His Name Is Wonderful!
Isaiah 9:6
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
We find here that one of the names given to the Lord Jesus Christ is Wonderful!
What a true statement that is! Jesus was, is, and always shall be wonderful!
The word "wonderful" means "Adapted to excite wonder or admiration; exciting surprise; strange; astonishing." To put it another way, Jesus Christ, in every area of His birth, life, death and resurrection, captured the surprise and wonder of everyone! I want to look this morning at some wonderful things about His Birth!
1. THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO HIS BIRTH ARE WONDERFUL!
A. The Coming of John the Baptist!
Read and comment, Luke 1:5-25. The account of Zacharias and Elisabeth, parents of John the Baptist!
The coming of this child was also glorious! He was prophesied:
Isaiah 40:3 - "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."
Luke 3:4 - "As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
B. The Announcement of the Angel concerning His Birth! Luke 1:31-32
The angel, sent from the very presence of God, was sent to a virgin girl to give her the news of the placement of her Son! The things said of Him are wonderful!
C. The Method of His birth was wonderful! Luke 1:34-35
Jesus was placed into the womb of Mary by the Holy Ghost of God!
This is noteworthy, as it is an impossibility!
D. The Recognition of His birth was wonderful! Luke 1:39-41
John the Baptist, forerunner of the Lord, leaped in his mothers womb at the sound of Mary, mother of Jesus!
2. THE FACT OF HIS BIRTH WAS WONDERFUL! (LUKE 2:6,7)
This birth is noteworthy because of Who He was! This was Jesus, promised in the Garden of Eden!
This thought was on my mind a lot during the expectancy and delivery of my children! I wonder what it was like to hold the Baby that created me?! To know that God was in your arms! What a wonder!
Yet here he was. The Son of God, come to pay the sin debt for all mankind, had come!
This birth was wonderful, so wonderful that His birth can still change lives today!
A. The announcement of His birth was wonderful! (2:9-14)
The announcement of His birth was wonderful in that it came to the poorest of all! It would have been fitting that Herod were personally escorted into His presence. That the kings were summoned to appear before the Creator of all things!
But the wonder of the announcement was that it came to lowly shepherds, with nothing to offer save their wonder and adoration!
*** The announcement was made by the Heavenly host of angels. All of them,. I believe, gathered to sing that night, with all the beauty of the Heavenly refrain, lifted up in praise to the Child born that night!
B. The Witness of His birth was wonderful! 2:16-17, 20
After these shepherds came and saw and worshipped the Baby King, they left and nothing could hold them back! They told everyone they saw of the One they had seen!
Their witness was accompanied by worship! This is why more people do not come to Christ, we act as if we are trying to sell them a bag of sour grapes!
The shepherds were rejoicing and praising God as they told what had happened to them that night!
C. The Recognition of His birth was wonderful! 2:25, 36-38
There were two people, nestled into this story, that stand out in my mind! They were not like Mary (the mother), or the shepherds (who had to be sent), or the kings (who came in late and by their own studies). The birth of Jesus did not come as a surprise to them! They had been waiting for Him to come since before the shepherds, the kings, or Mary had been born!
They were busy serving the Lord and looking for Him! See verses 26-28, 37-38
3. THE PURPOSE OF HIS BIRTH WAS WONDERFUL!
He was born to die!
Look back to Isaiah 53, read entire chapter.
The greatness attained by His birth went through the cross, then the resurrection!
Isaiah 53:12 says that Jesus will be divided a portion with the great!
He lived only 33 years, never physically wrote a book, never held a public office, was not a homeowner or stock broker. He was poor, had only eleven friends, was betrayed by one of His own disciples, arrested, betrayed by the people He had served, hung on a cross, and murdered under the sentence of innocence! Yet He has changed history and His offering has changed me! No doubt He is the greatest individual that has ever lived!
He came to save us, and He can save you today!
