God is Good God is Great | Wonderful Counselor Mighty God - Isaiah 9 | December 7

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I want to start by sharing a little bit of a story. This is a story that shows

up across the world from culture to culture.

I'll slow it down a little bit so we get our kids settled.

So I'll make our way into this story and introduction a little slower.

But this is something that you'll find traces of throughout 16th century France.

You'll see it in the English villages.

You'll see it even in early Scandinavian myths and Eastern European stories as well.

So this is a story that you're going to be familiar with. and

you're probably going to be thinking along the way what it

is and you'll probably get there pretty quick it's not it's not going

to be a mystery per se but the one that we're most

familiar with the version that we know best actually comes

from sort of the 1800s where these two brothers german brothers jacob and wilhelm

traveled around towns and scribbling down all of these stories that grandparents

and parents would tell their kids by the firelight And they weren't these polished

children's tales that we grew up with.

But they were kind of dark and strange and mysterious,

unsettling at times, and windows into sort of what people believed about the

world and at least wanted their kids to believe in some ways,

sometimes to scare them into behaving and warn them about the dangers of wandering off,

but also to teach general life lessons as well.

And so this particular story, which shows up in so many cultures,

settles on sort of this central idea or one of the ideas that it brings is this

idea that a name holds power.

There's power in names. And in the earlier versions of this tale,

there's this character whose strength, whose survival,

you might say, his power, his influence depends entirely on keeping his name hidden.

And for centuries, people have kept telling this story over and over again,

because they understood instinctively this idea as well, that to know the name

of someone or to know the name of something, it holds access, it holds intimacy.

In some ways it holds perhaps some kind of authority as well.

But names are powerful. That's not just true in folklore, it's true in life in general.

Your name, the name that you go

by, but also the name that you were given perhaps is not the same, right?

Your name is one of the first gifts that you ever received in life.

Your name is something that whether you love it or wish it was different has

shaped you along the way.

And I can share this because my mom's not here today, but her middle,

she hates her middle name.

It is, but it's her mom's first name, Marvel.

Kind of like the comic books, right? You tell my mom next time you see her that

she has an awesome middle name.

She hates it, but it attaches her to her mom who has passed away.

So whether we like it or not, our names have shaped us.

Every time someone calls your name, every time you hear your name in a crowd,

your name singles you out. It draws your attention.

The name that you have carries history. It carries identity.

It carries belonging. And as one writer put it, each time you hear your name,

each time your name is called, a piece of your identity is acknowledged.

That your very existence is acknowledged when someone uses your name.

And some of us spend our entire lives trying to live up to the name that we've

been given or to a name that someone has given us.

Or maybe we've been trying to outrun and avoid a name that someone once spoke over us.

And almost all of us, whether we admit it or not, are trying to make a name

for ourselves in some way, in some fashion, a name that means that we matter. And it might not be...

Global recognition, it might be much more intimate in the ones that we love,

but we're trying to build a name that matters.

Now imagine that that name held something more than just memory or identity.

What if it carried meaning, purpose, destiny?

In many cultures and in the scriptures themselves, we see this idea that names

are never random or superficial.

It might even call us into question whether the names that we see in the Bible

or the actual names that people had or whether they were written for a point.

And maybe it's a little bit of both.

But they reflect the heart of the person who gave the name, the hopes of the

parents, the character, or the destiny of that one who was named.

And when someone is given a new name by God, it usually signifies a huge shift

in their significance in their life as well. Names are powerful.

And this entire fairy tale that

we mentioned earlier hinges on the moment that the name is discovered.

That that name is spoken aloud.

And I'm sure that many of you have guessed what that name is at this point. Someone?

Rumpelstiltskin. Yeah. Something that we don't often think about anymore.

And, you know, for good reason, I don't know that you should dwell on the story of Rumpelstiltskin.

But as the name is spoken aloud and revealed, there is power that is unraveled.

All of the plans fall apart.

Because in that world, like in ours, a name reveals the truth of who someone is.

And so when God reveals to us His name, when God chooses to share His name with

us, what He's doing is not just.

Giving us something that we can call him, but he's revealing something about his character.

He is sharing a piece of himself and he's inviting us to know him in a more intimate and deep way.

