analogy, you can think of those health and wealth gospel preachers today. When Jesus brings in the fulness of his coming kingdom, it will be health and wealth and prosperity in the full. The problem with such preachers is not that they are promoting health and wealth, it’s their timing. They often claim that we can know such health and wealth here right now, but the Bible only promises it in fullness and certainty in the future coming kingdom of Christ. So it’s their timing that is really off. For when Jesus ushers in his consummate kingdom, it is as Isaiah explains here, it will be one of peace in the full wholistic sense.

If we look at the rest of this verse in Isaiah 9:7, we can also see further of how Isaiah describes the peace that this kingdom will enjoy. He goes on to say that King Jesus will establish and uphold his kingdom with justice and righteousness. This justice and righteousness that Jesus instills in his kingdom is a big part of what it means for his kingdom to have this wholistic peace. If Jesus’ kingdom was a place where injustice flourished and wickedness was rampant in society, then you surely would not call his kingdom one of peace. But since Jesus’s kingdom will be one where justice and righteousness is not only promoted but fully secured, we see how that helps define what peace in his kingdom will really look like. On a related note, you might recall that mysterious king in Genesis of Melchizedek king of Salem which literally translates as the King of Righteousness, King of Peace. Here, in an even fuller way, King Jesus is the King of Peace who embodies justice and righteousness himself. So too, Jesus’ peaceful kingdom will be one of justice and righteousness in the full.

The language of justice in the Hebrew here is a legal term that speaks of the judgments that the king would issue to commend what is right and condemn what is wrong. That judgment will particularly be realized at his return on that final day of judgment where he condemns the reprobate and receives into his kingdom the elect who have been redeemed and pardoned by his blood through faith in his name. The language of righteousness here by Isaiah is one that deals with God’s moral standards of right and wrong. His kingdom will be characterized by his leading the people in righteousness according God’s moral law. He will see that his subjects only live in good and upright ways and that they never do any more evil deeds ever again. We should note that right now, Christians are citizens of that coming kingdom, but we are not fully righteous. But when the kingdom is ushered in, Jesus will see that only righteousness happens. The good news is that Jesus will accomplish that by how he changes our hearts. In finishing his sanctifying work within us, he will perfect us in righteousness. So then, in glory, all King Jesus’ subjects will love and live out righteousness in the full.

So far, we’ve seen Isaiah prophesy of how Jesus’ kingdom will be both abundant and peaceful. Let us lastly see how Isaiah prophesies that this kingdom will never end. Verse 7 begins by saying that of this “there will be no end”, and it ends by saying, that Jesus’s kingdom will be established and upheld “from this time forth and forevermore”. This is a promise we find repeatedly in the Old Testament when it speaks of the Davidic covenant. 2 Samuel 7:13, God covenanted this to David, speaking of the Messiah by saying, “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Forever, by the way, doesn’t mean 1,000 years, but I digress.

This is an amazing promise. What government on this earth has lasted forever? So far, there has not been a single one. Our country of the United States is just a little over two hundred years old, and should the Lord tarry I don’t expect it to last forever. Nations come and go, and even relatively long-standing nations usually have specific governments that come and go. But the Davidic dynasty under King Jesus will no, not, never end; Jesus will reign forever and ever and evermore.

How wonderful that will be, when we think of what it is that will never come to an end. If you were living in Nazi Germany during WWII, hopefully you hoped such a wicked government would come to an end. But Jesus’ kingdom is wonderful and amazing and everything we could want in a kingdom. That kingdom will never come to an end. Think about that from the two qualities Isaiah has told us about today.

Jesus kingdom which is vast and expansive, even universal, will never come to an end. That means there will never be any external opposition or threat to Christ’s kingdom. Nor, could you ever find a place where his wonderful dominion didn’t reach. You would never find yourself outside of the scope of his rule. And since that universal dominion will never end, that status will never change. I think of how in WWII, who was in charge of your land might have changed several times during the war. You might have started as a country under your own local autonomy, then the Germans invade and you find yourself under their dominion, and then the allies come through and liberate your land and now you are back to autonomy again. But Jesus’ kingdom will never have such unrest or turmoil or uncertainty.

Then think about this in terms of Jesus’ kingdom being one of justice and righteousness. How wonderful that such will never end! To be in a kingdom where there are never any crimes; no more evil people; where everyone loves to do the right thing and always does the right thing. To be a part of a people where everyone loves each other like they love themselves. To be a part of a nation where everyone loves and worships the one true God with all their heart. How wonderful that it will never end!

This again is because of the king. The kingdom will always have righteousness and justice because the king himself will never come to an end. That was the problem with the previous kings in David’s lineage. Some where relatively-speaking righteous kings who tried their best to make the kingdom a righteous place. But then they’d die and their son would succeed them, and more often than not, the son was not righteous. That would then lead the people into a generation where the kingdom was no longer characterized by righteousness and justice. But King Jesus lives forever and so he will reign forever and thus his kingdom of righteousness and justice will never come to an end.

Our prophecy from Isaiah ends here explaining how this will be accomplished. It says that the zeal of the LORD will accomplish this. In God’s righteous jealousy for his glorious name, he will see that his kingdom is established in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. While God might, in certain ways, use us in the process, it is ultimately a work of God that will bring this about. I could imagine if you were a military soldier and your king announced his plans and they were full of visions of grandeur of worldwide conquest, you might fear his lofty plans. You might think they are too big, and will come at your expense as a pawn in his army. But the LORD who commands the armies of heaven will see to its success. It is not a question if it could happen. The name of God’s glory and honor has said that it will happen. His zeal will not be put to shame. He will accomplish this. And he will accomplish it through Jesus Christ.

We come here this evening celebrating the inauguration of this kingdom. The LORD’s zeal to see this kind of kingdom established began to be manifested when Jesus was born humbly as a baby in that manager some two thousand years ago. The LORD’s zeal for justice and righteousness was manifested when he had Jesus put to death on the cross for our sins in our place. The LORD’s zeal was manifested when he rose Jesus from the dead, declaring him the righteous one and giving all authority on heaven and on earth to him, and ascending him up into heaven at his right hand. The LORD’s zeal will be manifested when Jesus returns for the final judgment and to then usher in the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells.

In our day, our culture is wrestling with wanting something better for our nation and our government. There is widespread agreement over that fact. And there is widespread disagreement over what that better nation and government would actually look like. While the world argues about that and pursues their own different agendas to try to make it happen, today we are reminded of a better vision for the best kingdom. God has a kingdom of glory that he has and is bringing in King Jesus.

Let us then ourselves be renewed in zeal for the Lord Jesus Christ this Christmas, for when we celebrate his birth, we celebrate his kingdom and kingship.

Amen.

Copyright © 2021 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.

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