Clearview Community Church: He Is Called
By Pastor Grant Cotton
Clearview Community Church
This Christmas season I have been reflecting on the familiar verse we see quoted from Isaiah 9:6,
“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.” (Isaiah 9:6 NIV)
Now I hear this verse read in Christmas services, I see it on ornaments for the Christmas Tree, carved on wood signs, stitched onto tea towels, even printed on coffee mugs. But what does it really mean? How is Jesus our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace?
Well, in the day of Isaiah, the nation Israel was in turmoil. The people had strayed from God, they were not walking in obedience to God’s ways, they were worshiping other god’s and trying to do things their own way. They had kings who were supposed to lead the people and show by example how to live their lives for God, but they were failing to do that. As a consequence of their actions God allowed a rival nation to come in and oppress them; to serve as a wakeup call! It’s during this setting that we get this beautiful quotable verse from Isaiah, part of a prophecy he got about a child – a future king that would set things right.
Fast forward 7 to 8 hundred years and Jesus enters the scene. Israel is under a new oppressor (Rome), there are religious leaders that are stuck on rules & greed rather than seeing God’s true heart, and people are expecting the Messiah to overthrow their oppressor and be these 4 different titles. I think they were focused on the might and power rather than peace. But Jesus delivers them in a different way, he does it by going to the cross and dying for all the sins of the world.
Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor because he is fully man and fully God. Meaning that he offers divine, perfect, and awe-inspiring guidance, wisdom, and solutions for anything life throws at us, He understands our hearts and needs better than anyone because He knows all and has experienced it all.
Jesus is our Mighty God because Scripture tells us that he was there at creation (John 1:1), has been given the authority to judge (Matthew 28:18), and he saves us (John 3:16). What Jesus did on the cross for all people for all of time shows his power, he was not just a wise teacher.
Jesus is our Everlasting Father because He embodies infinite, compassionate care, protection, and provision like a father should. And his care and protection for us is forever!
And Jesus is our Prince of Peace because He brings lasting peace and wholeness (Shalom) between God and us, and eventually, He will bring harmony to all of creation, ending conflict and oppression forever!
In Isaiah’s day they were longing for a Messiah who could free them from their oppression. Time and time again, God would make a way and save his people if they turned from their wicked ways and worshiped him again. God always longs for us to return to him, he wants to deliver us, but he often starts with our hearts first rather than what’s happening around us. We may not be living in days like Isaiah, but we are still living in a world where we need a great mighty deliverer to touch our hearts, to deliver us from the inside out. We need Jesus.
So, this Christmas season when you see this verse from Isaiah 9:6, I pray that you would be reminded that you can turn to Jesus, the child born and given to us, the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.