Alba 12-26-2021
EVERLASTING FATHER
Isaiah 9:6
You know, God couldn’t wait to tell people about the coming of Christmas. So 700 years beforehand, 2,700 years ago now, God foretold the Christmas story by choosing a prophet named Isaiah to tell the world about a an amazing baby.
Isaiah’s prophecy are words that George Frederic Handel made even more famous by immortalizing them in his famous Hallelujah chorus.
"For unto us a child is born, unto 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." -- Isaiah 9:6
Today we will examine the phrase, “And he will be called... Everlasting Father.” What did God have in mind when He gave Him this title? What did He want us to imagine when He announced this 700 years before it happened?
Of all the titles given to the Christ-child, this one, Everlasting Father, probably raises the most questions. It is really intriguing. After all, how can a child be a father? And how can a newborn be so old as to be called everlasting?
The prophet Isaiah makes it clear that the Messiah, this child to be born, would be no ordinary man. Not a mere political or military leader; not the king of an earthly dominion, nor a general to lead His people to conquer the nations of this world.
He would be far more than a common teacher or prophet; there had been dozens of those in Israel’s history. No, the Messiah would be absolutely unique; something never before seen in the history of the world.
He would be God in the flesh, God become man. God, with all his power, and might, and wisdom, and glory; yet somehow fully revealed in the person of a male human being. The gospel of Matthew makes this same point in its version of the Christmas story:
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means, ’God with us.’" Matthew 1:23
That’s what Jesus is. "God with us". Not God out there somewhere, beyond the boundaries of the universe, but God here, in our midst. God walking among us as a flesh-and-blood person.
And that’s what the title "Everlasting Father" signifies. Let’s look closely at both of these words.
1. Everlasting
I think for humans, everlasting is a difficult concept to grasp. We count everything by time with a beginning and an end. A minister, Jim Paice tells the story how when he was a kid he remembers being really disappointed one time - by a very specific thing.
He said, “I would have only been 6 or 7 and I had heard all about a piece of candy that lasted forever. So - I saved up all my pocket money and went to the candy shop and bought myself an everlasting Gobstopper. I was so excited to get started on it and then have it with me, forever.
“I realized after only a few hours that the candy was getting smaller and smaller until eventually it was all gone. They lied to me.”
He said, “Now - anytime I hear the word 'Everlasting', I get a little cynical.”
I suppose that is why there are other cynical people in the world today, because on this earth they do not see anything that lasts. So we need to look beyond this world to find what is unavailable here.
Isaiah is saying, “The One who’s coming is Everlasting.” In other words, “He is not just from this world. He is eternal. He has always existed and always will.”
If you wonder about that one, just look at this for a minute. Some religious leaders questioned Jesus on a number of counts. They questioned His authority, they questioned His origin, they questioned His motives.
Then there was that conversation recorded in John chapter eight when Jesus said, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” John 8:56
See what He’s saying there? “I know all about Abraham. In fact, I knew Abraham.” Well, the others pick right up on that right away, “Hold on!” The Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” – John 8:57
Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” – John 8:58 To understand this statement, you have to know that “I am” is the name that God used to reveal Himself to Moses.
It’s an amazing title, if you think about it – tailor-made for God. Because when you try to describe God, the most accurate statement you can make about Him is, “He Is.” He exists fully, everywhere, at all times.
He always has, always will be, is today, full existence.” He Is. So in the statement, when Jesus says, “I am,” He is saying, “I am not only older than Abraham, I have existed forever, because I am God.”
Jesus is without BEGINNING and without END. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Scripture makes that clear. Check out these verses:
The prophet Micah in chapter five verse two prophesies, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times”
From ancient times can also be translated “from days of eternity.”
The infinite One became an infant.
John 1:1 states, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and verse 14 adds... the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
In John 6:38 Jesus proclaims, I have come down from heaven.
In John 10:30 Jesus says, “I and my Father are one.” “One” means one in nature. If the Father is eternal, then Jesus is also eternal.
