Pastor Allan Kircher Shell Point Baptist Church
Christmas: 700 years in the making
Date: December 4, 2011
Scripture: Isaiah 9:1-7
Do you know what an APTRONYM is?
I don't remember covering this in ENGLISH class when I was in college
But one of the benefits of weekly sermon preparation/ always learning new things
So I’ve learned about Aptronym’s.
An APTRONYM is a name that fits some aspect of a character. Mr. Talkative. Mr. Wordly.
Or a name that fits a person’s nature or occupation.
• Britt Barefoot, punter for The University of Southern Mississippi college football team
• Margaret Court, tennis player
• Cecil Fielder and his son Prince Fielder--both baseball players
• Willie Thrower, former NFL quarterback
• Tiger Woods, golfer (Wood is of course a type of golf club)
I bring this up because today, as we continue our 'Christmas B.C.' series, where we are studying the Scriptures that predicted the Messiah's coming centuries before His birth—
Today we come to a very familiar text in which God gave four names to the coming Messiah—
names that are what you might call 'Advent Aptronymns, '
These names match up with what the Messiah came to do.
These four prophetic names tell us about His character and about His mission.
And speaking of names--have you ever stopped to realize how important descriptive names are to God?
I would say that God INVENTED the concept of an aptronym
The Bible tells us that, from the very beginning, our Creator gave appropriate names to things.
Genesis 1 says that, 'God called the light 'day,' and the darkness He called 'night '...God called the expanse 'sky'...God called the dry ground 'land.''(Genesis 1:5, 8, 10).
God gave descriptive names to PEOPLE.
Isaac means 'laughter' , which makes 'aptronymic' sense
Genesis 17 tells us that when God told Isaac's father, Abraham, who was then 99 years old, that he would have another son, the wrinkled patriarch literally fell on his face laughing.
Here's another: the definition of Jacob is 'deceiver,' and that name fit that child perfectly!
Remember how Jacob deceived his brother and later his father-in-law?
One more: Moses' name means 'drawn out,' matching the fact that, as a baby floating in a basket, he was DRAWN OUT of the Nile by the Pharaoh's daughter.
And Jesus--a perfectly suited name that means, 'Jehovah saves'
Jesus is the best, the most COMPLETE, example of God's use of aptronyms
The Bible records the fact that Jesus was given not just one, but many names.
In fact the Scriptures contain over 100 different descriptive names that were given to the Son of God.
Why so many?
The beauty and the fullness and the magnificence of this matchless Person cannot be expressed by just one name.
One name doesn't begin to completely describe Who Jesus IS and What He DOES in our lives.
Remember, Jesus is INFINITE God in the flesh so one name would be too finite, too limiting.
It has been said of Jesus that '...every name He BEARS, is a blessing He SHARES,'
that is true because our Lord gives and gives blessing after blessing, until our cups overflow
So one aptronym won't suffice!
Sermon
• This morning we're going to zero in on FOUR of Jesus' names
• Names/given him through/prophet Isaiah 700 years before He was born.
• Turn/Bibles to our next 'Christmas B.C. text,' Isaiah 9:1-7,
As we begin our study: let’s look at verse 6:
Did anyone see a 'Christmas song' imbedded in this text?
o Those familiar words are READ in tons of Christmas cards
o They are also HEARD whenever Handel's oratorio, “Messiah” is sung because they are the lyrics to one of the most popular choruses of that great work.
Let’s continue in our Messianic predictions:
o Looking back at chapter 7,
o in 741 B.C. the prophet Isaiah was sent to Jerusalem
o To speak to King Ahaz when his city was surrounded by the armies of their enemies.
Isaiah told the king to ask God for a sign that would convince him and his people that the God of Israel still loved them and would protect them.
o But Ahaz refused the offer, hoping that Assyria/protect him.
So the Lord gave His OWN sign, saying that a Deliverer would come out of the house of David.
In the next chapter Isaiah predicted the downfall/ten tribes by Assyria.
