Christmas in a Verse: A Look at Isaiah 9:6 - Part 2

This verse from Isaiah 9 rests in the midst of a description of the reign of a coming prince. We believe this passage is a Messianic passage and prophetic of the coming of Jesus and his future reign. He is the child referred to in this verse and the descriptors that follow are describing him.

Since the days are flying by, this week I am going to cover Mighty God, and Eternal Father. Once again let me reiterate these words translated from Hebrew and are as close to the correct meanings as the translators could be. I decided to lump these together since there are some characteristics in common between these names.

Mighty God

While Thor is a mighty god, he is both a small “g” and a fictional character. He cannot help us at all other than to be eye candy for those of us who like to see a muscular man with long blonde hair and a beard, swinging a hammer. Ha, ha. Even Thor had his limitations. He was bound by his flesh, at least when he was on earth, and while he could bring lightning from heaven, and fight without tiring, he wasn’t everywhere present and could not save people from the greatest enemy of all, sin. Move over Thanos, sin is responsible for wiping out entire populations due to its end result, death.

BUT JESUS! Jesus is the great warrior prince. He has a legion of warriors at his right hand and he merely needs to think and it will be done. He is the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. He met the enemy head on when He died on the cross, walked into hell and took the keys of death away from Satan, then He came out of the grave. He didn’t need a hammer, or a staff, or a spear. He worked in tandem with His Father and the Holy Spirit to give every single soul on this planet the ability to live…eternally. Not only is He God with a big “G”, but He is the Mighty God.

“The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken, And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.”

— Psalm 50:1 (NASB 1995)

“Who is this who comes from Edom,
With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah,
This One who is majestic in His apparel,
Marching in the greatness of His strength?
“It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.””

— Isaiah 63:1 (NASB 1995)

Eternal Father

Image by Sandra Hak from Pixabay (AI Generated)

Most of you are probably familiar with the term Father Christmas as a reference to Santa Claus. Father Christmas started in the English tradition in the 15th century and was a personification of the Christmas spirit. This eventually became what we now know today as Santa Claus. Once again we have a fictional being who embodies the ideal of a father who cares for and tends to his children. While Father Christmas has been around for a long time, he is not eternal. Even if we push the boundaries and say he is spirit, his formation has a place in history. In addition, Father Christmas, or Santa Claus might have a pure heart wanting to promote the ideas of love and generosity all throughout the year, he is still limited. He cannot change a person’s heart. He cannot take the addict and make them clean. He can give money, toys, clothes, food and more, but still the darkness of poverty, despair and loss continues.

Our Eternal Father is just that. He had no beginning and will have no end. In the book of Revelation, the final book, and the final word on what God’s judgement will look like for this world, we see God proclaim of Himself:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

— Revelation 1:8 (NASB 1995)

“Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”

— Revelation 21:6 (NASB 1995)

“ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

— Revelation 22:13 (NASB 1995)

Remember our series in Romans 8, where we discussed verses 15 - 17?

“15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

— Romans 8:15 -17 (NASB 1995)

Our adoption into the family of God made us His children. We are no longer slaves to sin, and death. Remember, Jesus walked into hell and took the keys? Our Eternal Father gives us access to everything in His kingdom. He’s not only the best dad ever, He’s there forever.

I hope you are enjoying this look at the names of Jesus as seen in Isaiah 9. Next week, even though it is after Christmas I will discuss the Prince of Peace, and why it is even better to meditate on this name after the holidays are over.

Merry Christmas!

Mulling it Over - Romans 8:14-17

We have been working our way through the 8th chapter of the book of Romans in the New Testament. Paul’s letter to the Jewish Christians at Rome is full of doctrine relevant to the Christian faith including the infamous “Roman Road”, a miniature gospel in just a few verses (Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-10, and 10:13). It also gives plenty of teaching on how to conduct ourselves with relation to others.

