Our Eternal Father (Isaiah 9:6)

Introduction

Attention

We're continuing our sermon series looking at the divine names of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6. It's a really unique series. Most of the time, Pastor Johannes and I are going through a chunk of text, going through it and describing what's happening in the text. But for this Christmas season, I really wanted to sit and meditate on this one verse. Like a jewel, where you pick it up. and look at all of the shimmers, the color, the way the light hits it, the clarity, and all of the beauty of the jewel. We take some time to really look and focus in on it.

We're taking a look at Isaiah 9:6. And in particular, the four divine names of the Messiah that Isaiah describes, that there will be a son born, a child given to us, this government will be on his shoulders, and he will have these names. He will be a Wonderful Counselor. He will be Mighty God. He will be Eternal Father, and he will be the Prince of Peace.

In this sermon series, I was particularly interested in this third name, and maybe you were, too. Isaiah says that the Messiah, this child given to us will be will have the name, "Eternal Father.” How are we to understand that? What does Isaiah mean when he says that this when this Messiah comes, he will be named Eternal Father. We'll take a look at that today.

When we moved out here from New York to California, one of the cultural differences I noticed quickly was that Californians are very in touch with their feelings. In psychology, they talk of things called triggers. Californians are very knowledgeable about their triggers. You can't just be rude to somebody out here like you can in New York. It gets quickly gets up the chain. You'll be called into somebody's office quickly.

In psychology, a trigger is something that takes you back to a particular place. You hear this term, or this phrase, or something happens and it points you back to some point in your history. You associate the trigger with some past trauma or memory.

Unfortunately, in our society today, the term father can be a trigger for many people. There is a deep depravity of biblical fatherhood in our country. If the term father for you is a trigger, you are not alone. According to a US Census report, 33%, or about 24.7 million U.S. children, live in a home without their biological father.(1) The fact that this has on kids is tragic. Biblical fatherhood begins first with being a committed husband, and then a committed father to your kids. We need more men who will stand up for their families. Love their wives well, and love their children well.

But whatever your past was with your father, in order to be able to look at this objectively, we need to be able to separate your past with your earthly father, with who our heavenly father is. Because whoever your father or your mother was, whether they were two godly individuals who took you to church every Sunday, or whether they were something else, neither of them will ever measure up to who God is. The most godliest of Christians will always be a poor reflection of who the Lord is. God is perfect, and your mother and father were not. Neither are you.

Only Jesus was a perfect reflection of the Father. Your mother and father will disappoint you, but your Heavenly Father will never disappoint you. Jesus revealed to us who our good father is. How did he do this?

We'll be looking at that today as we look at Isaiah 9:6. Now we'll just focus in on that one verse. Let's read Isaiah 9:6 together.

Scripture Reading

Isaiah 9:6 CSB

6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Pray

Summary of Isaiah 9:6 Context

Isaiah was a prophet who called the nation of Israel back to faithfulness to God, warning them of sin and divine judgment. He lived in a southern Kingdom of Israel that needed hope. Judah was surrounded by challenges both externally and internally. They were under threat from the Assyrian Army. There were threats from the outside, and they were under threat from political instability on the inside. They were a nation that needed hope.

Isaiah prophesied that hope is coming. He said that in the future, God would bring a Messiah. A child would be born to us. A son would be given to us. In Isaiah 9:1 he said that this Messiah would have an impact, not just on Israel, but to the nations. In Isaiah 9:2, the Messiah will bring people from darkness to light. When the Messiah comes, he will shatter oppression for his people. He will rule and reign, the government will be on his shoulders.

Wonderful Counselor

He says that when he comes, he will be named Wonderful Counselor The Messiah will come with a supernatural, miraculous power of God. And he will have the wisdom of God exposing things in people and bringing them to repentance.

Mighty God

When the Messiah comes, he will be the mighty God. He will come with the strength and power of the God of Israel, the Lord of Armies. And we spoke about how Jesus showed the power and might of the God of Israel in his ministry.

Separating Identifier from Essence

And now we get to the term Eternal Father. What I want you to do is to be able to separate out in your mind a name and as an identifier versus a name speaking about the essence of a person.

What I mean by a name is an identifier is the way that we commonly use names today. This person is Bill, this person is John, and this person is Julie, We identify each other by these names.

