We’re in the series, "What Christ Came to Give" and this is our fourth and final part to the series.
We’ve been expanding on what Christ’s birth means to us by looking at the titles given to Christ by Isaiah seven centuries before His birth.
Tomorrow we’ll commemorate and celebrate Christmas with our families. Today we’re going to do it as a church family by looking at one more title of Christ.
We want to make this worship gathering a time of praising the Lord Jesus Christ for His greatness!
The Bible says in Isaiah 9:6: A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. (I must allow Him to be in charge in my life if I want to experience and enjoy the blessings these names foretell.) He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," (“Extraordinary Strategist”) "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace."
This king that Isaiah wrote about would be a perfect King in every way. He is neither hampered nor hindered by the normal weaknesses of earthly kings and leaders.
The Bible contains many stories about kings. There were some good kings but there were an awful lot of bad kings as well. And the kings mentioned in the Bible, just like kings and other rulers throughout history, faced a lot of problems.
Problem #1: ENEMIES.
Sometimes national leaders face armies that are larger and stronger than their own. They want to protect the people of their kingdom but that’s not always possible. They are simply outnumbered or out-maneuvered sometimes. They want to win for their people but they don’t always have the resources and manpower to do so.
Problem #2: RESPONSIBILITY.
Kings had to settle a lot of disputes; solve a lot of the problems of their people. They had to see to a thousand different details of the operation of the kingdom or at least see to it that the responsibility of the details had been delegated to someone. It could be a 24-7 job. The king didn’t always have enough time or enough wisdom to be up to the task.
Problem #3: DEATH.
Some kings can rule a long time but no human king can rule forever. Some kings died in battle. Some just died of old age or disease. But no king has ever had enough power to stop death’s dominion.
So here in our text Isaiah writes about a KING THAT IS NOT HAMPERED BY ANY OF THESE DIFFICULTIES!
We know from our digging in Isaiah 9:6 the last several weeks that the King Isaiah wrote about is Jesus. He is the One who’s birth we celebrate at Christmas. He was born in a manger, a place where animals were fed, in a cattle stall, in Bethlehem. Angels and shepherds and wise men celebrated his birth.
But before we look at one last title of Christ in Isaiah 9:6 to see "What Christ Came to Give," we’re going to listen to part of a sermon by S.M. Lockridge, Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego, California from 1953 to 1993, and relocated to heaven in 2000. This sermon snippet is entitled, "That’s My King!" I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Somebody say, "That’s My King!" [Wow! That’s a hard act to follow.]
The last title of Jesus the Messiah we want to look at from Isaiah 9:6 is EVERLASTING FATHER.
What was Isaiah saying when he called Jesus "Everlasting Father?" What Isaiah was getting at is that Messiah would be a king who would be like a father to His people.
Let’s look together at three ways this is fulfilled in the life of Jesus.
1. Like other good kings, Christ PROTECTS His people from their enemies.
Remember, we said that’s part of the job description for kings. But unlike other kings Jesus as Messiah has never met an enemy He can’t defeat. There’s no problem that His followers face that He hasn’t defeated.
John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, said this about Jesus the Messiah:
"Our God has given us a mighty Savior from the family of David his servant. 70Long ago the Lord promised by the words of his holy prophets to save us from our enemies and from everyone who hates us." Luke 1:69-71 (CEV)
At first that may sound incorrect to you. You might wonder why evil still plagues the world if Jesus conquered the enemies of His kingdom. If Jesus won why do terrorists declare war on innocent people? If Jesus defeated evil why do murder and rape and robbery and hate still exist? Why do bad things still happen to good people?
Evil still exists because He has given each one of us a choice. He still allows the presence of evil in order to give you and me a choice to follow Him and to follow everything that is good. If you follow Jesus it’s going to be because you choose to do so. No one is ever forced to follow Him. You follow Jesus of your own free will.
He could force you to follow Him. He could make everyone follow Him – every angel, every human. But He wants you to trust Him and believe in Him out of His love for you and your love for Him. Isn’t that the best way to have a friendship with someone? You’re not obligated. You just want to be their friend and have them as your friend.
