Scripture: Isaiah 7:14
Sermon Series: Carols of Christmas – Sermon 01

It’s the Christmas season. It’s my favorite time of year – the music, Christmas movies, decorations, the nativity story. I love all of it!

How many of you have your Christmas cards done, you’ve already sent out your Christmas cards? Let’s see your hands. All you overachievers out there. 

Now how many of you are mad at those who just raised their hands because they’ve already got their cards all done? Let me see your hands.

Well, we’ll see your post on Facebook with your virtual card, if you haven’t sent out a card. But if you haven’t sent out a card, I’m going to give you a really free creative greeting. You can put this on your card. My wife won’t let me put this on our cards, but maybe you can get away with it.

It’s a very creative cryptic message to wish somebody a Merry Christmas. Here’s the greeting you put on your card. You just list out the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

Now someone is going to get this card and they’ll think, “That’s a really strange greeting” and they’ll send you a message. “What was up with that message? What was with the alphabet that you listed out?” Then, you don’t respond for about two weeks. Let them live in suspense for a bit. You wait and then send this back: “NO L.” Merry Christmas! So, try it out this year.

Something that binds us all together across generations with people around the world during this time of year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus are Christmas carols. I’m not talking about Santa Baby, or Rudolph or Frosty the Snowman. I have no beef with Frosty or Rudolph. I’m good with all of them.

But there are carols that are not just about the spirit of the season, they tell the story of the season. They’re about the incarnation, God becoming one of us. They’re Christmas songs like we’ve been singing this morning.

The incredible truth of Christmas is the Son of God became the Son of man, Emmanuel, God with us. You can’t just speak about it; you’ve got to sing about it. It helps get this true story in our hearts when we sing God’s truth.

These carols are profound truth of the incarnation. Singing them creates a soundtrack in the depths of our hearts that keeps reminding us, generation after generation…that God so loved the world that He gave, He sent His only Son. He was born in the flesh, born of a Virgin to rescue us.

Do you know what makes no sense to the human mind? That Almighty God became a human being in the incarnation. It’s so vital that Christians around the world and through the ages, not only talk about it but we sing about it.

You’re singing carols today that you sang as a child. You’re singing carols at the same time of year that your parents, grandparents and people throughout time have sung in different versions and languages.

This morning, we’re starting a new series, Carols of Christmas. We’re beginning with O Come. O Come Emmanuel. It’s right out of Isaiah 7:14 (p. 535). Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you call His name Emmanuel.

Isn’t that shocking? Almighty God left all of the glories of heaven to come to this dirty planet filled with evil and He became one of us. He’d be born an infant, a child, which makes no sense. Not only would He be born, He’d live, and then He’d die, crucified to a cross like a common criminal, though He had done absolutely nothing wrong and had never sinned. Our minds can’t get around the incarnation. How could God be born as a baby in a manger? 

O Come. O Come Emmanuel is probably the oldest Christmas carol. It was written some 1,200 years ago and was first sung acapella. The author is unknown but is believed to have been a priest or a monk who had a rich knowledge of both Old and New Testaments.

Originally the carol had seven verses, representing different biblical views of the Messiah. One verse per day was sung or chanted during the seven days before Christmas. We have this carol in English today because of the diligent work of John Mason Neale, an Anglican priest born in 1818. While ministering on the Madiera Islands off the coast of Africa, Neale discovered this Latin chant and saw the importance of its message, so he translated it into English. It’s a simple, reverent tribute to the birth of Christ and the fulfillment of God’s promise to deliver His children from sin. Although sung countless times at Christmas, much of the song’s rich meaning is lost. That’s what we want to work through today. If you’re taking notes…

1. God wants us to thoughtfully sing praises to Him. 

Have you ever caught yourself singing along with a song from when you were a kid, but you don’t actually think about the words and what you’re singing?

We often do that with worship. A song is so familiar that we sing without thinking about what we’re singing. And sadly, too many Christians don’t sing in worship. They just listen to the worship team sing.

The Bible teaches that when it comes to worship, God’s people are the musicians – all of us. We’re all to participate. The Bible has fifty direct commands for God’s people to sing. The longest book of the Bible, the Psalms, is a songbook. In the New Testament we’re commanded to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another when we meet (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). To not sing together in worship is to disobey God.

