Quick review over 700 years before the birth of Christ, the Holy Spirit spoke to Isaiah to bring hope to the nation that a powerful King would be born who would change the world as no leader before him could ever have done
This King would be both human and the manifestation of God in the flesh.
He will have all power and authority when he is born and he will complete the exercising of that authority ( in the sense that all battles will cease) at the end of the age
He is given certain titles that reflect his character by both the people and the Father!
Today we are going to walk through those titles so we can understand the Christmas story so much better
Isaiah 9:6
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
These nine words can be seen individually but it is more likely, as is Hebrew tradition, that they are four titles. Most Hebrew names are comprised of two words. Isaiah means “God saves” many Hebrew names end in “iah” or “el” or begin with “Jeho” or “El” which are all names of God. They are given as an expectation of prophetic fulfillment, blessing, or expectation of the characteristic fulfillment of these names in the individual.
Israel has been run over by the Assyrians; they are oppressed with no hope. With the prophecy in the midst of their hopeless situation, God is reminding them who he is and that he, one day going to send a deliverer to counter all the evil that has been thrown at His people. While Israel has abandoned God by worshiping false gods and turning their back on God in every way through their sin. God has not turned his back on them.
God does the same for us; no matter how far we may turn our backs on God, He does not give up on us, and his love for us is forever.
Let’s look at these names.
Because each word is actually a noun, some theologians have categorized each word as a title. From my point of view, that may work for two of the names, but it does not work for all four, and the Hebrew is always consistent. So, we will basically consider each of these as one title.
In the ancient world, it was common for a King to have multiple titles like this, so the Holy Spirit, through Isaiah, is reminding us who God is. Many theologians also suggest that this is not four names that can be broken down by attributes, but instead, you can not separate one attribute from the other, so this is who God will be as the coming Messiah. So, for our purposes, we will deal with these as four names, four titles that describe their coming Messiah and our very much alive, real Jesus!
Wonderful Counselor – the word wonderful here can also be translated exceptional! This combined idea promises that the messiah would be exceptional in the demonstration of his wisdom, counsel, and miracles. The nation had been without the miraculous and was in very real situation of losing its Identity.
As a nation we have lost our way in leading in godliness, in virtue, in obedience to God’s call. It is important that we remember Jesus’ words about the Holy Spirit. John 16:13,14
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
The Holy Spirit has been given to each of us to Glorify the Father and the Son. He speaks what is being done and/or declared in heaven.
As the Holy Spirit fills each of us then we are called to continue Jesus’ mission on earth. The Holy Spirit will pour through each of us to clarify Jesus by our being the ones who now, in our day and time, demonstrate exceptional wisdom to a world that has lost its way. We can count on it to flow through us, even encouraging miracles to occur so that Jesus will be glorified. Be the wonderful counselor at work, with your family and friends, be ready to always even give a reason….1 Peter 3:15
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
The wisdom, counsel, insight, and miracles will only prove to a hurting and confused world who the Lord really is, rather than the caricature they have of Him now. It will cause people to want to be around us, to listen to us, to be blessed by us as they were with Jesus!
The Mighty God – The use of this phrase actually can be taken further to say “God is a mighty warrior” Many men were called mighty or had in their name, “mighty God” but the Holy Spirit sures up this title of God in the flesh by reiterating the title in Isaiah 10: 21
A remnant will return; yes, the remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.
In essence, the Holy Spirit is saying to an oppressed people, God is your hero! When you have time, check out Deuteronomy 10:17 or Psalm 24: 8.
The world needs champions to fight for them, to stand against the darkness that has overwhelmed them. They are lost, hopeless and need saving. God calls us once again to be Jesus to a broken and lost world to be their hero but we have to break free of our own victim mentality and see God as our mighty warrior having gone before us, defeating all of our enemies so we can show the world we are no longer the victims of an anti-God society but instead the heroes the world is waiting for to bring them to freedom. That is partly why we have been given the full armor of God and the word of God which is the sword of the Spirit.
The Everlasting (Eternal) Father or as is most accurately translated, the Father of eternity. It is interesting that we are told a child is born, a son is given, but he will be called by God, the Father of eternity. Jesus is the manifestation of the Father.
Paul instructed the church this way 1 Corinthians 4:15
For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
Paul is giving us insight into our role to reflect this title to our broken world. Jesus came as a loving Father, protecting, providing, and showing real love in every way. Sometimes it is hard for us to imagine being Jesus to this broken world. Paul challenges us to live lives before our brothers and sisters in Christ and the world so that if people have a hard time fully understanding Jesus, they can see Jesus with skin on, by watching us. Our world needs to see integrity again, real love again, truth, wisdom, and understanding, as well as all of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us.
They need to understand this world is only temporary and eternity is permanent. Just so you have a grasp, eternity is not a really long time it is no time!
Time is a physical property! Einstein found if you tell me your mass, acceleration, and what gravitational field you are in, that can explain your time! We can not measure God’s mass, acceleration, nor his gravitational field therefore he is outside of time!
The Prince of Peace – Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:14
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
He is talking about the distinction between Jews and Gentiles, God healing the things that divide us.
The nation was facing great division and because of that fear and animosity. The Lord is promising one who would come to restore harmony, wholeness, righteousness, and justice.
As I mentioned several weeks ago, we are called to the ministry of reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:16-18 (ESV)
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
Christ did this through the cross, and because he did it for us, we can now bring peace and, ultimately, reconciliation to our broken world.
The Christmas plan of God is that through the Holy Spirit, we are empowered and called to continue Christ’s mission to a broken world
We are called and empowered to move in wisdom, insight, counsel, and the miraculous to prove to a broken and hurting world who God really is
We are called to be the heroes the world needs right now breaking people free from the stronghold of the enemy
There are many who are need of protection, provision, defense and to have someone stand for them against all the things in this crazy world. That is part of Christ call for us. Because eternity is forever!
The division must come down, the world can’t do it but we have been empowered with ministry of reconciliation!
We are God’s Christmas plan for a messed up and broken world….but the Holy Spirit wants to start by doing all of this work in us so we can then bring it to others