Advent Midweek: “His Name Will Be Called— Everlasting Father”

Text— “6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

We are digging into the ‘names’— the titles— that Isaiah gives to the Messiah who would be born. And, tonight, we come to the most perplexing one: ‘Everlasting Father’.

It is perplexing because you are well versed enough in the doctrine of the Trinity to recognize what seems like a contradiction. You understand that the Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is not the Father. To call God the Son ‘Everlasting Father’ would seem to contradict that. But that is not how the people of Isaiah’s day would have heard the word ‘father’. “Many kings [in his day] claimed to be “father” to their people…” (Oswalt, John. “The Book of Isaiah Chapters 1-39, Eerdman’s Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986. p. 247). It was a natural way for rulers to speak about themselves in relation to their people. That still carries on a little bit in our day when we talk about the ‘founding fathers’ of our nation, for example. That is the sense in which Isaiah calls Jesus “Everlasting Father.” As you heard St. Paul put it so beautifully in the Epistle to the Colossians, “16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16–17).

And, perhaps that, too, is part of the reason why you and I struggle with this name/title for Jesus. It is far more comforting to focus on Jesus as your Shepherd; it is far more comforting to speak vaguely about Jesus as your ‘savior’ or your ’redeemer’; it is far more comfortable to speak of Him as your brother. These are all true. But they are not all of the truth. He is also the Everlasting Father. By and through Him all things were created and He still rules over it all right now.

Both in the world around us, and within the church, you and I seem to struggle with seeing Jesus that way. To hear most people talk, He’s not just our brother, He is the ‘cool’ one. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but He hung out with the outcasts. He hung out with the ‘sinners’. That seems to be the key thing that most people know about Jesus in our day. Again, it is entirely true; but it is not the entire truth. He is also the Everlasting Father.

Imagine, for example, that your brother was elected president of the United States. Would that permit you to show up to the Oval Office in cut off shorts and flip flops? Would it justify showing up to his inauguration in holy jeans and beat up old work boots? Is that suddenly appropriate just because the president is your brother?

Why would we treat Jesus that way? Yes, His is your brother. He is also the ‘Everlasting Father’. He rules over all of creation.

By Him all things were created. “19 [I]n him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:19). “3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3a). That is what Isaiah was communicating about Jesus when he called Jesus, ‘Everlasting Father.’

That means that everything and everyone that exists is obligated to acknowledge Him as God and Lord, as the ruler of everything that is seen and unseen. And, unlike the human rulers who claimed to be the ‘father’ of their nations, “8 [Jesus’] throne… is forever and ever…” (Hebrews 1:8). He truly is the Everlasting Father. By Him all things were created and His throne is forever.

For a time, He laid aside that authority to be born of the Virgin Mary. But only for a time. He laid it down so that He could take it up again. On the night when He was betrayed, Jesus knew “3 that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God” (John 13:3). And, knowing that, He picked up a towel and washed His disciples’ feet; knowing that, He went to the Garden to be betrayed; knowing that, He stood silent under one of the thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities that He had established and was sentenced to death on the cross. Knowing that, He began His reign there on the cross so that, “after making purification for sins, he sat down[, once again, ]at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3b), and was crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death (Hebrews 2:10). I know that I’ve said this before so many times, but it is so amazingly powerful to know that the reason God the Father made God the Son, once again, the ‘Father’ of His kingdom is because He was willing to give His life for you.

The rulers of Isaiah’s day may have called themselves the ‘fathers’ of their nations, but their rule was only for a time— which is good because it was also almost entirely self-serving.

Several years ago, a movie came out that was called 300. It was about the 300 Spartan soldiers led by King Leonidas who famously held off tens of thousands of the soldiers of King Xerxes. I don’t know if I would recommend watching the movie, but there is one scene that is memorable. In the movie, King Xerxes and King Leonidas meet to discuss how to resolve the battle. When King Xerxes is not able to buy off King Leonidas by giving him rule over all of Greece, Xerxes tries to intimidate Leonidas by saying, “It isn't wise to stand against me, Leonidas. Imagine what horrible fate awaits my enemies when I would gladly kill any of my own men for victory.” In the movie, Leonidas has an amazing response: “And I would die for any one of mine.”

There have been a few good kings in history. But only one who could say it truthfully. And, best of all, not only was there, once, a king like that, you have a king like that. He was enthroned there on the cross in order to gather you into His Kingdom. He rules over you now, not by power and force and strength, but by His grace which gathered you into His kingdom and keeps you in it. He rules not for His own benefit, but for yours. He rules by uniting Himself with those He has gathered into His Kingdom.

That is why St. Paul compares His rule to the ‘rule’ if you will, of the head over the body. Not only is He before all things and, in Him, all things hold together (Colossians 1:17), He is the head of the body, the church (Colossians 1:18).

Do not forget that fact. Whatever you do with yourself— with your body— you now also do with the body of Christ. Because you are part of it. In 1 Corinthians 6, St. Paul warns, “15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” …19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:15–16, 19-20). It is true, especially, for sexual sins, but it is also true for any kind of sin. Would you really take the members of the body of Christ out drinking and carrying on, for example? Christ is the head of the church, His body. Would you try to turn the body of Christ into a body that is interested only in its own comfort and amusement? Would you lead the body of Christ to speak hateful words to those whom you oppose?

By no means. Turn away from every form of sin and be renewed in the image of your Creator and your Head. You had borne the image of the man of dust, and now you also bear the image of the man of heaven (1 Corinthians 15:49). Your first father, Adam, brought sin and death into the world, leading him and all of his offspring to return to the dust from which we came— ashes to ashes dust to dust. But now you are being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

He makes every member of His body fruitful— filled with the fruit of peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and all the rest. Above all, He fills the members of His body His love, which bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things (1 Corinthians 13:5). The body of Christ dos not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. And, just like every member of His body, His love never ends. It will not end until He finally transforms our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body by the power that enables Him to subdue all things to Himself (Philippians 3:21). That is how He rules over you now and into Eternity.

As you prepare to worship the Child born that first Christmas, prepare to worship Him properly and truly as your Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, and as your Everlasting Father.