Revelation 22:13 records Jesus proclaiming, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
Jesus is eternal. He has always existed, and always will exist. He’s Everlasting. 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. If not by choice, then by death.
But Jesus is different. As God promises in Hebrews 13:5, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
That’s why Jesus’ "eternality" matters. That’s why we care that Jesus will never change, and never cease to exist. Because it means that 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. He is “Everlasting.”
Jesus will always keep His promises to us, even when other people can’t or won’t. Let me say that again. Jesus Christ will always keep His promises to us, even when other people can’t or won’t.
As Paul writes in II Corinthians 1:20, For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
No matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.
And they always will be "yes" in Christ. Because He is God and He will live forever. He will always be our God, and we will always be His people.
And because Jesus is eternal, He is the SOURCE of eternal life. So, what does that mean to us?
Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).
When the eternal, everlasting Christ returns, we will be transformed into something more wonderful than we can imagine. And our new, glorious life will never end. That is something to cheer about!
The second part of the phrase is:
2. Father
Isaiah says this child to be born would be called “Everlasting Father”. Once again, this name for Jesus raises questions. How can a baby born in Bethlehem be a father. Why does Isaiah refer to the Messiah as a Father?
Now, Father here doesn't translate to what we would think a father should mean. Here, father is not - protector, or provider, or lawn mowing expert.
Instead, the word used means The Chief or Principal, The Owner, The Ruler, The Master. The word ‘father’ here is less 'a dad', and more what we might call the 'father of' it or even the founding father.
The highest honor a nation can bestow on a person is to name him “The Father of his country.” In America that title belongs to General George Washington, Supreme Commander of the Army of the Potomac and first President of the United States of America.
In a similar way Jesus Christ may be considered as the “Father of His Country, His Kingdom.” His country is heaven and all the vast extents of the universe He created.
If our nation gives the highest respect and honor to George Washington, certainly we Christians can do no less for our Lord Jesus Christ in regards to His kingdom.
Now, it can sound confusing to call Jesus Christ, “Father”. Because up to this point, only God was referred to as Father. For example: Psalm 89:26, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
And, Isaiah 63:16, You, O Lord, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. And yet, Jesus Himself claims to be like the Father to us. In John 14:6-11 we read:
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and fr om now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works (miracles) themselves.
Anyone who has seen Jesus has seen the Father, because Jesus fully reveals God. And the only one who can fully reveal God is God. As the book of Hebrews in Hebrews 1:3 speaks of Jesus as being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.
The New International Version translates that verse, "The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.
And the New Living Translation puts it this way: "Everything about him represents God exactly." In other words, there is nothing that is true about God that is not also true about Jesus.
By referring to the Messiah as "Everlasting Father," Isaiah alludes to the fact that He is God, divine and eternal.
The Baby born in Bethlehem’s manger is our “Everlasting Father.”
II Corinthians 5:19 tells us that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
How did He do that? Jesus went to the cross to pay the penalty for the sins we have committed. The Father was in the Son bringing us to Himself.
Jesus is the one who is always there for us. He is the epitome of what a father should be - He is the Everlasting Father!
CONCLUSION:
Everyone - each and every one of us, has had an earthly father! Some of us have had "good" fathers, some of us have had "bad" fathers; and, some may not even know who their father is.
There is a website called Fathers.com. It states that more than 20 million children live in a home without the physical presence of a father. Millions more have dads who are physically present, but emotionally absent.
If it were classified as a disease, fatherlessness would be an epidemic worthy of attention as a national emergency,
It also referred to a study using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (that) explored the relationship between family structure and risk of violent acts in neighborhoods.
The results revealed that if the number of fathers is low in a neighborhood, then there is an increase in acts of teen violence. It is not good to be fatherless.
But the truth is, no one needs to be without a father. Each and every one of us has a Heavenly Father - Almighty God - God the Father – fully seen in Jesus, the one born in Bethlehem.
Through faith in Jesus Christ we have an Everlasting Father.
