[0:00] All right, well, would you take the Word of God with me and go to Isaiah chapter 9? We are going to continue on in our series called His Name Will Be, an Advent series from Isaiah 9-6.
[0:13] By way of review, a couple of weeks ago, when Jared preached, he told us that Jesus is our wonderful counselor. And of course, we read that in the scriptures, and the takeaway is that Jesus is our living hope because in our living, we can turn to our wonderful counselor.
[0:34] And then last Sunday, we talked about how Jesus is our mighty God. And the takeaway is the question, who is the hero of your stories?
[0:44] We see that those words, mighty God, literally mean hero. Jesus is called our hero, so is He the hero of our story, or are we saving that for ourselves? And then today, we're going to be looking at the next item.
[0:57] You've heard about it some in our music. You've heard about it in our children's time with Sarah. And that is that Jesus is the everlasting Father, the everlasting Father.
[1:07] I know you've been up and down a good bit. I'm going to let you keep your seats today. But we're going to read together Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. Let's look at it together, Isaiah 9 and verse 6.
[1:20] I've got it on the screens if you don't have it in front of you. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[1:39] Everlasting Father is the subject matter for today's message. And I pray that you come away having had an encounter with the Father, the Father himself.
[1:51] Now, that's an interesting thought. We're talking about Jesus, aren't we? This whole passage is called a Christological passage. That means it has to do with the Christ, Jesus himself.
[2:05] So if we're talking about Jesus, who is called the what of God? Jesus is the blank of God. What is he? Son. There we go.
[2:16] Somebody said lamb, and that's true. He is also called the Lamb of God. But right now we're looking at son. So if the son of God is Jesus, then how is he called the Everlasting Father?
[2:30] Make it make sense, right? Well, let's dive into it today. Let's look at it and see what we learn from the scriptures. Let's back up a little bit to chapter 9 and verse 3.
[2:40] Chapter 9 and verse 3. We read here, You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before you as they rejoiced at harvest time, and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.
[2:57] Do you understand what it's talking about there? It says, You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. Well, that is a prophecy.
[3:10] That is a foretelling of how God would enlarge his people. What did he mean by that? You see, when Isaiah wrote down this prophecy, and it was read throughout synagogues for many generations of Israelites, the Hebrew people would latch on to that, and they would think, Man, our kingdom is going to be the world's greatest someday.
[3:34] The people of Israel, long the oppressed, maybe some of them interpreted that as, We're going to be in charge. We're going to be maybe the oppressors.
[3:45] We're going to be the ones calling the shots, ruling the world for once. Now, I don't know if they all thought that. You can see that some of them could have.
[3:58] But the actual unfolding of how God enlarged his people, his nation of Israel, was by bringing in the Gentiles, bringing in the non-Jews.
[4:16] When Jesus died on the cross, and then we see later in the book of Ephesians, there's now no longer Jew or Gentile, no longer Jew or Greek, no longer male or female.
[4:29] We are all one under the blood of Christ. Now, this nation has been enlarged. So the reality of it is, when he said that he would enlarge the nation of Israel and its people would rejoice, Jesus enlarged the nation of Israel by opening it up, opening up God's kingdom.
[4:53] Now God's people are all of us. And you and I are direct beneficiaries of that. I praise God that he enlarged his people. Warren Wiersbe, one of my favorite Bible teachers, said it this way, instead of protecting a small remnant of just the Jews, God would enlarge the whole nation by grafting in, the Bible teaches us, bringing in those who were before on the outside.
[5:24] He did that through his son, Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice. What an incredible thought. Now, we read about Jesus the king here.
[5:36] We read about it last Sunday. We talked about how he was the mighty king or the mighty hero. Well, contrast this king with the kings of Judah at the time. The king, the series of kings that Judah had had, had been poorly advised by their counselor.
[5:52] But Jesus is called the wonderful counselor. So wise. They had been unsuccessful in battle, but Jesus is now the mighty hero God.
[6:04] Their, Judah's kings, had largely treated their people poorly during their short reigns, but Jesus is called the everlasting father to his people.
[6:15] And then they, Judah's kings, had never been able to achieve peace, lasting peace for their people. But Jesus is called what? The prince of peace. So we've got a stark contrast here between who Judah is used to, who God's people are used to in their leadership, and then this coming king, this coming Jesus, who is called the everlasting father.
