Introduction

“That is impossbile!” I wonder when was the last time you thought or said something like that? Impossibility is something that we should rarely come across, yet it is so often in our daily lives. We say it about situations we find ourselves facing and often think about it when we have something to start. While training for ministry in Dublin, I started doing a Master’s, but I have not been very good at doing a bachelor’s. Worse than that, I was doing a Master’s in a subject that required me to write eight essays a term when I had hardly written anything since my A-level, and even then, I thought I would struggle! ” This is impossible for me to see the whole way through for the next three years; there is no way God wants me here!” I found myself thinking on those first days. Especially when the assignments started, I was in a year group with people with theology degrees and Masters! I felt so unequipped to be where I was, and to be frank – scared. It felt like an impossible situation that I had gotten myself into and one that would soon find me out.

Yet, three years passed, and by the Grace of God, I graduated and followed the path I felt God had placed before me. And, there have many, many, many moments since that time where I have felt the impossibility of something I have gotten myself into or something I find myself facing. Impossible is something no one here wants to find themselves facing or thinking about – yet many of us do so daily; it has become so routine we do not even realise it. The impossibles that we find ourselves facing, we often end up facing alone because we think it will burden other people; the pressures of health, sickness, loneliness, loss, study, and even expectations around Christmas and presents – they worry us, they weigh us down, and they feel impossible to deal with! What do you do in those situations? Where do we turn to for help when we are facing such situations? How do we cope? The answer from today should be simple: when faced with the impossible, or anything, we turn to Jesus Christ because our strength is in him.

Our passage today speaks to every situation that life may throw at us, especially the impossible ones. Put yourself in the context in which the prophet of God spoke these words of God – the one appointed to speak on behalf of God. The people of God are not having a good time; collectively, they have been living in an impossible situation that seems to keep worsening with every passing hour, day, and year. They have been overcome by an enemy more powerful and numerous than they could have imagined. Impossible has become their norm, and as they have lived in it, they have lost hope that anything could ever change. They are a people marked with fear and doubt, yet God in his grace and love (even as they live in what they chose) is a God who promises a sign of His presence and power. Presence and power will be Hope in the impossible because they will transform it.

Here is the key point today: if you take nothing else home if you remember nothing else this Sunday or into this Christmas season, then remember that: This passage invites us to trust God because God is present in every aspect of our lives (if we let him be) and work the impossible for His Glory and our Good: and the infant in the manger reminds us that Christians of all people can have infinite home amid the finite impossibilities of our world.

1. The Historical Context: A Nation in Fear (Isaiah 7:10-12)

If you have had a difficult season, spare a moment to think about King Ahaz of Judah and the crises he has been facing. A Crisis has become an impossible situation, and one that has entirely been of his – and his people’s – own making, as the armies of Aram and Isreal threaten the city of Jerusalem.

King Ahaz of Judah faces a crisis with the armies of Aram and Israel threatening Jerusalem. Ahaz faces an impossible situation before him as more powerful forces have combined to lay siege to Jerusalem. What should he do when faced with something beyond his control? What all of us are called to do and should do is turn to God in prayer and trust. Ahaz should do that, but rather, he demonstrates what we all do in these moments, trusting in ourselves and creating things instead of being the creator of all things. Rather than trusting God, Ahaz plans to align with Assyria, showcasing what a heart far from God looks like when one is more fearful of earthly things and thinks they can sort it themselves; sin makes us self-reliant rather than God-reliant.

2 God’s Invitation (v. 11-12)

I wonder what you would have done in Ahaz’s situation, as enemies began to encircle the tiny nation of Judah and threaten the capital city as their leader. What might have been your plan? Would thoughts of God have even entered into your head? That the Lord who once delivered you out of the greatest nation that the world had ever seen – Egypt – to become an established nation in your own right, and by his power, and in His love had led you to become a great nation (as long as you stayed faithful to Him and his way). This God once promised that as long as you lived out his ordinance and commands, he would protect and keep you always. Would you turn to that God?

The beautiful thing at this moment is the grace we see from God. Ahaz might not want to turn to God, but so good and loving is the God we worship that Yahweh comes to him. Our pride and stubbornness can keep us from coming to God for help, but it will not keep our God from coming to us, and the Lord of the universes offers Ahaz a chance to ask for a sign as a reassurance of the power and protection of the Lord. The Lord knows what is on Ahaz’s mind, and the fears about the size of the enemy armies approaching him lead to the thinking, “I need a bigger army!” not God. Yet, in Grace and Mercy God offers Ahaz a chance to ask for a sign as reassurance of His power and protection. An offering that would have made it clear that if he trusted Yahweh, he would not need to fear all the world’s armies. How would you respond? You see, we think that we would react in what should be the obvious way – throwing ourselves down before the prophet of God and saying:

“Yes! Lord! Give me a sign of your power and greatness, a sign that will reassure me!”

It seems like such an obvious response is to trust in God, who has consistently proven his trustworthiness. Yet, again, in a moment, Ahaz displays the reality of the human heart, as he refuses to ask God for the sign that he offers and cloaks his refusal in false religious piety: “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” It’s a rejection of God’s offer and a lack of trust.