Why does God tell us to sing His praises when we meet together? Why not just pray and preach? Why are God’s people throughout history always singing? Why words and music, not just words alone? Why does God want us to sing? One reason is that God Himself sings (Zephaniah 3:17).

Music helps us remember the words. Ever notice how easy it is to recall songs you sang growing up…or a TV jingle, nursery rhymes, or pop songs you learned as a teen? Do you ever find yourself singing along to a song you haven’t heard for decades? We store thousands of songs in our memory vaults, ready to be accessed at a moment’s notice. Music has a powerful mnemonic ability that scientists are just beginning to understand.

We see the power of music in Alzheimer’s patients who can’t tell you the name of their spouse or child but can instantly sing songs they learned as a child. The more unique, repetitive, or immediately impacting these musical elements are, the easier it is to remember the song.

God used music to help His people remember His words. As Israel is about to enter the Promised Land, God instructed Moses to teach them a song so that when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring) – Deuteronomy 31:21. Singing helps us remember God’s truth.

2. Emmanuel is God with us. 

In Matthew’s gospel he recounts the birth of Jesus, quoting Isaiah: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel (which means, God with us) (Matthew 1:23). This name, Immanuel, isn’t just a label; it’s a profound declaration. It speaks of God’s desire to be intimately present with His creation.

There’s no difference in meaning between Emmanuel and Immanuel. They’re both spellings of the same Hebrew name. The difference is a result of translation; Immanuel is the Hebrew transliteration, while Emmanuel is a transliteration of the name as it appears in the Greek translation of the Bible.

One fun thing about the Toy Story movies is they let us imagine a world that’s foreign to us. We’re not toys. We’re above these things. These movies allow us to “walk in their shoes” for a bit, to experience that world.

God is above us as well.  He’s the Creator, not the created. At Jesus’ birth, God became like one of the created. He lived as we do. He experienced what we experience. He wasn’t distant but one of us. Chuck Swindoll wrote: Emmanuel. God with us. He who resided in Heaven, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, willingly descended into our world. He breathed our air, felt our pain, knew our sorrows, and died for our sins. He didn’t come to frighten us, but to show us the way to warmth and safety.

Our God has many names. In the beginning He was Elohim, the majestic God of creation. When He came seeking sinful Israel, He is Yahweh, the God who longs to establish a covenant relationship. When Adam and Eve sinned, God refused to give up on us, so He became Emmanuel, God with us.

That means God is near to us. He’s so near He knows what we think, how we think, when we hurt, and when we experience gladness or sadness. He knows us completely and what’s happening to us moment by moment. Indeed, He is Emmanuel, God with us.

God is in the company of His people. When God made Adam and Eve, He came every day and walked and talked with them in the Garden. God longs to be in the company of His people. He wants to be in a relationship with us.

We can imagine God with His angelic and celestial creatures. We can even understand that God would relish being in the midst of His beautiful and flawless creation. But with us? We’ve inherited Adam’s inflated and distorted ego, his determination to do things his way, and his resistance to the laws and commandments of God. Why would God want to be with us?

David asked a similar question with total perplexity. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4). We can’t wrap our brains around the possibility of a relationship between a holy God and sinful human beings.

We don’t know why God continued to love and seek to restore our sinful human race to fellowship with Him. We don’t know why God continues to love us, still sinful and disobedient as we are. But every born-again Christian is His child. He’s promised to stick with us to the end of the world. What a glorious truth we have in Emmanuel – God with us. He wants to be with us.

God with us is seen in the “seven O’s” of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. They’re what are known as “Advent antiphons.” They’re a series of prayers each invoking Christ by one of the names or titles He’s given in Scripture.