[6:41] So let's dive into Jesus, the everlasting father. Truth number one, what does a father do? A father protects and provides. Provides and protects.
[6:53] This father king would provide for and protect his people during his reign. And guess what? His reign would never end. It was eternal. It was everlasting.
[7:05] And Jesus' reign is still going on and will never end. Jesus is the king. He is the father king. Last Sunday, we looked at him as the hero slash God.
[7:17] And now he is the father slash king. The father provides and protects. You see, Old Testament patriarchy, looked very different. There's a buzzword out there in culture today, and it's patriarchy.
[7:32] But the Old Testament patriarchy was something established by God, and it looked very different than the self-serving patriarchy movement that we can find in today's culture.
[7:45] It's not what God set up. Jesus gave us the picture of what the ultimate patriarch would be. Of course, that word patriarch just means the male head figure of a group of people.
[7:59] And Jesus would be that ultimate patriarch. The one who protects and provides. The one full of justice, self-sacrifice, guidance, and unending love.
[8:13] That is Jesus, the everlasting father. That is Jesus, the patriarch. Jesus shows us what a leader should be.
[8:25] I love that Sarah talked with the children just a little bit ago about the male figureheads in their lives. What are some good things they love about them? Well, every one of us, and I got a couple of shout-outs in there.
[8:38] The coffee one, I don't know about, but every one of us, the male figureheads in our lives, myself included, as one in my family, are flawed.
[8:54] Oftentimes, we do our best, we try, and so often, we fail in what we are trying to achieve, what we're trying to live up to, this standard of what a father or a patriarch should be.
[9:12] And as I said before, that word, like so many other words, can be misused, can be bent and put toward a self-serving purpose, and that should never be the case in God's people.
[9:27] Real patriarchs, according to what God established in the Bible, should always be men of justice, should always be men of self-sacrifice, should be men willing to lend a guiding hand or ear and always full of undying love.
[9:45] That's what Jesus portrayed himself. That's who he was and who he still is today. So the father provides and protects. Let's look in Isaiah chapter 40.
[9:58] It's on the screen if you don't have time to turn there, but he protects his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them in the fold of his garment. He gently leads those that are nursing.
[10:11] That's what an everlasting father looks like. That's what a good father looks like, and that's who Jesus is. Isaiah 64 and verse 8. Lord, you are our father.
[10:21] We are the clay, and you are our potter. We are all the work of your hands. This is the picture of Jesus, the everlasting father. Psalm 103.
[10:32] As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. And we try to have compassion on our children, don't we? We want to be men of compassion, fathers.
[10:44] Sometimes we have a short fuse, don't we? Sometimes we feel like we've got to bring the hammer down. And sometimes, of course, stern discipline is necessary, but it should always still come from a place of compassion.
[10:56] That's how God treats us. The Lord has compassion on those who fear him. And then in Matthew, going to the Gospels, we see more pictures of Jesus, God as the father.
[11:10] All things have been entrusted to me by my father, Jesus says. No one knows the son except the father, and no one knows the father, watch this, except the son, and anyone to whom the son desires to reveal him.
[11:25] Do you see how the son and the father are inextricably linked? You can't separate them. The son and the father in this picture of the Trinity are absolutely inseparable.
[11:36] And he can reveal the father through himself to us. Jesus is portrayed as our everlasting father because he knows the father so well.
[11:50] And then what does he say? In the very next verses, he says, come to me. I'll show you the father. All of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
[12:02] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me because I am lowly and humble in heart. Man, would God give us fathers and men who would be lowly and humble in heart, in spirit.
[12:18] You will find rest for your souls. It should be that when we run to our fathers, we find rest for our souls. That's what we find when we run to Jesus.
[12:31] That's what we find when we run to God. Why? Because his yoke is easy and his burden is light. And as a father, that's my prayer that God would make me more of a man of compassion, that God would make me someone that people can run to for rest for their souls.
[12:49] A little bit later in the Gospel of Matthew, we read in chapter 23, Do not call anyone on earth your father. Boy, that's interesting.