So we're not just learning a label, we're being invited to know him,

to understand his nature, his character, his purpose, and to align our lives

with that revelation as well. It's an invitation.

And this is an extraordinary thing that the God of the universe.

Didn't just abandon his creation.

And he didn't just, we don't just have the acknowledgement that he loves us,

but we have the God who stayed and the God who revealed himself to us.

I was listening to an interview a couple of weeks ago with this pretty well-known famous scientist.

And one of the questions was, who pushed the button?

Who's holding it all together? And ultimately kind of pushing him on the question of God.

And the best response he could give is he doesn't know, but if he had to look

at the world around us, it doesn't look like there's any grand force keeping

it all together, keeping it in control.

And yet I find that funny because one of the most impressive things or the most

closely held beliefs that a scientist has, and he as a scientist would hold

is that tomorrow, everything will continue the way it did today.

So for a scientist who's well-known to not believe something is holding it all

together, even if he calls that thing science, I think bodes ill for our educational system.

There is a God who holds it all together. And that God doesn't just create and

leave, but he invites us to know.

And in fact, reveals who we are. If there were a God who created the universe

and held it all together, how would we possibly know who he was or what he was

like, except through him telling us and showing us?

And ultimately we see that in the person of Jesus, but God's names teach us

about who he is and what he does.

What are some of your favorite names about God or names for God that we see

in the Bible? You can shout some out.

Savior, what'd you say? Lion Judah, yeah. Powerful savior, saving grace.

Spirit. Jehovah Jireh. You're going to have to remind me of what some of these

things mean because they all get convoluted to me.

My provider. On the mountain, a provision he will provide.

The God who sees. Yeah. Famously with Hagar, right?

I always remember that one though because in Spanish, it's the Roy,

but it's not really right.

El Roy, the God who provides. That was a bad joke. I'm sorry.

The God who sees. I love that one though. What are some other names that you

love, that teach us about who God is, that you find comfort in.

I am, yeah, the proper name God gives himself. I am who I am,

the all existing one. Lamb of God.

That's a beautiful one. What was yours, Josh? God of angel armies.

It's pretty relevant to what we're going to talk about today a little bit.

Love, great. Friend. And so there are boundless more names that we could mention.

And in fact, just to give you a sneak peek of where we're going to go in the new year.

When we get, we, so we'll have the next two weeks of Advents,

we'll continue on these names of God and Isaiah nine, the names of Jesus.

Then we'll have our, our usual two sort of prayer and praise Sundays as we exit

one year and enter into another together.

And then we'll have a brief break for a series.

I don't know how long it's going to last, but I feel like there is,

there's been a lot of questions and there's been a lot of encountering this

idea of spiritual warfare.

And so we'll camp on this idea of spiritual warfare for a number of weeks and see what God has for us.

Then to get back into these names that God has and what they teach us about

who he is, what they teach us about who we are and how we live.

So we'll get back and I think what we'll see as we go through this idea of spiritual

warfare, the one way that we can

combat it most and fight that fight is by knowing God and His names more.

So we'll get back from this idea. So I would love for y'all to share what are

some of your favorite names of God.

And if you have a little testimony of the significance of that,

to be able to share that testimony when we speak about that name,

that'd be something great that we can start collecting and sharing together

and learning from one another.

But this is where we're going today as well, that these names are not just characteristics,

although they They do tell us about who He is.

They are invitations to learn about God, to get to know Him,

and to step in deeper trust and deeper faith of who He is.

So with that, I think Tori's gonna read the first seven verses of Isaiah chapter nine. Let's read.

Isaiah 9, 1-7 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.

In the former time he brought in content the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtal.

But in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea,

the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who dwelt in

the land of deep darkness.

On them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy.

They rejoice before you, as with joy at the harvest.

As they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden,

and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.

For every boot of the trampling warrior in battle to molt, and every garment

rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for the fire.

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.

Of the incense of His government and of peace, there will be no end.

On the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with

justice and righteousness.

From this time forth to forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Amen. Thank you, Torrey.

So we have probably all heard these verses at some point in our life,

and we've probably heard a multitude of sermons about them.

These verses that are often referred to as Christmas verses,

perhaps more accurately Advent verses, as we heard this morning,

they deal with this expectation, this coming of a rescuer, a savior,

a child who will make things new.