Image by pascal OHLMANN from Pixabay

Today we are looking at the following verses:

“14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified ”

— Romans 8:14-17 (NASB 1995)

These verses are essential to understanding our position in God’s kingdom. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are instantly received into God’s family. What does this really mean, especially in light of the dysfunction of so many families in the world around us. Today it seems we know more broken families than whole ones; blended families than original families; families filled with struggles and heartbreak. Why would I want to be part of that? As we dissect these verses we will gain a better understanding of the beauty of being part of the family of God.

Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God…

These verses are meant to describe those who are believers in Christ. Not just belief that He existed, and was a great teacher, but that His purpose was to live, die and rise again so that we might be able to be part of His family. If we are part of this family we are led by His Spirit. Yes, we can quench and grieve the Holy Spirit, but if we are growing in our relationship with Him and becoming more Christ like, we will respond to His leading.

…these are the sons of God.

Right away in this first verse we receive our positional attribute. We are “the sons (and daughters, of course), of God.” Paul will spend the next few verses putting an exclamation point on this position.

Image by Redleaf_Lodi from Pixabay

For you have not receive a spirit of slavery, leading to fear again…

This is an important sentence, so read it again! If you are a child of God, a daughter of God, you are not enslaved, no matter how you might feel; no matter your struggles, fears, addictions, bad habits, failures, or worries. When you begin feeling enslaved, know right away, that spirit is not from God. God does not want us to be fearful. Everything He has done for us was to raise us out of the valley of fear, so that we might wander freely on the mountaintops of peace.

The reason Paul wrote these words, by the inspiration and leading of the Holy Spirit, was in part to confirm to the Christians in the church at Rome that they were not enslaved to anyone or anything. Rome may be the governing entity, a believer might even by a slave in their socioeconomic standing, but they were not to be enslaved to any teaching or doctrine that tried to add to the gospel. Christ, and Christ alone.

Any time we add to the gospel of Jesus Christ we bring ourselves under the enslavement of ideas, thoughts and teachings that are not accurate. In turn this thinking leads to enslavement and that leads to fear. We will never be good enough. We will never do enough. Our purpose, worth and standing is given to us by God through our relationship with Jesus. To do anything else will find us never able to be that person, or attain that level of “goodness”. We will be enslaved, and that will leave us always feeling fearful.

Image by Joel McGInley from Pixabay

…but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

Again, Paul reminds us we have been received into the family of God. He makes it legal by using the term, adoption. God didn’t just invite us to come dwell with Him, eating His food, using His resources, and in turn benefiting from His limitless wealth and love. He went so far as to actually adopt us. That adoption is both a binding legal act, and a practice is interesting. Not only do we legally belong to the family of God, but we can take on the characteristic of children belonging to their biological parent by calling God in the familial and familiar sense, “Abba! Father!” Calling God Abba is an intimate term and acknowledges Him as the one who knows us best.

But how can we be sure of all of this?

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit, that we are children of God…

The Holy Spirit who dwells in you when you call upon the name of Jesus; when you believe in what He did on the cross and that He rose again; that Spirit testifies with our own spirit that we are children of God. There is a deep, solid confirmation within us when we turn off the noise and really allow God to speak to us that we are one with Him. We are His kin, His children, His daughters and sons.

…and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ…

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

If the last few verses didn’t convince you, then this should. Adoption means we are not only children of God, but children of the King. We are fellow heirs with our brother, Christ. We will inherit, as He will inherit the glory and riches of His Father’s heavenly kingdom. This inheritance is not without cost.

…if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified.

Living life as a Christ follower in this fallen world means we suffer. But our suffering is not in vain. We suffer, as Christ suffered, for a great a mighty purpose, the glorification of our God and King, our Abba, Father. The beauty is found in the last phrase, “…that we may also be glorified.” You see, just as God the Father will glorify His Son, Jesus, He will also glorify us. What a glorious day that will be!

