The Wonder Of It All

This week in Columbus Ohio five individuals died in a tragic and senseless manner. I must tell you as I watched the daylong coverage on Fox News and even CNN I found it hard to take seriously the death of someone name after a bag of pot. Dimebag Darrel? His real name was Darrell Abbott; he first called himself "Diamond," but "Dimebag" stuck because it was the amount of weed he could afford when he first got serious with his guitar. It has truly been amazing to watch.

Names are significant:

I read this week about a young college student who signed up for an easy class taught by an old professor who always gave everyone good grades. He got to the class only to learn that ornithology meant the study of birds and that the old professor has retired and the new one had just gotten his Ph.D. The new professor was out to prove that he was worthy to be a professor and the class turned into quite a challenge. The final exam turned out to be the last straw. When he looked at the paper there were twenty-five pair of bird legs from the knees down. He stood up and announced to everyone, “That’s it. I quit. I can’t take it anymore” As he turned to leave the professor tried to stop him by asking, “Son, what is your name?” The young man looked at the class and at the professor, bent over and pulled his pant legs up over his knees and walked out.

Dale Carnigie said that the sweetest sound to a person is the sound of their own name.

All of us want our name to be important and to mean something. All of us want to be more than just a face or “legs” in the crowd.

Some seven hundred years before Christ was born, the prophet Isaiah attempted to tell us what Jesus would be like. He wanted to give us a picture.

In the Bible, names were so important.

Adam: means out of the dust. Abraham: means father of the generations. Millions of people have traced their heritage back to Abraham. When Abraham and Sarah were old they found out they were going to have a son and they laughed. That’s a pretty good response for finding out your going to have a baby in your nineties. They called that baby Isaac because it means laughter and it would remind them of this time in their lives.

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah is talking about his uniqueness when he describes Him as born but also given. What does he mean?

As a man, Jesus was born: Humanity He was born of a woman conceived by the Holy Spirit.

As God, Jesus was given: Divinity The Bible says that God loved us so much He gave His only begotten Son.

Christ was born but He was also a gift.

It is the great mystery of the incarnation. God came to earth in form of a baby, in the flesh.

Isaiah laid it all out for us. He will be born and He will be given. When he wrote that these different names he wrote about our lives.

His name is Wonderful – This takes care of the Dullness of life.

His name is Counselor– This takes care of the Decisions of life.

His name is Mighty God – This takes care of the Demands of life.

His name is Eternal Father– This takes care of the Dimensions of life.

His name is Prince of Peace – This takes care of the Disturbances of life.

1. True Wonder: Awe

In the Hebrew this word wonderful means to separate or distinguish. It could mean lifted up above the ordinary or average.

Jesus birth is lifted up or higher. It was to be unique and different. It will cause people to stop. Wise men and shepherds will stop what they are doing.

You can think and ponder it but it is almost impossible to grasp this birth. True wonder brings us:

A. Depth: It penetrates our thoughts. True wonder has depth. The birth of a baby or the Grand Canyon. When God creates He leaves us in awe.

B. Value: It enriches us. It leaves us a better person.

C. Brings Humility: True humility brings us to a state of incomprehension. Have you ever tried to comprehend eternity and God? What a wonder. David wrote of this when he penned the words.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.