HE WILL BE CALLED EVERLASTING FATHER
Isaiah 9:6
God made us for eternity.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men..."
This verse seems to suggest that God has so made us, He’s so wired us, that we would be dissatisfied with life on the surface and have a deep, inner craving for that which is eternal.
We are so designed by God......that we know there is something more than this brief physical life.
We are so designed by God... that we know that we are made for something greater than time. (Read intro of Alcorn’s "Heaven")
And so...we search for this missing dimension in our lives.
Some search for this missing dimension in science.
Some search for this missing dimension in philosophy.
Some search for this missing dimension in exploration.
Some search for this missing dimension even in religion.
All of this seeking is to try to satisfy that deep thirst for the eternal.
How do we solve this tension between time and eternity?
How you solve this problem between time and eternity determines your philosophy of life, your world view.
Some people try to just do away with eternity and live only for time as they see it. I call this person a T.L.O. person. What’s a T.L.O. person you ask? This Life Only person. They live only for this life. They only believe in that which they can see.
The problem with this view is that the person who holds this view really have no depth and meaning to their lives because deep down they know that they are made for more than this life only.
If you take this view, this philosophy, to the limits what you have is "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!"
I mean, if there is no God, if there is no eternity, then why bother to make the most of today? You might as well get it over with as soon as possible. If we are living for this life only, we are of people, to be most pitied!
Well, is there any solution to this tension between time & eternity?
Yes, there is! The answer is found in a person, the Person of Jesus Christ. And the answer is found in one of the names He is given in Isaiah 9:6... "...He will be called...Everlasting Father..."
Now if you are thinking this morning, I hope you are asking the question:
"How can Jesus Christ be called the Everlasting Father?"
After all, if He is God the Son (which He is), He cannot be God the Father, since each Person of the Godhead is separate from the other Persons, yet equally God.
God is one essence, yet 3 persons. God the Father is God, God the Son is God, God the Holy Spirit is God.
But...The Father is not the Son who is not the Holy Spirit.
God is one essence, yet 3 persons.
So how can we say that Jesus is the Everlasting Father?
Our answer comes in a proper understanding of the Hebrew word for "Father." The Old Testament Jew reading Isaiah 9:6 would understand that the use of the word "Father" would mean "originator of, author of."
So, you can see that when the prophet Isaiah uses the term "Everlasting Father" he is meaning, "the Father of that which is everlasting, that which is eternal."
So we see that Jesus Christ is the Father, the Originator of eternity.
Ah...eternity! ...a concept so vast that the human mind cannot really grasp it. You can go crazy trying to grab hold of what eternity means!
God is eternal. He has no beginning and no end.
Man, on the other hand, has a beginning, but no end.
Man will live forever...either with God, or apart from God.
Man will live forever...either in eternal glory or in eternal darkness and loneliness.
God created us for eternity and Jesus Christ came to earth to reveal how we can live with God forever. Jesus Christ revealed eternity!
1 John 1:1-2 "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us."
But, how is Jesus Christ the Father of Eternity?
We see this, first of all...
I. THROUGH HIS BIRTH
When Jesus Christ was born, eternity invaded time.
This was no temporary visit!
When Jesus Christ was born, He brought together time and eternity into one!
The Eternal Word was made human flesh...forever!
A classic, theologically orthodox description of Jesus Christ is this:
"Jesus Christ is Perfect Humanity, Undiminished Deity,
United in One Body Forever"
Jesus Christ is the perfect man, fully God, united in one body forever. In Jesus Christ we see eternity revealed.
But the question then for us is: "Since God made us for eternity, how do we experience eternal life with Him?"
Well, we’ve got a major problem, a major obstacle=SIN
Until we find a way to deal with this problem, this obstacle called SIN, we can never experience eternal life with God.
Sin is the big obstacle which is keeping us from experiencing eternal life with God. Sin is outside of God. And, therefore, sin produces death because God is eternal.
By nature, we are all sinners, every single one of us. And, therefore, as a result, we are strangers to eternal life with God.
