Child Born Son Given is Isaiah’s double line over the same Person.
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.
Born says He comes of our flesh.
Given says He comes from God.
Christmas is both sentences at once.
Isaiah speaks to people who walked in darkness and have seen a great light. The yoke is broken. Then the sign is not first a sword. It is a child. Born—true humanity, a birth, Bethlehem later filling in the town. Given—true gift, not a project Israel invented, the Son handed over for us.
- John will say the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and also that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.
- Paul will say born of woman, born under the law, and that God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all.
- Luke writes of a baby wrapped in cloths, and of a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
- Matthew writes of a son called Immanuel, God with us. Two verbs keep the church from two heresies: denying the flesh, or denying that the Child is gift from above.
The names that follow—Wonderful, Mighty God—will not let you leave Him as only a child. The manger will not let you leave Him as only a title. To us is the audience. Darkness does not get a different savior.
- Born guards the incarnation. Given guards the mission from the Father.
- To us makes the birth and the gift personal to a people in the dark.
- Child without Given becomes a sentiment. Given without born becomes a myth.
- Government on that small shoulder is the shock of the verse.
- The same Son who is given will be given up. Gift runs to the cross.
- Light in the darkness is the setting. Do not read the line only in December.
- Zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this—not our pageant.
- Born – Flesh, birth, our nature assumed.
- Given – From the Father; not earned; handed over.
- To Us – For a people who had walked in darkness.
- The Shoulder – Rule already assigned to the infant King.
- The Names – Who the Child is when the wrapping comes off.
- The Throne – David’s seat; no end of the increase.
- The Cross in the Gift – He who was given is given up.
- Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 – “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.”
- Isaiah 7:14 – Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
- Luke 2:10-12 – “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
- Matthew 1:21-23 – She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins… “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
- John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.
- John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
- Galatians 4:4-5 – When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.
- Romans 8:32 – He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
- Philippians 2:6-8 – Though he was in the form of God… he emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
- 1 John 4:9-10 – In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him… He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
- 1 Timothy 3:16 – Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh.
- Hebrews 2:14 – Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things.
- Luke 1:31-35 – You will conceive in your womb and bear a son… the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
- Micah 5:2 – From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.
God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law. He did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all.
Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
The government shall be upon His shoulder. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Do not divide the two verbs. He is born of us and given to us. Hold the Child. Confess the Son. The gift runs from the manger to the cross to the throne. Believe. The light has come.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.