The Names of the King

Isaiah writes, and his name shall be called, and you almost hear this drum roll, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

As if to say, one name ain't gonna handle it. You need to understand that idea behind the phrase, notice, and his name shall be called. That's a, in the Old Testament, represented everything about who they were, which is why one single name just isn't gonna do it. It isn't gonna comprehend everything the Messiah was, or will be, or will do. Christmas is a special season to reflect on the birth of Jesus Christ.

Though his birth occurred over 2,000 years ago, the church still worships and exalts Jesus as Lord of Lords and King of Kings and the prophesied Messiah and Redeemer of the Scriptures. All of those are names of the Messiah from Scripture. The prophet Isaiah focused on Jesus' attributes when he wrote a hymn about his names. In doing that, Isaiah gave us a worshipful picture of the Son of God.

This is wisdom for the heart. Stephen Davey continues his series called The King is Here with this lesson, The Names of the King. What I want to do today is sort of slow down and focus on one of the clearest and most meaningful hymns composed for Israel to sing. It would be adapted, it would be sung, it's lyrics by the church then, and it has been, perhaps most famously in the last 300 years by the composition of Handel, we call the Messiah. It was a prophetic poem composed by Isaiah 700 plus years before the birth of Jesus. No other child could ever possibly fulfill all that these lyrics described or promised but our Messiah. So if you're picking up on the clues, you're headed to Isaiah and we're going to land at chapter nine today for a few moments together and I want to pick it up at verse six. Isaiah chapter nine verse six.

These are familiar lyrics, aren't they? For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called. Stop there for a moment.

Maybe ten minutes or so, okay? I've got to deal with this opening phrase. For to us a child is born. Now in our last study we looked at the pre-existence of Christ, God the Son, who is now born into time and space, the miraculous result of the Holy Spirit supernaturally fertilizing an egg and Mary. Nine months or so later you have this staggering moment in this outdoor animal shelter, more than likely surrounded by temple sheep destined for a trip five miles away to the temple where they will be sacrificed. There in that stall, God the Son is literally born a baby who would be the Lamb of God. If you remember the New Testament narrative, he swaddled in strips of cloth and he's put in a manger when he's born, a feeding trough.

That isn't quite the rosy picture you typically see. If this animal stall was carved into the hillsides in that region as it normally was, this would simply have been a stone cutout into the side, elevated a couple of feet perhaps off the ground and in that trough, that stone trough, they would place the grain or the hay. The shepherds in fact nearby were told they could identify the right baby because he would be lying in a feed trough in this outdoor stall. No doubt babies had been born in Bethlehem during the time when all of the people had been told to go back to their own place for the purpose of signing up for the military draft which the king wanted.

He wanted fresh names as well as fresh taxes. Now I don't know about you but it's always striking to me that they would arrive and find the baby lying alone in the feed trough. Babies are usually in somebody's arms, especially newborn babies.

It always strikes me that Jesus more than likely was sleeping at this moment because he's not in the arms of Joseph and Mary and this implies they are sleeping as well, utterly and totally exhausted by this journey, too exhausted to even hold him. It's remarkable when you think of the humility of this birth. I don't know about you but newborn babies, I've been to the delivery room three times with Marcia and one time we got twins out of that one so we got four kids with only three long-term payment plans. But that newborn's held.

Either the mother's holding the baby or the father gets to take a turn and other siblings and grandparents and extended family and friends and people you don't even know who've come in to hold the baby who will bill you later for the privilege of that, right? This is an incredible picture here, this baby lying in a trough of desperation, of exhaustion, of poverty, of aloneness, of untold challenges that are just now beginning to unfold not soon after this. They're going to run for their lives to Egypt to get away from Herod. This is a picture of the Messiah's humility in his humanity. Unto us a child is born. The next phrase relates to his deity. To us a son is given. In other words, he was born and he was sent.

It's the implication of pre-existence. Born at that moment entirely human, pre-existing prior to that with a divine origin. The Messiah is both fully human and fully divine and Isaiah kind of picks that up and drops the hymns into these lyrics.

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given. Now he has to be both or this messianic mission will be an utter failure. He has to be human for one thing or he cannot die. God doesn't die. Paul that converted Pharisee and attorney would later write, the wages of sin that is the payment of sin is death. Death. In other words, for Jesus to make the payment for our sins, he must be able to experience the payment for our sin and the payment for our sin is dying.

Death. But since he is also eternally God the son, he is capable of not just dying as a man but at the same time bearing the penalty of our crimes and our unjust thoughts and actions and our impurities and all of our sins. In a moment in time on the cross because he is God is able to make the payment for that load of sin and iniquity. In fact, Peter would write that he will bear in his body on that tree our sin.

1 Peter 2.24. He must be both fully man and fully God or his mission will be a waste of time. Isaiah prophesies centuries before he arrives that he will indeed be both a human baby but a divinely sent son.

Sometime in your study you might just track through the three kinds of son that he is. He is the son of Mary. That is a reference to his human substance. He is referred to as the son of man. That is a reference to his messianic purpose. He is referred to as the son of God.

