Jesus, Everlasting Father
Isa. 9:6
How many people have finished their shopping?
Did you hear about the guy who went out and bought his wife a beautiful diamond ring for Christmas? His friend said, “I thought she wanted a new SUV?”
•“She did,” he replied. "But where am I gonna find a fake Jeep?”
Well, today, we’re going to look at a perfect gift that is the real deal.
It’s the best gift of Christmas and it comes in the form of a little baby.
•His Name is Jesus. He’s the reason why we celebrate Christmas.
•That’s why we’ve been looking at His Names as found in Isa. 9:6. Turn there.
This little baby is our Messiah, our Savior, our Wonderful Counselor, our Mighty God.
•Today, we discover that He is also our Everlasting Father.
Have you ever had a best friend growing up? Where is he/she now?
Do you still stay in contact with each other?
The truth is, most of our close friends through the years, drift away.
But I want to tell you about a true friend Who will never drift away.
•His Name is Jesus, our Everlasting Father.
Prayer
(Read together) Isa. 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.
What does it mean to say that Jesus is our Everlasting Father?
How is Jesus like a Father to us?
I. HE HAS A PERMANENT RELATIONSHIP WITH US.
Everlasting – perpetual, eternal, forever, without end.
Last week, we discovered that Jesus Christ is eternal, without beginning/end.
Ps. 90:2 BEFORE THE MOUNTAINS WERE BORN OR YOU BROUGHT FORTH THE EARTH AND THE WORLD, FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING YOU ARE GOD.
Today, we’re going to discover that His relationship with us is eternal as well.
This Messiah came to earth to establish an eternal, permanent relationship with us!
Illus. I remember some of the friendships I’ve had over the years.
•I had some great friends growing up. We would do everything together.
Over the years, those friendships have drifted apart.
•Some of them I’ve stayed in contact with. Others I haven’t seen in years.
•I miss those times, those friendships. I’m sure many of you can relate.
The great thing about Jesus, our Messiah, our Everlasting Father, is that He never outgrows us or loses interest in us. He never drifts apart or loses touch with us.
•He’s always there. He is the same yesterday, today and forever!
Because He’s our Everlasting Father, His relationship with us is permanent.
What kind of relationship does this Everlasting Father have with us?
Scripture gives us three aspects of this permanent relationship He has with us.
A. His love toward us is everlasting.
Jesus will never stop loving us.
He can never love us any more or less than He already does right now.
ISA. 54:8 BUT WITH EVERLASTING KINDNESS I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON YOU,” SAYS THE LORD YOUR REDEEMER.
JER. 31:3 I HAVE LOVED YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE.
B. His covenant with us is everlasting.
God has entered into a covenant relationship with us.
Illus. A marriage covenant, for example, says, “till death do us part”.
•There’s no such clause in God’s covenant with us!
Ez. 37:26-27 I WILL MAKE A COVENANT OF PEACE WITH THEM; IT WILL BE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT. I WILL ESTABLISH THEM AND INCREASE THEIR NUMBERS, AND I WILL PUT MY SANCTUARY AMONG THEM FOREVER. 27MY DWELLING PLACE WILL BE WITH THEM; I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY WILL BE MY PEOPLE.
C. His salvation for us is everlasting.
God came to earth to develop/establish a permanent relationship with us.
•That relationship could only be established once we had been delivered from sin.
•When Jesus saves us, He saves us forever.
ISA. 45:17 BUT ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED BY THE LORD WITH AN EVERLASTING SALVATION; YOU WILL NEVER BE PUT TO SHAME OR DISGRACED, TO AGES EVERLASTING.
ISA. 60:20 YOUR SUN WILL NEVER SET AGAIN, AND YOUR MOON WILL WANE NO MORE; THE LORD WILL BE YOUR EVERLASTING LIGHT, AND YOUR DAYS OF SORROW WILL END.
JN. 6:47 I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, HE WHO BELIEVES HAS EVERLASTING LIFE.
If you’ve entered into that covenant with God by trusting completely in and giving your life to Jesus Christ, you can be assured that His covenant, His salvation, will never end.
Our Messiah, our Everlasting Father, has a permanent relationship with us.
His love, His covenant, and His salvation are everlasting.