[13:00] Do not call anyone on earth your father because you have one father who is in heaven. Now, of course, we're not going to say that it's wrong to children to call your dads fathers, but we're recognizing that we're not allowing anyone to take that place that God has as our one true father.
[13:22] You are not to be called instructors either because you have one instructor, the Messiah. Who was the Messiah? Quick quiz, everybody. It's Christmas time. Who was the Messiah? Jesus. That's right.
[13:35] So we see that Jesus and the Father are inseparable. And then in Romans chapter 8, you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.
[13:47] Instead, you receive the spirit of, what's that word? Adoption. By whom we cry out, Abba, Father. This is an endearing term, kind of like daddy.
[14:01] Dad. For a father. So this is the relationship that we can have. The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's children.
[14:15] 2 Corinthians chapter 5, our last one in this section here. Everything is from God who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
[14:28] Do you understand that the Father provides for us? Everything we have is from God. Now, we don't always give Him the credit for it. Sometimes we like to think that we earned it ourselves.
[14:41] Sometimes we like to think that we've gone out and done the hard work and pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps and then sometimes God has to remind us that we are in the palm of His hand.
[14:53] Everything we have comes from Him. So, Jesus is cast as our everlasting Father.
[15:06] Now, let's look for a moment. at these two concepts here. We have the Father of Israel and the Father of us all.
[15:19] The Father of Israel and the Father of us all. Now, Genesis 49 is where we're going to go for the Father of Israel. You don't have to turn there right now.
[15:30] If you want to mark it down and look at it later, you absolutely can. But Genesis 49, verse 10, the scepter will not depart from Judah. What are we talking about when we say the scepter will not depart from Judah?
[15:44] It's that Jesus would be seen as the Father of Israel. Why? Because Jesus is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
[16:00] Some of y'all would know that. It's okay if you didn't. But Jesus is the Father of Israel. He comes from the line of Judah. He is cast as the everlasting Father.
[16:12] And we'll get to what that means in just a moment. But I want to let you know that Jesus is the scepter. What was the scepter? What is a scepter? Something that a king would hold.
[16:26] Right? A scepter is something that the reigning monarch would hold. So the scepter, the royal scepter, would not depart from the tribe of Judah.
[16:39] That was the prophecy all the way back in Genesis 49. And then we get to read throughout. That was smack dab in the middle of the story of Joseph that we just covered a little bit ago.
[16:51] And Judah was one of those brothers of Joseph and the one, the tribe that God chose for the line of Jesus to produce. Jesus came from the line of Judah and the scepter as father of Israel or patriarch of Israel did not depart from the tribe of Judah.
[17:13] But then he is not just the father of Israel. Remember, God expanded his people. He expanded his nation. Now we get to be God's children too.
[17:26] We get to be God's people too. So he is seen as the father of us all. Ephesians chapter four teaches us that there is one God and father of all.
[17:40] So, let's look at what this word father means. Back in Isaiah chapter nine and verse six, we read that he is the everlasting or eternal father.
[17:52] What are we talking about? I swear we're not going to do a language lesson every time I preach from now on, alright? Because we did one last Sunday and I'm just sharing this with you again. Again, I'm not a Hebrew scholar but there are plenty of them out there and I've learned a lot from them.
[18:06] So, this word av-iad, the Hebrew word av means father. What does it mean? We think of father one way in our culture, in our society, but when the Hebrews would have read this word, they would have seen this as the originator and source.
[18:26] So, father meant the originator and source of a group of people. Y'all, this is wild. Jesus, you ready for this, is our originator and source.
[18:40] You could say that Jesus is our founding father. Now, that means something to Americans, doesn't it? Hashtag marka.
[18:52] We love to think back to our founding fathers. fathers. We see God's hand instrumental in how this nation came to be. These great men that he used to see our country founded, were they flawed?
[19:04] Absolutely. But, of course, God used them mightily to see this nation founded where there could be freedom of religion, etc. So, we love to look back and study the lives of our founding fathers, but listen, there is a far, far greater founding father out there.
[19:21] And lest we ever get confused and think that our allegiance is to America first. May I remind you that our allegiance is not of this world. It is to a kingdom that is not of this world.