Until we do something about our sin, we will never share eternal life with God. Sounds pretty bleak, huh? Sounds like bad news, huh? But...there’s Good News. And the Good News comes when we see that Jesus Christ is not only the Everlasting Father as seen through His birth, but also...
II. THROUGH HIS DEATH
The Good News = God solved the sin problem for us when God became a man...Jesus Christ. This Jesus Christ, the God/man died on the cross at Calvary to satisfy God’s wrath and holiness.
This is why Jesus Christ ultimately born. He was born to die!
This is why we have Christmas!
This is why we celebrate Christ’s birth!
Jesus Christ came to earth to reveal eternity, and He died so that we might share eternal life with Him!
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Time and eternity met at the cross!
Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God...
1 Peter 1:20 "He was chosen (foreordained) before the creation of the world..."
Revelation 13:8 "...the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world."
Listen, God’s great plan of salvation was no hastily-planned after thought!
When Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem...
Time & eternity met in a Person.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross at Calvary.
Time & eternity met in a price.
And that price was His life.
Jesus Christ paid the price of His life to pay for the penalty of sin which is death.
Jesus Christ paid the price of His life to satisfy the demands of a holy God.
Jesus Christ paid the price of His life to the way for sinners like you, for a sinner like me, to be forgiven & share eternity with God!
I don’t know about you, but what is there to say but,
"Thank you Jesus!" "Hallelujah!" "Praise the Lord!!!"
Listen to me,
Religion will never take away sin.
Religion will never allow a sinner to share eternal life with God.
Religion will never save you!
Why? Because religion is a part of time. It’s man made. It’s man trying to reach up to God, rather than God reaching down to man.
We don’t need religion! We need a Savior!
We need a Savior who breaks into time from eternity!
We need a Savior who is able to take away our sins!
And that Savior is Jesus Christ!
Jesus Christ is "...the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him..." (Hebrews 5:9)
Later on in Hebrews we read this:
Hebrews 9:12-15 "He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."
Jesus Christ gives us the gift of eternal life with Him. And the price He paid for that gift was His own life.
John 10:28 "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."
This Jesus, the Everlasting Father, the Father of Eternity, offers to us the gift of eternal life with Him. But the gift was not purchased cheaply, it cost Him His life. And this gift is offered to anyone who will accept it by faith. This gift is offered to you, today!
Will you accept that gift?
What better Christmas gift could you receive this Christmas?
(Transition to III)
So, we have seen thus far, that Jesus Christ is the Everlasting Father (the Father of Eternity), not only Through His Birth, not only Through His Death, but also now, today....
III. IN THE PRESENT
Jesus Christ lives now to give eternal purpose and quality to our everyday lives.
I am convinced that most people today are existing, not living.
And what they live on and live for does not satisfy fully and will not last eternally.
People are living on substitutes, and the substitutes are robbing them of the true experiences of life that God wants them to enjoy.
Instead of INVESTING time in eternity and living life to the fullest now, most people are SPENDING time, or (worse yet), WASTING time with little or no thought to eternity.
Please, don’t settle for so little!
Life your life with eternity in mind!
Jesus Christ, the Father of Eternity, controls time. The Psalmist declares in Psalm 31:15 "My times are in your hands..."
God is at work TODAY in our lives! All the events and circumstances of life are in the hands of the Lord. Nothing has happened to you that has not first of all gone through His hands!
The God who created time and the universe doesn’t abandon His creation, letting it drift on until the final day of judgment. That’s what many of the founding fathers of the United States believed. They viewed God as somewhat like a watch maker who made the watch (the world), wound it up and is now sitting back powerless to its ticking off of time. No!
God is involved in our lives NOW! He controls time!
Jesus Christ entered into time so that He could accomplish an eternal purpose. And He accomplished His purpose. We will be studying our purpose in life in the upcoming 40 Days of Purpose. It is a worthwhile study for every person. Jesus Christ knew His purpose, and He accomplished His purpose. We should follow His example.
