The Character of the Saviour

Hello, I hope you enjoyed the two sermons about Abraham. We are going back to the  Knowing God series and finish it out. Also remember we are doing the Be Attitudes for the mid-week posting.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, Romans 1:18. This is a powerful verses – it is one of those searing statements that scorches away the veneer of deadly self-assurance. It describes the condition of every human being on the face of the earth apart from Christ Jesus. It tells us the reason why the Gospel, by which sinners are made right with a holy God, is so necessary! For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth…

This verse tells us that right now, in this moment, God is unveiling His wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Just so you understand ungodliness and unrighteousness comes about by disobeying God, they are not terms for just murderers, adulterers, cheats and swindlers. No, they refer to gossip, to lies (even the little white ones), slander, and yes even unbelief. That is the reason we need to be rescued, that is why we need God's salvation found only in Christ Jesus.

Because God is violently opposed to every expression of disobedience, He is not waiting to pour out His wrath on sin one day in the future; He is actively coming against millions upon millions of acts of ungodliness and unrighteousness in this moment around the globe. Why don't people see this? Why don't they connect the dots, understand their dilemma and flee to Christ Jesus? Why aren't there droves of people who look around and say to themselves, "Surely this is not the way life is not supposed to be!" and come to Christ Jesus?

Why? Look again at v. 18, says people ... who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. All of us like to run comparisons. Every one of us try to put our own failings in the best light and the failings of some one else in the worst light. We soften our own sins with mild words and skewer others with hard words. Or worse, we see the sins of others and are completely blind to our own. And when the truth hunts us down and corners us, we dodge. We distort. We evade and mislead and blame someone else and lie. That's suppressing the truth.

Straight up statements like this from God point out the fact that you, me, our families, our friends, next door neighbors and co-workers: need a Rescuer. We all need someone who is both willing and able to step forward on our behalf, someone who knows all the details about us and loves us anyway, someone pure enough to remove our sin and guilt from us, someone strong enough to personally take the judgment we have coming from a holy God, and someone committed enough to change us from the inside out. Of course there is only One who can be that someone - Christ Jesus.

Think about that reality and then consider THE CHARACTER OF just such a SAVIOR, given to us, not by His contemporaries, but by a man of God who pre-dated the arrival of this Heaven-sent Saviour by 700 years. Isaiah, had the burden of proclaiming God's truth while his nation eroded before his eyes under the leadership of King ʾĀḥāz (aw-khawz').

ʾĀḥāz (aw-khawz') was the godless 20-something year old king of Judah who faced a grave national crisis. Judah was threatened in two ways: internally, a moral, spiritual rot was corrupting God's people; externally, the impending attack from multiple enemy armies was creating wide-spread panic.

Isaiah was sent by God in this desperate hour to put ʾĀḥāz (aw-khawz') in mind of unbreakable promises from on high. In Isaiah 7, God goes out of His way to stir ʾĀḥāz (aw-khawz') faith with bold assurances and an amazing validating sign. Along with this positive reinforcement, there was also warning: If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all (Isa. 7:9). "If you don't trust Me now, King ʾĀḥāz (aw-khawz'), you will see everything you're trying to do unravel."

With the grace of God and the wrath of God brought to bear upon the king's heart, you would think that this young man who had been raised to cherish and love and trust the Lord would flee to Him for refuge and lead his nation back from the brink. Instead, he shoved God to the sideline, trading His presence and power for an alliance with the pagan nation of Assyria.

And so it was that the sun began to set for southern kingdom of Judah. To put it as Romans 1:18 does, ʾĀḥāz (aw-khawz') and those who followed him suppressed the truth, so the wrath of God would be revealed against their ungodliness and unrighteousness. Chapter 8 of Isaiah's prophecy details how this happened. The shadows of a growing despair and deep gloom descended on Judah. ʾĀḥāz (aw-khawz') and the majority of the people of Judah had departed from God; so God handed them over to their sin and to their enemies. Already, the northern-most part of Israel had felt the lash of the Assyrian war machine.

As it became increasingly apparent that the godless plans of ʾĀḥāz (aw-khawz') were failing, people began turning to superstition and even the occult to find guidance, to find some reason for hope. King ʾĀḥāz (aw-khawz') even burned his son as an offering to the despicable false gods of the Canaanites (2 Kings 16:3). It was a time of moral darkness, frustration, anger, and hopelessness under the judgment of God.

Do you think this all you can expect for departing from the Lord? Is judgment God's only response to the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people? The resounding and repeated answer throughout the Bible is "No!" During this age of hope, God warns us with judgment to flee the wrath to come. But He also woos us with His loving kindness. He has made a way for us to deal with our sin. He has built a highway that leads us back to Himself. And when by grace we see it for ourselves, it feels like the best news we ever heard!

Something happens to Isaiah between Chapter 8 and Chapter 9. Right in the midst of describing to the people of Judah what they can expect as a result of their rebellion against God, the Holy Spirit sort of fast-forwards time for Isaiah. Suddenly, the prophet sees the future God will bring, and the contrasts to the present gloom in Judah are so fantastic and so beautiful that one can only read it with joy in their heart.

In the summer of 1741, a 56-year old composer who was suffering from poor health following a stroke and was in considerable financial difficulty, was at the low point of his musical career. He wanted to do something different than his previous works. He had been reading his Bible, the Book of Isaiah, and chapter 9:2-7 to be more specific. Captured by the Scriptures, he set to work writing music that matched the glory and meaning of the biblical texts.

