God came in the flesh among us

Isaiah 7:10-17 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights. But Ahaz said, “I will ask nothing; I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said, “Listen now, house of David! Isn't it enough to test the patience of humans? Will you also try the patience of my God? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and bear a son and will name him Emmanuel. He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject evil and choose well. Before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be devastated. The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house a time unprecedented since Ephraim separated from Judah, he will bring the king of Assyria. One of the best-known passages pointing to the wondrous truth of the Incarnation is found in Isaiah 9:6-7: For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and dominion 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 peace, on the throne of David and on his kingdom, to establish and maintain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. In this passage, Isaiah uses four different names for the coming Messiah, two of which indicate that this future son of David would be God in the flesh. The son predicted earlier in Isaiah 7:14 would be "God with us" (Immanuel) as well as the "mighty God" and the "Eternal Father". The other two Hebrew terms in 9:6-7 indicate that he will be royal since he will be both a "wonderful counselor" (a wise king) and the "prince of peace", promoting peace in all regions. of his reign. This messianic king who suffered and died will one day reign on the throne of his ancestor David and rule over the promised earthly kingdom. This is confirmed in verse 7 when the Messiah will sit on the throne of David His ancestor forever! On that day, injustice, and all the marks of sinful earthly kingdoms will be removed and transformed by the Son of David who will introduce a new and holy order of earthly government. It will be a kingdom that will no longer be stained by sin. A second passage which also speaks of the divine character of the Messiah was written by a contemporary of Isaiah, the prophet Micaiah. In Micah 5:2, the prophet describes the coming of the Messiah, the ruler of Israel, as ruler in Israel. His outings are from a long time ago, from the days of eternity. The ruler of Israel is said to have been born in Bethlehem, which is further defined by the word Ephrata as referring to Bethlehem located a few miles from Jerusalem. It was the ancestral home of David and the birthplace of Jesus the Messiah. This ruler is again described as being eternal. We understand the passage this way because the two Hebrew phrases translated “long since” and “from the days of eternity” when used elsewhere in the Old Testament most often refer to God. All of these passages indicate that the promised Messiah, who would reign on David's throne forever, would be God in the flesh. Jesus had to be "God with us" to be the Savior of the world. We are surrounded during this season of the year by hints of the truth well expressed by C.S. Lewis: "The Son of God became man to enable men to become the sons of God." Alleluia.