But when we get to Scripture and we talk about these names, Isaiah is not necessarily describing a name as an identifier. Instead, he's describing the name to to give the essence of who the person is.

How do I know that? We've already seen in Isaiah 7:14 that Isaiah says that the virgin will give birth, and he will be named Emmanuel. That name Emmanuel is not the identifier, not the identifying name of the person, but the essence of who the person is. The Messiah will be God with us.

In Isaiah 9:6, we have these names. Each one of these names are not identifiers, but they are describing the essence of the person. The Messiah, when he comes, he will be the supernatural miraculous Wonderful Counselor. He will be the Mighty God. As we look today, the essence of who the Messiah will be, he will reveal the Eternal Father to the nation of Israel.

Isaiah is Not Teaching Modalism

What's important for us to know in Isaiah 9:6 is that Isaiah is not teaching modalism. What is modalism?

MODALISM: Sabellianism,* the view of the Trinity* that denies personal distinctions in the Godhead and makes Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be three modes of operation of the same divine person, as creation, redemption, and sanctification. (1)

Modalism is a heretical teaching that came out in church history. It came from a guy named Sebellius in the third century AD, where he tried to describe the oneness of God as a singularity, like a number.

He denied that there are three distinct persons within the one God. Instead what he said was first God came as the Father, and then he became the Son, and then he became the Holy Spirit, so that these three persons never coexist at the same time. Instead, God is one like a singular number, simply changing modes: Father, then Son, then Spirit. Three modes of the same person.

Now this teaching has been deemed as heretical in Christian history. Heretical simply means that it goes away from core Christian doctrine. It is a teaching that's not in line with the Christian faith.

Today, Modalism is most commonly seen in Oneness Pentecostal denominations, where they reject the Trinity and emphasize the Oneness of God. Probably the largest of these groups is the United Pentecostal Church International, or UPCI. According to their website they have over 20 churches in San Diego. You will recognize them as churches that insist on baptizing in the name of Jesus only.

The Trinity: Distinct Persons Present Together

The Trinity is the biblical teaching that there is one God who exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are one God. We don't teach three separate gods. The Bible teaches of one perfect unified God in three persons.

If you look in the Bible, you won't find the word, “Trinity.” But you will find in the Bible the concept of the Trinity. What we ask in theology is, “How does God reveal himself to us in Scripture”? We don't change what he says. We don't change how he reveals himself. We simply share how he reveals himself to the world.

The Trinity has Distinct Persons Who Are Present Together

In the Bible, God reveals himself to us in three persons, and these three persons coexist together at the same time. You see this in many different ways in Scripture.

Jesus prays to the Father

First, Jesus prays to the father in his ministry. For instance in John 17:1, Jesus looks to heaven and says “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.” If the father doesn't coexist with the Son, who is Jesus talking to?

The Father and the Son send the Spirit

Second, the Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit. In John 14:26, Jesus says that the Father sends the Holy Spirit in his name. In John 16:27, Jesus says he will send the Spirit to his disciples.

The Trinity is Present Together at Jesus’ Baptism

The Trinity is seen together at Jesus’ baptism. It says in Matt. 3:16-17:

Matthew 3:16–17 CSB

16 When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

All three persons of the Trinity are present: the Father speaks from heaven, the Son is there baptized, and the Holy Spirit is descending upon him.

What does Isaiah mean by “Eternal Father”?

Now before we get into how Jesus reveals the Eternal Father, first, what does Isaiah mean when he says that this child who is coming will be named Eternal Father?

Eternal

The term Isaiah uses for the word “Eternal” means lasting a future time or perpetuity or forever. You see this word in Psalm 10:16 where he says, “The Lord is King forever and ever.”

Psalm 10:16 CSB

16 The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.

Also in Psalm 45:6, “Your throne, God, is forever and ever.”God is eternal, and his kingdom is forever.

When you think of eternality and time, time itself is a construct of our reality. What do I mean by that? I mean that we we come into a world that is already in existence, and we acknowledge that it's the beginning of our time. We measure things out on a timeline. So I am born on a particular day, and I live out this time, and I end at this particular time. We measure the time as days and weeks and years.

But if the timeline goes forward, the timeline also goes backward. We know that things are caused by something else: this person came from this person who came from this person who came from this person. If you keep going back on the timeline—this one came from this one came from this one came from this one—eventually in the timeline you have to come to a beginning. But the beginning can't be empty, because you need someone to start the string of causation to go forward.

