Isaiah 9 v6:
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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
You might be saying to yourself - what a strange verse for anyone to read! What is it about? Who is it about? When and why was it even written at all?
Well let’s start with the when! (About 750 years before Jesus was born).
“unto us” - this is something that affects all of us! Nearly 3000 years ago - yet it is relevant today.
“a child is born”- babies are born every day so what is so different about this one? More detail given:
“a Son”. Narrows it down a little - yet millions of sons are birthed each year! So, whose Son is He? He is Gods Son!
Now that makes Him a very special person!
He has a very unusual name too. It’s not John or Jim but He is named after His characteristics. There are actually over 900 different names for God in the bible - each of them telling us something of His nature or character! That’s a lot of information isn’t it!
Here are some of Jesus’ features:
Wonderful- Now everyone wants to meet a wonderful person don’t they surely? (perhaps you meet a girl - thought her to be “Miss Wonderful “- "Miss Right" - only to find out she was " Miss Right-now"- and perhaps not that wonderful at all! The same for the guys- "Mr Wonderful" may turn out to have flaws that at first we were just unaware of.
Jesus Christ is the most wonderful person you could ever meet. What a tragedy to go through your whole life without meeting “The Wonderful Christ” who can change everything for you!
Counsellor- Now all of us in our lives at some point find ourselves to be in need of wise counsel. There is no wiser, no better person to lead you through life than The Lord.
Of course, another use of council is in a legal setting. In court we are all guilty before God. None of us meets His standard of perfection. Imagine being in court and, all of a sudden, in walks a councillor who has never lost a case! Well that is Christ - all who put their trust completely in Him are safe and are pronounced free to go.
The Mighty God- The Lord Jesus is described to us as “God manifest in the flesh”.
He is man yet at the same time deity. With all the power of God.
No wonder the hymn writer says “What a friend we have in Jesus"
The Everlasting Father- John 10 v30 “I and my Father are one.”
Or Psalm 90 v2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
The Prince of Peace - Are you looking for peace in your life? You will find it in Christ! At His birth the angel said this: Luke 2 v14
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” With the birth of Christ came the opportunity to have peace with God. Would you like that today? Before we enter a New Year would you like to know genuine peace?
I trust you will be blessed and understand what it is to meet this very special person whose birth was foretold so long ago.
God's richest blessing this season.
Love and affection from all at Grand Hall Christian Fellowship.