The Glory Of His Name: Wonderful Counselor

Wonderful Counselor

The Season of Advent: Preparing for the Wonderful Counselor Today marks the beginning of Advent. Advent, meaning “arriving,” it is a season of anticipation as we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth and His expected return. It invites us to reflect on the juxtaposition between worldly wisdom and divine wisdom.

As we begin our series, The Glory of His Name, we turn to the names prophesied in Isaiah 9:6:

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

This morning, we focus on the first of these titles: Wonderful Counselor.

Last year, my daughter Paytyn came home from school visibly upset. Concerned, I asked her, "What on earth could have you so upset?" I figured, given her age, it was probably a friend, a boy, or maybe a grade. But her answer surprised me: she announced that she was quitting the chorus.

Through crocodile tears, she explained her decision. Knowing how much she loves to sing, my heart broke seeing her so upset. Naturally, I asked the expected question: “What happened?”

Her response both grieved my mind and soared my heart. She explained that her choir director had chosen a song by John Lennon called Imagine:

Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try. No hell below us, Above us, only sky. Imagine all the people Livin' for today.

Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion, too.

Paytyn couldn’t bring herself to sing it. She said, “It rejects God, and I can’t sing that.” Lennon’s lyrics dismiss religion—specifically Christianity—as a disease of the world and declare the world would be better off without it.

I cannot measure the pride I felt at that moment. My young daughter, standing firm in her faith, chose not to conform to something that conflicted with her beliefs. It made me wonder: how many teens—or adults, for that matter—would have the sensibility to make such an observation? How often do we consume pop culture without examining how it aligns with our Christian faith? And what a thought, that it is the ideals of Christianity that are so often blamed for causing such harm in the world. I wonder what happens when the realization hits, that it is not living like Christ that is the disease, but rather the human condition.

What counsel I witnessed in this young girl as she clung to her love and belief in God! This morning, we will focus on that word: counsel.

Worldly Wisdom vs. Godly Wisdom: A Stark Contrast

The word “counsel” might bring to mind images of courtroom dramas, therapy sessions, or financial planning—contexts where advice is given to achieve success. While the world’s wisdom often focuses on strategies for personal or material gain, the Bible defines counsel as something deeper:

“To advise, plan, offer wisdom, and execute action for the thriving of a society.” —A holy people living to the holy God.

There is a vast difference between the counsel offered by human wisdom and the wisdom of God.

Mary’s Magnificat is one of the most poetic pieces of the New Testament. It is a powerful prayer from the Mother of Jesus to the audience of God and in the presence of her cousin Elizabeth. Mary:

Praises God for His Greatness, the majesty and action of God on behalf of his people.

Gives thanksgiving for God’s mercy and salvation. “He looks up the lowly and shows mercy.

declares joyously the Hope and justice come to the world in Jesus. God’s rule subverts the authority and powers of the world.

Prophesies God’s Faithfulness to promises

Recognizes God’s Active involvement in history

Reveals her posture of Humility and Faith.

The Contrast in Scripture: Mary and Elizabeth The story of Mary in Luke 1 offers a striking example of Godly wisdom breaking into a world governed by worldly expectations.

Mary, a young, poor, unmarried woman from a small village, receives a message from God that she will bear the Messiah. By worldly standards, she is insignificant, yet she responds with humility and obedience.

Compare this to her cousin Elizabeth, a woman at the opposite end of the social spectrum—married to Zechariah, a priest serving in the Temple but without children so to give her family security. Even Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy reflects a more “established” form of divine intervention, as God speaks to Zechariah first.

Yet God’s wisdom unites these two women to demonstrate His plan to upend worldly conventions.

Mary’s humble obedience and Elizabeth’s joyful affirmation highlight that Godly counsel comes not from status but from submission to His will.

The Upside Down Kingdom of The Sermon On The Mount that Jesus gives in Matthew is the structured reality of what God upholds as virtuous and just.

These are not the ideals the world around us considers to be exalt worthy. God comes to lift up, tear down, be faithful, remain active, and adheres to building the divine kingdom here on earth. God has come to serve and be the example in Christ for us. God doesn’t think like us. It is when the Divine intersects the human that conflict is created. Thus we are left to deal with ultimate decision of who will be the best counselor— God or us? it takes us back to the Garden of Eden and the two humans. Did God really say?

Trust in God or trust in self?

Worldly Wisdom

I remember, more ashamedly than I care to admit of being a know it all college student. There was nothing I was unqualified to speak into. I thought I had the edge and the wisdom of my youthfulness. My dad even had a plaque that was passed down to the siblings of my household that read “why didn’t life’s problems hit me as a teenager when I knew everything?”

Worldly wisdom is derived from human reasoning, cultural norms, and personal experience. It’s shaped by self-interest and the pursuit of success as the world defines it: wealth, power, and comfort.

