“Jesus is The Wonderful Counselor”
Jesus was sent as a baby to be everyone’s “Wonderful Counselor.” Isaiah 9:6
Many at Christmas give gifts. We give to show our love for each other. How much does a person spend each year in hopes that they will give the right gift? How do we know what to give? We have a tradition in our family to send out lists of things we need. Have you ever been disappointed in the gift that was given to you? Have you ever seen it on the face of another that the gift you gave was not what they really wanted? God shows the greatest of gift giving. It involves four gifts for you and me in the scripture given today and they are Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. God’s Christmas list for all is found in Isaiah 9:6. Let us look at God’s first perfect gift made just for you: Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor.
I. He is Wonderful
1. The fact that He came to this earth is truly wonderful. We have no record that Jesus went to any other planet or place in the universe. That makes us a people very important in the eyes of God.
2. Jesus Himself is all of the wonder of God. In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic, on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg, or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any shameful nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us." Jesus could only have been one of four things: a legend, a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord our God. There is so much historical and very old evidence to support his existence that every honest historian agrees he was not just a legend. If he were a liar, why would he die for his claim, when he could easily have avoided such a cruel death with a few choice words? And, if he were a lunatic, how did he engage in intelligent debates with his opponents or handle the stress of his betrayal and crucifixion while continuing to show a deep love for his enemies? He said he was Lord and God. The evidence supports that claim.
He claimed to live a sinless life: Jesus could look at a crowd of people angry at his claims to share God’s nature and ask, "Which of you can point to anything wrong in my life?" Even more amazing is that none of them could give a reply! No human being has ever lived a sinless life, except for Jesus.
He claimed to be the ONLY way to God: Not one of several ways, but the one and only way. He did not teach the way, but He was the way to God. Nobody has ever made claims like that before and backed them, but Jesus did through his love, balanced life, and miracles.
He claimed to have shared the glory of God in Heaven. Jesus claimed to have pre-existed with the people he talked to. The apostle John, who shared bread with Jesus, wrote that Jesus was with God in the very beginning, and that "all things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being."
He claimed to be able to forgive sins: One of the reasons that the Jewish leaders were so angry with Jesus was his continual practice of forgiving people’s sins. The religious leaders understood clearly that since sins were rebellion against God Himself, only God could forgive sins.
He claimed to be a Heavenly king: JN 18:36-37 "Jesus said, ’My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’ ’You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ’You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’"
He claimed to be able to give everlasting life: He didn’t just tell people how they could find everlasting life, or deepen their own life experience. He actually claimed to give life himself.
He claimed that he would die and come back to life.
He claimed that he would return again to judge the world.
3. It is a “wonder” that Jesus would come to earth in the first place.
4. We should be full of wonder that Jesus knows each of us personally. He knows us each by name. The bible even says He knows each star by name.
5. It is a wonderful reality that Jesus desires to be a friend to each of us. It is wonderful to know that Jesus truly wants to help me.
II. He is Counselor
In the Old Testament, the word “counselor” means, “to lead with a plan.” Jesus stands ready to lead your life, if you are ready to follow Him. He draws us to Himself through His compassion. When Jesus deals with us, He knows us and does not second-guess us. There are no hidden agendas or ulterior motives in Christ’s counsel. Jesus is the best listener who has ever existed. Jesus is “The Way, The Truth, and The Life!” Jesus has always promised to be with us. What other counselor can do that? Jesus, being God Himself, knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows precisely what we need, even before we ask. Listen to this story of the best gift.
Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. Bobby didn’t wear boots; he didn’t like them and anyway he didn’t own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold. Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. And, try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother’s Christmas gift. He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless, even if I do come up with an idea, and I don’t have any money to spend." Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had struggled. It wasn’t because his mother didn’t care, or try, there just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning could only be stretched so far. What the family lacked in money and material things, they more than made up for in love and family unity. Bobby had two older and one younger sister, who ran the household in their mother’s absence. All three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother. Somehow, it just wasn’t fair. Here it was Christmas Eve already, and he had nothing. Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were. It wasn’t easy being six without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to. Bobby walked from shop to shop, looking into each decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach. It was starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun’s rays reflecting off of something along the curb. He reached down and discovered a shiny dime. Never before has anyone felt as wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment. As he held his newfound treasure, a warmth spread throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw. His excitement quickly turned cold when salesperson after salesperson told him that he could not buy anything with only a dime. He saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother’s Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten-cent offering. Then he put his hand on Bobby’s shoulder and said to him, "You just wait here and I’ll see what I can do for you." As Bobby waited, he looked at the beautiful flowers and even though he was a boy, he could see why mothers and girls liked flowers. The sound of the door closing as the last customer left jolted Bobby back to reality. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid. Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter. There, before Bobby’s eyes, lay twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow. Bobby’s heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them gently into a long white box. "That will be ten cents young man.," the shop owner said reaching out his hand for the dime. Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime. Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime! Sensing the boy’s reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you like them?" This time Bobby did not hesitate, and when the man placed the long box into his hands, he knew it was true. Walking out the door that the owner was holding for Bobby, he heard the shopkeeper say, "Merry Christmas, son." As he returned inside, the shopkeeper’s wife walked out. "Who were you talking to back there and where are the roses you were fixing?" Staring out the window, and blinking the tears from his own eyes, he replied, "A strange thing happened to me this morning. While I was setting up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set aside a dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn’t sure at the time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway. Then just a few minutes ago, a little boy came into the shop and wanted to buy a flower for his mother with one small dime. "When I looked at him, I saw myself, many years ago. I too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man, whom I never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten dollars. "When I saw that little boy tonight, I knew who that voice was, and I put together a dozen of my very best roses." The shop owner and his wife hugged each other tightly, and as they stepped out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn’t feel cold at all.
There is a gift with your name on it this Christmas and every day of every year. It is yours for the taking. The “Wonderful Counselor” has come for you. He may only seem like an insignificant baby, but He is God in the flesh. Let Him hold you. Allow Him to hold all things together in your life. Spend time with Him. He is listening. Tell Him everything, your praises; dreams; hopes; ambitions; worries; tragedies; disappointments. Ask Him to lead your life with His plans. Let the Wonderful Counselor come to you this Advent. His amazing help and plan are God’s gift to you. He will never break, wear out or go out of style.
