“His Name . . . Everlasting Father”

Good morning, and Merry Christmas! Just two days until Christmas here in the states. We are gearing up for our Christmas Eve services at the church. We have different ones do readings or sing specials in the a.m. Service and we will have a candle light service in the p.m. Both will be a great time of celebration and remembrance.

Everlasting Father, that is an odd title for Christ Jesus and maybe a hard one to wrap your mind around. When you look at the New Testament Christ Jesus is always referred to as the Son and God as the Father. So how can the Son be the Father? Well let's take a look and see if I can clear it up a little.

Isa 9:6

6 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.

There's a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father. On Saturday 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers. - Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, p. 13.

The Old Testament reveals little of the of Father/Son relationship between God and Christ Jesus. In some verses the word “father” is used, to show the redemptive character of God."He will cry to Me, "You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.' (Psalms 89:26). And, For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us. And Israel does not recognize us. You, O LORD, are our Father, Our Redeemer from of old (everlasting) is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16).

At other times it is used to show God as our Creator. "Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.” (Deuteronomy 32:6). And in Isaiah 64:8 - “But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.”

And, in our text, Isaiah 9:6 we see, “His name shall be called . . . everlasting Father.”

In the New Testament we see the phrase “God the Father” and in every case it is directly linked with Christ Jesus. “For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” (1 Cor 8:5-6). And in Peter we see a great example of the Father-Son relationship of the God head. “For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased" --” (2 Peter 1:17).

William Jennings Bryan once stated, “I have observed the power of the watermelon seed. It has the power of drawing from the ground and through itself 200,000 times its weight. When you can tell me how it takes this material and out of it colors an outside surface beyond the imitation of art, and then forms inside of it a white rind and within that again a red heart, thickly inlaid with black seeds, each one of which in turn is capable of drawing through itself 200,000 times its weight--when you can explain to me the mystery of a watermelon, you can ask me to explain the mystery of God.”

1. The Nature of God.

There is quite a bit said in the Old Testament of God’s majesty, power, might, and awesomeness, but little is said of His fatherhood. Probably the most vivid picture of God is that of Jehovah at Sinai. He is the God who speaks in lightning, earthquake, and fire; He is unapproachable. God as a Father who loves and cares for His children is almost wholly a New Testament doctrine.

Nearly eight hundred years before the birth of Christ Jesus, Isaiah used one of the most astonishing names for our Lord in all the Bible. The words “everlasting Father” are among the shortest in the Hebrew language. The word “father” is אָב‎ (awb), and “everlasting” isעַד‎ (ad). Literally the words mean “father of eternity.” It is most amazing that Christ Jesus is given this title in the Old Testament. The Son is the everlasting Father. Though it seems impossible, it is true. In John 10:30 Christ Jesus declared that, "I and the Father are one." In John 17:22 Christ Jesus addressing the Father says, "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;” There is a holy unity to the divine Trinity. Christ Jesus is the child born, yet he is also the everlasting Father. He is God.

2. The Nature of Christ Jesus.

Because Christ Jesus is God, He can not sin. He could sin as a man, but He can not sin as God. It would be like taking a hollow cane pole and a steel rod that is small enough in diameter to fit through the pole. The cane pole represents Christ Jesus’ humanity; the steel rod represents His deity. If you took just the cane pole and tried to break it over your knee, you would eventually break it. Jesus the man could eventually be broken by sin---give in to temptation. However, if you put the steel rod through the cane pole, you could not break it. Similarly, the steel rod represents the divine nature of Christ. Consequently, because Christ Jesus, the human, is also divine, He can not break and commit sin.

Christ Jesus came into our world to reveal the nature of God. How would He make Himself known to man? Would He take the form of an angel or cherub? No, He would take the form of man. The Bible says, “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.” (Hebrews 2:16). Christ Jesus was born of a woman; He became flesh and was made in the likeness of men. Men are persons, whether kings or peasants, whether bond or free. But what form of man would the Messiah take?

• King. Was Christ Jesus a king? Yes, He was of royal lineage and had claim to the throne of David.
  The wise men came to Jerusalem asking, “Where is he that is born king of the Jews?” Matthew 21:5 declares that Christ Jesus' royal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah that said, “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Above His dying body on the cross was His title, “Jesus . . . King of the Jews.” Yes, He came to this earth as a king. 
  