[19:33] It's to a kingdom that is heavenly. Our allegiance is to God first. We're thankful that he allowed us to be born into this country, many of us, there may be some today who were not born in this country, and we're thankful that this country is here to serve you as much as we can with freedom of religion and freedom of speech, etc.
[19:51] But God has used America, to a point, but there will come a day when America ends. But God's kingdom is everlasting. He is our everlasting father.
[20:04] He is the originator and source of his everlasting kingdom, of which you and I get to be a part. We get to be people in that kingdom.
[20:16] We get to be citizens of that kingdom. Jesus is the founding father of the heavenly kingdom. kingdom. He is our founding father.
[20:27] Ephesians, I'm sorry, Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, the writer says, let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and protector, perfecter, I'm sorry, of our faith.
[20:44] Jesus is the founder of all of this. He started it way back before any of us ever came around, way back before America, way back before any of this that we know in our world to be, Jesus started it all.
[21:06] It all comes from him. Now, the Jews saw this term father of as originator or source.
[21:17] It was used for the head of a household, the head of a people group, so we can see this word founder as a synonym. You see, Satan is called the father of lies.
[21:31] You could look at him as the founder of lies, but Jesus is the father, the source, the originator or the founder of eternity.
[21:45] He is the founding father of all that is eternal. If you want something that is temporary, look elsewhere, but if you want something that is eternal, look to Jesus.
[21:58] And that's what the writer of Hebrews is encouraging us to do. Run this race set before you looking unto Jesus. He's the founder of our faith.
[22:11] Now, there's another word I'd like to introduce in here. It's the word pioneer. Pioneer means something out here in this neck of the woods, doesn't it?
[22:23] Pioneer is a key part of this society, of this community. Clay County Pioneer Union and Rodeo. How many Clay County pioneers do we have in the room today? Anybody by lifted hand?
[22:34] We actually have plenty of pioneers in here. I thought we would. Somebody explain to me what it takes to be a pioneer. I know you've got to be born here and lived here for a certain amount of time.
[22:44] So we take pioneers seriously here in Clay County. Can I use that term then and explain to you what Hebrews 12.2 says in the Christian Standard Bible?
[22:59] It uses this word instead when the translators did their work and they came up with this word, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
[23:11] What does a pioneer do? Am I correct in saying that a pioneer walks the road that others are meant to follow? That he goes first and blazes the trail and a pioneer is the one who sets the standard that others can then follow?
[23:31] Jesus did exactly that for you and for me. So we are challenged to keep our eyes on the pioneer. You can't be a pioneer of the Christian faith.
[23:42] You might be a pioneer of Clay County and I applaud you for that. But you cannot be a pioneer of the Christian faith. There was only one and he is the one we are all meant to follow.
[23:54] Jesus is the founder. He is the pioneer of our faith. Now, let's look just a little bit back in Hebrews.
[24:05] We were in Hebrews 12. Let's go to Hebrews 2. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, just as a reminder, all of it came from God, right?
[24:17] It exists for him, it exists by him, through him. And so, in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.
[24:35] I thought Jesus was already perfect. Yes, but this word perfect, when it's read like this in the scriptures, means complete. that this would complete the story, that it would bring it all to an end.
[24:48] Jesus completed the salvation story. Jesus completed all of it. He was the pioneer, he started it, he said, I am the alpha, the beginning, and he said, I am the omega, the end.
[25:02] Jesus was the beginning and the end of our faith. He is our pioneer, he is the one we have to follow. He is the founder, he is the pioneer, and then let me assure you and give you comfort with this last truth, the father king's reign will never end.
[25:23] He is not just called the father, he is called the everlasting father. It will never end. What does that have to do with us? Revelation 22, 13 reminds us, Jesus said, I am the alpha and omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
[25:42] Let me explain something to you. God's eternality, God's eternality, what do we mean? The fact that he is eternal, the fact that he has no end, affirms his divinity.
[25:56] That means the fact that he is divine, the fact that he is God. So the fact that he is eternal brings us to the fact that he is God. God, so we can get behind somebody like that.
[26:11] We can trust somebody like that. We can put our faith in somebody like that because he's the founder of it. He's the pioneer of it in Philippians 1 and verse 6 tells us this.