Then here in Isaiah 9 the prophet foresaw the Assyrians invading Galilee,
which they did twenty years later
Causing a great emotional and spiritual darkness to come over the people of God.
But Isaiah was also given prophetic insight that in the future God would place his Messiah in the land of Galilee as a great Light.
This particular Messianic birth announcement was made in the midst of grief and gloom
hardship that came as a result of the people's sin
As I told you last week,
Sin always has painful consequences, and these sinful people were experiencing them.
They were enduring hardship because of their disobedience.
But, as a testament of God's amazing grace, Isaiah said that Jesus would come and DISPEL the gloom.
People walking in DARKNESS would one day see a great LIGHT!
If you've ever been in the midst of a time of grief then you know that in those BAD times, good news sounds especially GOOD.
Well, that's how this would have sounded to these people.
Things were BAD--but God was and still is GOOD
and so this promise that the Light of the World was coming must have stirred their hopes!
We must remember this principle in our own 'dark times.'
o We face hardship--life is tough for us as fallen people living in a fallen world
o But as Christians we know how things will turn out/ end.
Do you remember Paul's words from 2nd Corinthians 4:8?
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
• We do not lose heart.
• Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
• Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
In the gloomy times of life we need to remember that the Light of the World HAS come and that His kingdom is forever and a time will come when gloom will be gone for good.
Tell yourself that the next time you go through a tough time!
Remind yourself to the Christian no 'nightmare' is permanent.
Because of Jesus' we go THROUGH difficult times
We don't REMAIN IN them.
This good news given to people living/tough times
• Isaiah talks about/indescribable uniqueness/promised Messiah.
• I say 'indescribable' because in these words God hinted at both Jesus' humanity and deity.
You see, the coming Messiah would be the God-man
• no theologian can fully explain or DESCRIBE this logically;
• but the Bible systematically and clearly teaches that Jesus was 100% man and at the same time 100% God.
We see this vital doctrine here in Isaiah 9:6. Look at its words once again.
The phrase, 'For unto us a child is BORN' says that the Messiah would begin His life like every other HUMAN,
as a flesh and blood baby
referring to the child already spoken of in Isaiah 7:14 where he wrote,
'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and she will call His name Immanuel.'
• The words, 'to us a son is GIVEN' points to Jesus' DIVINITY.
• This phrase tells us that Jesus is GOD'S Son
• Who has been GIVEN to us.
This reminds me of Galatians 4:4-5 where it says, 'When the fullness of time came, God sent forth--God GAVE--His only Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the law.
'The Son wasn't born, the Son eternally existed; the child was BORN, the Son was GIVEN.'
On top of this, Isaiah says that the 'government will be upon His shoulders.'
This means that all the expectations of the throne of King David were to be fulfilled in Christ.
2nd Samuel 17 God/promised David/his throne would last forever,
That promise was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus
The Christ/God in flesh appearing/Redeemer and Ruler of all.
That's another thing we need to realize in the midst of our own trials and tribulations.
o Jesus IS on His throne. He IS in charge.
o His purposes WILL prevail.
o No matter what happens, our Redeemer and Ruler 'works in ALL things for our good.'
We often miss these vital facts because, at Christmas, we focus only on the infant Jesus.
• I mean, the phrase, 'Christ-child,' is a beautiful one, but it doesn't quite do it!
• Jesus is far more than a 'child' -- as we will see in our study of these four aptronyms, so let's look at them.
What do these four names tell us about Jesus?
(1) First, Isaiah tells us that Jesus is the 'WONDERFUL COUNSELOR.'
This is indeed good news, because we all need and yearn for a counselor.
This is why people read horoscopes
Pay $150 per hour to speak to a professional counselor.
This is why we surf the internet for information.
We all hunger for someone to help us make/right decisions.
We need someone wise enough to guide us through the perplexities of life.
This Christmas B.C. text reminds us that Jesus' guidance, His counsel is WONDERFUL!
