“…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. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end…” Isaiah 9:6

Before the world was ever created, it was in the heart of God to give His Son to us. The moment Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary, He became ours. The Word of God left His glory with the Father to become one of us completely, by becoming fully a man, starting at birth.

According to Isaiah, one of His names would be Wonderful Counselor. And so, Jesus gave Himself to us for three years doing that very thing. Starting at the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7, and continuing until His crucifixion, Jesus, in love, gave us wonderful counsel as to how we should serve and worship our Father, and love one another.

But His wonderful counsel didn’t stop at the cross. He gave Himself to the apostles, and through His Holy Spirit, He gave them the full knowledge of everything we need to know as His disciples; and they wrote it down for us. His wonderful counsel remains with us today in the Bible.

Another name given to Jesus by Isaiah was, “Mighty God”. Jesus finished His life here on earth as Mighty God, by doing something only Mighty God could do: He gave Himself to the cross for us. He took on Himself the very wrath and judgment of God against sin. Jesus took our sin on Himself and was made sin, and took our place in judgment.

“God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

In His resurrection, Jesus gave Himself to us as the “Everlasting Father”. That is, in His ascension into heaven, Jesus entered there for us, that His Father might become our Father. And Jesus sits in heaven today, as the God-Man, given to us as our eternal High Priest.

Jesus Christ was given to us as the “Prince of Peace”. By the shedding of His precious blood, all our sin was removed. By Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have been washed and justified in Him. In Christ, we stand in the presence of God as His children, in perfect peace with Him.

Finally, when Isaiah said: “…Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end…”, we see Jesus Christ given to us as our eternal King. We see Him first descending from heaven, to catch His church away to Himself, clothing us with new, glorious, immortal, incorruptible bodies.

Then Daniel describes the setting up of Christ’s kingdom: It is given to His saints. “Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Daniel 7:27

To this the apostle Paul wrote these words to the church: “Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world…Don’t you know that we will judge angels?” 1 Corinthians 6:2-3

Today, we rejoice in our God and Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ; They are ours, and we are Theirs, FOREVER! Look up, Jesus is coming! Thanks be unto God for the unspeakable, never-ending Gift of His Son to us!

Brother Bill          bboldham@sbcglobal.net