Primary Focus: Worldly wisdom seeks personal gain, prioritizing external appearances and material success over lasting, eternal values. On its face it makes sense to “live while I’m alive and sleep when I’m dead”- Bon Jovi. We see the world as our oyster, our lives are for our benefit. Why not live for yourself and make the best of this world. Reason to live for only the now and work to be remembered well into the future. Or simply, to live to enjoy. The world perverts the ideals of God and rejects them. If we are not careful we can swept up in it.

I remember when I was a boy and on the hot days my brothers and I would get into the pool and we would always make a whirlpool. We would work hard to get the current so strong we were towed around the pool. We would get it so strong that you could only stand if you clung to the sidewall.

People can be swept up so easily in the ideals and virtues of the world. It is truly madness.

Guiding Principles:

“Follow your heart.”

“The ends justify the means.”

“Survival of the fittest.” It promotes pride, envy, and selfish ambition (James 3:14-16).

Just this week British Parliament received an endorsed bill to legalize Assisted Dying (I’m sorry suicide) into the House of Commons and passed it in a vote of 330 to 275. In an effort to bring “comfort to those dying of terminal illness” as reported by BBC and Euro News. We may say at first, this mercy and compassion for those who are in the midst of the struggle. While my heart grieves for those fighting for their lives, we have a society in our modern world looking to create fast, convenient, and culturally normative mode of disposal of life.

How long, because history is always the best teacher before life’s end becomes just as obsolete as life’s beginning in the world. Is this counsel? Is this working for thriving in a society? Or is this something else? Wisdom is not looking to life as disposable or convenient because of suffering or hardship. Wisdom is looking to the value of life in the midst of the struggle and hardship because that is where grace is experienced, that is where God is at work.

Mary’s

Outcomes: The fruit of worldly wisdom is often conflict, confusion, and spiritual emptiness (James 3:16). It may bring temporary satisfaction but ultimately leads to disappointment. Worldly wisdom views relationships and people as commodity and disposable.

Relationships are a means to an end.

We can see this contrast in everyday life. Much like looking through a keyhole, worldly wisdom limits our view to what we think we know or what we think we can control.

Godly Wisdom

Godly wisdom is rooted in eternal truth and revealed through Scripture and the Holy Spirit. It transcends human understanding, beginning with the “fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 9:10).

Primary Focus: It seeks to glorify God and align with His will, prioritizing love, righteousness, and holiness.

Guiding Principles:

Humility, purity, and mercy (James 3:17).

Sacrificial love and dependence on God.

Outcomes: Godly wisdom produces peace, joy, and eternal fruit (James 3:18). It leads to a life that pleases God and builds lasting character.

Divine wisdom comes from Jesus, his example of servanthood, his teachings, his miracles, his counsel.

Jesus brings the truth that is God’s word and promise to real life. Jesus interrupted our reality and entered into human history so to show us God’s wisdom is much greater than we could ever imagine.

1 Corinthians 1:27 “But God chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong.”

Christ comes as helpless, in need, and completely humble so to counsel the world on the things of God. It is not about what we can see, it is not about lifting up the self, it is about bringing life to the world.

What would your world be like if you sought to bring life to it? To your family, to your friends, to you co-workers, to your neighbors, to the sick, to the imprisoned, to lonely, the elderly, to hungry, the thirsty, or the homeless.

As Christians we are called to live into the wise counsel of Jesus. He is our Wonderful Counselor. The term “wonderful” denotes an extra special and and extremely good connotation. But the root of the word is to inspire delight. Delighting in God and delighting in a life that values what God values.

Conclusion: The Invitation of the Wonderful Counselor

Advent is a time to prepare. Let us look to the Divine Wisdom of Christ. In Advent, we celebrate the arrival of the Wonderful Counselor who offers us a wisdom that is not bound by human limitations. Just as Paytyn’s decision reflected a young but profound grasp of Godly wisdom, we, too, are invited to reject worldly counsel and embrace the truth that comes from Christ. In the end she approached her choir director with a couple of friends and had a conversation about what this song means to them. The director because of their struggle removed the song from their repertoire. Paytyn didn’t have to quit but she chose to cling to the wisdom of singing songs that affirm her faith and trust in God.

Perhaps with God’s help we may seek in our own lives where we are using worldly wisdom. Where we could replace barriers with bridges, selfishness with generosity, pride for servanthood, love for judgement. God’s wisdom begins with what we are unable to see and comprehend. He chooses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. Trust God. Trust His Word, His promise, His Care and be for the things that God is for. To go back to the story of the pool, we could only take being in the whirlpool so long before we began the hardwork of breaking the current. We would labor every step and pull ourselves around against the current for a prolonged period of time before it would weaken and ultimately break.

Go against the wisdom of the world and seek the wisdom of God. It is His glorious name! May we seek His wisdom as we prepare our hearts for His coming and look to Him for counsel that transforms, uplifts, and glorifies God. It produces peace, joy, and eternal fruit. it builds character and leads to a life pleasing the Father. Amen.