Wonderful Counselor
Beartown Road Alliance Church
December 2nd, 2007
As I was sitting in my office this week and beginning to prepare for this message, I kept coming back to one thought; it can’t possibly be December already. Why is it that when you are a kid, Christmas always seems like it’s so far away but somehow, when we grow up, it seems like we just cleaned up the wrapping paper and finished off the cookies from last year. Christmas is here again! That means it’s time to figure out what gift I should get my wife!
Shopping is probably the toughest part of Christmas for me, but every once in a while I stumble upon the perfect gift. You know how excited you get when you know that you’ve gotten it right. You can’t wait to give the gift. You can picture the response you’re going to get and the look on the face of the one who is receiving the gift. Maybe you give little hints about what it is and you wait for just the right moment to give it. That’s how I picture God on that first Christmas morning. As Jesus is born, He can barely contain His excitement! He has a gift that was well thought out and planned and one that when the time was just right, Scripture says in the fullness of time, God eagerly gave so that His creation could once again know Him and have communion with Him.
You can picture the joy and excitement overflowing, the moment that all of history had pointed to was here. The plan that He had put into effect the moment that sin had entered the world was about to happen. A Son was born. God just had to tell someone! I can remember those first few phone calls after Ethan was born. I was so excited as I shared the news. I called everyone I could think of and gave them all of the details and God, in the role of proud Father did the same. He put a birth announcement in the sky, a new star that drew the Magi from the East to the baby’s side to worship. He sent His angels out with the news as well, and instead of trumpeting the birth of His Son to royalty and in the halls of government and leadership, He sends His heavenly chorus to a group of shepherds. There on a hillside, those angels announce the arrival of the King, of the Messiah.
LK 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." LK 2:13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, LK 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Can you hear the excitement of God? He has the angel tell the shepherds that a Savior had been born. He tells them what to look for, the baby won’t look like, He’s not going to be well dressed or in a fancy bed, but don’t let that fool you, this is the One. And just in case they weren’t paying attention, Luke says a great company of the heavenly host appeared and sang God’s praises. Wow! God wanted everyone to know. He made sure everything was the way that He wanted, right down to what the baby would be named.
Naming a child is intimidating. There is a lot of time and thought that need to go into it. I remember sitting for hours, with Erin, going through a baby name book. Every name had to be analyzed for how easy it was to make fun of. We wanted to avoid names that rhymed with embarrassing things so that our kid could survive on the school playgrounds. We also wanted a name that would fit who we wanted our son to be, that’s meaning would stand for and express faith and strength. You go through the meanings and you look for names that mean strong warrior, or loved by God, or pride of his father. You want to avoid the ones that are Latin for weasel! We chose Ethan, in part because it meant steadfast and firm. That’s a good solid name. There are some who go with family names, or Bible names. Names that honor someone you love and respect. It’s a very important decision.
In Bible times, in the Jewish culture, there was an even greater weight and importance to naming a child. A child was often named according to their appearance, or according to events surrounding their birth. Many were named according to what the parents wanted them to be or according to what God had revealed to the parents that their child would be. Because of Israel’s unique position as God’s Chosen people, many names reflected that relationship. And then there were those that God, Himself named. Often, when someone had an encounter with God, God gave them a new name to reflect that defining moment. When Abraham was 99 years old and had no children with his wife, God promised to make His descendants number as the stars in the sky. Upon sealing His covenant promise with Abram, God named Him Abraham which means father of many. When Simon encountered Jesus and recognized Him as the Son of God, the Book of Mark says that Jesus gave him the name Peter which means rock. Abraham’s grandson Jacob, became Israel, which means God perseveres, it’s the idea that God fulfills his promises. There was incredible symbolism in names, especially ones that God chose. And when the Angel gave Mary and Joseph the instructions as to what they were to call their baby, it was clear that this was no ordinary child.