It's like a set of dominoes. If you ever played with dominoes in the past, you stand them up in a way so that one falls on the other: one falls on this one, that one falls on this one, that one falls on this one. With those dominoes you need an outside force. You need a force that created the dominoes in the first place, a force that stands those dominoes up, and a force that pushes the dominoes forward. It needs to be an intelligent being in order to know how to create dominoes. You need something that just is in order to get the dominoes to go forward.

Our very existence demands the existence of God, and that God that exists has to be a God that just is. He has no beginning and has no end. He is eternal.

Father

What about Isaiah's use of the term “father”? Many times we see this term in the Old Testament used in the normal way that we would understand the word “father.” It is used to describe different fathers in the Old Testament.

We do see it also used to describe God, comparing God to a father. For instance in Psalm 68 :5:

Psalm 68:5 CSB

5 God in his holy dwelling is a father of the fatherless and a champion of widows.

God hear is described as a compassionate father, a father for those who don't have fathers. Also in Psalm 103:13:

Psalm 103:13 CSB

13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.

Both of these verses describe God as someone who is compassionate and caring, someone who cares for his own children. Proverbs 3:12:

Proverbs 3:12 CSB

12 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

God delights in his children, and he disciplines his children because of his care and love for them. How about Isaiah 63:16:

Isaiah 63:16 CSB

16 Yet you are our Father, even though Abraham does not know us and Israel doesn’t recognize us. You, Lord, are our Father; your name is Our Redeemer from Ancient Times.

God is a compassionate redeemer who cares for his children. God, our eternal Father, is our eternal Redeemer.

So we ask the question:

How does Jesus fulfill the Messiah’s name as Eternal Father?

Let’s look at a portion of Scripture, John 14:6-10, where Jesus describes himself as a revelation of the Father to his disciples.

Jesus Reveals the Father

It says in John 14:6-10:

John 14:6–10 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works.

In these words, Jesus shows himself to be a true and complete revelation of God to the people of Israel and to us.

Exclusive Path to the Father

Jesus is the exclusive path to the father. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. Now, if God has given us a child at Christmas, a son is born to us, if God is giving us this incredible gift, he is outlining the path to himself. Man doesn't have an option to choose another path. There is only one way to the Father.

There are many people that want to know God, but they want to dictate the terms. They want to tell God the way they want to go. If one wants the Eternal Father revealed to themselves, the way is through the Son given to us that we celebrate at Christmas .

Revelation through Words and Works

Note also that as describing the Father to the disciples, the people of Israel, he is saying that I am the God of Israel, the God who did incredible works in the Exodus, the God who David spoke about in the Psalms, the God who Isaiah spoke about in his prophecies. I am the one true God.

The words and the works of Jesus are the words and the works of God. When you know Jesus, you don't only know a person within God, but you know God himself, because Jesus is the complete revelation of God to mankind. There is not some extra aspect of God that you need to know.

Unity with the Father

If Jesus were only a prophet or a good teacher, you would need something else to come to know God. But as the Son of God, the Son given to us, when you come to know Jesus, he is the complete and full revelation of God to humanity. As we come to faith in Jesus, we come to faith in God.

There is a complete and perfect unity within God, so as to know the Son is to know God. To know the Father is to know the Son, but the Father dictates the terms. If you want to know the Father, the Father has provided the way. God says, “Do you want to know me? Know my Son. My son is the way to know God.”

Paul said it this way in Colossians 1:15:

Colossians 1:15 CSB

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

That term their, “firstborn,” has to do with supremacy, has to do with birthright. He has first place. Jesus is the image of the invisible God to mankind. There is no other way to know God. There's no way to know the Eternal Father but through the Son.

Jesus Revealed the Essence of the Eternal Father to his People

Jesus Serves as Our Protector and Provider

Jesus showed the protection and provision of the Eternal Father by feeding people, casting out demons, and healing the sick. For instance, when Jesus saw the large crowd before he fed the thousands it says in Matthew 14:14:

Matthew 14:14 CSB

14 When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick.

As a good Father, he had compassion on the crowds. Mark says it this way, in Mark 6:34 that “they were like sheep without a shepherd.” The Good Shepherd protects his people.