Isaiah 28:29 states, 'The LORD almighty is WONDERFUL in counsel and magnificent in wisdom.'
The word 'wonderful' overused/we have forgotten/true meaning.
These days people use this word interchangeably with 'nice, that doesn't even come close to the full meaning of this word.
I’m old enough to remember watching the Lawrence Welk show, and he judged every song in his show as being'wunerful...wunerful...'
Anyone old enough to remember that?
Well, when Isaiah used this word here, he wasn't saying Jesus' counsel is NICE or PLEASANT.
He wasn't using 'wonderful' in/bland 'Lawrence-Welk sense.
No, he was saying that the coming Messiah would ASTOUND us with His knowledge and insight.
Compared to the Biblical description of WONDER, our own wonder fades like the beam of a penlight at high noon.
• Wonder isn't some bland bloodless adjective.
• It is a mountainous noun soaring into the heavens like Everest, piercing the upper atmosphere.
• It isn't like plugging in the Christmas tree lights;
• It’s more like grabbing a high-voltage power line.
This is wonder that throbs with power, turns your knees to jell-o salad, and prickles the hairs on the back of your neck.
• Coupled with the word counselor,
• When we understand of this overused adjective
• We understand the Messiah is someone who gives powerfully PROFOUND counsel to people.
• And He did that.
During His incarnation, Jesus demonstrated amazing wisdom as a counselor. _______________________________________________
Study the New Testament descriptions of His encounters with people who came to Him for counsel and you'll see what I mean.
In a WONDERFUL...marvelous...HIGH-VOLTAGE way...
Jesus always knew exactly what to say;
When to reach out to a seeking heart and when to rebuke an impetuous soul.
He saw not just the EXTERIOR,
But also the INTERIOR...
The thoughts and intents of the heart...
1. So He knew what to say to the lonely Woman at the Well who hungered for the grace of God,
2. to the self-centered worldly Rich Young Ruler whose priorities were all messed up.
3. Jesus knew what to say to His prideful confused disciples.
The testimony of those who heard Him was this:'Never did a man speak the way this Man speaks.'(John 7:46).
This particular aptronym makes sense because Jesus is THE TRUTH,
So it is He to Whom we must turn to make sense out of confusing falsehood of life.
And Jesus does this for us.
Our Lord has counsel for every crisis, and for every problem He has a plan.
He has a solution for selfishness, answers for anxiety, and a message for every man.
• Plus, unlike earthly counselors, Jesus is always available;
• When we go to Him, He gives us His undivided attention because He genuinely cares about us.
As 1 Peter 5:7 says, we are encouraged to '...cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.'
And if that weren't enough,
not only does Jesus care,
not only does He put His complete wisdom at our disposal to help us know what to do,
When we call on Him, He comes PERSONALLY to help.
This IS wonderful, because as someone put it, 'When life caves in, you do not need reasons, you need comfort.
You don't need some answers, you need someOne.
And Jesus is that Someone.
He comes to us with His PRESENCE.' He is GOD WITH US!
Let me ask. Do you need any profound advice right now?
Is there something that confuses you or terrifies you?
Are you in a predicament that you don't know how to get out of?
Do you have a problem that you can't solve?
Is anyone here at a crossroads in life?
o Then, go to the Wonderful Counselor in prayer!
o Search His Scriptures for the answers you are looking for!
o He promises that when we seek we will find...when we knock doors will be opened.
So go to Him! I promise, if you heed His WONDERFUL counsel, you will echo the words of Psalm 16:7 who said: 'I will PRAISE the LORD, Who counsels me...'
(2) The second aptronym in our outline is the phrase, 'Mighty God.'
This descriptive NAME tells us that not only is Jesus profoundly wise in His counsel, He also has the power to accomplish what He advises.
'As the Wonderful Counselor, He makes the PLANS;
As the Mighty God, He makes the plans WORK.'