Joseph and Mary are engaged to be married and in those days, that was as binding as marriage itself. When Joseph discovers that Mary is pregnant, he is understandably upset. Who could believe a story like a virgin birth! He is well within his rights, in that culture, to have her stoned to death. But, he loves her and he is a good man, so he decides instead to divorce her quietly
MT 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
Call Him Jesus. The gift, God’s great plan, His very Son was to be called Jesus. This is a name of great importance and promise. It is a name that speaks of God’s new covenant with His people. It literally means Jehovah saves. This baby would be the salvation of the world, that was the primary reason that He had come, to save the people from their sins and to restore them to God, only Jehovah could accomplish this. The name Jesus captures the essence, the core Truth, of why God sent His Son to Earth. What His Son would be called was very important to God and He made sure that His instructions were clear. The child would be named Jesus. However, as wonderful as that name is, this baby was going to be so unique, and so different, that He would be known by many different names. There are well over 100 names for Jesus found in Scripture. Each one speaks of a different aspect of His character, each one speaks of who he is and how He relates to us. Four of those names are found in a prophecy in Isaiah. They are unique in that so much of prophecy relates to us the things that Jesus would accomplish for us. God gave little clues for centuries before Jesus was born as to what this gift would be. He told His people where He would be born, what line He would come through, how He would be born, and how He would die. But this prophecy is personal, it tells us who this gift of God will be to us.
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.
Yes, he will be our salvation, but our relationship with Him can go so much deeper. He wants to relate to us as our Savior, He is worthy of the praise and honor that comes with that, but He offers us so much more! To us, God’s Son is given, to you and to me. This baby in the manger was born to save you but He also wants to be your Wonderful Counselor, He wants to be Mighty God in your life, He wants to be your everlasting Father and to reign as your Prince of Peace. These are all names that no one else can bear and there are benefits in each of these aspects that nothing else can provide. That baby boy had a gift tag on Him that read: for Dan, and one that read for Jim. This is not a generic, one size fits all gift that God has given to us, it is an extremely personal expression of His love for each of us individually. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we are going to begin to look at each of these four names for Jesus and how each one relates to us and can provide us with all that we need in our relationship with Him.
My plan was to get into this first name this morning and look at what makes Christ our Wonderful Counselor, but instead, I want to start with a little background on the book of Isaiah.
I. The Prophet
Being prophet sounds like it would be a pretty cool job. You get to hear directly from God, you get to share His words with the people, and everyone knows and recognizes that you are an instrument of God. If you’re a prophet, everyone knows you. But, in reality, the office of prophet was not something that anyone would seek.
When I was growing up, during recess, there was always a playground monitor. There would be one adult who was the absolute authority out there, and then there would be one kid that would help her each day. If we were getting into stuff we shouldn’t, pretty soon this kid would come up and say, “Mrs. Whatever her name was says to stop.” If we kept on going, he would come back and tell us that she said if we didn’t stop we were going to have to stand on the wall for the rest of recess. If we still didn’t stop, then the lady would come over, punishment would be handed out and we would spend the rest of recess standing with our face against the wall for everyone to see.
That kid, in a very general sense, was playing the role of prophet. He would call us on our sin, he would warn us of the coming wrath and punishment, and if we didn’t stop and turn from what we were doing, he would get out of the way and let the punishment be carried out. No one liked this kid. If you saw him coming, you knew that you were in trouble! To be a prophet was to be the bearer of some pretty harsh news. Speaking of far future events was only a small portion of what God used them for, mostly they were called on to address what Israel was doing at the time. Much of the prophecy in the OT speaks of judgment and the wrath of God coming down upon Israel in response to their sins. The prophet was not usually a popular fellow.
Listen to the beginning of his message to the people.
ISA 1:2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken:I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. ISA 1:3 The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." ISA 1:4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption!They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
This was not a guy you would invite to a dinner party. God used His prophets in much the same way that the Holy Spirit works today, He was to convict Israel of sin, warn of the dangers of what they were doing, but above all he was to convince the people of God’s love. Each prophet was used in different ways to speak and share God’s Truth with the nation of Israel. Isaiah was prophet of Israel for a period of about 64 years during the reign of 4 different kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. We know that he was the son of Amoz, we know that he was married and had at least two sons. We also know that God used Isaiah in a very special way. He was one of the primary mouthpieces that God used to proclaim the arrival of His Son centuries before He would actually be born. Throughout the OT you find Messianic prophecy. There are passages in Zechariah, Malachi, Psalms, and Daniel among others but in Isaiah, you have huge portions of Scripture that are dedicated to describing the coming King of Israel. Shining like a candle in a dark room, tucked in among the declarations of despair and wrath that would come as God’s justice was carried out, was incredible promise and proclamation of hope that would be found in Christ. As the book of Isaiah opens up, we can very clearly see:
II. The Problem
The problem is very simple. Sin. The King at this time is King Ahaz and he has decided that God’s ways were no longer worth being followed, he has been distracted by the culture and the religious practices of the surrounding nations and God has had enough. This is what is recorded about Ahaz’s reign:
2KI 16:1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
So, you have a young king who is being seduced by the temptations of the pagan culture around him, to the point of offering his own son as a sacrifice. The final straw is when war with 2 of the surrounding nations is imminent; Aram and the Northern part of Israel that had splintered off, God calls on the King to trust Him for the victory. He says, through Isaiah, don’t worry, it won’t happen. The King decides to trust in the neighboring country of Assyria instead and to call on them for help. He turns to the counsel of mediums and spiritists and God’s message through Isaiah is clear that that was the wrong decision.
