Jesus: Everlasting Father Series

Jesus: “The Everlasting Father”

Isaiah 9:6

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

This verse is probably quoted as often as any verse in the Bible during the Christmas Season because it points to the Messiah who would come. It tells us that He would come as a child, that He would be a son, but what a special son! He would be the Son of the living God, existing from everlasting to everlasting. He would also be the son of man, born of a virgin. He would come in appearance as man, the WORD becoming flesh.

Jesus would also be a ruler like no other ruler. He would be the Counselor who would consult, counsel, console, but also command with the Mighty acts of God because He is God. And today we look at His characteristics as Everlasting Father.

There is something very important to understand when considering this “name” of Jesus as Everlasting Father. Jesus doesn’t replace God the Father, but Jesus acts as a perfect father would act. God the Father is still God the Father. Some have taken this one single verse and have invented a false doctrine about Jesus being God the Father, and in doing so they have destroyed the Biblical Triune God.

In the same way that Jesus is MIGHTY GOD, one of the three persons of the Godhead, Jesus still possesses the name of the “Son of God”, and “God the Father” maintains His name, but the Perfect Son will always follow the example of His Perfect Father in everything. He is “Everlasting Father-like” in His role and relationship to us as the Son of God.

The Giver of Life

Every single person on the face of the earth has at least one thing in common: Everyone has a father who was instrumental in creating a new life, and in recent years, “paternity tests” have become popular in order to establish who physically contributed to the birth of a child. Establishing the correct physical father is certainly important, but what most people do not recognize is that Jesus is the giver of life. You do not have ANY life apart from Jesus, although most of the world is resolved, NOT to serve the one who GIVES life, but to serve the one who STEALS life.

In John 8:42, Jesus said: "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here… You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Jesus gives physical life but also NEW life, Spiritual life, which springs up to eternal life. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Jesus gives life to us as rebellious children so that we can honor the Father who created us because He IS LIFE. Has He given you life in every way?

The Father is the ORIGINATOR

There are various understandings for the word Father in the Old Testament; it can mean author and maker, the ancestor and founder, in other words, Jesus is the ORIGINATOR. He is the originator of life and TRUE FAITH. The notion of originator is that of “beginnings”. The book of Genesis is the book of “beginnings”: “In the beginning God…” Imagine this: Jesus was there in the beginning as God SPOKE things into being with His eternal and creative WORD. As you read Genesis 1, again and again the words appear: and GOD SAID. John 1:1 says it so beautifully and magnificently: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

We call the authors of the Constitution of the United States our “Founding Fathers”. George Washington is called the “Father of Our Country.” William Tyndale is referred to as the "Father of the English Bible". Galileo was called the "father of modern physics" and the "father of science", and there are many other “fathers.”

But notable men or women of historical importance cannot be compared to Jesus. He, along with the Father and Spirit, is the maker and originator, not only of Heaven and Earth but He is the author and originator of our faith and salvation. It is on His account that we have forgiveness and on His account that we have access to God the Father... and we have LIFE.

You may be old enough to remember the times when telephone calls could not be made without going through an operator or switchboard. (Remember Andy Griffith saying: “Sarah, can you get me Guber over at the filling station!” You would stay “disconnected” until Sarah “plugged you in”.) Jesus is like the perfect operator who makes the connection to God for us. He plugs us into that access line. He’s never too busy to take your call to plug us into relationship and faith in God. He is the originator of ALL THINGS but especially the originator of our faith!