THE CHILD WITH FOUR
NAMES. Isaiah 9:6-7
THE CHILD WITH FOUR
NAMES. Isaiah 9:6-7
Sermons for the Sundays in Advent
by Rev. Ken Behnken
Everlasting Father
Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And his Name will be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase 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.
As I instruct youth and adults in Christian doctrine, some of the questions I ask them to answer as a review of their studies are True-False statements. One of these, part of the review of Jesus’ saving work, says, "God died on a cross to save us from our sins." Is it true or false? Quite often people will react to it by saying, "The Son of God died on a cross to save us from our sins" – and that’s quite understandable, for saying "God died for us" is an extreme way of putting it. Is it true or false? It is true and is at the heart of the Gospel! This Jesus who died on a cross was "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God," as we confess in the Nicene Creed. Indeed, unless it was God – in the Person of his Son – who died for us, we cannot be sure that his death was sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world. And if it was not for the whole world that he died we cannot be sure we are included.
We feel some of this same kind of tension when it comes to the third name that Isaiah gave to the Child with Four Names. He is to be called "Everlasting Father." We have to remember that Isaiah lived some 700 years before this wondrous Child whose birth he foretold. Actually, we have an advantage over Isaiah because we live after the coming of Christ. We have the benefit of his revelation of the Triune Personality of God. We are accustomed to distinguish between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in terms of the work the one God of our salvation has done and is doing to rescue us from sin and hell. It is the Son of God who became the Child with Four Names – but Isaiah wanted to underscore his deity, so he said he would be called "Everlasting Father." In this sense this name is similar to "Mighty God," which we considered last week. But it is also different in that it views the deity of the Child with Four Names from a different aspect. Last Sunday we saw his divine power as Mighty God. Today the name Everlasting Father points us to his divine eternity, his changelessness, and its significance for our faith and life.
As Jesus taught, he clearly declared his eternity. On one occasion, while involved in an exchange with the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if a man keeps my word, he will never see death." At this, his opponents exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if a man keeps your word he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?" Jesus replied, "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day – and he saw it, and was glad." "You are not yet fifty years old," they said, "and you have seen Abraham?" Then Jesus said simply, but profoundly, "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was, I am!"
Jesus’ words were carefully chosen. The Jewish leaders recognized immediately that they were a reference to the name of the Lord God, the name which the Lord God had given Moses at the burning bush that was not consumed. When Moses asked, "Who shall I say sent me?" the Lord told him, "Tell my people that Yahweh, I AM, sent you to be their leader." The Jewish leaders saw what Jesus was claiming with his "I AM" for we are told they picked up stones with which to stone him – intending to punish him for his "blasphemy." But Jesus hid himself from their eyes and left the temple court.
This "I AM," which Jesus boldly applied to himself, is weighty with meaning. It points to God as the one ultimate Reality, the One who alone has completely independent existence. Everything in the created universe, we ourselves included, has existence by his permission and power – but God IS! He is the living God – existing from eternity because he is God! The Psalmist put it this way: "From everlasting to everlasting, You are God." Paul wrote, "From him and through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever!" It is in him that we may find meaning in our own being.
Isaiah’s "Everlasting Father" combines with Jesus’ "I AM" to state that God, the ultimate Reality, the One who is from eternity to eternity, came to live among us as "the Child born to us, the Son given to us," Jesus our Savior. Now it is Jesus, as the Revealer of God, who is the ultimate Reality. We must find our lasting reality in him who, on the way to the cross and the empty tomb, told his disciples, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by me."
John later explained that Jesus Christ is the Either/Or Figure of all of human history, and that relationship with him is the determining factor in all of life. He wrote, "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." Then he amplified it: "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." Then said this Truth is God's own Either/Or: "Whoever believes in him is not condemned! – but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the Name of the only-begotten Son of God." The Child with Four Names, whose birthday we will celebrate again soon, is that important! He is Everlasting Father!
Our confessing Jesus to be Everlasting Father is not just a theological exercise. It does acknowledge him to be the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all things – but it also underscores for us what is of great practical importance in our faith: his changelessness. The New Testament says it clearly: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever."
Did you ever stop to think how unbearable it would be for us, who trust in Jesus for forgiveness and salvation, if we could not know him to be the everlasting, changeless One? What if Jesus were as changeable as you and I are? What if one day he would say one thing, and the next day change his mind and say the opposite? What if he would deal with us in love at one time, but at another time would show us only his holiness and justice? Where would we be, what foundation would we have for our faith, if Jesus and his Word were just shifting, sinking sand – and not the solid Rock on whom we may stand firm and secure?
It is comfortable and reassuring in many areas of life to have things remain constant and not change continually. Little children, for example, learn to love their mothers’ spaghetti – but give them spaghetti in a restaurant and they often will reject it because "it doesn’t taste like Mom’s." When I was growing up our family enjoyed a tradition of having homemade soup for lunch every Saturday. I remember my Dad saying each time: "This is the best soup you’ve ever made!" Eunice remembers her Grandpa putting together his "Krippa" – the "Bethlehem" of little houses and trees and ponds surrounding the manger scene under the Christmas tree. She says having him come and watching him put it together was almost better than anticipating her Christmas presents. I'm sure you remember things that you were glad were always the same, a tradition in your family.
It would be boring if everything were the same all the time – but it is comfortable and stabilizing to have some things stay the way we like them. Here in church, we enjoy the parts of the liturgy that are repeated again and again because we get to know them well and can sing them from memory – and when new hymnals are introduced and liturgical forms are changed it causes some trauma and a period of adjustment.
It is more than just "comfortable" to have Jesus Christ be the same yesterday and today and forever. It is vital for us! When you are hard-pressed by your responsibilities, can you look to him and count on him for help? Of course! He has invited you: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn of me, and you will find rest for your souls." When you have stumbled and fallen to temptation, can you be sure he will be there to receive you again when you turn to him in repentance? Of course! He told about the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin and the Lost Son to assure you that his arms are always open and that even the angels in heaven rejoice over sinners who repent. Will he be there for you when the world and its forces of evil threaten to deaden or strangle your Christian life? Of course! He will supply the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. When illnesses or disabilities threaten, you will hear him assure you, "I am the Lord, the one who heals." When you have lost a loved one, or when you yourself are facing death, he stands by you to say, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in me will live even though he dies." Invariably, the changeless Christ offers you his unchanging love to meet your changing needs!
For a while Eunice and I helped our daughter, Amy, who had a long commute from where she lived to her work, which was not too far from our home. Thursday mornings she brought our little grandson Nicholas along with her and they spent Thursday night with us. This meant we had him with us on Thursdays and Fridays, and he got to be quite "at home" with us. Then we went away on a ten-day trip, inviting Amy to continue the pattern and spend Thursday night at our house. The first Thursday Nicholas toddled in, went down the hall to the kitchen, then back into our bedroom and bathroom, looking for Grandma – and when she wasn’t there he sat down and cried.
Well, when you go looking for Jesus Christ to receive his love and to help you in your life, you will never have to sit down and cry because you can’t find him. He who proved his love for you by giving himself into death on a cross to win forgiveness and eternal life for you promised, "I will be with you always!" He will be there for you! His very Name demands that he never change his mind about you. He is Everlasting Father. He will not and cannot deny himself!
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