His Name Shall Be Called (2)

Please take your Bible to Isaiah 9:6…

Read Text: Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Title: His Name (Part Two)

Context:

I. He is Wonderful

II. He is Counsellor

III. He is Mighty God

Transition: Let’s consider the final two names given to us by the Prophet Isaiah. Notice…

IV. He is Everlasting Father

We need to make an immediate clarification on what this name actually means. Some take this verse to mean that Jesus and the Father are the same. That God the Son and God the Father are the same. We don’t believe this because that is not what the Bible is teaching here. We know that God is a trinity. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, these three are one. 1 John 5:7 — For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. So, what does it mean when we see a name of Christ being “everlasting Father”? This is communicating not “who” Jesus is by person in the Trinity, but “how” Jesus functions as the Son of God. Charles Spurgeon put it this way, “Christ is not called the Father because He is the Father, but because He acts like a father to His people.” This name communicates a role that He fulfills for each of His children.

Let’s consider a few truths about Christ being our “everlasting Father”…

A. The Character of His Fatherhood

I believe it would be wise of us to turn to Psalm 23 and discover four specific characteristics that Jesus demonstrates to us as our father.

(1) He Provides — Psalm 23:1

(2) He Guides — Psalm 23:2-3

(3) He Protects — Psalm 23:4

(4) He Cares — Psalm 23:4c

B. The Constancy of His Fatherhood

Who Jesus was yesterday, He will be today. Who Jesus is today, He will be tomorrow. Hebrews 13:8 — Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. We have a God who does not change. Everything changes around us. We change. Our friends change. Our jobs change. Pretty much everything changes in some way at some point, but Jesus? He doesn’t. He is the same.

The Bible uses the word “everlasting” when describing the fatherhood of Christ. Now, this word is not primarily speaking to His eternal nature. He is eternal, but that is not what is being referenced here. It is referencing the fact that all the things that are true about Jesus as our father will be true and will never change for all of eternity. Notice…

(1) There will be no end to His Provision

(2) There will be no end to His Guidance

(3) There will be no end to His Protection

(4) There will be no end to His Care

loved them to the end John 13:1 “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”

V. He is Prince of Peace