Wonderful Words of Life - Don't Lose Heart

We have all struggled at some point in our lives. If you are like me just getting out of bed on a regular basis is a struggle. It seems I always feel tired. Living in this post Covid world, I know many are struggling with just the day to day activities of life. Getting up, going to work, taking care of the kids and seeing to their needs, keeping a home, being involved in your church, or in other activities that your kids are involved in, helping with your grandkids…the list goes on. Life is different now than it used to be. With all the advances in technology, modern medicine, and science, people still hurt, get sick and suffer.

Image by Ronald Carreño from Pixabay

Recently we have seen the suffering of many on the island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. Wild fires have devastated that once beautiful paradise and left a path of destruction and death. Living in the aftermath is going to be an hour by hour struggle. Maybe that is how you are feeling today. You are asking yourself questions like: How can I keep getting up in the morning? Am I ever going to feel completely normal again? How will I ever survive this disease, divorce, loss…you can fill in the blank. It is during times like these, when I feel overwhelmed that I love to be reminded of God’s goodness and mercy.

Image by sippakorn yamkasikorn from Pixabay

“16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

— 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NASB 1995)

We all know the reality. Our bodies will decay. In fact, everything that is physical will decay and fade away. No matter how strong we make buildings, how healthy our bodies are, or how much we clean up the ecosystems around us, they still will decay and return to the dust from which they came. This might leave you feeling like, what is the point? What is the point of trying to do better by exercising, eating right, taking care of our homes, or making better choices for the environment when in the end it makes no difference? The above verses give us a few answers to this question. Let’s look at each verse individually and see what encouragement we can glean from these Wonderful Words.

Image by Emslichter from Pixabay

Verse 16 - Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

We are instructed to not lose heart. Even though our physical bodies, and all the physical stuff around us is decaying and will fade away, we are reminded our inner man is being renewed all the time. Who or what is our inner man? Our inner man is the new creation Christ made us when we asked Him to be our Lord and Savior. This is the man that the Holy Spirit works with and on, as we die to the flesh and live to the Spirit. Renewal happens as we do away with those selfish, fleshly tendencies and learn to feed and grow the new man God is creating us to be. Renewal is dependent on our reading His word, praying, fellowshipping with other believers, and relying on Him more and more as we maneuver this life.

Verse 17 - For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

It may not seem that what you are going through is light affliction. There is nothing light about suffering the death of a loved one, loss of a home or job, or dealing with a devastating diagnosis from the doctor. However, when we begin to see things with eternity in mind our perspective begins to change. We know we are going to have hardship, but this verse assures us that it is not without purpose. We are reminded that these times of suffering are producing an eternal weight. A weight of glory.

Image by Th G from Pixabay

Can you even begin to comprehend what a weight of glory is? How exactly do you weigh glory? Is it measured in pounds, stones or kilograms? It is not like we can put it on a physical scale, as glory is not a physical, measurable thing. Ah, but God. You know His ways are not our ways. His scales are not our scales. If He says we are going to have an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, I am going to have to trust Him. All of our affliction is productive and has a purpose.

Verse 18 - While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Simply put, the things which we see on a day to day basis are temporary. Our homes, our jobs, even our relationships are temporal. The word temporal is defined by Webster’s Online Dictionary as things that are of or relating to time, or things that are of or relating to earthly life. Anything that is temporal is also temporary.

Image by annca from Pixabay

When we begin to change our focus from that which is temporal to that which is eternal, the struggles we go through will not have the same bite as they once did. Only those things done for eternity’s sake will last.

Going back to the idea of what is the point if it’s all just going the way of the dust bin anyway? The point is eternity. As we live in this world ruled by the clock, deadlines, dates, calendars, and other forms of measurement we need to make sure our focus is on eternity. Instead of asking God, when will this difficulty end I need to ask myself, how can I endure with eternity in mind and glorify Him.

Don’t lose heart, dear one! There is a purpose to every affliction you are going through. Decide today to go through the difficulties with the timelessness of eternity in your heart, and the question of how you can glorify Him, always on your mind.