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. (Isaiah 9:6)
Once anyone understands the larger storyline of Scripture—Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration, they have few, if any, hesitations about identifying this baby in Bethlehem as the Christ child; Jesus is the eternal Son of God come to earth to rescue lost mankind.
Our world is infinitely more complex than the narrow-minded view of Scientism—the silly notion that science can explain everything. The idea that a merciful Father sent his Son to save sinful man from the Righteous Judge is not only plausible, but it also makes sense of everything else.
Seven hundred years before the arrival of the Messiah, Isaiah announces that God will one day save the world from its self-inflicted misery by sending his Son to redeem it, taking upon himself humanity’s punishment—death itself. Death is much more complex than mere physical death. This prophecy’s fulfillment, of course, is the story of Jesus dying on a Roman instrument of torture, humiliation, and death—the cross at Calvary.
If you are still scratching your head over naming this baby of Bethlehem Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God, then this third name will only increase your perplexity. Here, Isaiah says his name will be Everlasting Father. Befuddlement is probably the natural reaction to calling the Son of God, Father! How can the Son also be the Everlasting Father? Let’s see if we can untangle this mystery a bit.
If God is our Father through Christ, it requires of sons and daughters joyful obedience, loving affection, and dutiful reverence. When the Son of God arrives, he arrives as one who represents the Father, one sent by the Father, one who identifies the Father, one who communicates for the Father, and one who is “one with the Father.” As he once said to the twelve apostles, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” In other words, he is the visible manifestation of the invisible Father. All that the Father is is revealed in and through the Son. Again, as he once told the Pharisees, “If you knew me, you would know the Father.” So, while Jesus cannot be confused as being the same person as the Father, he perfectly reveals the Father to his disciples and even, yes, his enemies.
With that understanding comes the powerful and comforting awareness that Jesus is truly “God with us” and “God for us.” More specifically, this name entails that the Father, in and through Christ, will provide for us, protect us, discipline us, love us, and all the many other things it means for someone to be a father. In short, Jesus shares what was eternally true for him—God’s Fatherhood—with us! Extraordinary!!!
Jesus’ role of making known to us the Father as loving, caring, kind, protecting, and providing also requires something from us. If God is our Father through Christ, it requires of sons and daughters joyful obedience, loving affection, and dutiful reverence.
All these responses are entirely appropriate for those who have realized the magnificent reality of adoption into God’s family.
The Christ child’s birth, life, death, and resurrection bring all believers into the inheritance that once exclusively belonged to the one and only Son of God.
—
Dennis Darville
December 23, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at Links Players
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