In Isaiah 7:14, God more clearly reveals the promise of His redemption. On the one hand, it tells us that the coming Christ, as promised in Genesis 3, was not to be born of a married woman but of a virgin. On the other hand, it also tells us that this Christ who was to be born of a virgin to be our Savior is God. He is “God with us,” “Emmanuel.” When He comes into the midst of men, God comes into the midst of men. When He comes to be man’s Savior, God comes to be man’s Savior; God Himself comes of a virgin to be man’s Savior.
Although this Christ who came to be our Savior was “a child,” He was called “the mighty God.” Although He was “a son,” He was called “the eternal Father” (Isa. 9:6). God’s promise tells us clearly that the coming Christ is both man and God, both the Son and the Father. He became a man; nevertheless, He is God. He is the Son, yet He is also the Father. Although He came to the earth to be a newborn child, He is still the mighty God who is in the heavens. Although He was manifested to be the Son in time, He is also the self-existing and ever-existing Father in eternity.
Although He was born in Bethlehem of Judah, His origin is from eternity (Micah 5:2). He is the eternal Father, yet He came to be a man in time. He certainly is God, and He surely is a man.
The earthly human living of this Redeemer promised by God was clearly foretold to us in every aspect in detail. He was born lowly as a tender plant. He came from a poor family, as a root out of a dry ground, without a rich supply and without a comfortable living. Thus, He had no form nor comeliness; His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him (Isa. 53:2; 52:14; cf. 2 Cor. 8:9b; Matt. 13:55-57). Men would have expected that when the Redeemer came, His countenance would surely be desirable to them, just as Moses and David both were handsome in appearance (Acts 7:20; 1 Sam. 16:12). And yet He had no comeliness, but appeared worn and old. He was a man of thirty, but people took Him for a man of fifty (John 8:57). In reality, He was altogether lovely and entirely handsome; but this is invisible to our natural eyes and can only be seen through our spiritual eyes.
He became a man of sorrows, despised and rejected of men. We hid as it were our faces from Him, and the people of God esteemed Him not (Isa. 53:3; Psa. 22:6-7; Luke 23:11). He was destined to be despised and rejected, to endure suffering and hardship, and to grieve daily for the sinner’s soul. With sacrificing love, He came to seek His people. However, they rejected Him, and would not even set their eyes upon Him.
Even so, God’s anointed One still did not give up man. He preached the gospel to the poor and proclaimed the year of jubilee of the Lord (Isa. 61:1-2; Luke 4:18-19). He was the great light shining upon those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death (Isa. 9:2; Matt. 4:15-16). Moreover, He would be a light to the Gentiles, that God’s salvation might be carried out to the ends of the earth (Isa. 49:6). He would not strive nor cry out. A bruised reed He would not break, and the smoking flax He would not quench (Isa. 42:1-3; Matt. 12:17-21). Not only would He not cry out in the streets, but He also would not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. In the Old Testament time, Jewish children used to make flutes of reeds. When a reed was bruised and could not give the proper note, they broke it. The Jews also made torches with flax to burn the oil to give a shining light at night. However, when the oil ran out, the flax smoked and could not shine forth light. Then people would quench it and throw it away. The Jews who were against Christ were like a bruised reed and smoking flax. However, Christ was full of compassion toward them. He did not break them, and He did not quench them. He still opened the door of grace to them.