[26:23] Before we get to the takeaway, here we go. Are we there? There we are. I am certain that God, here we go, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
[26:39] He's still working on me. He started it. He started it. He's going to finish it. He's going to finish it. He's the founder.
[26:52] He's the pioneer. And he's everlasting. He's eternal. This is our everlasting father, our protector, our provider, the founder, the pioneer of our faith.
[27:09] So our takeaway this morning is this. Until his work in us is complete, until his work in us is complete, do we find ourselves in obedience to the founding father of our faith?
[27:28] What do mean by this? It means making Jesus the hero of our story. It means submitting to his role and his authority.
[27:45] It means saying, God, I know I've got a lot of preconceived notions on how I ought to live this life. I know I was brought up a certain way. I've heard a lot of things taught to me and I've learned a lot of things in this life.
[28:00] But I'm not going to lean on my own understanding, Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Instead, I'm going to trust in the founder. I'm going to trust in the pioneer.
[28:12] I'm going to trust in my father. I'm going to trust in the Lord to direct my steps, to direct my decision making, to tell me how I ought to think, to tell me what I ought to do.
[28:31] I'm going to give up control. Boy, that's a scary thing, isn't it? We don't like giving up control. But we've got to recognize that our father knows what he's talking about.
[28:43] Our father is the one to whom all this belongs. Our father is the one who's in control of it all. And say, okay, God, it's yours. Maybe this story is not playing out how I thought it would.
[28:53] Maybe things aren't necessarily going how I thought it would. But God, you're my father. So I'm going to obey you.
[29:07] Whatever you tell me to do, that's what I'll do. Whatever door you open, I'll walk through it. Whatever door you close, I'm not going to try to force it open. Whatever hard truth you want me to accept, God, teach me.
[29:25] Teach me as a father. You'll always do it gently. You'll always do it compassionately. You'll always do it full of love. In spite of all those things lacking so much in this world around us, we have a father who will always be a good, perfect, everlasting father to us.
[29:45] Would you bow your heads and pray with me? God, I pray right now for our church. I pray for our people. I pray for your children. I'm not going to assume that every person in this room is your child.
[29:57] Showing up to church doesn't guarantee us a place in your family, but repenting of our sin, turning to Jesus, letting go of control and placing all of our faith in you is what grants us the privilege of being your children.
[30:17] children. So if there's anybody in the room today that says, I need to do that, I need to make that decision, I need to place my faith in Jesus right now before I leave this room, would you slip your hand up and I'll pray for you?
[30:29] Pray for you first. Thank you. Thank you. You can put your hand down. God, I pray for the one who's thinking right now that they need to put their faith in Jesus and become your child.
[30:43] I pray that you would give them the understanding, give them the grace to be able to say, yes, I know I'm a sinner. I repent of my sin. I know Jesus died for that sin.
[30:55] He rose from the dead. He can hear me. He's alive. He hears me when I pray. And right now I'm going to ask him to cleanse me from my sin, wash him clean forever. Make me your child.
[31:08] And then be that good father to us. The son of God and God the father cannot be separated. And Jesus knows how to be the father to his people.
[31:21] We get to be his people. God, I thank you for that privilege. Thank you for that truth that we can take through the Christmas time and say, God, I give up. I surrender. I let go.
[31:33] You be my father. You make the decisions. Church, how many of you would by lifted hands say, would you pray for me? I've got something on my heart this morning I need prayer for. You slip your hand up right now and pray for you.
[31:45] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. God, I pray for those that raised their hand and many others who are in the midst of prayer right now.
[31:56] And I just ask that you would step in, that you would reveal your truth in our minds. Our minds are so weak. We think sometimes we've got it all figured out and we don't. help us to remember that we are the children, you are the father.
[32:11] Help us to submit to your authority, your leadership in our lives. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church, would you join us in standing if you're able to?
[32:21] If you'd like to keep your seats and be in prayer, that's absolutely fine. If you'd like to come down here and use these steps to kneel and just do some private prayer, that's absolutely fine. If you'd like to come talk to me down front, I'm available for that.
[32:33] If you'd like to think about joining this church or placing your faith in Jesus, being baptized, whatever God's put on your heart, let's just spend a couple of minutes before we dismiss this morning doing business with God.