The Excellence Of Christ Series

THE EXCELLENCE OF CHRIST

[A]. HE IS EXCELLENT IN NAME

I have 4 books on the Names of Christ that speak on all His names in the bible, and there are many hundreds of them. His name is excellent throughout the Old and New Testaments and I want to focus on just 4 of the passages that have held my attention for many decades in regard to Christ’s Name. We need to enter into the excellence of Christ. There is no time to waddle about in the shallows. He has a Name that is above all other names, and that being the case, we should feast our souls on the wonderful Lord Jesus Christ. We look at just some of ways in which our Lord is excellent.

(A). THE PROPHETIC NAMES BEFORE BIRTH. One of the best collection of names is found in Isaiah written 700 BC in this passage –

(a). THE PROPHETIC NAMES. {{Isaiah 9:4-5 “for You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. Isa 9:5 Every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, and cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.”}}

This glorious passage in Isaiah begins with the setting before the Names of God’s Anointed are revealed. The Son is the Anointed one. The verses above describe deliverance from the enemy and in context, that happens when the Lord of Lords and King of Kings comes in glory from heaven at the Second Coming to deliver Israel from all the surrounding armies at the Battle of Armageddon.

Now having set the context for the passage we going to look at what follows.

{{Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us. A son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders, and His name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Isa 9:7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”}}

HOWEVER, before Messiah’s Coming in glory at the end of the Tribulation, He first had to come to prepare the way for redemption. In this Isaiah passage we have both comings described and that is common in the prophetic books. The writings jumps back and forth through different settings and different times, just like above.

The Names attributed to the Son are true for His First Coming and will be fully realized at His Second Coming. You will notice verse 6 contains “and the government will rest on His shoulders,” which has reference to the Second Coming when he will reign as King over the whole earth – {{Zechariah 14:9 “And the LORD will be king over all the earth. In that day the LORD will be the only One, and His name the only One.”}}

Verse 7 above describes His reign and Kingdom and it will operate in the Millennial Kingdom set up after the Second Coming. It all dovetails perfectly.

For a short time I’d like to look at the Names given to the Son in verse 6.

“Wonderful Counsellor” - The KJV separates these two words wrongly, but Jesus is the Wonderful Counsellor. Being a counselor is one thing but when that Person is wonderful . . . well that is WONDERFUL! He is MY Counsellor. Marvellous!

“Mighty God” - Well this is no mistake and the answer to the heresy of Arianism. Jesus Christ is God, God the Son. We could explore that all day, but we won’t. it is great that the Messiah, the Son is God, but He is the MIGHTY God! Fantastic!

“Eternal Father” - Now we get serious with this one. Jesus is called “Eternal Father” and before any begin to think the names of divinity are being mixed up, well, they are not. God is One but the terms in the Godhead are sometimes loosely attributed. In any case the Lord Jesus Christ is the compassionate God who is eternal (a Father’s compassion).

“Prince of Peace” - This is a beautiful Name. He ministers peace. When He returns at the Second Coming He reigns at the Prince of Peace described in Isaiah 11:1-10.

(B). HE HAS A NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES. The Apostle John was aware of all this in his gospel when he mentions many of the names of Christ that other gospel writers don’t. Light of the World. Bread of life. The Vine. The Resurrection and The Life. The Good Shepherd. I AM. His names are excellent. There is one passage, a favourite of mine that stands above all other passages – {{Philippians 2:10-11 “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, Phil. 2:11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”}} This is universal and powerful. It will include every human being including those who blasphemed Christ and outrightly rejected Him and persecuted His children. Every knee will bow, be it here now in conversion, or at the great white throne.