The Names of Jesus ~ Pastor Mark Evans

Our Wonderful Savior

Isaiah 9:6

 

 

Over 700 years before the birth of Christ the prophet Isaiah was inspired to write a promise as though it had already occurred "those who sit in darkness have seen a great light. Those who have dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined" Isaiah 9:2. He was speaking of those living in Northern Israel (Galilee of the Gentiles), that a light would dawn upon them and lead them into peace and victory. He then went on to describe the One who would lead them into the blessing: "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" Isaiah 9:6.

 

The Child Isaiah spoke of is destined to sit on the throne of His forefather King David to rule in everlasting righteousness. The Child is the promised Messiah, offspring of the line of David, born of a virgin, Son of God - Jesus Christ!

 

And His name will be called:

 

WONDERFUL

 

Full of wonder - awesome and mysterious. In Judges 13, when Manoah (the father of Samson) wanted to give credit to the Angel of the Lord who promised that he would have a son, the Angel responded, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?"

 

His awesome wonderfulness and His wonderful plans for us are too much for us to fully understand. In Psalm 139, David wrote:

 

¹            O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

²            You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

³            You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴            For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

⁵            You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

⁶            Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

 

¹⁶            Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.^[1]

 

COUNSELOR

 

Jesus spoke to them saying, "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you" John 15:15. Then, after His resurrection, Jesus spoke of His disciples as His brothers, having God as their Father (John 20:17). So they went from being servants to friends to family! "The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant" Psalm 25:14.

 

We have a full-time real-time Counselor available 24/7 to comfort and to lead us into all truth. He is the Person of Christ our counselor in the Person of the Holy Spirit. "When He the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you of things to come" John 16:13.

 

When we have the Holy Spirit living within us, we have the life of Christ as our personal counselor and, as the Holy Spirit is called, our personal comforter.

 

"Do you know, my friends, that the Spirit within you is very God? Oh that our eyes were opened to see the greatness of God’s gift! Oh that we might realize the vastness of the resources secreted in our own hearts! I could shout with joy as I think, 'The Spirit who dwells within me is no mere influence, but a living Person; He is very God. The infinite God is within my heart!' I am at a loss to convey to you the blessedness of this discovery, that the Holy Spirit dwelling within my heart is a Person. I can only repeat, 'He is a Person!' and repeat it again, 'He is a Person !' and repeat it yet again, 'He is a Person!' Oh, my friends, I would fain repeat it to you a hundred times: The Spirit of God within me is a Person! I am only an earthen vessel, but in that earthen vessel I carry a treasure of unspeakable worth, even the Lord of glory." Nee, Watchman (2009-01-13). The Normal Christian Life (p. 141). CLC Publications. Kindle Edition.

 

MIGHTY GOD

 

Hebrew - El Gibbor [a mighty man who is God]. This is a great description of the Son of God as both human and divine. Scripture prophesies that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem but would come from the days of eternity, Micah 5:2. "I and My Father are one" Jesus proclaimed. And "Before Abraham was, I AM." Now that the Son of God has experienced manhood, those He has redeemed may experience the life of God within them through the gift of the Holy Spirit. "I in them, You in Me; that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me" John 17:23. The amazing mystery of God becoming Man is coupled with the awesome truth of man becoming one with God - having the very life of God within him! There is only ONE God - worshipped throughout eternity, but that ONE God has humbled Himself to include you and me to share in His eternal life! Amazing!!

 

EVERLASTING FATHER

 

The Child is called an Eternal Father. When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus responded, "Have I been with you so long, and you have not known Me? He who has seen Me has seen the Father" John 14:8-9.

 

The Son is eternal, uncreated. He is of one substance with the Father "very God of very God" as the Nicene Creed states it.

 

PRINCE OF PEACE

 

"For He Himself is our peace, who has made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation" Ephesians 2:14. Christ has joined together that which was separated between men and between God and man. He is the Prince of Peace! A prince is someone who has been given authority in a kingdom. "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" Matthew 28:18. Jesus Christ has sole authority to bring peace between God and man - to bring a settle standing and a clear conscience before God. There is nothing that remains to be settled - it is done! No unpaid debt, no stain of guilt, no unsettled conscience. "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" John 14:27.

 

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we havepeace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" Romans 5:1-2