Evil still exists and you can choose to follow it. You can live a life of total disregard for Christ’s teachings in the Bible. But to do so is to reject the greatest love ever given!
Some people object that it’s been 2,000 years since Christ returned to heaven. Why hasn’t He returned to defeat all of the enemies of His kingdom? Why has He allowed evil to go on all these centuries? Well the Bible answers that question.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow in doing what he promised -- the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives.
[God is not ignoring evil – He’s being patient with us. But…even His great patience will come to an end.]
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The skies will disappear with a loud noise. Everything in them will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be burned up. 11 In that way everything will be destroyed. So what kind of people should you be? You should live holy lives and serve God, 12 as you wait for and look forward to the coming of the day of God. 2 Peter 3:8-12 (NCV)
Christ will put a complete stop to evil and those enemies of His that have rejected Him and chosen evil – and the Bible teaches it could happen at any time! So don’t think for one moment that Christ hasn’t won over the enemies of His kingdom. It’s just that He’s so very patient and loving toward us.
That’s the kind of King Jesus is. No enemy has ever defeated Him in the past nor will any ever defeat Him in the future! If you follow this King you can rejoice in Him because He is completely powerful!
The Bible says, "If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" Romans 8:31 (NLT) No one can! That’s because of the fatherly way Jesus protects His people from our enemies!
2. Like a fatherly King, Jesus cares about and MEETS ALL OF THE NEEDS of His people.
There’s nothing in your life that Jesus doesn’t know about and there’s nothing in your life He doesn’t care about. But once again, unlike other kings, He is not limited in His capabilities at meeting your needs.
Jesus said, "Don’t worry and ask yourselves, ‘Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?’ Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well." Matthew 6:31-33 (CEV)
When you follow Christ you don’t have to worry about having your needs met. That’s His concern. Your concern is to put God’s work first and trust Him to meet your needs.
If you have a need ask for His help.
You might not be able to get an audience with the President or even the governor, but you can talk to Jesus twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
I remember several years ago I tried to get an appointment with the person in City Hall in charge of zoning – so we could find out about a sign at the old church. I tried for a week or two to get an appointment with him but couldn’t so we just put up the sign. About 2 months later the guy’s administrative assistant called me. She said, "Mr. So and so can see you now." After two months!
You don’t have to wait on an appointment with Jesus. You can even talk to Him while millions of others are talking to Him!
He wants to supply your needs. He never grows tired of hearing your prayers or your thank yous!
When He was on earth He was always meeting people’s needs. If they were hungry He fed them. If they needed healing He restored them to good health. When He met someone whose mind was twisted by demons He kicked out the evil spirits and restored people to their right mind.
The only qualification for Jesus meeting people’s needs was faith. If they would believe, Jesus would help them.
He can meet all your needs. You can trust Him. Don’t doubt Him.
That’s one of the things it means when the Bible says Jesus is the Everlasting Father.
He deserves our undying praise for this too! Somebody say, "That’s my King!"
3. Jesus is a fatherly king who NEVER DIES!
EVERLASTING Father. All other kings die and can’t go on ruling on behalf of their people.
Once again you might ask, "Didn’t the enemies of His kingdom crucify Jesus? Didn’t He have to die?"
The answer is yes. He had to die in order for us to live.
But the Good News is - death did not defeat Him! He rose again!
Easter is the sequel to the Christmas story. Jesus was born to die but His death was not permanent. It didn’t even last long enough for His body to start the decaying process.
Jesus said, "I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave." Revelation 1:18 (NLT)
My only hope of eternal life is with the one that holds the keys to death and the grave. He is the only one who can unlock those doors.
But the Good News doesn’t end there! Since Jesus is alive He can help me right up to the day I die.
The Bible says, "He is forever able to save the people he leads to God, because he always lives to speak to God for them." Hebrews 7:25 (CEV)
He’s my defense attorney. He’s pleads my case.
Jesus is King and will always be King. No one will ever take His right to rule from Him.
A king like this deserves our worship!
Can you say, "That’s My King?"
If you haven’t made Him king why not do it today?
