1 Peter 1:18-20: He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”
God’s plan even before he created the world was to send his Son Jesus. Every generation from Adam and Eve up to his time of birth, was told about Jesus. For thousands of years generations of people were waiting for the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Man, Immanuel… to appear. All of history pivots around Jesus—his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection… his divine nature, his humanity.
One of the most compelling revelations of God preparing his people for Jesus are the words he spoke through one of the Prophets, Isaiah: “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 Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.” —Isaiah 9:5–7.
There is nothing unique about any “one” of these phrases, taken alone. Half of these could easily apply to any number of men. A child is born every day. There is a 50% chance it’s a boy, a “son.” Kings and governments rise and fall. Some Kings become “princes of peace”; some wartime rulers. Half of these phrases definitely describe God. God is a wonderful counselor, a mighty God, an everlasting Father, a Prince of Peace. Only God’s Kingdom could be “everlasting.”
But think of how extraordinary it is, that these phrases aren’t just describing a man, or just describing God… they are describing the Son of God, Jesus… who though being God took on flesh, was born a child, was sent into the world. His purpose was to destroy the power of sin, to once again establish God’s reign in our lives. His purpose was to destroy the power of death, that we might reign with God in his everlasting Kingdom. WHO IS THIS GOD-MAN JESUS? He is a “wonderful counselor, a mighty God, an everlasting Father, a champion of peace, he is the King of Kings.”
God revealed to Isaiah that the sign of Jesus coming would be a baby, born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14 says, “There the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (which means God with us).” I like what N.T. Wright says in his book, Who Was Jesus. “first century folk knew every bit as well as we do that babies are produced by {you know what}. When in Matthew’s version of the story, Joseph heard about Mary’s pregnancy , his problem arose not because he didn’t know the facts of life, but because he did!”
This season we can look to the true miracle of Christmas, and behold the Christ.
Here is where we left off last week… The Savior, Jesus would be born into the world as a child. He would be a Son given by God Himself. He would be born a king, live a king, die a king, and reign a King ruling God’s everlasting Kingdom. God tells Isaiah the Savior Jesus will be called “Wonderful Counselor.”
Now the phrase “wonderful counselor” might not seem significant to us. Some of you might be thinking, “What is Isaiah saying Pastor? Jesus would be some kind of wonderful therapist?”
Actually, the Hebrew word “wonderful” is the name God used when He introduced Himself to the parents of Samson, in Judges 13:17. Remember Samson? He was the judge with long flowing hair, and chiseled abs, God raised up to deliver Israel from the Philistines? No razor ever touched his head. No drop of wine ever touched his tongue. Maybe you remember the story of Samson and Delilah… and how she sought to discover the secret of his strength? And when she did, cut his hair, and betrayed him.
Before he was born, God sent an angel to Samuel’s mother, and the angel says, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. . . he will be a Nazarite, and dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
When she told her husband Manoah what the angel of the Lord said, Manoah begged God to send the angel back, so he could know how to raise the child. I wonder if Joseph ever asked God how to raise Jesus? Anyhow the angel appears and Manoah asks him, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?” And the angel replies, “Why do you ask my name? It is Beyond Understanding.” That name “Beyond Understand” is the Hebrew word “Wonderful.” (Judges 13:17-18). God was telling the parents His name was “Too Wonderful… Beyond Wonderful.”
David understood God’s name in Psalm 40:5 when he wrote, “Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.”
Peter understood Gods name when he tells how Christ appeared. In 1 Peter 1:10-12 he says, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets (i.e. like Isaiah), who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.”
Remember the lyrics of that old hymn: “I stand amazed in the presence Of Jesus the Nazarene, And wonder how He could love me, A sinner condemned, unclean. How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be: How marvelous! How wonderful! Is my Savior’s love for me!” God’s ways, his works, his deeds are so marvelous… so extraordinary even angels long to look into them!
How many times have you cried out, “Who are you God?” God’s answer is, “I’m Beyond Understanding.” This is the lesson Job and his friends learned, when they tried to understand why Job was suffering. All their assumptions/conclusions proved wrong. God says, “Who is it that obscures my plans w/words lacking knowledge” [38:2] OOOPs
How dare we think our finite minds can grasp God’s infinite ways. Our minds too small! In the Christmas story, Mary gets it right. Luke 2:19 describes how Mary “treasured up all the things [God was doing] and pondered them in her heart!” If we imagine everything about God can be known and figured out and catalogued in nice theological manuals maybe our God is too small. Part of worship is letting there be room for a God too wonderful, too marvelous, whose filled with mystery and even beyond comprehension. This great God became a child, a Son, a king born unto us.
But notice the paradox… Jesus will be a wonderful counselor. What does a counselor do? A counselor takes the incomprehensible and makes it comprehensible. They take mysteries and unravel them. By virtue of Jesus life and teaching, he showed us things about the Father we could have never known, or even imagined!
People imagined God to be filled with rage and wrath. Jesus showed us how “God so loved the world he sent his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God doesn’t delight in the death of the wicked, he grieves. Jesus didn’t come to condemn sinners, but to save.
People imagined that they could never escape the crushing yoke of the law, and the corrupting power of sin. Jesus showed us that not only would God forgive us our sin, but fill us with his Holy Spirit, and set us free from the power of sin forever. God could sanctify us and make us holy.
People imagined that death was final, that there could be no hope beyond the grave. Jesus showed us that God has the power to not only heal our bodies but raise us all from the grave. Jesus was the ultimate myth buster—dismantling false assumptions and notions and conclusions about the Father.
It’s because of Christ that Paul tells the Colossian Church, “My goal is that you be encouraged in heart and united in love… that you may have the full riches of complete understanding… that you may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3)
Isaiah was telling us a child would be born, a son given, a king would rise… who would make the incomprehensible > comprehensible, that which is beyond understanding > understandable, that which is too marvelous > accessible.
How could a child/son/king do this? John the Gospel Writer explains it to us. [READ JOHN 1:1-18]. God became flesh, that’s how!
I think there is another implication to Isaiah’s announcement that this Jesus would be a wonderful counselor. And its something I think appropriate for us to weigh we prepare for a time of communion. Timothy Keller, in his book about Christmas, reminds us that there is infinite comfort available to us in our suffering.
He writes, “The New Testament is even more explicit. Hebrews says Jesus was made like us, “fully human in every way” (Hebrews 2:17). That means “because he himself suffered when he was tried and tested, he is able to help those who are being tried and tested” (Hebrews 2:18). When you are happy and things are going well, you feel like part of the human race. But when something bad happens and real suffering comes to you, it feels so lonely. People around you may express sympathy, but it doesn’t help. Then you meet someone who has been through exactly the same thing. They know what it is like. You pour your heart out to them. You listen to them and their opinions because they have been through the same thing. When they comfort you, you are comforted.”
“The incarnation means that God suffered, and that Jesus triumphed through suffering. That means, as Hebrews 2:17–18 said, that Jesus now has an infinite power to comfort. Christmas shows you a God unlike the god of any other faith. Have you been betrayed? Have you been lonely? Have you been destitute? Have you faced death? So has he! Some say, “You don’t understand. I have prayed to God for things, and God ignored my prayer.” In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus cried out, “Father . . . may this cup be taken from me” (Matthew 23:39) and he was turned down. Jesus knows the pain of unanswered prayer. Some say, “I feel like God has abandoned me.” What do you think Jesus was saying on the cross when he said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46)?”
“Christianity says God has been all the places you have been; he has been in the darkness you are in now, and more. And, therefore, you can trust him; you can rely on him, because he knows and has the power to comfort, strengthen, and bring you through.”