Isaiah 7: 17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah--he will bring the king of Assyria."
He says that the two nations will indeed be destroyed but them Assyria will turn on them and they will be defeated and enslaved as well. Then Isaiah in to great detail as to the horrors that are coming as a result of this war.
You’ve got to remember that these are God’s covenant people. These are the people that He has built up and made into a mighty nation. These are the people that He delivered from slavery, fed in the wilderness, parted the waters for. God’s covenant with them was one made out of love but when the people turned away, after giving them a multitude of opportunities to return to Him, God could no longer withhold His justice on the nation of Israel. Those of you who have dealt with a rebellious child know what’s going on here. You cared for them, raised them, loved them, and made sure they had everything that they needed. When they rebelled and turned away, you never stopped loving them, but you could only shelter them from the consequences of their actions for so long, eventually, trouble would come. That’s the point we’re at here. So the first few chapters of Isaiah are ominous and dark and foreboding. People are rejecting God’s ways and are walking and living in darkness. Despair is rampant in the nation, distress is common and an enemy is ready and waiting to attack.
Isaiah doesn’t sugarcoat anything, because of this sin problem, because they have allowed themselves to be seduced by the temptations of the world and have turned to false gods, times are going to get rough, but then the tone of his message changes completely and he gives the nation of Israel, the rebellious, sinful, arrogant people that have rejected their God, a promise from a God who still loves them passionately. In Chapter 9, we have this promise.
III. The Promise – Read 9:1-5
Even amidst terrible times God is calling them to look forward to the time when His plan will be accomplished. He promises them that:
1) A light will come
When things look darkest and bleakest, when there seems to be no hope, God calls on His people to trust that He will still provide: the light is coming.
2) Joy
3) Freedom
4) Peace
What a different outlook! God has a plan. Punishment may be necessary for a time but it will not stop God from working out the plan that will free His people and the people of all nations from the oppression and bondage of sin. His intention of blessing them never wavered no matter how far they strayed. But how will He accomplish this. Things were so bad, the nation had fallen so far, how could God promise that everything would again be restored? Isaiah comes to the key verse. This is the climax. You have the indictment, you have the loving promises, and then God reveals the way that it’s going to happen. He shares with them His present.
IV. The Present – Read 6-7
This is the present, no less than God’s own Son. Immanuel. When the time is right, when the most impact can be made and the world is ready for her savior, the present was given. It’s for us, to us a child is born, to us the gift of a son is given and this is no ordinary child. This is Jesus, the only one who can save us from our sins.
Christmas has become the busiest time of the year for us. Erin and I were looking at our calendars this week and struggling just to find an evening to go and get our tree! There is just so much involved in the average Christmas season. There’s baking to be done. There’s a tree to buy and put up and lights to hang on the house. There are parties to go to and cards to send. Then there’s the travel or if you’re lucky enough to stay put, people come to you so there’s cleaning up to do and preparations to be made for entertaining family members and friends.
For those that don’t know Christ, Christmas is defined by these different things; collectively, they make up the meaning of Christmas. It’s all about the gifts and the parties and the family time. For Christians, like in the days of Isaiah, it’s easy to get distracted by all of the things that are going on around us. It can be a struggle to balance all of these other things, which can be wonderful parts of our celebration, while keeping our focus on what Christmas really means. We can get so caught up in all of the chaos that we go through an entire Christmas season with only a few token acknowledgements of God’s incredible gift to us that first Christmas Morning. These next few weeks, as we meet together, I want to help bring our focus back to where it needs to be. Whatever else is going on out there, in here we are going to celebrate the birth of our Messiah. This is what I want you to take away this morning, this is the Christmas story, to a people walking in darkness, there came a great light. This is God’s gift to us! He is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace and we’re going to study exactly what these names mean for each of us today and see the amazing relationship that God provides for us in His Son, the true gift of Christmas.
