If you've ever heard Handel's Messiah, you know that it is based on this verse (Isaiah 9:6):
"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
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
This says it all and is no understatement of the job description, as it were, of our Lord and Savior. There is utmost significance to each title rendered (actually Jesus has 118 titles mentioned in the Word). Indeed, His name is Wonderful and in one sense He has no name, but only descriptions to make Him known, for God cannot be labeled, defined, or analyzed by man to fit in a box for our convenience--this is only to condescend to us and it is like God lisping or speaking baby talk to us, as it were. He is born a child in the flesh in His incarnation but is a son given in His deity, which was preexistent.
He was the eternal Son of God before His incarnation and quite ironically He is also called the Everlasting Father because He is the eternal Father who created time and is the Alpha and Omega. Jesus is a Father to us: "... Behold, I and the children God has given me" (Heb. 2:13 ESV), quoting Isaiah 8:18. This title is often cited by those who deny the Trinity.
He is a Counselor because He identifies with our plight as mankind, can explain God's ways to man, and has been touched with our infirmities and weaknesses as a compassionate human being personally on earth in all its suffering and joy. He is the mediator or middleman or daysman betwixt us and God the Father and knows both sides of the story so that we can relate to him as the icon of God Himself.
He is not just called Mighty God, but is God in the flesh, as "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." His deity is attested to by signs, miracles, the Holy Spirit Himself, and Scripture.
Why is He the Prince of Peace? Because they were expecting a liberator from Rome, but only true and lasting peace can be found in Him (to know Him is to know peace, and having no Jesus, there is no peace). "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee" (Isaiah 26;3). Only the infinite sacrifice of God Almighty could be an adequate sacrifice on our behalf.
One of the significant points of His wonderful name is that we can aspire to emulate Him: We can be counselors with the power of the Spirit; we can be peacemakers in Christ; we can be father-figures with Christ in our hearts and submit to His authority as a subordinate, even as He was to the Father. We are not God, but God lives in us and will make His glory manifest in us and through us as His vessels of honor to bring Him glory, which is why we are here (cf. Isaiah 43:7).
Why were the Pharisees so upset when He claimed equality with the Father, because the prophecy said He'd be called the "Mighty God" (not just in the power or Spirit of God)--they should've known this and most likely some did. They despised the fact that He assumed the divine prerogatives of God Almighty, such as the authority to forgive sins and to usher in the kingdom of God with his Messianic Manifesto.
They also despised Him for profaning the Sabbath Day, which was a fetish with them and their favorite commandment and center of their legalism and control of the people. Even more, they despised His charisma and that the people flocked to Him and listened to Him, thus invading their turf and job security and threatening the future of the nation of Israel as a people. They complained about Him because "[He is] a mere man that makes Himself out to be God."
The problem was that they didn't quite visualize the Messiah as being God Himself, but only a martial hero to liberate them from the yoke of Rome and grant international utopia for the Jewish state, and when this dream didn't materialize their hopes were shattered: They got a pacifist instead who was to reign over hearts not nations.
Jesus will indeed reign over the entire world in His Millennial Kingdom and bring world peace, but that will be another age. Before He could come to reign He must come to suffer, but they couldn't visualize two advents. The cross had to precede the crown and it is the same with us! Soli Deo Gloria!
"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
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
This says it all and is no understatement of the job description, as it were, of our Lord and Savior. There is utmost significance to each title rendered (actually Jesus has 118 titles mentioned in the Word). Indeed, His name is Wonderful and in one sense He has no name, but only descriptions to make Him known, for God cannot be labeled, defined, or analyzed by man to fit in a box for our convenience--this is only to condescend to us and it is like God lisping or speaking baby talk to us, as it were. He is born a child in the flesh in His incarnation but is a son given in His deity, which was preexistent.
He was the eternal Son of God before His incarnation and quite ironically He is also called the Everlasting Father because He is the eternal Father who created time and is the Alpha and Omega. Jesus is a Father to us: "... Behold, I and the children God has given me" (Heb. 2:13 ESV), quoting Isaiah 8:18. This title is often cited by those who deny the Trinity.
He is a Counselor because He identifies with our plight as mankind, can explain God's ways to man, and has been touched with our infirmities and weaknesses as a compassionate human being personally on earth in all its suffering and joy. He is the mediator or middleman or daysman betwixt us and God the Father and knows both sides of the story so that we can relate to him as the icon of God Himself.
He is not just called Mighty God, but is God in the flesh, as "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." His deity is attested to by signs, miracles, the Holy Spirit Himself, and Scripture.
Why is He the Prince of Peace? Because they were expecting a liberator from Rome, but only true and lasting peace can be found in Him (to know Him is to know peace, and having no Jesus, there is no peace). "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee" (Isaiah 26;3). Only the infinite sacrifice of God Almighty could be an adequate sacrifice on our behalf.
One of the significant points of His wonderful name is that we can aspire to emulate Him: We can be counselors with the power of the Spirit; we can be peacemakers in Christ; we can be father-figures with Christ in our hearts and submit to His authority as a subordinate, even as He was to the Father. We are not God, but God lives in us and will make His glory manifest in us and through us as His vessels of honor to bring Him glory, which is why we are here (cf. Isaiah 43:7).
Why were the Pharisees so upset when He claimed equality with the Father, because the prophecy said He'd be called the "Mighty God" (not just in the power or Spirit of God)--they should've known this and most likely some did. They despised the fact that He assumed the divine prerogatives of God Almighty, such as the authority to forgive sins and to usher in the kingdom of God with his Messianic Manifesto.
They also despised Him for profaning the Sabbath Day, which was a fetish with them and their favorite commandment and center of their legalism and control of the people. Even more, they despised His charisma and that the people flocked to Him and listened to Him, thus invading their turf and job security and threatening the future of the nation of Israel as a people. They complained about Him because "[He is] a mere man that makes Himself out to be God."
The problem was that they didn't quite visualize the Messiah as being God Himself, but only a martial hero to liberate them from the yoke of Rome and grant international utopia for the Jewish state, and when this dream didn't materialize their hopes were shattered: They got a pacifist instead who was to reign over hearts not nations.
Jesus will indeed reign over the entire world in His Millennial Kingdom and bring world peace, but that will be another age. Before He could come to reign He must come to suffer, but they couldn't visualize two advents. The cross had to precede the crown and it is the same with us! Soli Deo Gloria!
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