II. HE HAS A PATERNAL RELATIONSHIP WITH US.
Isaiah says this child to be born would be called “Everlasting Father”.
Why does Isaiah refer to the Messiah as a Father?
This sounds confusing to call Jesus Christ, “Father”.
•Up to this point, only God was referred to as Father.
PS. 89:26 YOU ARE MY FATHER, MY GOD, THE ROCK MY SAVIOR.
ISA. 63:16 YOU, O LORD, ARE OUR FATHER, OUR REDEEMER FROM OF OLD IS YOUR NAME.
And yet, Jesus Himself claims to be like the Father to us.
JN. 10:30 I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE.”
JN. 14:9 ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER.
Jesus Christ is like a Father to us. He does things that a Father would do.
What does a Father do? Better yet, what does our Everlasting Father do for us?
•Let me give you four things.
A. Our Father gives life.
Illus. In a human sense, we were “created” by our parents.
•In a larger sense, we were created by our Heavenly Father.
Gen. 2:7 THE LORD GOD FORMED THE MAN FROM THE DUST OF THE GROUND AND BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE, AND THE MAN BECAME A LIVING BEING.
Jn. 1:3 THROUGH JESUS ALL THINGS WERE MADE; WITHOUT HIM NOTHING WAS MADE THAT HAS BEEN MADE.
•Jesus gave us not only physical life, but more importantly, spiritual life.
Jn. 5:24 I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, WHOEVER HEARS MY WORD AND BELIEVES HIM WHO SENT ME HAS ETERNAL LIFE AND WILL NOT BE CONDEMNED; HE HAS CROSSED OVER FROM DEATH TO LIFE.
•Our Everlasting Father, Jesus Christ, gives us everlasting life!
B. Our Father gives advice.
We looked at this 2 weeks ago when we learned that Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor.
Lk. 21:15 FOR I WILL GIVE YOU WORDS AND WISDOM THAT NONE OF YOUR ADVERSARIES WILL BE ABLE TO RESIST OR CONTRADICT.
Eph. 1:17 I KEEP ASKING THAT THE GOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE GLORIOUS FATHER, MAY GIVE YOU THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION, SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW HIM BETTER.
How many times over the years have we asked our fathers for advice or wisdom?
•After all, they’ve already been where we’re at.
Illus.- Mark Twain said, "When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to 21, I was astonished at how much the old man learned in 7 years."
Why do we go to our fathers?
•Because we trust them. We know that they have our best interests in mind.
More importantly, we can always go to our Everlasting Father, Jesus Christ, Who loves giving us advice and wisdom and counsel because He has our best interests in mind.
C. Our Father loves us.
JN. 15:9 AS THE FATHER HAS LOVED ME, SO HAVE I LOVED YOU. NOW REMAIN IN MY LOVE.
Illus. I love it when my kids want to snuggle with me.
•In my arms, they know they’re loved.
That’s the way I look at Jesus as a Father.
•I know He loves me, even more than any earthly father could ever love me!
•I know He’ll always be there to put His nail-scarred hands around me and remind me of how much I am loved.
D. Our Father protects us.
Again, we saw this last week in Jesus, our Mighty God.
When our kids are afraid, where’s the first place they run? To their dads.
When my kids are in my arms, not only do they know they’re loved, they also know they’re safe and secure, no matter what is happening around them.
•They know their father will protect them. Jesus does the same thing.
Jn. 17:11-12 (Jesus praying) HOLY FATHER, PROTECT THEM BY THE POWER OF YOUR NAME—THE NAME YOU GAVE ME—SO THAT THEY MAY BE ONE AS WE ARE ONE. 12WHILE I WAS WITH THEM, I PROTECTED THEM AND KEPT THEM SAFE BY THAT NAME YOU GAVE ME.
2 THES. 3:3 THE LORD IS FAITHFUL, AND HE WILL STRENGTHEN AND PROTECT YOU FROM THE EVIL ONE.
Jesus never lets His guard down, He never lets us down.
•He is always there for us to run to, to keep us safe, to protect us from evil.
•He will never allow us to slip away from Him.
Jn. 10:27-28 MY SHEEP LISTEN TO MY VOICE; I KNOW THEM, AND THEY FOLLOW ME. 28I GIVE THEM ETERNAL LIFE, AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH; NO ONE CAN SNATCH THEM OUT OF MY HAND.
