For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
I thought of doing a recap of my message from Sunday entitled "Hope Found in a Child", one which is fitting for the third week of the Advent season. The reference passage from Isaiah 9 was written in tandem with the promised child in Isaiah 7:14 who was to be born of a virgin; "Immanuel" is His name which means God is with us. Several more names were ascribed to Jesus Who is both present in His incarnation and through the permanent residence of the Holy Spirit in His children. There is also a promised permanent dwelling of God with men when Jesus our Immanuel returns to establish His Kingdom on a redeemed and restored earth (Revelation 21:3).
The Messianic words from Isaiah 9 was prophetic in several ways. Isaiah warned of the impending doom on the Northern tribes which included Zebulun and Naphtali in the hands on the invading Assyrian army. This part of ancient Palestine and its population which in Jesus' time covered the region of Galilee became despised in the eyes of the Jews because of its foreign influence. And yet Isaiah prophesied the magnificence of Jesus' ministry in this region when He walked the earth. In "Galilee of the Gentiles the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light" (Isaiah 9:2). The light of Jesus shined brightest in the darkest of places. From the lowly setting of His birth, He lived His life and spent most of His ministry in the most despised of places and peoples. Many thought the Messiah would show up to immediately take office and rule in Jerusalem. Ironically, Jerusalem was the place where Jesus was murdered by crucifixion; prophetically, it was also Zion, the zenith of God's victory over Satan, sin and death.
The prophecy is still being fulfilled even today when Jesus' light continues to shine in the darkest places in people's hearts. Here are the Names of Jesus that are so profoundly relevant to the world today.
"Unto us a Child is born" - Speaks of Jesus' perfect humanity. He became identified with us so that by overcoming as a human He became our perfect High Priest (Hebrews 4:15).
"Unto us a Son was given" - The "Son" speaks of Jesus' divinity. He is the eternal Son of God Who was given to us out of the Godhead's tremendous love for the world (John 3:16).
"And the government will be upon His shoulder" - Now Isaiah sees the future kingdom that will be established under the rulership of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the New Jerusalem from above (Revelation 21:2).
While we wait for Messiah's coming, the next names of Jesus from Isaiah 9:6 should encourage us in our remaining earthly sojourn:
Wonderful - The Name of Jesus is synonymous to awe and wonder. He is the epitome of the words "awesome" and "wonderful". Be expectant of a wonderful miracle from the Lord everyday!
Counselor - Jesus' word and counsel through the Spirit is perfect, sure, right to our hearts' rejoicing, pure to our eyes' enlightenment, true and righteous altogether (Psalm 19:7-9). I love it that Jesus' counsel does not promote His own self-interest and therefore we can pour out our hearts to Him knowing that He has our best in His heart.
Mighty God - Need I say more? Jesus is God! He is the Almighty (Revelation 1:8).
Everlasting Father - He is the source of things that are eternal. He is before all things and In Him all things consists (Colossians 1:17). If He holds the whole universe together, He can certainly put order and beauty in our lives.
Prince of Peace - A fitting majestic title for the coming King Who will bring lasting peace on earth and goodwill to men. This has also been fulfilled through the Christ's finished work. We were enemies of God but through the cross of Jesus, we have been reconciled to God and therefore now have peace with Him (Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:14-16).
Praise be to God for His indescribable gift of Jesus! May the living Jesus be seen in us as we fulfill our role as His heavenly ambassadors in this dark world.
Shalom,
Pastor Ramon
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