That relates to his divine essence. So this opening phrase is loaded with prophetic declaration. Isaiah goes on to write, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. He is going to rule the governments of the world from his throne the prophets declare which will be in Jerusalem. Obviously this particular part of the prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. When Jesus came, he didn't overthrow the government ruling his own region.

That was one of the upsetting things about those who were ready to crown him. They want him to overthrow Rome and ascend the throne of David, his forefather. But he isn't crowned. He is crucified. So when he comes to fulfill the second rule or this rule, here is what his kingdom is going to look like. Look at verse 7. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.

Now there are four descriptions, by the way, and I am going to rattle them off fairly quickly in this text. First, his government is going to be fruitful. Isaiah writes about the increase of his government. It will increase.

That's a Hebrew word used for crops flourishing and herds multiplying. It's going to be a prosperous, fulfilling, abundant kingdom. Secondly, it will be peaceful. Of peace there will be no end. Third, it will be an honorable rule. Now it is on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth.

No graft, no deceit, no political maneuvering, no greed. His rule will be righteous. It will be right. It will be just. It will be marked with integrity.

It will be entirely honorable. His kingdom will be fruitful and peaceful and honorable. Fourthly, it will be eternal. Beyond that thousand-year reign, after the final judgment and on into eternity, Isaiah writes it this way, from this time forth and forevermore. I think what we'll do in our next session, Lord willing, is just talk about that thousand-year reign and what it's going to mean for you to be a king and a queen reigning with him.

It's really one of the remarkably ignored portions of our future joy. Now Isaiah turns to the subject of the baby's name. As you know, whenever a baby is born into someone's household, it's big news. Naming that baby is a big deal. Whether you go and get books, you know, couples will get books, 200 names, most popular names or whatever.

You can get those at Walmart, whatever. They're going to call their friends and talk about names. They're going to talk to other couples. Have you ever noticed they never talk to their parents? Grandparents have no say in it.

Don't make no mistake. I'm not bothered one bit about it. Besides, you can't tell millennials anything anyway.

Have you noticed that? Not the millennials in this church. You're unique.

I better get back to my text. All right, so what's the name of the Messiah going to be? Isaiah writes, and his name shall be called, and you almost hear this drum roll, Wonderful Counselor, Holy God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. As if to say, one name ain't going to handle it.

One name and a middle name, a couple of middle names, ain't going to handle, covering all of the legacy we want to build in to this. And you need to understand that idea behind the phrase, notice, and his name shall be called. That's a Hebrew mindset. It's adopted in the New Testament.

It's adopted by many of you. It has the idea of naming your son or daughter a name that has some attribute or some characteristic of which you want them to demonstrate you hope they grow up to represent or to live out. Their name in the Old Testament represented everything about who they were, which is why one single name just isn't going to do it. It isn't going to comprehend everything the Messiah was or will be or will do. And by the way, if I can digress for a moment, this idea is picked up and you read of this often in the New Testament, especially as it relates to the Gospel, a verse like 1 John, where John the Apostle will write, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

It's a great passage for you to memorize, by the way. Eternal life and the assurance of salvation is not in believing that the Son of God's name is Jesus or wonderful or counsel or whatever. What he means here is that when you believe in the name of the Son of God, you believe in everything about him. You believe in everything he represents. You believe in everything he did and will do because his name represents everything about him.

That's the idea here. So what do you call him? What do you name him? Well, Isaiah, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, whittles it down to five names.

We'll look at them briefly. His name shall be called first, wonderful. Now that word in the Hebrew text is not an adjective, it is a noun. So I recommend you put a comma after that in your English translation.

Mine missed it. It's a noun and it stands alone as one of Messiah's descriptive names. Simply put, what are we going to call him? I know, let's call him wonderful. That's everything he is, everything he will be.

It's a categorical expression of our wonderful, Lord, you could translate it marvelous. He is marvelous. He is wonderful.

Would you notice Isaiah is not telling us with this particular name anything about what Jesus will do, he's telling us what or who Jesus is. He will do marvelous things. He will do wonderful things, but he is marvelous. He is wonderful. Unlike you, perhaps, or me, we every so often do something wonderful.

We wish we did more wonderful things. For this one, the Messiah, he will be altogether consistently, unchangeably, incomprehensibly, entirely, eternally wonderful. Isaiah adds, his name shall be called wonderful, counselor. He's the all-sufficient source of wisdom. Whatever he says is dependable. Whatever he reveals is valuable. Whatever he advises is beneficial. He never gives bad advice. He is infallible, omniscient, perfectly insightful as our counselor. Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus is the only counselor you'll ever go to that doesn't have his own set of problems? That counselor is not sitting there listening to you thinking, man, I've got the same problem.

I'm dealing with the same issue. He's the only one you'll ever go to that's not struggling with an issue like we will. He'll never get anything wrong. He's not distracted by his own problems. In fact, he never needs counseling. Paul would write it, and who has been his counselor?

