Source/Author: By Bishop Dr. Ong Hwai Teik

^ESV Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

We thank the Lord for yet another memorable year of blessings as a Methodist Family. For me personally, I want to say as the psalmist did - ^KJV Psalm 68:19 “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.” In the more contemporary version it would be “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.”

As I reflect on the year 2014, I thank the Lord for the precious and many blessings He has bestowed upon the Methodist Family, for example, the Methodist Prayer Convention 2014 in which He met with us and commissioned and empowered us to join the national 24/7 Prayer initiative that will involve the whole Malaysian Church praying for Malaysia for the next 2 years.

He has given us growth in our various ministries such as the increasing inter-Annual Conferences synergy in the area of ministering to the indigenous communities in our land and in overseas mission. In a very real way, our General Conference has mindfully pursued being a Church after God’s own heart. This we do by “keeping the main things the main things”, as we focus on proclaiming and preaching the Word, being true to our “Confessions of faith”, and being a Church that serves others locally and globally.

As I attend this recent round of October-November 2014 Annual Conference sessions, it is a joy to see all these “main things” being intentionally and actively pursued. These “main things” are being translated into prioritizing worship, prayer, discipleship, evangelism, mission and social outreach – as we seek to be a people of godly and lasting consequence in our generation.

Of course this year has been fraught with challenges as well, that manifested God’s sovereign hand and the deepening of our faith, such as the confiscation of the Alkitab on 2 January and their subsequent release on 14 November this year. But all these have been divinely overseen to heal the people of God in Malaysia from their lack of unity and move us towards love and synergy; to be awakened to a deeper reality of God experienced when we have no other recourse but to call on Him; gain a deepening spirituality of returning to God by humbling ourselves in prayer and fasting; and recovering our passion of fulfilling our responsibility for the welfare of our beloved nation.

The nation of Judah was facing a “double barreled” threat from Syria and the northern state of Israel at the time of King Ahaz in the 8th century BC. That was the context of Isa 7:14 which is famously associated with Christmas. It speaks of a baby that is to be born to a yet-to-be married young woman within the royal house, who will shortly marry and conceive. Her son would be called "Immanuel" ( ie “God with us”).

The "sign" of this child focuses on the fact that God Who is all-sovereign and all-knowing has the threatening situation completely in hand, and this sign is also a censure on king Ahaz for his lack of faith in the living God.

He had failed to honour the incomparable God, Maker of heaven and the earth, the One Who “makes known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please “(Isa 46:10). The all-knowing God had declared that Syria and Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, will be destroyed before this child is old enough to partake of the characteristic adult food of this nation, the Land of God’s Promise. This did take place as prophesied by Isaiah.

However, this prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 has a double fulfillment. The first fulfillment is the birth of a son who is a sign to King Ahaz of judgment for his folly in not trusting in the all-sovereign and all-knowing God. But the child also foreshadows Christ. This prophecy that was given to the “house of David” (v 13) - was not limited only to the person and time of King Ahaz alone (“you” in v 14 is plural). There is a second fulfillment – that in the fullness of time the messianic Christ Child will be born of this house. Then He will be the symbol of God’s complete salvation of His people from humankind’s ultimate enemy of “sin and death”, beyond just the physical survival threat posed by physical foes.

This Peace Child of the second prophetic fulfillment will have a mother who was a virgin at the time of her conception, unlike the mother of the first prophetic fulfillment, who was only a virgin at the time when the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 was first given.

This Christmas as we remember and anchor our celebration on Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel – let us never forget this all-sovereign and all-knowing God Who “makes known the end from the beginning” IS WITH US.

Whatever the political turbulence and religious turmoil there may be in Malaysia or in Syria, whatever the challenges and restrictions the Church in Malaysia may have to face, whatever the new year holds for us personally and as a family – let us not be like King Ahaz who puts his trust on powerful but merely human and finite forces like Assyria. Instead, let us each declare unwaveringly that our trust is in our Lord Immanuel.

We shall as a Methodist Family join the rest of the Body of Christ in Malaysia in living out this trust in the “God who is with us” - being committed to the M24/7 Prayer Initiative for the next 2 years; we shall ask the Lord for the grace to be 

"A Church after God's own heart - 
Growing deep and strong inside,
Standing with Christ's Body nationwide,
Giving God glory from every side".

May the peace, love and joy of our Lord Immanuel be with you,
your household, our churches and our nation
as we celebrate Christmas and look forward to the New Year.