For Jesus, time became a friend, not an enemy.
How do you view time? As your friend, or as your enemy?
For the unbeliever, time=enemy.
For the Christian, time=friend.
Eternity enters us so that we might accomplish God’s purposes in the time He gives us.
Time is an interesting thing, isn’t it? We cannot control time.
The seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years just move right along and we can do nothing about it.
It’s fascinating to me that it seems the younger you are, the more you want to speed time along, but the older you are, the more you want to slow time down.
It seems that when we are young, change is a treat.
And, as we grow older, change becomes a threat.
For the Christian, we should have no need to worry about speeding time up, or slowing it down. Why do I say that?
Because Jesus Christ is in control of time. We need not worry about change, or delay, because our times are in His hands!
But when Jesus Christ is in control of your life, you need never fear change. Neither do you fear decay. Bodies decay as we grow older, right? But there is no need to fear!
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
But Jesus Christ not only is in control of time, He also conquered time.
"Jesus Christ controls and conquers time."
This is seen dramatically in that He conquered death.
His resurrection proves He conquered time.
He is the Father of Eternity!
Because of His resurrection we can say with the apostle Paul,
1 Corinthians 15:55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
What delivers us from the fear of death? What takes away death’s sting? Only a relationship with the Person who died on our behalf. Only a relationship with the One who has gone ahead of us to make a place for us to live with Him. If you don’t know Jesus you will fear death and its sting---and well you should!
But, if we know Him and have a relationship with Him...Why fear?
Why fear being with the God of Eternity?
Why fear being with the One who conquered time?
Why fear being with the One Who loves you so much that He came to earth as a baby & showed His love for you by ultimately giving His life for you? Why fear? Why fear?
Jesus Christ came to deliver us from the fear of death by conquering time!
And He conquered time because He is the eternal God!
... because He is the great "I AM"
... because He is the Alpha & Omega
... because He is the beginning & the end
He is timeless! He is living in eternity!
Because He is above time, He is able to control & conquer time!
And the good news for us is that because He entered time, He is able to bring eternity into our lives! That’s good news! Amen?!
Time....flows from the future (tomorrow)
...into the present (today)
...into the past (yesterday)
Only God lives in the future. We live out of the past.
The present? The present=the meeting of the future & the past.
The question for us then is: "How are you living in the present?"
Jesus Christ is the Father of Eternity, the Everlasting Father in that He is able to give you the quality of life in the present that comes from eternity!
"Eternal life" is much more than living forever. I mean, even unbelievers live (exist) forever.
"Eternal life"="the life of eternity"
It is an experience with Christ in the here and now!
Jesus Christ made us for eternity. If you reject Him, you reject the very purpose for which you were created. He is the Everlasting Father, the Father of Eternity. We see it in His birth (He came to earth to reveal eternity), in His death (which allowed us to live eternally with God) and in the present (He makes eternity a present day experience since He controls and conquers time)
But there’s one more way He is the Everlasting Father...
IV. IN THE FUTURE
Salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ is not the end...IT IS THE BEGINNING!
"The best is yet to come!"
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever!"
1 Corinthians 15:52 "...in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."
And the last change will be the final change!
Time will be no more.
We will live in the eternal NOW!
The lost (those who reject Christ), sad to say, will be separated from God FOREVER, sharing in eternal death.
Do you want that? For eternity?
Do you want that for yourself?
Do you want that for your family members?
Do you want that for your friends?
Do you want that for your co-workers?
Do you want that for your neighbors?
By trusting Christ, your life takes on a whole new meaning.
You can then begin to live for eternity.
Your life will not be wasted.
You will invest your life in the eternal.
Please, don’t spend your life, don’t waste your life!
INVEST IT! Live your life with eternity in mind!
Experience life as it was meant to be lived! How?
By trusting Jesus Christ, the Everlasting Father, the Father of Eternity. Then, as your Savior & Lord, let Him give birth to the eternal in your life!