And He is ABLE to make the plans work because He the SON/God
o The Baby laid in the manger is also the King of glory.
o Put another way: 'The humble CARPENTER of Nazareth is also the mighty ARCHITECT of the Universe.
We see His Godly power and might even at his birth.
Think of it, Jesus' arrival caused a star/appear/heavens.
That star led the Magi to leave their homes and make a long journey to come and pay Him homage.
Their arrival in Jerusalem shook King Herod and his court.
Jesus' birth brought angels from Heaven to sing His praises.
Midnight became like midday as the glory of God appeared to those shepherds abiding in the fields.
All these parts of the Christmas story show that Jesus was--and still is--the MIGHTY GOD.
'Christ the King loves to step into a life of chaos and not only provide wonderful counsel, but also display His divine power by bringing order to the chaos.
In other words, He not only tells His subjects what to do as Wonderful Counselor
He also energizes them to do it/because He/mighty God.
Well, the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus was Mighty God over and over again.
John 1:1 says,'In the beginning was the Word and the Word WAS God...and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.'
Colossians 2:9 says,'For in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form.'
Colossians 1:15 says,'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.'
o In John 10:30 He said, I and the Father are one.
But remember! Not only did Jesus make this claim--He lived up to it by doing things that only God could do:
Healing the sick, calming storms, walking on water, forgiving sin, and raising the dead!
Plus, His first followers, men who spent three years at His side, died rather than recant their belief that Jesus was God in the flesh.
We even see Jesus' Godly might from the dawn of creation!
Colossians 1:16 says,'By Him (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones of powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him.'
What does all this mean to you and me?
It means that since Jesus is mighty God
since He is omnipotent--all powerful
He can do anything power can do because He has the strength to do all He wills to do,
And this means Jesus can handle anything!
He can do the impossible in your life right now.
He will give you victory over whatever you're struggling with today.
So let Him! Let Him fight your battles.
During this season, embrace the words spoken by the angel to Mary in Luke 1:37: 'Nothing is impossible with God.'
(3) And the third point is in the next phrase--an aptronym that says the Messiah is the 'Everlasting Father.'
Not only would the Messiah be MIGHTY, ALL-POWERFUL GOD.
Isaiah also foretold that He would love us and use His power to protect us and provide for our needs--like a FATHER.
C. S. Lewis put it this way: 'The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.'
When the Messiah is called a “Father,” we must understand the word as meaning primarily “Protector.”
So Job was a “father to the poor” (Job 29:16).
Eliakim a “father/inhabitants of Jerusalem”(Isa.22:20).
The idea of protection, however, implied in “Father” does not exhaust the connotation of the word.
• It contains also the notions of “Creator” and “Preserver,” of one whom we are bound to love, honor, and obey.
• “Have we not all one father?” says Malachi, “Has not one God created us all?”
• The Messiah was to be “Father” in all these senses.
As the second Person in the Holy Trinity,
• he created man;
• as “God with us,” he preserves him;
• As typical Man, the Head of the redeemed race, he will ever keep and protect him.
The Prophet calls him “Everlasting Father,” first, to show that he is no mere human protector, like Job or Eliakim;
But also, to indicate his Divinity, since God alone is “everlasting,” or “eternal.”
We can be assured that God will never cease to be our Protector
He will never desert us, or be of weary of interposing for us.
No! He ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb 7:25)
He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last” (Rev. 1:8).
He will not fail us nor forsake us (Deut. 21:6).
So Isaiah prophesied to our dark, gloomy world, the glorious news that the Light of the World, the Messiah, would come; and He would be a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father.
(4) Then finally he said the child born that night would be our 'Prince of Peace.'
This is another precious promise because, you see, when SIN entered the world, a CONFLICT began between God and man.
Do you remember our study from last week?
• When Adam and Eve disobeyed, they were driven out of the Garden,
• Separated from their Holy Creator by their sin.
• Since that time all human beings have followed in their footsteps and rebelled against God.