  
  Yet Christ Jesus did not come to claim an earthly kingdom. I don't know about you, but I am glad He did not. Many of us are stirred deeply by the sight or sound of royalty. A sovereign is someone to be feared, reverenced, obeyed, and served. He is one to whom tribute is paid and obeisance is done. But he is not really “one of us.” If loved at all, it is a patriotic sort of thing and not a personal affection of heart and spirit. History records very few kings who were really loved by all their subjects.
  If not an earthly king, what sort of man did Christ Jesus come to be?

• Priest. Was Christ Jesus a priest? Yes, the Bible often speaks of His ministry. The book of Hebrews substantiates His claim to a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek in Hebrews 5, 6, and 7. 
  
  
  But Christ Jesus is more than a priest. Even in this enlightened age most people feel a little uneasy around priest/pastors. There is sort of a “no man’s land” between clergy and laity. A lot of times those who have received the hand of ordination have joined the ranks of the untouchables. 
  
  
  Years ago a pastor served as an evangelist in a revival. At the noon hour the local pastor and this pastor had the privilege of sharing a meal in the home of one of the members. They had a delightful time of fellowship and food. As they were leaving, the host said, “Preacher, I’ve found out you fellows are not much different than the rest of us.” Few people have made this discovery. Between most people and the priest/pastor is a great gulf not crossed. God knew this. He sent His Son to earth to do more than the work of a priest.

• Prophet. Was Christ Jesus a prophet? Yes, indeed! But this was not the essential revelation of His nature. People may listen to prophets, but they do not universally love them. As Christ Jesus said it, one generation kills the prophets and the next builds monuments to their memory.

How then did God reveal Himself in Christ Jesus?

• Father. An ideal father loves and protects and provides for his family. Father is the name Christ Jesus most often used to describe what God is like. He could have used a host of Hebrew names for God. There were “Elohim,” “Shaddai,” “Adonai,” and “Jehovah”; but Christ Jesus kept talking about the Father. 
  
  
  The word was repeated often in phrases such as, “Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of”; “Pray to thy Father and thy Father who seeth in secret will reward thee openly”; and “Our Father, who art in heaven”; and “Your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” On most every page of the New Testament God is Father. He is the anxious Father awaiting the return of the wayward son. And He is the Father who forgives, welcomes, and restores. Will you come to the Father today?

3. What Fatherhood Means.

• Family relationship. How does God become your Father? How do you become His child? By birth. Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). Many make the mistake of supposing that just because they are born into a “Christian home” that they are the children of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, "You must be born again.' (John 3:6 – 7). Without the second birth, the spiritual birth, it is impossible for God to be your “everlasting Father.” Do you have a personal relationship with the “everlasting Father”? Have you been born again?

• Fatherhood means the Father’s care and provision. (Matthew 6:25 – 31) The New Testament teaches that the heavenly Father’s care and provision for His children are constant and particular. It includes all His children, and it includes you. You have an “everlasting Father” and He is unlike any other.

• The Father’s love. The everlasting Father not only cares and provides for you, but He also loves you. 1 John 3:1 says, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” The Father’s love is not mere amiability; it is not just sentimentality. Remember, His is the love of an Everlasting Father, not some distant grandfather! 
  
  
  The Father’s love means mercy and forgiveness, acceptance and fellowship; but it also means obedience and discipline. The Bible says, “The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son” (Heb. 12:6). Our heavenly Father’s concern is not just that you are cared for, but also that you are holy. He desires that you grow up to look and act like Him. Day by day He tries in love to reproduce in you the image of His Son. Or, as Paul expresses it in Ephesians 4:13 – 15, “Till we all come . . . unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we henceforth be no more children. . . . But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things.” 
   
  God wants what any father wants — ​children who grow up to continue His name, His likeness, and His work.

• The Father’s home. One day you will dwell in the Father’s home. Someday the everlasting Father will give you all that He has. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you” (Matt. 25:34). “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). “All things that the Father hath are mine: . . . he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (John 16:15).

Conclusion: Are you a child of the King? Do you have a personal relationship with the Everlasting Father? If not why not?