Who Is This Jesus?
He Will Be Called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God
Isaiah 9:6
December 11/12, 2004
Don Jaques
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- welcome guests
- Coupeville outreach
- Cmas Eve in OH and Cpvl
-Bring up Senegal TREK team.
10 minutes – show brief slide show with commentary. Then 2 members of team share most memorable moment at each service.
MAIN IDEA:
Remember the old song “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid? That song kept going through my head as we drove through Senegal and saw the masses of people. In the states, I thought, the trees and the lights are going up and everyone is counting down the days to Christmas, but these people won’t be celebrating Christmas. Why? Because they don’t worship Jesus Christ as the Son of God. In fact, most of them don’t even know the simplest of facts about Jesus, and those who have at least heard of him don’t have the right information about him. They consider him a prophet, but that is all.
As I’ve transitioned back to life in Oak Harbor, though, I realized that things are not so different here. Oh – people know it’s Christmas time here, and they will celebrate by giving gifts and gathering with family. But in the midst of it all – the identity of the one we are celebrating about gets lost. And for many people here in Oak Harbor they think they know Jesus but really they just know about him, and what little they know isn’t even accurate.
Before I left for Africa we were going through the Gospel of John, answering the question “Who is this Jesus?” as we went chapter by chapter through that book. For the next 3 weeks we’ll continue answering that question, but our focus is going to move back in time over 700 years to the time of the prophet Isaiah. We’ll take a look at two passages of scripture written by the prophet Isaiah foretelling the birth of the messiah, and giving the messiah 5 titles. Starting today and continuing through Christmas eve we’ll take a closer look at these titles and discover 5 new reasons to worship God this Christmas, because of who Jesus is for each of us.
Isaiah 9:2-7 (NIV)
2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 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. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Here in verse 6 we’re given a glimpse into who the messiah was going to be – he will be called WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE. Let’s take a look at the first two of these titles today.
WONDERFUL COUNSELOR:
When we think of a wonderful counselor we think of a psychiatrist – someone who helps us through difficult emotional times. But the word here is talking more about an advisor. Most often in the Old Testament when this word was used it was talking about the king and his counselors, that is – those men who helped advise the king when he asked for help making decisions.
When I have car trouble I’m glad I have a friend in Mark Calim. For he is wise when it comes to automotive repair. When I have landscaping questions I’m glad I have a friend in Mark Richards and Eric Gerber for they are wise when it comes to making a yard green and beautiful. When I have questions about my purpose in life and which direction I’m supposed to go I’m glad, so glad I have my friend, my Lord, my wonderful counselor Jesus.
Ever been around someone really smart? Ann’s brother Greg is really smart. We were playing the board game Cranium one night in Senegal and somehow the question came up “what is a quasar” to which Greg then launched into a detailed 2 minute explanation. Jesus was smarter. He always had the right answer. People came up to him to trick him and trap him with difficult questions. Jesus always came out on top. He’s not like me, since I usually only come up with the right answer a few hours later after someone asks me a tough question!
Matt 13:54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
Matt 22:46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
But not only is Jesus, our wonderful counselor, the smartest one out there with the best advice for us. He is more than an answer man – he also cares for his own with the heart of a shepherd for his sheep.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin.
1 Pet. 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him, for he cares for you.
Because he is our WONDERFUL COUNSELOR we can and should bring him all our problems. He has the solutions we need. He is not surprised by anything – he knows the best way for you to turn.
How foolish it would be to live your life with the chance to receive counsel about every decision you face, only to say – “I’d rather figure it all out myself!” I’d rather do it MY WAY as Tom talked about last week.
Jesus, the messiah, sent by God from Heaven’s Throne to this world of sin and death, is a WONDERFUL COUNSELOR – and he can handle all of your problems, all of your questions, all of your fears.
TRANS: Isaiah continues though, by saying that the coming Messiah will not only be called Wonderful Counselor, but he will also carry the title of MIGHTY GOD.
MIGHTY GOD
When this messiah comes, Isaiah says, it will be like in the day of Midian’s defeat. What’s he talking about?
It’s the story of Gideon found in Judges 6-7. The people of Israel have been falling into idol worship, and so the judgment of the Lord is upon them, and they are being oppressed by the Midianites. The Midianites would come and take everything when harvest came, and would not leave anything left for the Israelites.
And so in Judges 6 we find Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress – trying to hide his work from anyone’s view so the wheat won’t be stolen, and the angel of the Lord comes to him and says, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior!”
But Gideon’s response is a lot like ours when our circumstances are pointed in the wrong direction. He says,
Judg. 6:13 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
Judg. 6:14 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
Judg. 6:15 “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
Judg. 6:16 The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
Judg. 7:2 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
Judg. 7:4 But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
Judg. 7:5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
Judg. 7:7 The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.
And then, as you can read for yourself, God brought about a great victory for Gideon and the Israelites over their foes the Midianites. He is a MIGHTY GOD. And just like in that day, Isaiah prophesied the coming of the messiah would be.
Things would look like God wasn’t in charge. It would look like everything was going wrong, and God had abandoned his people, but then, when the time is right – he will send the messiah and save his people.
He doesn’t need a huge army. He doesn’t need lots of human strength. He can defeat a huge army with a small band of 300 – and he can do even greater things than that.
He can deliver you from your sins. And in fact, this is where the might of the Messiah would truly show up.
See Matthew 1:18-21.
Matt. 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
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.”
He will save his people from their sins.
All of us wish God would deliver us from something. Debt. A difficult family member. Disease. Unemployment. You name it. But that’s not why the Messiah came. He came to save you from your sins – because that is the most important thing in all the world. And it is the most difficult – because a mere human could not do it!
Only God can save us from our sins. On our own we cannot get rid of the stain. We are blemished, broken people, with a death sentence hanging over our heads every bit as real as Tom’s friend Alonzo on death row in Texas.
But as we learned about in John 1 a couple months ago - Jesus is the logos – the guiding principle behind the universe – the creating force behind all that is – he is the logos in human form.
And you can trust him. As MIGHTY GOD in the form of a man, He has all the power you need.
Though we remember him this time of year as a little baby – helpless to even care for himself – within the tiny frame of that infant Jewish boy was the nature of Almighty God.
He commands the winds and waves.
He heals with a word.
He carries the weight of the world’s sins upon his shoulder.
And because he is MIGHTY GOD, you can trust him to provide for you what you need.
CONCLUSION:
Do they know its Christmastime at all? The more important question is this, “Do you know the one whose birth we celebrate at Christmastime?”
To those who surrender their lives to him, he is more than a savior, he is a WONDERFUL COUNSELOR with the power of ALMIGHTY GOD at his disposal.
This is indeed good tidings of great joy.
