Everlasting Father

Recap

Last week we say that Isaiah described the baby to born unto us, the baby which is a Son that is given, as Mighty God

Because he has power, because He is mighty, nothing that He proposes to do is impossible to Him because He is powerful enough to overcome any obstacle.

And He has purposed to save His people, both the natural branch which is Israel, and the grafted branch which is us the gentiles

Today we will examine what did Isaiah mean by calling the Son, Father of Eternity, or Everlasting Father, or Eternal Father. (Pray)

Isaiah 9:6 (NASB95)

6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Everyone longs for a life to be good and for it to remain that way. If there is anything I value, perhaps even more than life itself is peace. This is something that has been a struggle for me for as long as I can remember. My father recognized this in me probably because it was a reflection of himself and continually repeated some words to me that I decided last week to research

“Peace at any price is no peace at all”

Eve Curie

And yet I would seek, long for that perfect moment hoping to find it and then for it to last

Peter and John encountered the most perfect moment ever and they wanted it to last. They, at least Peter, did not want it to ever end.

Matthew 17:1–4 (NASB95)

1 Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

With each new election, war, or change in jobs, we are all looking for something that lasts. Isaiah 9:6 speaks of this person bringing an everlasting kingdom.

As we have learned from previews weeks, if His name is ‘Wonderful,’ then there will be nothing dull about His reign! As Counselor, He has the wisdom to rule justly; and as the Mighty God, He has the power to execute His wise plans.

Now we reach to ’Everlasting Father’ and we must understand that this does not suggest that the Son is also the Father, for each Person in the Godhead is distinct. Actually, a better translation of the Hebrew words here ʿad ab(v)’ is Father of Eternity’. Three points:

The Messiah is the second person of the trinity so in essence He is God and all of the attributes of God are His attributes as God which include the concept of eternality.

Nowhere in Scripture does the Title Everlasting Father is used of the first person of the Trinity, the Father, even though He would most definitely fit that description also.

Thirdly and most importantly, “Everlasting Father” is an idiom used to describe the Messiah’s relationship to time, not His relationship with the other Members of the Trinity.

When Shelley first met my father he said… which as funny and arrogant as it was, was quite accurate from a Jewish perspective

Among the Jews, the word ‘father’ means ‘originator’ or ‘source.For example, Satan is the ‘father [originator] of lies’ (John 8:44, NIV). If you want anything eternal, you must get it from Jesus Christ; He is the ‘Father of eternity’”

John 10:27–28 (NASB95)

27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

John 5:39–40 (NASB95)

39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

John 1:3 (NASB95)

3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

This is why He describes himself as the Alpha and Omega repeatedly in the book of Revelation.

Peter warns his readers that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day (2 Pet 3:8).

Concerning Jesus being called Everlasting Father Charles Spurgeon (the prince of preachers, 1800) says:

“No language can more forcibly convey to our minds the eternity of our Lord Jesus. Nay, without straining the language, I may say that not only is eternity ascribed to Christ, but he is here declared to be the parent of it. Imagination cannot grasp this, for eternity is a thing beyond us; yet if eternity should seem to be a thing which can have no parent, be it remembered that Jesus is so surely and essentially eternal, that he is here pictured as the source and Father of eternity. Jesus is not the child of eternity, but the Father of it. Eternity did not bring him forth from its mighty bowels, but he brought forth eternity. Independent, self-sustained, uncreated, eternal existence is with Jesus our Lord and God. In the highest possible sense, then, Jesus Christ is ‘The Everlasting Father’”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

This reality is what inspires the song writer to say:

Age to age He stands And time is in His hands Beginning and the end Beginning and the end

How great is our God, sing with me How great is our God, and all will see How great, how great is our God

It is this reality that inspired French composer John Francis Wade in 1743 to write the words.

God of God, Light of Light, lo, He abhors not the virgin's womb; very God, begotten not created

O come, let us adore Him; O come, let us adore Him; O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!

What does that mean to us? What are the implications for us?

Take your best, happiest, perfect moment, multiply that feeling by eternity. Take how long that moment lasted multiply that by infinity. Then take those two numbers and multiply them and you will not get not even a glimpse of what the Father of Eternity has in store for you.

1 Cor 15:52 speaks of what will happen in a moment, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed.

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NASB95)

9 but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Revelation 21:4 (NASB95)

4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

All of this begins so to speak with Isaiah’s baby, Mary’s baby, wrapped in swaddling cloths, laid on a manger because there was no room for the Father of Eternity.

When you realize who this kid is… the song writer asked of Mary…

Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would one day walk on water? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy Has come to make you new? This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know that your baby boy Is Lord of all creation? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would one day rule the nations? Did you know that your baby boy Is heaven's perfect Lamb? That sleeping child you're holding is the great, I Am

A thousand, a million hallelujah's to the highest name of all. Christ, the Savior of the world has come.

During Silent night

Sometimes viewing our lives as moments leading up to a grand event helps us see glimpses of what God is doing. However, Jesus’s arrival centuries ago and his subsequent death, burial, and bodily resurrection call us to accept that in some ways the grand event is already in motion.

No matter what we face in life, we can trust that we have already begun to experience the rule of an everlasting King; this gives us perspective and comfort.