Twenty-four days later, George Frederick Handel had finished Messiah, the most famous oratorio ever written. We all know the majesty and triumph of The Hallelujah Chorus that concludes this masterwork. But you should know that the twelfth song of the first movement captures the exuberant, skipping joy of Isaiah 9:2-7.

(Isaiah 9:2-7) Instead of the darkness and doom of the present time in Judah, we hear Isaiah in v. 2 saying, The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.

• Instead of the fears and the tears in this struggling, small nation, Isaiah thanks God in v. 3, saying: You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils. 
  
  
• Instead of the bondage, as hundreds of thousands are taken as prisoners of war by invading enemy forces, Isaiah describes a day when their oppressive yoke will be shattered and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as God did on that day when He gave Gideon and a handful of Israelites Midian (v. 4)
  
  
• Instead of almost constant war, Isaiah sees the end of war: For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire. (v. 5)

Right in the middle of pronouncements of God's much-deserved wrath, with wars and rumors of wars swirling in Judah, Isaiah describes the great reversal for sinners. Light will come into their darkness. The fears and futility, the bondage and the guilt would be taken away. Joy in God will overtake those who once resisted and rebelled against Him. And complete victory over every enemy will come for a people who deserved the worst from a perfectly holy God.

Who is this glorious and powerful Saviour, who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves? How will I know how to find Him? Isaiah tells us! Listen again to his description of the character of the Savior: (Isaiah 9:6-7)
2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior's boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

God's plan is a Person, but not just a man. A Messianic ruler unlike any other world leader. He is both human (a child will be born) and divine (a son will be given). The government will be upon his shoulders, meaning He rules as a King. Four titles underscore the character of this God-man who is a King, and they build upon one another.

1. Call Him Wonderful, Counselor

Literally, peleʾ (peh'-leh)and yāʿaṣ (yaw-ats'). Some translations leave out the coma between these two words making it all one title. The original Hebrew however inserts the coma showing each as an individual title for the child. The word peleʾ means "a miracle; marvelous thing, wonder (-ful, -fully)”

That sounds all good and well, but listen to the definition of the root word for peleʾ – pālāʾ (paw-law') “great, difficult, wonderful :- accomplish, hard, hidden, things too high, marvelous, miracles, perform, separate, make singular, (be, great, make) wonderful (-ers, -ly, things, works), wondrous (things, works, -ly). The word yāʿaṣ (yaw-ats') means “to advise; reflexively, to deliberate or resolve, consult, (give, take) counsel (-lor), determine, devise, guide, purpose. 

Who is it that can truly be called pālāʾ' and yāʿaṣ?There is only one who can be called wonderful and Counselor: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (John 1:1-3). Christ Jesus – Wonderful - “singular – Son of God; a miracle – fully God and fully man; wondrous – in His love for us” 

Christ Jesus – Counselor - "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matt 11:28-30) and Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

2. Call Him the Mighty God

Literally, this title is "great, strong God who excels." This child is God's Son, God-man, and the Second Person of the Trinity and possessor of all the power of God. “but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” (Heb 1:2-3 RSV) In other word, He is God and He is omnipotent.

If you tie this title to the previous one, it means that this God-become-man possesses the ability to carry out to the full all that He came to do. That's why He is able to say, "My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; (Isa. 46:10). In fact, Christ Jesus is so powerful that He absorbed all the evil, past, present and future while on the cross and still defeated death, sin and Satan!

I don't know about you but in this frustrating world, where I'm prone to grow weak and tired, I need a Champion who is strong enough to keep His word, and a Saviour who is mighty enough to break the power of sin in my life.

Call Him Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God. And…

3. Call Him Everlasting Father - This title could be translated as a "Forever-Father"
 This child will be a father to you in the best of ways - loving, self-sacrificing, always looking out for your best. Ps. 103:13 says it this way, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.” Fatherly compassion from Christ Jesus will never come to an end.

Combine this title with the two previous ones, and you realize that the effective plans of your Wonderful Counselor will always have your best as His goal. You will also realize that He has the power to accomplish the plans He has for you. That's what it means to you to have a “Forever-Father.”

4. Call Him Prince of Peace - The word used here is a very familiar one it is shalom (shaw-lome').

This child, this God-man will give you rest, safety, happiness and so much more.

This child, this God-man will bring you a joy which surpasses all comprehension. And a joy which will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:7)

In short Christ Jesus will love you, watch over you and take care of you beyond all measure. He is the true Prince of Peace.

The wondrous plans of the Mighty Counselor, who has accomplish all things of His design, will only and always do what is right and best for you, and will never strong arm you, never force you. He calls out to you with kindness and faithfulness and goodness.

Isaiah saw Christ Jesus coming, the One who would be God's answer for sinners like you and me. He saw Christ Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, He came with wisdom and purpose, with a perfect plan. Follow Him.

As the Mighty God, He will accomplish all His purposes. The Devil threw everything he had at Christ Jesus on the cross and couldn't thwart God's plans through Him. Hide behind Him.

As the Everlasting Father, He loves you endlessly. Enjoy being in His presence. And as the Prince of Peace, He reconciles you while you are still His enemy. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8). Trust Him and find rest in Him as your Lord and Saviour.

Folks, I present to you the world's final and greatest King, the King above all kings, whose kingdom and peace will never stop expanding. I present to you the Rescuer that we all need. I present to you the Leader that you long for if you would admit it. I present to you the answer to the heart's great questions. I present to you Christ Jesus! Now what will you do? It is up to you and you alone to except Him and have everlasting life or reject Him and have everlasting torment.