‘For Unto Us…’

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, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

We come to consider one of the most sublime prophecies regarding the first Coming of Christ.  Isaiah bears the title of, ‘The Evangelical Prophet,’ and proves himself worthy of that title over and over again.  In our text for the next few days, we find Isaiah personalizing the prophecy to a particular group when he says, ‘For unto us a Child is born. Unto us a Son is given.’  Who is this group to whom God has given this Child, and Son? To whom and for whom did Christ come in the Flesh? Christ explained this Himself. He pointed out that the primary focus of His earthly ministry was to the ‘House of Israel.’  He made His chosen nation of Israel the primary sphere of His preaching, His miracles, and His discipling. Having said that, He also declared that He would expand His work to a larger group, when He said, ‘and other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.’ Therefore, we may include ourselves as being those to whom God has given this Son.  He has come ‘to seek and to save, that which was lost.’ We are the ‘lost’ who are in need of this Savior. We happily include ourselves in this group to whom the prophet refers. Therefore we say, ‘For unto us a Child is born. Unto us a Son is given.’ We are overwhelmingly glad for this unspeakable gift which God had delivered to us in the Person of Christ, His Son and our Savior.

Our Glorious and Generous God,
we rejoice that You have given to us Christ,
Your Only-Begotten Son.
We praise You that He is Your unspeakable gift,
unto us, who are so greatly in need of a Savior.

‘The Prince of Peace’

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

We live in a world where ‘peace’ is a single word, and often an illusion. What passes for ‘peace’ is often little more than an armed truce. We desire peace, discuss peace, pursue peace, and yet it flits away like a bird, startled by a predator. Christ is, ‘The Prince of Peace.’ We will not know peace personally, corporately, nationally, internationally, or globally, until we recognize, Christ as, ‘The Prince of Peace.’ Christ is ‘our Peace.’ ‘For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation between us…for to make in Himself, of two, one new man, so making peace.’ Not only is He ‘our peace,’ but also He makes peace, most specifically between us and God. ‘Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have a peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ….’ Moreover, Christ gives peace. ‘Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid….’ The contemplation of Christ in these functions of His Office as, ‘The Prince of Peace,’ leads us to the inevitable conclusion that if we are to experience peace ourselves, or be the instruments of His peace in bringing peace to others, we must know Him first and best. This peace, which Christ imparts is a ‘peace, which passes all understanding.’ It allows us to face the potentially worst of all human circumstances with equanimity. ‘The Prince of Peace’ is ‘the Author, and Finisher of our faith.’ We need not know the future, if we know Him, Who holds the future, and sees, ‘the end from the beginning.’ Today, let us rest peacefully upon the Breast of ‘The Prince of Peace.’

Our most Gracious Savior,
we rejoice that You are Peace personified.
We praise You that being Peace, You also make peace,
and give us peace, for time and for eternity.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

The Everlasting Father

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

One of the Titles of Christ we find in this ancient prophecy is the one before us, ‘The Everlasting Father,’ or ‘The Father of Eternity.’  The inspired author is not confounding the Persons of The Trinity; rather, he is expounding a particular aspect of the Ministry of Christ. How is Christ ‘The Everlasting Father?’  He is so, in that He relates to His people as a father does to his well-beloved child.  In a healthy relationship between a child and a father there is a peaceful confidence and communion.  I can go to my Father, knowing that He believes in me.  He loves me for who I am, not just for what I do, or fail to do well.  He believes in me.  He is proud of me.  He is glad to claim me.  He is glad that I am His.  He will listen to me as I speak to Him of things that may be important or trivial in the grander scheme of things.  He will listen to me as I pour out my broken heart and articulate my fears.  He will be behind me to encourage me as I take my next step in life.  He will never leave me, or forsake me.  He is my Helper, my Guide, my Friend, my Deliverer, my Confessor, my Confidant.  From before I was, until a never-ending eternity, He is my Everlasting Father.

Our Gracious and Loving Savior,
we rejoice that You wrap us in Your warm embrace,
hold us close to Your Gentle Breast,
and show Yourself, in every way, to be our Everlasting Father.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘The Mighty God’

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Christ is God. The text we have contemplated for the past days is one of many Old Testament prophecies about The Coming Messiah. Today we arrive at the portion of the text about which we want to be very clear. The prophet declares that the coming Christ is, ‘the Mighty God.’ He is not ‘a god,’ but, ‘The God.’ He is not merely a member of a pantheon of gods, but rather the Second Person of the Trinity, ‘the same in substance, equal in power and glory,’ to The Father and The Spirit. He is ‘The Mighty God,’ in the way in which God is Omnipotent, as well as Omniscient, and Omnipresent. He has not arrived at His Godhood, but rather, His ‘goings forth have been from of old, from eternity.’ He is the God Who is Mighty to create, to redeem, to save, to preserve, to justify, sanctify and to glorify all of His people. He ‘will build His Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.’ He will judge, ‘the living and the dead,’ for ‘all authority’ has been given unto Him. ‘This God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death.’ We rest upon His Merits. We approach The Throne of Grace in His Name. We have confidence in His Might in every way. He has been, is now, and forever shall be, ‘The Mighty God.’

Our Great and Gracious God,

we rejoice in You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

that You are indeed the same in substance,

equal in Power and Glory.

We rest on You, the Mighty God.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning