Eternal Father

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Myles Seller and James Seller

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 CSB

6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 11:18–21 CSB

18 “Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates, 21 so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.

This week we continue our Christmas Series Entitled Above Every Name.

Let’s start with our Christmas passage.

Isaiah 9:6–7 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. 7 The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.

So Just to get us all on the same page.

Isaiah was a prophet that lived approximately 700 years before Jesus was born.

He was sent with a message of Judgement to the People of Israel warning of the coming Judgement.

A judgement that had already been sealed. Israel's disobedience had left God with no other choice but to remove his hand of protection from them and allow them to be taken capture by a foreign nation.

That Nation would then enforce it’s yoke or Governmental practices on the nation of Isreal and they would experience great suffering and oppression.

So the First 8 chapters of Isaiah outline this oppression and suffering that was going to take place.

However Chapter 9 Isaiah offers a glimmer of hope. This Promise of a Coming Messiah or Savior.

It is important for us to understand that Isaiah had no idea he was prophesying about Jesus.

As Pastor Rustan stated two weeks ago Rabbi Feldman had told him that we read the Bible Backwards and he is not wrong.

He is not saying that we read the Bible wrong. We read the Bible from the Middle and then go back to try to prove our points by picking apart the Old Testament.

We have Hindsight in our approach where the First Testament is this process of God slowly revealing himself to man and as we reach this point with Isaiah this is a point where God is revealing something new to Isaiah and the Nation of Israel.

We now have the ability to look at these prophesy's and attribute them to Jesus but Jesus is not what Israel was looking for when He arrived.

This oppressed people were looking for the Future tense version of the Messiah.

With that said let’s look at the Next Name He will be known by.

Eternal Father

This name has caused a lot of confusion in the theological world.

For One it has been used by The Oneness movement to show that there is no Trinity.

The confusion is in error because this is not a title that refers to the Trinity.

How can Jesus be both Father and Son?

Here is the nuts and bolts of it.

Deuteronomy 6:4 CSB

4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

In the book What the Bible Teaches about The Trinity

What the Bible Teaches about The Trinity God Is One

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and when the Jew recited Deuteronomy 6:4, he did it in that language—as he still does today. Unfortunately our English language cannot perfectly translate in one sentence precisely what Deuteronomy 6:4 means. It means more than ‘The LORD our God, the LORD is one!’ That can be taken simply as a statement that there is no other God but the LORD. He is the only one. It can also be translated, ‘The LORD our God, the LORD is one.’ He is not just the only one. He who is the only one, is one.

What are we trying to say here? ‘God is one in His essential being or constitutional nature,’ writes Louis Berkhof. But what does that mean? It means that God cannot be divided or split up. You cannot have a collection of pieces which are less than God, put them together, and have God! He is not like a jigsaw. Nor is he like a human body, made up of many organs. You cannot add eternity and unchangeability and all-power and holiness together, and make up God. He is not made up of parts. He is indivisible. He is one. All of him is eternal. All of him is unchangeable. All of him is all-powerful. All of him is holy. You cannot, for instance, take away his holiness, and leave most of God behind. If you could take away his holiness you would have destroyed God, for all that he is is holy.

This is what theologians mean when they talk about God being ‘one indivisible essence’. The word ‘essence’ or ‘being’ can be used almost interchangeably with the word ‘substance’. This does not mean that God is made of anything. Later in the book we shall talk of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit being of ‘the same substance’. We shall not mean that they are composed of the same ‘stuff’. We shall mean that although they are distinct, they are the same one God. All that God is is the Father. All that God is is the Son. All that God is is the Holy Spirit. Each one is all that God is. Each one is God in the same sense—of the same essence, being or substance. And yet God is indivisible.

Let us put it another way, to stress what we are saying. The Father is Jehovah. The Son is Jehovah. The Holy Spirit is Jehovah. But we must never think that there are three Jehovahs. It is here that the mystery lies, and we are running ahead of ourselves. For the moment we must be content to know that there is only one Jehovah, and that the Jehovah, who is, is one.

That is great and that is reassuring.