Jesus Formed a Spiritual Family

When we come to faith in Jesus, we become part of the family of God. Jesus forms a spiritual family under God's fatherhood.

John said it this way in John 1:12-13:

John 1:12–13 CSB

12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

What Jesus has done is that he has given us the right to be children of God. Through faith in him, we become people who are born, not only naturally but also spiritually, born again by the Spirit of God.

Paul says in Ephesians 2:19:

Ephesians 2:19 CSB

19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household,

As a loving and Eternal Father, Jesus has brought us into the household, the family of God.

I was watching an episode of the Little Rascals, and they were living in an orphanage called Mrs. Browns Home for Children. At the orphanage, they get a plate of spinach, and they’re praying for a plate of pie, cake, or ice cream.

The kids are talking about wanting to be adopted, wanting to be in a loving family. In the episode, they end up in the home of a wealthy family, and they each end up being adopted.

One of the little girls looks up at the woman in the home, tugs her shirt and says, “If you know someone who wants a little girl will you let me know? The woman looks down at her and says, “I do know some one who wants a little girl. I do.”

The beauty of the revelation of the Eternal Father in Jesus is that it shows that there is an Eternal Father who looked down on a people scattered about, wandering around lacking an Eternal Father. He says, “I know someone who wants to be your perfect Eternal Father. I do. And that's why I am giving my Son for you.

What does the revealing of the Eternal Father in Jesus mean for our lives?

How do I apply this information, this reality that Jesus revealed the Eternal Father in himself? What difference does that make for my life?

When I see Jesus I see a perfect picture of God.

Jesus is Our Encouragement for Spiritual Growth

As a child who looks up and says, “I want to be like my dad,” we look to Jesus and say, “I want to be like him.” Jesus spoke about our need to be connected to him. He said in John 15:1:

John 15:1 CSB

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

Our connection to Jesus is our connection to the Eternal Father, and when you grow in the vine, you grow in God.

We grow in the vine by by learning from him, by seeing his compassion and his care, by seeing a god who protected his people, someone who loved the unlovable was a father to the fatherless. Jesus said in John 15:7-8:

John 15:7–8 CSB

7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

Remain in Jesus, and his words will start to shape what you want. His mind and his thoughts will start to shape your perspective, because the things that you want today may not be the things that you need. You know who knows what you need? Your Eternal Father.

Your Eternal Father knows what's best for you. He knows what you need in your life. He knows before you even ask it, and he says remain in me.

When you remain in Jesus Christ, when you remain in the vine, you will see him transform your life. He is glorified when you produce fruit because of your walk with Jesus.

Jesus is Our Eternal Security for Eternal Life

Here's the thing about God as our Eternal Father: When you are in God's family, you never stop being his child. You never do.

Your position as his child will not change because you messed up today. Your position as his child will not change because you had a bad thought or because you messed up. Your position as his child is sanctified and sealed by the cross, and there is nothing you can do to change it. Glory to God!

Jesus says in John 10:28-29:

John 10:28–29 CSB

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

No one will snatch you out of the Father's hand. There's nothing you can do to change what Jesus has done for you already on the cross. His work on the cross is complete. You are eternally secure and in the Father's hands because of Jesus.

People today are trying to find security in so many different things.

They try to find material security. They seek long term stability through accumulating wealth or possessions or finances. We see that finances aren't secure, especially in San Diego where the cost of living keeps skyrocketing. You keep needing more and more security, and it's never enough.

People try to find relational security. They seek relationships with family, friends, or romantic relationships. As we know, those relationships are never as secure as we think. They can break apart.

People try to find security by living in a safe neighborhood, or investing in security systems, or maintaining good health. But all of these things can change at a moment.

But there is one God who will never change. There is one Eternal Security that is always secure. God will never change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God sent his son for you in Jesus Christ, and he secured your salvation through the cross. When you put your faith in him, you are welcomed into the family. You become a child of God, and he's preparing a home for you in glory.

Conclusion

Point 1

Point 2

Conclude

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!

1. “The Extent of Fatherlessness” https://fathers.com/the-extent-of-fatherlessness/#:~:text=An%20estimated%2024.7%20million%20children,live%20absent%20their%20biological%20father.

2. Alan Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms (Belfast; Greenville, SC: Ambassador Emerald International, 2002), 283.