Names of Jesus in Isaiah:
THE EVERLASTING FATHER
John 14:6-10 - Victory Fellowship
December 12, 2021 - Rev. Roderick Grabski
3rd Sunday of Advent
ISAIAH WANTS TO INTRODUCE YOU TO JESUS!
In Isaiah 9:6 Jesus is named: 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, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Our focus the next couple of weeks will be on these names. First, we started with Wonderful Counselor. The Hebrew word (pele ya`ats) translated "wonderful" in this verse signifies something indescribably great; something so tremendous, so amazing, that it’s literally beyond description. (Miracle)
Last week our focus was on The Mighty God. The Hebrew words for “Mighty God” are El Gibbor. And he will be called The Mighty, Mighty God.
By referring to the Messiah as "Everlasting Father," Isaiah alludes to the fact that he would be God. (Hebrew = Abi Ad) Remember that the people who first received this prophecy, the Jews, had no concept of a Trinity. They didn’t conceive of God as both One and Three at the same time: one divine essence in three co-equal persons; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They only knew God as Father. So when Isaiah identified the coming Messiah as the "Everlasting Father," He was communicating in the only way they could possibly have understood that the Messiah would be God in the flesh. Emmanuel. God would be their savior. God would be their deliverer. God would be their king.
And when Jesus came; when he grew to manhood and began to teach, he acknowledged that this was in fact who he was. For instance, when he was speaking with the Pharisees, said: "I and the Father are one." -- John 10:30
You may remember that this particular statement almost got him stoned to death for blasphemy. And then another time when Jesus was speaking with his disciples, we have this exchange:
Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ’Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?"-- John 14:10
Well, so what? What does it matter to us, the people in this room, who are either trying to follow Christ, or perhaps considering whether to begin following him -- what difference does it make? We aren’t professors or academics; we don’t spend our free time arguing over the fine points of theology. We want information we can use; wisdom and knowledge that will help us get through the day, help us live worthwhile, productive, God-honoring lives. How does the deity of Christ help us do that?
Well, first of all it affirms that Jesus truly is the one and only way to God. The gulf between the Creator and his creatures is so vast; the distance separating the infinite from the finite is so immense, that only someone who in his own person unites deity and humanity can truly unite God and man. Only one who is both fully God and fully man can bring the two together, both now and forever.
Buddha can’t do that. Confucius can’t do that. Nor can philosophy, or mysticism, or New Age spirituality, or all the gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. Nor can Mohammed bring God and man together; because he was only a man, and never claimed to be anything else. A prophet, yes, according to the Muslim religion. But still just a man.
Gee whiz info: Muslims believe that Jesus (called "Isa" in Arabic) was a prophet of God, was born to a virgin (Mary), and will return to Earth before the Day of Judgment to restore justice and to defeat the Antichrist.
Only Jesus Christ, who in himself combines divinity and humanity, can bridge that gap.
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." -- Acts 4:12
No other person, no other religion, no other philosophy, no other way of living can bring us to God and save us from suffering the penalty of our sins. Only Jesus can do that. And so, as we’re searching for answers to life’s problems, as we’re seeking wisdom for living, as we’re looking for ways to be reconciled with the one who made us, there’s only one place to go. And that’s to Christ.
Second, Jesus’ deity matters because it means that all of his promises will be fulfilled. Whatever he said would happen, will happen. He has the power to do what he said he would do. He won’t change his mind, he won’t go back on his word. He won’t discover new information and suddenly alter his plans. He is God, and so his purposes are unchanging. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) He can be trusted. We can rely on him, and entrust our lives to him, in a way that we can’t with any other person. Because we know that nothing is going to happen that will make him either unable or unwilling to care for us, now or in the future.
And this leads to the other part of the name, "Everlasting or eternal Father". Christ is eternal, everlasting, without beginning or end of days.
That means our salvation will be eternal. God’s punishment, and anger, and wrath were completely exhausted in the death and suffering of Christ on the cross; so that for those who are in Christ, there will never be any condemnation. God’s attitude toward us will never be anything but complete love and goodness. Listen to these promises:
"and, once made perfect, [Jesus] became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." -- Hebrews 5:9
"Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." -- Hebrews 7:25
"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." -- John 10:28
Again, what difference does all this make? It gives us perspective. As Paul writes, "we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18).
No matter what we may be going through, whether suffering or disappointment; whether pain, or sorrow, or confusion; no matter how other people may treat us; whether we’ve seen our highest dreams realized, or our greatest hopes in this world dashed to pieces -- no matter what this life brings us, we can have peace and contentment. Because we know that everything in this world is temporary. It will soon pass away. But our life in Christ is forever.
He is eternal; he will never die, and neither will we. Jesus is the everlasting Father. Emmanuel means God with Us. And his love for us -- his goodness, and compassion, and kindness -- will never end. We are his people and he is our savior - now and forever our Everlasting Father.
PRAYER
SONG: Holy Emmanuel (City on a Hill)
John 14:6-10 NLT
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ’Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?"