Historical question, expecting the answer, no one. Romans 11, 34. But as your perfect counselor, by the way, he knows your heart. He knows your needs. He knows your sorrows. He knows your issues. He knows your struggles. In fact, he's the only counselor you'll ever go to where you don't have to spend time bringing him up to speed about what's going on in your life which takes 45 minutes of the 60 minutes you've been given.

He already knows. What I love is the fact that he not only gives you advice, he is able to empower you to follow it and to put it into practice. Isaiah announces, let me tell you about somebody who's coming who doesn't just give counsel. He gives you the power to fill it out, fulfill it and live it out. He is wonderful.

He is counselor. Notice next, he is mighty God. Now, mighty in the Hebrew text is an adjective describing the kind of God he is. He is God, Almighty, El Gabor, traditional name for God, used by Moses, used by Jeremiah, used by Nehemiah, used by David.

Now, the liberals know they're in a cul-de-sac here because they're going to have a hard time denying the Messiah is none other than Almighty God and so surely Jesus can't be the Messiah because that would mean he's Almighty God. So we're going to re-translate this a little differently. We're going to translate mighty God as the hero of strength. That's their favorite translation.

A hero can be anybody. It can refer to anybody as sinful or righteous. There's no way Isaiah can be referring to this baby as none other than Almighty God. Well, all you have to do is turn over a page further in Isaiah's prophecy to the next chapter and he uses this same expression exactly in chapter 10 and verses 20 and 21 where he says, in that day, and I've edited it down, in that day the remnant of Israel, of Jacob, will return to the Almighty God. Same name. Israel will one day in repentance return to Almighty God who happens to be this baby boy.

You can't get any clearer. This Christmas season, perhaps you've already recognized with co-workers, it's okay to talk about Jesus as a little baby in the manger but just don't spread the notion that that baby is actually Almighty God. In fact, let's keep him in the manger. It's safer for us all if he stays that cuddly little baby in that manger.

Don't let him grow up. And if he grows up, let's just make sure he's a moral teacher and all he really did without ever judging anybody was deliver a golden rule. Let's make him a healer.

Let's make him a good example. Now my friend, that baby in that manger, according to Isaiah's lyrics, is none other than Almighty God. He's not just a good teacher. He is Almighty God. He's not just a healer. He's Almighty God. He's not just a moral example. He is Almighty God.

Isaiah couldn't say it any plainer. This baby is God in the flesh, Almighty God. Now if you want some encouragement about the deity of Jesus, this hymn composed for you does that. If you're troubled about the deity of Jesus, it's only going to get worse. Just look at his next name. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father.

I mean, where'd that come from? It sounds odd, doesn't it? It sounds odd because we, each fanitarians, who take the Bible at face value, understand there's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. So it's odd to hear Father related to the Son, the Messiah. Well, you need to understand that Father here is a reference not so much to his position within the triune God, but his eternal preexistence, his eternality, his authority, Everlasting Father or Eternal Father.

You could turn it around to help you understand it perhaps a little better. He is the Father of Eternity, is what he said. That is, he is the originator of eternity. He is the source of eternal life.

Think of it this way. Jesus, if you're old enough in the faith, you may recall in John 8, is describing Satan. And he says that lying is Satan's native tongue. In other words, when Satan tells a lie, he just speaks in the language he knows. That's what Satan does.

His specialty is lying. And then Jesus says this in John 8.44. He says, Satan is the father of lies.

Same idea back in Isaiah 9. In other words, what the Lord means is that Satan is the origin of lying. He's the original liar. He's the source of all that is untrue.

You could say it then this way. Jesus is the source of eternal life. He is the originator of all that is everlasting, which lets us know that since he's the source of everlasting life, we're not going to run out of it one day in eternity.

Jesus isn't going to run down. He's the source. He is the fulfillment. He is the originator of everlasting life.

Satan's specialty is lying. Jesus's specialty is everlasting life. Would you like it?

Would you like everlasting life? Go to him. He's the source. Finally, Isaiah adds one more name. Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. It has an immediate application to every believer for you. Cease that enmity you have with God when you come by way of that peace treaty written by Jesus Christ, signed as it were in his blood.

That enmity ends. You no longer fear standing before him. You know him now as your own Lord.

And Paul would write it this way in Romans 5 and verse 1. Because of the work of Christ in whom you trust, you have found or you find peace with God. So you come to him, if you haven't already, and join us in singing the lyrics of Isaiah's poem and call him wonderful. Say, Lord, I want you to be wonderful to me and for me through your death and sacrifice. Call him your wisest counselor.

You've been running to everybody else for advice. The only one that can give you meaningful counsel for life is Jesus Christ and those who represent him. Call him my almighty God, not just a baby, not just a good man, not just a great teacher, not just a martyred Messiah. Almighty God. Call him your source of eternal life. Go to him for that gift which he offers.

And then claim him as your own Prince of Peace. Thanks for joining us today. This is Wisdom for the Heart with pastor and author Stephen Davey. Today's lesson came from a brand new series called The King is Here. And Stephen's entitled the lesson you just heard, The Names of the King. If you tuned in late and missed the beginning, you can go back and listen online on our website, wisdomonline.org.

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