Jesus is our Everlasting Father. He has a permanent and paternal relationship with us. Together, they make the third point…
III. WE CAN HAVE A POWERFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
Jesus came to earth to be our Messiah, our Everlasting Father.
He’s not only Everlasting, He’s also a true Father to us.
Some of you have lost your earthly fathers.
•Some of you may have strained relationships with your fathers.
•Whatever the reason, they’re no longer around for help or protection.
•You can’t run to them when life gets tough.
But we can still run to our Everlasting Father.
•Not only will He never leave us or forsake us, but He also loves us and protects us and gives us life.
He is our Father, Who will ALWAYS be there for advice, for protection, for love.
That’s powerful stuff! We can have that kind of relationship with God!
Matthew 1:23 "THE VIRGIN WILL BE WITH CHILD AND WILL GIVE BIRTH TO A SON, AND THEY WILL CALL HIM IMMANUEL --WHICH MEANS, ’GOD WITH US.’"
Think of that – God with us – forever and ever, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
(Alan Perkins, SC.com) Businesses and corporations don’t last. Governments and kingdoms don’t last. Even people don’t last. No matter how much your parents love you, no matter how much your husband or wife cares for you, if you live long enough there will come a day when they will leave. They will abandon you - if not by choice, then by their death. Their lives will someday come to an end, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
But Jesus is different… All of the good things He is to us now, He will always be to us. He will always be our Provider and Protector and our Savior. He will always be our refuge, and our strength. His love for us will never cease, either in this world or the next. In him, we will have eternal joy and hope and glory and pleasure. In Christ, we will be eternally blessed and secure. Jesus will always keep his promises to us, even when other people can’t or won’t. He will always be our God.”
Wouldn’t it be great if we could still go to our dads when the going got tough, when we needed to know we’re still loved, when we needed some advice or encouragement?
Guess what? We still can, because we have an Everlasting Father, Who loves us forever.
PS. 103:17 BUT FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING THE LORD’S LOVE IS WITH THOSE WHO FEAR HIM, AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS WITH THEIR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN—
How can we have or improve our relationship with our Father?
Illus. Many of you have seen the movie, “Finding Nemo”.
•It’s a powerful story of the love and determination of a caring father.
•It’s the story of being lost, and then found.
•It’s a story that can help us understand our Heavenly Father and His love for us.
In the movie, Nemo’s father Marlin loved him very much. He watched over Nemo and protected him from every evil. Nemo and his dad were best friends.
•But one day Nemo disobeyed his father and swam beyond the reef. He was suddenly scooped up by a diver and taken away.
•His disobedience caused him to be separated from his father and there was nothing he could do to get back on his own. He ended up in a fish tank in a dentist’s office.
•His situation seemed hopeless.
His father loved him so much that it didn’t matter how big the ocean was. He was determined to save Nemo, and set out on an incredible adventure to seek and save his son. Eventually, word of His incredible journey reached little Nemo.
•Nemo was so thrilled to learn of his father’s love and search for him, that he took an amazing step of faith. He jumped out of the fish tank, down a drain that led to the ocean.
It was an incredible ending when Nemo was saved at last and home with his loving father. SOURCE: "Finding Nemo." Directed by Lee Unkrich, Andrew Stanton. Disney Home Video, 2003. http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/nemo/tale.html
That’s the story of our Heavenly Father and us.
•When we disobeyed Him, we became separated from Him, lost and helpless.
•But His love drove Him to the cross so He could rescue us permanently.
•But here’s the catch – our reunion with Him is dependent on our willingness to return.
He’s not everyone’s Father – only those who run to Him and cry out to Him.
(Share Gospel).
What an awesome Savior! What a Wonderful Counselor! What a Mighty God!
What an Everlasting Father!
The Bottom Line: Jesus Christ is our Everlasting Father.
As our Wonderful Counselor, we can seek Him. As our Mighty God, we can rest in Him.
As our Everlasting Father, we can run to Him. Would you run to Him today?
Prayer/Commitment – run to Him.
Come home to your Heavenly Father this Christmas. Hymn (1,4) Softly and Tenderly
Outline and Power Point for this sermon are available by contacting the Contributor.
