December 16, 2012 AD, by Pastor Ben Willis

The Prophet Isaiah 9:1-7 [NLTse]

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the Sea, will be filled with glory.

2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before You as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. 4 For You will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as You did when You destroyed the army of Midian. 5 The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.

6 For a Child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

As some of you may have noticed, this is the same passage of Scripture we read last week. Last week we spoke of how these promises of “a great light” and being set free from “slavery” and “heavy burdens” have been accomplished in the birth of Jesus Christ! Because Jesus has been born to us, because Jesus has been given to us, God is with us! And so having Jesus means we don’t have to be afraid and confused when others in the world and the world leaders around us are afraid and confused; we can rest secure knowing that Jesus is in control, and live confident in the truth God has revealed. We can have freedom sinful habits and addictions and every idol that would lead us away from God, all because Jesus Christ has been born to us!

That being said, this morning I’d like to go into more detail about these titles that Jesus Christ bears: He Who is “Wonderful Counselor!” “Mighty God!” “Everlasting Father!” “Prince of Peace!”

In the days before democracies a nation’s people had only their king to look to for making the right decisions for their welfare. I’m sure that folks still sat around talking politics, but it would never have been a discussion about getting this person or that person into power so that things might change: The nation lived at the whim of the king, and all a citizen could do was hope their king might be wise and compassionate and strong and powerful enough to protect them. One looked up to, hoped in, and trusted-for-the-best in the counsel of their king.

So the title “Counselor” points to Jesus Christ as our King, One Who can govern our lives and govern the nations well. And I think of all the times the Gospels tell us that the crowds were amazed at His teaching, and that His disciples were amazed at His teaching, and that the religious leaders of His day were amazed at His teaching… And with the reputations that many presidents and prime ministers and kings and governors, etc… have for being all too human, all too selfish, all too proud, and all too foolish, … to be promised a “wonderful Counselor” – an “astonishing Ruler”, a “truly wise King”… What a gift from God that would be, huh?

Now hold alongside that our Counselor Jesus also being “the Mighty God”. Isaiah 14:27 says, “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has spoken – who can change His plans? When His hand is raised, who can stop Him?” So Jesus Christ is not just some King Who has some great royal program to institute among us. Jesus Christ has a royal program He has come to institute and no power in Heaven or on Earth can stop Him from instituting it. And all the world will marvel at this plan He has for the world, and all the peoples of the Earth will benefit from His plan, as well, all those, that is, who will accept His lordship and receive from the hands of the King!

And what’s His “royal program”? Open your Bible with me to Isaiah chapter 11…

“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. 4 He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of His Word, and one breath from His mouth will destroy the wicked. 5 He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.

6 In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. 7 The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. 8 The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. 9 Nothing will hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.”

Justice and righteousness for all, that’s Jesus’ royal program for our lives and for the nations. The wicked will be destroyed, and the earth shall know absolute peace. (And Isaiah describes this peace by showing animals that are typically threats to other animals now living in peace together.) “Nothing will hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,” because the Earth will be filled with people who know the Lord. That’s what Jesus is bringing. That’s what His rule has begun to bring about. That’s His royal program.

And yet all of this is more than merely justice and wisdom and raw, universal power can bring about. This is the future Jesus’ rule and counsel will result in because, along with being the “Wonderful Counselor” and “Mighty God”, Jesus also provides for and protects His Own, always: He’s an everlasting Father. He is a constant caregiver. And we see His providing for His family, His flock, when He took those handfuls of bread and fish and fed those thousands and thousands of people with them. The woman He healed from the constant flow of blood knew Jesus as her everlasting Father when she touched Him and she was healed and He said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” And with politicians and those in positions of power hiding behind fall-guys, we see Jesus protecting us when He went to the cross: Our King, our Counselor, truly doing the wonderful by putting Himself between us and our enemy – God’s enemy – and taking the beating and punishment we deserved, so we wouldn’t have to…

And this peaceful, content, righteous, harmonious future will only come about because Jesus is the Prince of Peace, as well. And our Prince of Peace has fought the battle of the cross to destroy the power of sin that separated us from God. Giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the mute and walking and running to the lame and life to the dead and freedom from those possessed and knowledge to the ignorant, Jesus has shown Himself to be the Prince of Prosperity, the giver of every good thing.

And as our Prince, He will not stop leading Heaven’s forces until there is peace: Until there is peace in you; until there is peace in me; until there is peace in our marriages; until there is peace in our families; until there is peace our community here in Milford; until there is peace among the peoples of the United States; until there is peace within and among all the people and nations of the Earth. He will not stop. Jesus will not relent.

These are very personal wars He’s waging in that Jesus will not let sin reign [point to someone] in your life, or [point to someone else] in your life, or in my life. And yet it is a very public work in that He will not let sin reign among the nations, either. Prince Jesus will keep putting our stuff in our faces. That is, He will keep having our wives or our husbands bring up our troubles, He will keep putting us together with those we’re in conflict with, He will keep allowing us to face our temptations; He will keep giving us opportunities to succeed and overcome and be at peace! He will keep coming against anything that threatens His royal program being fulfilled, the fulfillment of His peaceable Kingdom.

He will not rest, He will not cease, until nothing hurts or destroys in all His holy mountain; until as the waters fill the sea the earth is filled with people who know the Lord…