And although we've probably heard many sermons about them, we've probably also

equally heard many sermons that probably got it quite wrong,

as they've camped on these ideas, wonderful counselor, mighty God,

everlasting father, prince of peace.

There's so much more here than

what we settle for on face value as we investigate these English words.

As they say, a child is born, a son is given, his name shall be called Wonderful

Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Literally in the Hebrew, he will call his name.

God is identifying himself to Isaiah and to the world through these words.

This is how he refers to himself. This is how he wants to be known.

And through these names, we get this glimpse, this multifaceted glory of our

God, the depths of his sovereignty, his wisdom, his unfailing fatherhood,

and the peace that he brings.

In the coming weeks, we finished Acts last week.

So we have to take two names today, but also these names really go together.

So it's a blessing that we get

to identify these two names, but we'll investigate further these names.

Everlasting Father next week, Prince of Peace in the weeks to come.

And these are names that comfort us. They are made to challenge us in ways and

they are definitely there to call us into a deeper trust, a deeper relationship

to something more than you've experienced before.

And so I hope that that's the result of this Advent season for us,

that God, as God invites us to know Him deeper and to know Him more,

to draw near to Him through these names, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, each name an invitation,

each name a revelation, Each name a doorway.

That's open before us into deeper knowing that we can approach with humility

and with reverence and with all that's a God who has revealed himself to us.

So that's what we have coming our way today. We look at wonderful counselor and mighty God.

Perhaps your Bible has a comma after wonderful. If you're looking at your script,

your, your Bible this morning, I want to encourage you to ignore that comma for our time together.

Of course, the word wonderful describes our God, especially in this idea of

miraculous and awe-inducing and supernatural.

I talk about staring at God, being awed by God. This is what the fear of the Lord is in some ways.

In our Christmas storybook to our kids that we read every year called Unwrapping

the Greatest Gift, I think some of y'all are doing it this year as well.

There was this passage this past week, which said, your eyes were formed to

be awed by the art of every wonder-laced snowflake,

in the carving of every swirl of frost, in the sculpting of every cresting snowdrift,

and then to see it, God's own signature in the corner of everything.

God, the artist who imagined and made the masterpiece of this world.

Your mind was formed to be wowed by God.

Your eyes were formed. They were made to be awed by God.

Your mind was made to be wowed by God. This idea that is so common in scriptures.

In Psalm 19, David writes, the heavens declare the glory of God.

All we have to do is look and we can see God's fingerprints on all of the world.

So this is the wonder we experience. And so, yes, God can be described as wonderful.

But in this case, it's not just ordinary wonder. It's not just ordinary awe.

It's not just being impressed by something.

We need to think of it more in this idea of something miraculous,

something supernatural, something that exceeds expectation.

So when we look at that word wonderful, especially as we look at in the context

of this idea of counselor, and it makes sense to remove that comma because it

falls in line with the other names that we have, right?

Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father.

Peaceful prince. Like there is a description and a name that becomes one unified thing.

So it really makes sense to think of this in the context of the word counselor,

that God is our wonderful counselor.

And we do have this idea that Bree shared with the kids that we can begin from

and we can begin to understand what it means.

But if we think of what a counselor is and does in the context of humanity,

and perhaps some of us have even been to counselors and had some success in

that, in conquering some of

the woes and hurts of life or whatever it may be that brought you there,

we can begin to form some pictures because of that of God as our counselor that may or may not.

Expressly be appropriate in what we're talking about. Because whenever we think

about the word counselor, we often probably also think about our individual life.

We go to see a counselor as an individual to, or maybe as a couple,

but to work through something.

But the idea of Jesus coming into this world as a wonderful counselor is announced

to a nation and not to individuals.

So he is more than just someone who gives us advice or can help us on our way.

He is a God who guides nations.

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God. So Counselor isn't merely, it's not merely

this emotional comfort.

It's not merely this strategy or guidance or leadership or advice,

but it points beyond that to this divine wisdom that leads to miraculous outcomes.

And we can think about this idea with discipleship, right? Discipleship is not

a Bible study. Discipleship is not mentorship.

Discipleship is not advice. It's something more than that.

And we can think of counselor in the same idea that the God of the Bible doesn't

simply exist to give us advice.

The God of the Bible and his word exists to lead us to his wisdom.

