Everlasting Father

All right, well, would you take the Word of God with me and go to Isaiah chapter 9?

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

We are going to continue on in our series called His Name Will Be, an Advent series

from Isaiah 9-6.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

Let's look at it together, Isaiah 9 and verse 6.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He did that through his son, Jesus Christ,

and his sacrifice.

What an incredible thought.

Now, we read about Jesus the king here.

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.

But Jesus is called the wonderful counselor.

So wise.

They had been unsuccessful in battle,

but Jesus is now the mighty hero God.

Their, Judah's kings,

had largely treated their people poorly

during their short reigns,

but Jesus is called the everlasting father to his people.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

And Jesus would be that ultimate patriarch.

The one who protects and provides.

The one full of justice,

self-sacrifice,

guidance,

and unending love.

That is Jesus,

the everlasting father.

That is Jesus,

the patriarch.

Jesus shows us

what a leader should be.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

And he can reveal

the father

through himself

to us.

Jesus is portrayed

as our everlasting father

because he knows

the father so well.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

So we see

that Jesus

and the Father

are inseparable.

And then in Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8,

you did not receive

a spirit of slavery

to fall back into fear.

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.

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.

2 Corinthians chapter 5,

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

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.

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.

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.

Everything we have

comes from Him.

So, Jesus

is cast

as our everlasting Father.

Now,

let's look for a moment.

at these two concepts here.

We have the Father of Israel

and the Father of us all.

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.

If you want to mark it down

and look at it later,

you absolutely can.

But Genesis 49,

Genesis 49:10

verse 10,

the scepter

will not depart

from Judah.

What are we talking about

when we say

the scepter

will not depart

from Judah?

It's that Jesus

would be seen

as the Father

of Israel.

Why?

Because Jesus

is called

the Lion

of the Tribe

of Judah.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You could say

that Jesus

is our founding

father.

Now,

that means

something to

Americans,

doesn't it?

Hashtag

marka.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We get to be

citizens of

that kingdom.

Jesus is the

founding father

of the heavenly

kingdom.

kingdom.

He is our

founding father.

Ephesians,

I'm sorry,

Hebrews,

the book of

Hebrews,

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

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.

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.

It all comes

from him.

Now,

the Jews

saw this

term

father

of

as

originator

or source.

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.

You could

look at him

as the

founder

of lies,

but Jesus

is the

father,

the source,

the originator

or the

founder

of eternity.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

Jesus

is the

founder.

He is

the pioneer

of our

faith.

Now,

let's look

just a little

bit back

in Hebrews.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

What do

mean by

this?

It means

making

Jesus the

hero of

our story.

It means

submitting to

his role

and his

authority.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Maybe things

aren't necessarily

going how I

thought it

would.

But God,

you're my

father.

So I'm

going to

obey you.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.