Through out the Old Testament God is revealing himself little by little. He constantly refers to himself as Us.

Genesis 1:26 (CSB)

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.

Genesis 3:22 CSB

22 The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”

There are many more.

Rustan spoke of how Rabbi Feldman said that Gentiles read the Bible Backwards.

He Spoke of Star Wars.

I want to take that thought a little farther.

We have the luxury of reading the a Bible where God has has fully revealed himself through Jesus.

Jesus tells us several times that If we have seen Him than we have seen God.

John 14:8–9 CSB

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’?

In Jesus is all of God!

We then go back and read the Old Testament like it is forshadowing and proves what we believe about Jesus.

However, If we read the first testament from the vantage point of God revealing Himself through out time little by little and then we get to the Second Testament it really changes the view of God.

Then we don’t get these misunderstandings of reading into the Old Testament things that are not there.

When Isaiah is referring to the Coming Messiah he is not referring to the Trinity. This would have be foreign to the Jews because God had not yet revealed himself in that way.

Isaiah is referring to How The Messiah will lead.

According to GotQuestions.org: This verse is proclaiming the redemption of Israel and the activities, titles, and blessings of the Messiah who is to rule the earth and usher in a reign of blessing and peace that will have no end. One of His titles is “Everlasting Father.”

Eternal Father is literally translated as Father of Eternity.

This is so powerful because as the Father of Eternity We know Him as the One: Who Was and Is and Always Will Be.

We know Messiah Jesus as the One whom all things were created.

John 1:1–3 CSB

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

Through Jesus everything we needed and enjoy was created by God not only to provide for us but to bring us great Joy that reveals God to us.

We know Him as the One Who Holds all things together.

Colossians 1:16–17 CSB

16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.

But in the Context of Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah is speaking of how The Messiah will Rule as the King of the Nation of Israel.

This is in the context of a King like David that will be eternal.

What did David do.........

David as the Father of the Nation........

This is how the Bible does comparisons.

Two Good but one is Eternally Better.

The Messiah will be the Better David.

He will Rule Forever.

Unlike an Earthly Ruler who is trapped in his mortality.

He will rule Eternally as the Father of the Nation in the same way the Father of a Family should lead.

A Father Protects and Provides for His Children.

The coming Messiah will Protect and Provide for His People for Eternity.

Can you imagine never feeling Anxiety or Fear about what is coming next.

Can you imagine never having a need that is unfulfilled.

This is the Promise to a Nation whose Sin has lead them into Captivity by a foreign Enemy.

Our Sin leads us into Captivity by a Foreign Enemy.

To the ones who know Jesus, know we can have faith that he is working all things out for our good.

Romans 8:28 CSB

28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

But wait there is more.

We Know that Jesus is Returning and Will Set Up His Kingdom on Earth.

Isaiah 9:6a(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.

That is what we can expect when Jesus returns.

When He returners He will wear the Government like a cape around his shoulders.

I think of it like carrying a lamb on his shoulders.

He is the good Shephard.

Psalm 23:1–3 CSB

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. 2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

What a Glorious Day that will Be.

In the mean time we can look at what He has already done.

Galatians 4:4–5 CSB

4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

On a night some 2000 plus years ago Jesus was Born to a Virgin in the lowly town of Bethlehem. As for told by Isaiah.

In the first Act of Messiah Jesus’ Life on this Earth He would restore our ability to Reflect God’s Image in.

First by Showing what that Image looks like through His Life and Teaching.

Secondly, By providing the eternal Sacrifice and Blood that would be poured out on the Altar in Heaven.

That Sacrifice when accepted and poured over us begins the process by which God’s image can be restored in us.

That is the process of Fathering Jesus is doing in us now. Advocating and restoring, Providing for us from His Heavenly throne.

So this Christmas I want to ask you.

How are you allowing Him to be Your Everlasting Father?

Have you invited Him to be the Leader of your House and Home?

Have you invited Him into your finances to provide blessing through your Generosity?

Have you invited Him into your relationships to provide comfort and guidance?

Have you invited to search you and know you?

Please stand with me.