In moments of impossibility or fear, when we face something we do not know what to do with, how often do we turn to human solutions instead of trusting in God? At this moment, we are always Ahaz We don’t read this passage and think of ourselves as better than the King; we read this passage and see ourselves in this humankind. Like Ahaz, we naturally incline ourselves to make decisions driven by self-reliance rather than faith. We trust ourselves rather than God. Yet, here is the beauty: God’s invitation to Ahaz is the same to us: to trust Him fully, even when His way seems uncertain or challenging. How can we be sure we can trust Him fully in the most impossible situations? Because he has given us a Sign. A sign that has been sealed on the Cross and delivered/glorified in the resurrection.

3 The Promise of Immanuel: God with Us (Isaiah 7:13-14)

Ahaz might have rejected the Lord with some false religious piety, but he will not reject his people and the redemptive plan for humanity that he has set in course from the beginning of time. Ahaz rejected a sign, but the lord, in his goodness and Mercy, is moved in Mercy to provide a sign of what he will do so that when it comes, those looking to him will know it is him. What is the sign? A virgin will give birth! Think of the movement of the Lord’s redemptive power in Human History, the covenants marked by miraculous birth: Abraham and Sarah become the nation’s parents by the power of God. Thus, we know that this sign Isaiah prophesies is about a mighty work of God because it is the most miraculous of works. The Sign will be one born, and he will be named Immanuel – God with us. Even more powerfully, there seems to be an immediacy to Isaiah’s prophecy pointing to a near-term event that would change the world. A child who will be born, bear the name Immanuel and be the world’s hope. There is always hope, even in the impossible.

The Greater Fulfilment in Christ

Amid the world’s chaos, the hopelessness of the situation and the impossibility of the task, the Lord points to what he will do. That one who bears the name Immanuel will be born because he will be God with us. To leave us in no doubt about what this prophecy is talking about, Matthew 1:23 makes the link explicit between these words and Jesus, born of the virgin Mary, as the fulfilment of God’s promise and his purposes of redemption. In Jesus, Immanuel is symbolic, incarnation, and literal. God himself took on our flesh to become our redemption. Jesus is God with us, stepping into our brokenness to bring Salvation by the Cross.

Jesus as God is a constant reminder that we are never alone. He knows the life we live because he lived it, and God knows our reality every day because he is with us in the Holy Spirit who resides in us as the Temples of God when we come to Christ through faith. We might face the impossible, but we are never alone in it – the Spirit of God is our assurance and reminder of God’s power and presence. Even in life’s darkest moments, He is with us, working for our good and His glory.

3. The Cost of Rejecting God’s Promise (Isaiah 7:15-16)

The Prophecy of Consequences

Our God is a loving and good God who moves to us in Mercy as he works out the plant of Salvation through Jesus Christ – Immanuel, God with us. He invites us towards him and Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Yet, he will not force that which we will not choose upon us. In Grace, God offered one last time to Ahaz and the people of Judah the opportunity to trust him and see his power against the threat that they may face. Yet, they choose to trust in human means as they would instead look to the army of Assyrians for assistance than the God who rescued them from Egypt.

Rejection Brings Hardship

God is loving and sound; thus, he will leave the people to their choice; he will not force his power upon them! The image of the children eating curds and honey is a vivid sign of the devastation that will come upon the land of Judah by the army of Assyrians who would not ride in rescue but in conquest. The child will eat curd and honey, and before he grows old enough to tell good from evil, the threat of Aram and Isreal will have vanished, and Judah’s trust in Assyria will have brought about her destruction. Ahaz’s refusal to trust God will lead to devastation and sin. Because that is what life apart from God will always look like and end up as. The promises of God are always accurate and will never be broken – but such is his goodness that he will allow those who choose to trust in other things to face the reality of their misplaced trust.

Like Ahaz, we are often tempted to trust our plans, even when God calls us to something different. Today, we are reminded that to reject God means to reject all that comes from God – Love, peace and perfection, and one day, we will feel the fullness of that choice. AS Lewis once wrote: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that is in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice, there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock, it is opened.” Yet, even in our failures and sins, when we trust in him, we can know that God remains faithful. His promises endure, and His purposes are accomplished for our ultimate good. As Paul wrote to Timothy, when we are faithless, he is faithful.

Conclusion – Hope in the Impossible

As we reflect on the message of Isaiah 7:10-16, let us not lose sight of these truths. First, God invites us to trust Him in the face of fear, no matter how impossible the situation might seem. Second, He assures us of His presence through the promise of Immanuel, “God with us,” a reminder that we are never alone. Finally, He warns us of the cost of rejecting His way, a sobering reminder that life apart from God leads to devastation. Yet, even in our faithlessness, He remains faithful, and His promises endure.

At the heart of this Advent season is the ultimate fulfilment of God’s promise: the Cross of Christ. Immanuel is not just a name; it is a reality. God with us, stepping into our brokenness, bearing the weight of our sin, and achieving the impossible—our reconciliation with God. So, will you trust in Him? Will you prepare your heart this Advent to celebrate Christ’s birth and live each day with renewed faith in the One who is present, powerful, and working all things for His glory? This is the call of Christmas, the call to find Hope in the Impossible.