• Instead of living their lives according to the will of our Creator, each of us chooses to live according to our own selfish will.
Isaiah 53:6 described this struggle we all engage in with God when he said, 'We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way.
As I said, when SIN entered the world, PEACE left it, because all of us DO tend to go our way instead of God's.
All of us tend to live in opposition to His will.
And, on that horrible day, I think Adam and Eve immediately sensed this, and longed for the peace to return.
They desperately hungered to get back/they foolishly lost.
You know that when Cain was born Eve literally said, 'I've done it!
I've given birth to the Deliverer...
the promised One Who will crush Satan’s head and fix things once again!'
Of course Cain wasn't the Deliverer, and so they continued to long for the way things used to be prior to The Fall.
Down through the generations all mankind has not only inherited Adam and Eve's sin nature,
but also their yearning for the promised Redeemer to come, and in His coming, bring peace once again between God and man.
• Jesus Christ is able to do this because, on the cross,
• He became our peace offering.
A peace offering is defined as 'a gift or service for the purpose of procuring peace or reconciliation.'
In the OT/dozens/references/Hebrew people recognizing this enmity between them and God by bringing peace offerings, sacrifices to God, to the temple.
o But Jesus came to be the Sacrifice—
o The Peace Offering to God for all mankind.
o The prophet Isaiah said it would happen this way. He said, 'The punishment that brought us PEACE was on Him.' (Isaiah 53:5).
In Romans 5:10 Paul said, 'For we were God's enemies--reconciled to Him through the death of His Son; we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received reconciliation.'
Ephesians 2:14 says,'For JESUS is our peace, He Who has destroyed the barrier...the dividing wall of hostility....for through HIM, we have access to the Father ...'
that's not all
when we have access to God through Jesus
the Great Peace Offering
when we realize that we have the gift of eternal life
then we can have peace in all aspects of life.
Nothing can disturb this peace--not illness, not financial troubles, not even death!
Through Jesus, we can indeed have 'the peace of God, which passes all understanding' (Phil 4:7)
You see, true peace comes, not from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of God.
This was the angels' song that night. Remember? They sang, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE to men on whom His favor rests.' (Luke 2:14)
Are you worried about something this morning?
Does panic lurk in your thoughts?
Give all your anxiety to the Almighty,
His unexplained peace will give you calm/midst of chaos.
Later, in this same book, Isaiah offers us this promise: 'You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.' (26:3).
Our study of this text will not be complete without our looking at the last phrase of Isaiah 9:7: 'The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
o The word 'zeal' here, in Hebrew means 'intense desire.'
o If you're ZEALOUS about something, it occupies your thoughts constantly. You build your day around it.
o For example, I'm always ZEALOUS about getting my sermon done.
Can you think of your own examples...things you are ZEALOUS about?
Well, verse 7 of Isaiah's prophecy tells us that God is ZEALOUS about giving you everything we've talked about this morning because He loves you more than you can possibly comprehend!
Lucado says, 'If God had a wallet, your picture would be in it!'
And I like it that God's ZEALOUS love isn't some sort of 'blanket policy love.'
No, it's a personal love!
God does not love populations. He loves people.
He loves not masses, but men.
He loves each of us with a mighty love that has no beginning and can have no end.
Invitation
Let me ask...is Jesus Your Master? Have your claimed Him as yours?
Is the Christ of Christmas YOUR wonderful Counselor, your Mighty God, your Everlasting Father, Your Prince of Peace?
Or, like so many do you still wander in darkness, powerless in the face of life's struggles and fears, longing for a Father-child relationship with your Creator?
This morning, if you are here and are not a Christian, then I challenge you to call on the name of Jesus right now.
Pray and ask him to forgive you.
Commit today to follow Him as Lord! And if you do that, please come and tell me!
Nothing would make my Christmas merrier!
If you are a Christian and have a public decision to make such as joining our church, I invite you to come also, right now, as we stand and sing.
