Prophet Isaiah is probably talking about the coming of Jesus
Christ and the kingdom of God in Isaiah
9:1-7. This is because Isaiah
9 starts off with “Nevertheless,
there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress...” and verse 7
states, “Of the greatness of his
government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and
over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish
this.” I also know Isaiah
9:1-7 is talking about God’s Kingdom as they relate to Revelation
21:3-4. Revelation
21:4 proclaims that God is going to wipe every tear from eyes of the human
being and there would be “no more death or
mourning or crying or pain.”
Firstly, Jesus Christ came down from heaven, as the image of
God, but in the human flesh (John
1:14). This is probably the reason that He was a little baby when God made
Him to come out of virgin Mary’s womb. I also think we know that Jesus Christ
was the image of God in the human flesh because of the context of Matthew
1:18-25. Matthew
1:23 states, ‘“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they
will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).’ GotQuestions Ministries says,
To say that Jesus would be called
"Immanuel" means Jesus is God and that He dwelt among us in His
incarnation and that He is always with us. Jesus was God in the flesh. Jesus
was God making His dwelling among us (John
1:1,14). No, Jesus' name was not Immanuel, but Jesus was the meaning of
Immanuel, "God with us." Immanuel is one of the many titles for
Jesus, a description of who He is.
As Jesus Christ is the image of God in the flesh (Colossians
1:15), I believe He is known as Mighty God and Everlasting Father, due to
the fact that He knows and has created everything from the beginning (Revelation
1:8). I think because He is omnipotent (Ephesians
3:20-21), omnipresent (Colossians
1:16-17) and omniscient (Romans
11:33-36) God, He has many titles and names. Other than these, God has
wanted to have relationship with every human being again, He sent Jesus Christ
to crucify Himself on the cross for our sins and has given us eternal life
through Him (Hebrews
2:14-15). Moreover, God has poured His Spirit into us as the counselor to
help us know the way and the truth He has intended us to walk in. The Spirit of
God is probably like a substitute guide for Jesus (John
14:15-27). This is one of the reasons that Jesus had to be crucified and
resurrected three days after (John
16:7-15).
While Jesus Christ was on the earth, He began to preach
after He was baptised by John and tested in the wilderness. Matthew
4:17 states, ‘From
that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven has come near.”’ If we put
this into other words, Jesus began to preach like “Repent, for the eternal life
has come near.” I know true eternal life is when we get to kingdom of heaven at
the end of the age but I also believe eternal life happens as soon as we
receive the Spirit of God. “For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans
6:23) I think John
11-25-26 gives hint of having eternal life while we are on the earth
because Jesus has said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one
who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by
believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Therefore, let us
open our hearts and be open-minded to receive the Holy Spirit from God (Luke
11:11-13) and follow the leadings and promptings of the Spirit (Galatians
5:24-25). Let us also continue to pray like “Let the earth be like the
kingdom of heaven!” We can take Matthew
6:10 as the main verse of the Kingdom-living. If we follow the Holy Spirit,
I think we can have the peace of God within us. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of
righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans
14:17)
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