So it leads us to something greater that we settle for often.

A counselor, which leads to the miraculous and miraculous results,

and not just this angel on your shoulder arguing for what you should maybe do in a moment, right?

He doesn't just help us make better choices. He has the wisdom to guide.

And this is why, as we move into this particular passage, and we come from announcing

and sort of starting for those of you who are able to start this week on the

30-day journal, prayer journal.

And if you weren't here or didn't grab one last week, it's not too late.

Please join us in praying for this month and into the new year.

Concertedly for the church and the direction of the church, but also for whatever

else you feel like God needs to lead you and to speak into.

Ultimately, I love that this practice is not to help you come to a decision,

although that's the result.

It is for you to seek God and ultimately come to the conclusion,

whatever you want, God, I want what you want for me.

So I encourage you and hope that you'll join us on that journey.

And we've got extras to the back if you weren't able to grab one.

But that's what this is all about.

This idea of our wonderful counselor.

So hold that thought as we now look at this idea of mighty God.

And this is the one that personally I am often drawn to because I can sit there in more of a general way.

And I can understand God to be mighty. I can understand God to be great.

And I can keep it impersonal. And it makes sense to me.

But this is also a personal statement.

And it's not just that God is strong, mighty.

There's something more to it than that. if we look up this way that God refers

to Himself across the scriptures, it always shows up or most often shows up

in this context of being a victorious warrior.

So mighty God is not just one who is strong, although that describes God as

well, but one who is mighty in battle, a mighty warrior who fights our battles with us and for us.

And so this is a very expressly a military context.

See this as well throughout the scriptures. Second Chronicles chapter 20.

2 Chronicles 20 · chapter mention

This is what the Lord says, do not be afraid. Don't be discouraged by this mighty

army for the battle is not yours, but God's.

It is the Lord's battle. Deuteronomy chapter 20. For the Lord,

Deuteronomy 20 · chapter mention

your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.

Psalm 24. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty,

the Lord mighty in battle.

This is our mighty God, the Lord mighty in battle, a great God, mighty and victorious.

And as I think about the history of war in our world, not meditating on wars,

but this idea of warriors, warriors who are old get so by winning.

Our God is the all existent one, great and victorious. He has never lost and he never will.

And I connect this idea to Jesus is coming.

As the Messiah, the expectation being, as all of these Jews are so earnestly

waiting that he would come and free them from the oppression of Rome.

That Jews of Jesus' time believed a military leader was coming.

And this is where they get this idea from that God is a mighty God, mighty in battle.

And so when Jesus shows up, they don't see that.

And they miss him. They get it wrong because they're looking properly at the name of Jesus.

Fights the battles, we cannot win. And the realization that they didn't make

is that Rome was not the problem.

Jesus is a God mighty in battle, but the enemy was not Rome.

The enemy is sin and death, that there's something deeper,

something we all need rescue from throughout history and across time that is

deeper than any one nation, sin and death.

And I love how in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, it says that when our dying bodies

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this is the greatest

chapter on the gospel that you could ever have.

So go and read it again, be reminded of that in this time, but the scripture

will be fulfilled in this moment.

Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is O death, where is your sting?

For sin is the sting that results in death and the law gives sin its power. But thanks be to God.

He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is our God mighty in battle.

That Jesus comes to lead you miraculously through death into life this morning.

And that is why he's our mighty God.

There's these two names. Wonderful counselor. God knows what to do. Wonderful counselor.

Mighty God. God has the power to make it happen. He's able to do it.

God will lead you, not just in life, but to the miraculous.

And God has the strength and the power to make it happen.

And there's many people who rule without wisdom. And there's many counselors

in this world who offer bad advice, only Jesus holds both perfectly.

He has the wisdom to guide and the power to change.

And I wonder, I wonder as, as those early Jews remembered this passage,

as they waited expectantly, even as Jesus comes in the words that are pronounced over him.

Expectation that comes with that. I wonder if their minds drifted to Exodus 15.

And I think that's where we see these two names, Wonderful Counselor and Mighty

God, come together most clearly.

In Moses' song, after God led them through,

he writes, With your unfailing love,

you lead the people you have redeemed in your might,

and you guide them to your sacred home.

Now, this chapter is all about God's military victory over Egypt as he leads

the nation of Israel out of slavery and to worship him into a promised land.