1. Emmanuel was the cry of ancient Israel, who was in trouble, in exile in Babylon. Where did they turn? They turned to the LORD to rescue them. They knew He was their only hope. The coming of Jesus was a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy of their only hope and He’s our only hope.
2. Dayspring is a reference by Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father’s song: because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunriseshall visit us from on high (Luke 1:78). In the King James Version it’s translated, “Dayspring.” It’s a reference to when the “day springs” or sunrise. The “Dayspring” comes when Jesus comes. It’s what we celebrate at Christmas.
3. Wisdom.Many passages speak of God as the source of all wisdom. Scripture teaches that by wisdom God made the earth and established its order. Jesus is wisdom personified. He’s called “the wisdom of God.”
   This world is a mess. With all our education, efforts and achievements, what has it gotten us? Strife, conflict, wars and confusion. It hasn’t given us peace. Yet, Jesus, who is our wisdom brings peace and has brought us to God. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas — that Jesus Christ has come to be our wisdom. He has come to bring us to God and make us truly wise.
4. Desire of Nations.This phrase is from an obscure prophet named Haggai. His book is one of encouragement. The people of Judah had been exiled to Babylon for 70 years. A small remnant returned and faced the difficult task of rebuilding Jerusalem, which the Babylonians destroyed. The focal point of their rebuilding was the Temple. Many were discouraged, particularly the old men, who remembered the glory days of Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple. What they were building in comparison seemed insignificant. 
   Our world is always looking for something better. Satisfaction only comes through Jesus and will come when King Jesus returns to rule the world.
5. Key of David and Root of Jesse.These two terms refer to the prophecy of the Messiah, being a descendant of Jesse, father of King David. The prophecy indicates that the promised Savior would come from David’s royal lineage, which traces back to Jesse. This imagery originates primarily in Isaiah. Jesus would bring life from the root of Jesse.
6. Adonai.Isaiah 9:6 says, For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given. The government shall be upon His shoulder and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The child that is born is the Mighty God. But that’s not how most of us think of Jesus. So, when we come into the middle of this story and the baby is called Mighty God, our eyes should pop! Jesus is the Mighty God.

In most songs and conversations when we speak of Jesus, we speak of Him as Brother, Savior, Redeemer and Friend, all of which are appropriate and we cherish. But we must never divorce the person of Jesus from the reality of His God-ness. Jesus is completely distinct from us. At Christmas when we think of the baby in the manger, who is cute and sentimental, what we’re really thinking of is the Mighty God.

3. Emmanuel is God for us. 

Sometimes people try to encourage us by saying, “Don’t worry. I’m for you.” But we’re all sinners and we’re fickle. God alone is unchangeable; therefore, I want to make certain that God is for me. That’s why we have such confidence in God for our full salvation. Why? God is for us! This carol is full of victory: over everything in this world, over death and even over hell.

Doesn’t it make a difference when you know someone is for you? Get ready for some great good news: God is for you!

Your family may have turned their backs on you, your child may have disappointed you, your job may have disappeared into layoffs and cutbacks, but the Maker of the mountains is for you. The One who laid the floor of the oceans is for you. The One who scattered more than 100 billion stars over 100 billion galaxies with a playful toss of his hand is for you!

God is for you. Not was, not will be or might be…He is right now. There’s no waiting, no probationary period, no fine print to wade through. Right now, God is for you. His availability to you isn’t dependent on whether you’ve been naughty or nice. No, God is for you, right now!

He’s the one racing down the sideline, cheering your touchdown run. He’s the one coming to the mound just before you pitch to the best player on the other team. He’s encouraging you, telling you He knows you can do it. And when He heads back to the dugout, you really believe you can, because God is for you. He knows your favorite food, your favorite way to spend an afternoon, and He wants to overwhelm you with good things. He is for you!

God is for you. He’s got your photograph on His refrigerator. That’s your birthday on His calendar. If God has a bumper sticker on some kind of heavenly car, you’re the kid He’s bragging on. From Isaiah 49:16 comes this amazing statement: I have written your name on My hand! Your name, your details, your heart. This carol echoes with God is for you!

4. Emmanuel is the only One who can save us. 

Isaiah 7 was originally given to an Old Testament loser, King Ahaz. Ahaz won’t ask for a sign even though God tells him to. It’s a deliberate defiance, a slap in the face of a gracious God who wants to reassure this wicked king.

Most people do not believe, not because they can’t believe. They don’t believe, because they WILL not believe. God’s sign to King Ahaz and to anyone, whether they choose to believe it or not, is the virgin birth. Emmanuel would be born to a virgin! Wow! What a sign!

