Timeless Story (Christmas 2014) - Timeless Passion

Isaiah 9:6-7: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Passion!  Enthusiasm!  Determination!  Commitment!  Energy!  Jealousy!

Explanation:

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this] exactly as Isaiah 37:32.  The word “zeal” or “jealousy” is used of passion in a variety of senses, but chiefly with the implied idea of resentment.  When applied to Jehovah it appears always to express the reaction of His holiness called forth by some injury to His honour. 

Perhaps the closest parallel to the idea here is Zechariah 1:14; Zechariah 8:2 “I am jealous for Zion with a great jealousy.” (biblehub.com)

God’s plan for humanity has always been that we would have an uninhibited relationship with Him.  Sin has prevented this.  

Because of His honour He has taken the initiative and has sent His one and only Son (John 3:16-17).  His zeal, His desire to have this relationship with us, means He will stop at nothing to agin our attention.  Sending Jesus proves this.

This shows God’s timeless passion for us.

Let me ask a question: what do you want for Christmas?

When we buy gifts for our loved ones we try very hard to get presents they either want or need.  The problem of course (with many of the presents people get for each other) is that those gifts often end up in closets or toy boxes and eventually get sold on eBay or given to charity.

The ultimate gift (the Holy Grail of Christmas giving) is give a gift that will last; a gift that will meet such a deep felt need that it is not boxed up and put aside.

God’s timeless passion is to give you five things this Christmas through Jesus:

1. Supernatural Wisdom - Wonderful Counsellor

Jesus is called the wonderful counsellor.  This phrase means more than merely advising us.

We are talking a little more than counselling in our understanding, we’re talking about a decisions making processes and guidance.

Literally this means the wonder of a counsellor, and the people will gladly listen to Him as the authoritative One.  In the Messianic Kingdom many people will be anxious to hear the Messiah teach God’s ways (Isaiah 2:3) as He rules and reigns from the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel Chapters 40-48). 

The vast majority of the eighty times that wonderful is translated from the Hebrew word pala, its noun pele or its adjective pilei, it refers to God and His mighty works. 

It is the nearest word that Hebrew has to the idea of supernatural. 

This Counsellor will bring supernatural wisdom that fulfil Isaiah’s earlier promise that He would restore Israel’s judges as in days of old, their counsellors as at the beginning (1:26a). 

This Counsellor is a wonder, because His counsel goes beyond mere human wisdom.  

It’s yours in Christ:

James 1:5: If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

2. Authority - Mighty God

Isaiah understood that the Messiah was to be God. 

Some have suggested that el gibbor, or mighty God simply means “a godlike person” or a hero.  But when you look at the entire book that Isaiah wrote, he obviously meant more than that.  He had already spoken of the Messiah doing what no other person in the history of the world had been able to do (Isaiah 9:5-7). 

Isaiah understood that the Messiah was to be God in every sense of the word.  In fact, every time el gibbor appears elsewhere in the Bible there is no doubt that it refers to God (Deuteronomy 10:17; Jeremiah 32:18; Isaiah 10:21). 

This King will have God's true might about Him, a power so great that He will be the One to suffer and die for us (Isaiah 53:2-10, 59:15-20, 63:1-9).

That authority Jesus promises to His disciples - not so that we can be ‘god,’ but so that we can do even greater things in our place in time (Matthew 28:18 & John 14:12).

3. Relationship - Everlasting Father

Many people are puzzled by this title, because the Messiah, God’s Son, is distinguished in the Trinity from God the Father. 

How can the Son be the Father? 

Several things must be noted in this regard: 

• First, the Messiah, being the second Person of the Trinity, is in His essence, God. Therefore He has all the attributes of God including eternality. Since God is One (even though He exists in three Persons), the Messiah is God. 
• Second, the title Avi’ad, or Everlasting Father is an idiom used to describe the Messiah’s relationship to time, not His relationship to the other members of the Trinity. He is said to be everlasting, just as God (the Father) is called Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9). The Messiah will be a fatherly ruler. 
• Third, perhaps Isaiah had in mind the promise to David (Second Samuel 7:16) about the foreverness of the kingdom, which God promised would come through David’s line. The Messiah, a descendant of David, will fulfil this promise for which the nation had been waiting.

This timeless neame calls us inot relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He gives us access to the Father.  

John 10:30: I and the Father are one

4. Emotional Stability - Prince of Peace  

This title, Sar Shaolm, has more to it than we think. The verb peace, salem, means to be whole, or complete.  Prince corresponds to our idea of being an administrator.  

This Prince, then, complete in Himself, at one with God and His people, administers the benefits of peace, or wholeness, through His compassionate rule. 

Through Him will come the reconciliation between God and man that will make possible the reconciliation between man and man (Isaiah 53:5, 57:19, 66:12; Luke 2:14; John 16:33; Romans 5:1; Hebrews 12:14).

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, the Lord would have sent us a computer analyst.  If our greatest need had been money, Adonai would have sent us an economist.  But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Saviour (from When God Whispers Your Name, Nashville: W Publishing Group, 1994).


2 Timothy 1:7: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

5. Kingdom Perspective -  His government 

The person will not be a king among kings in Israel. More accurately, He will be the final King, the King to end all kings.  This has an eschatological slant.

This is why Isaiah foresees the ideal Davidic sovereign.  God has not rejected His ancient promise to David, but the fact that the promise was made did not legitimise everything that one of David’s descendants, such as Ahaz, might do. 

But what it does mean, as with the nation of Israel, is that the Lord will work in history to keep His promise and His integrity at the same time. 

There will be One who establishes the throne of David on the basis of justice and righteousness as opposed to cruelty and intimidation. 

This Kingdom perspective helps us understand we belong to something bigger than ourselves, it is the Universal Church.  

It brings us hope beyond words and leaves us knowing that God is in charge of all things:

Ephesians 1:19-22: That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church…

Wrapping This Up for Christmas:

God’s timeless passion is that you’d experience His timeless love through His Son who carries these timeless names.

What will you get for Christmas?  

May it be the guidance of our Wonderful Counsellor, the authority of our Mighty God, 

the relationship of the Everlasting Father, \the peace of the Prince of Peace,

and the eternal hope of the Kingdom Perspective.