According to Matthew 1, Joseph is a descendant of Ahaz; but it was Mary, a virgin, who gave birth to Messiah without any of Joseph’s seed. Ahaz has no part in the promise. He’s condemned because he chooses not to believe.

That’s the state of those who refuse to believe today. John 3:18, Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. It’s not that you will be condemned someday. It’s that you’re already condemned if you refuse to trust Christ as your personal Savior.

CarMD sponsored a Harris Interactive survey and found that 10% of the 2,000 adults polled were driving a car whose “check engine” light was on. An alarming 50% had cars that were showing signs of an impending breakdown, and the light had been on for over 3 months. These drivers had a long list of excuses for ignoring the light. Some ignored it because the car seemed to be “running fine.” Others lacked the money for the repairs. And some said they just didn’t have the time to get their car fixed.

Emmanuel is the only one who can save us. If you haven’t put your trust in Christ as your Savior, the “check engine” light of your life is on right now! Stop ignoring it, refusing to believe like Ahaz did. It only leads to disaster.

Emmanuel is the child born over 2,000 years ago in a little town called Bethlehem. He is God with us. He is God for us. This is the child who grew up to live a life of perfect obedience and then paid the penalty for our sin to save us from our sin and judgement.

So, where are you today? Are you a follower of Christ who finds yourself in darkness because of Adam’s sin? What I mean by that is that when Adam sinned, he introduced disorder and disease into this world. There is suffering today because of Adam’s sin. Adam’s sin brought death. The Good News of the gospel is that Jesus is Emmanuel. He’s our hope for this life and forever.

Conclusion

One of my favorite movies is The Blind Side. It’s powerful, mainly because it’s based on a true story—the life of Michael Oher, a homeless young man from the inner city of Memphis, Tennessee. Michael was one of 13 children. He never knew his father because he was murdered when he was little. His mom was addicted to crack. Michael bounced from foster home to foster home until he was 6, when he began to live on the streets, fending for himself…sleeping in any shelter he could find.

A friend’s father arranged it so that Michael could attend Briarcrest Christian Academy…but years on the street had left him far behind his peers when it came to his studies. Plus, Michael had nowhere to live. The only clothes he had were the T-shirt and cut-off shorts he always wore and one extra T-shirt he carried around in a plastic bag. At night he’d wash his T-shirt in a sink at a laundromat and then toss the wet shirt in with someone else’s dryer load when they weren’t looking. He ate scavenged food and slept at the school gym because that was the only warm place he knew of.

But one cold winter night the Tuohy family, whose children attended the same school, saw Michael walking down the street in his cut-offs and T-shirt. He looked pitiful standing there shivering in the cold. It was obvious that he needed rescuing, so they invited him home. He spent Thanksgiving with the Tuohys. He slept on their couch one night then two. Before long he was like part of the family. They bought him clothes, gave him a room where he slept on his first bed, and hired a tutor to help him with his studies. They eventually adopted him as their son and helped him win a full scholarship to Ole Miss. Michael made All-American while playing for the Rebs and was ultimately drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.

It’s amazing how his life turned around. He came from a neighborhood where 0% made it out. His peers either died in drug or gang violence or continued to live in poverty. If anyone needed saving, it was Michael Oher.

My friend, Emmanuel, did that for me. Like Michael, I was lost and needed rescuing. On my own merits—I was destitute. My situation as a fallen sinner was hopeless. But somehow God loved me in spite of my sin. He saved me, redeemed me and cleansed me within. I needed saving—rescuing and that’s what Jesus did for me. He came and died on the cross for my sin—and God adopted me as His child.

Here’s the big question: Have you let Jesus rescue you? This morning are you saved? Are you a Christ-follower? Does Jesus know you? Jesus Christ, God’s only Son came into this world for the express purpose of rescuing you.

In fact, in His providence I believe He has brought you here today. All that is lacking for you to be rescued—forgiven—cleansed of your sin—is for you to use your God-given free-will to ask Jesus to save you. Won’t you do that today? Pray—right now—and admit to Him that on your own you’re a lost sinner in need of His forgiveness. Commit to follow Jesus as Savior and Lord…and I’d love it as you leave, if you’d share that decision with me.