And this line is where they both meet together with your unfailing love.

You lead the people you have redeemed in your might and you guide them to your sacred home.

And when Jesus arrives as the wonderful counselor and mighty God,

I wonder if that is supposed to conjure up within us, this idea of Exodus,

this idea of longing, this idea of the promised land, which awaits us all.

And is it a title that suggests Jesus's mission to lead people,

to lead us out of exile and back to the fullness of God's presence.

When these words are spoken over Jesus at his birth in Matthew 1,

we get that picture that Mary will give birth to a son and his name shall be

Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.

He knows the path and He can lead us through it. He leads us out of death into life.

He leads us out and He sees us through.

That's what those names mean. Wonderful Counselor. He knows the way,

mighty God. He's able to bring us through it.

And so these names don't just describe who He is, but along the way it describes what we become as well.

We think of these words in Philippians 2 about Jesus, that though He was God,

he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges.

He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died

a criminal's death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him

to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,

that at that name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and

under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Has given him the name that is above every other name, that Jesus is our wonderful

counselor and our mighty God.

And so every name that we carry and every name that we walked into this building

with this morning, whatever it may be, wounded, forgotten, anxious, ambitious,

whatever these slings and arrows of the enemy that have been thrown at us for generations,

whatever you have carried in seasons past and whatever you've been known by

up until this moment has all been placed in subjection to the name who's above every other name.

All of these names bow before the Lord of Lords and Kingdom Kings.

All of these names that we are known by find their peace and rest.

They find their fulfillment, if it's a good name, perhaps, and they find their

end at the throne of grace of our wonderful counselor and our mighty God who wants to rename us.

He wants to recreate us this morning by the power of his name,

the power who knows the way and the power of the one who's able to carry us along.

So just as we kind of come to our end with this idea this morning,

wonderful counselor, mighty God, I had, I just want to share one thought.

Are the names of God, things by which we get to know who he is, like love.

God is called love. And so we get to know that he's a God who loves.

Or is it such that these are names of God by which we understand truly what that character is?

Do we understand that God is loving and that God is love?

Or do we understand what love is because we see who God is? Probably both.

But as we are going through this Advent season, this time of waiting, but it's not passive.

This time of expectation, this time of longing, this time of revelation.

Each name of God that we encounter along the way presents us with this question,

not just, are we going to learn something new about God?

Not, are we going to increase our knowledge, but are we going to know Him?

And are we going to let Him rename and reshape us as we encounter the truth

of who He is? And just like the fairy tale we started out with,

when the name is spoken, everything changes.

We don't gain power over God when his name is spoken, but in the same way we

get to experience and know his power.

It's revealed to us. It is known to us. It is understood to us.

We receive his power and we get to let it reshape us.

By the God who knows, by the God who sees,

by the God who hears and with that, by the God who has the power to lead us,

to lead us out, to lead us into salvation, to lead us into a life dependent

on Him and empowered by Him.

Our names that we have, whether we want to keep them or lose them or let go

of them or embrace them, they're all narratives that we contribute about ourselves

each and every day. They're stories that we tell.

They're gifts that we carry and that shape us and are shaped by us and they

shape the ones around us. These are what our names do.

And as we carry these names, perhaps anxiety, like failure, like forgotten.

Like not enough, too much, whatever that name is, whatever those names are,

whatever we're carrying, Isaiah tells us in this passage,

that a name has been given, not just to be admired,

not just to embrace during a season of the year, when it's appropriate,

but a name has been given and a name has been spoken to be trusted.

That God is our wonderful counselor.

He knows what to do. He's our mighty God and he's able to do it.

And when those names are spoken, everything changes.

And so I hope this season that we are all changed as we get to know our wonderful

counselor and mighty God.

I pray that whatever names have been spoken over you in your past and in your

present, that they will be swallowed up in the victory of Jesus.

So Lord, I just pray. I pray that you would give us a new name.

I pray that we would get to know you.

Deeply as the one who leads us miraculously into your wisdom.

Step. Your word is the lamp that lights our way.

You're the light that leads us. You're the fire that leads us,

God. You are directing us one step at a time.

You are revealing to us the path that you set before us.

And that is true in the micro level as we look to end this year and walk into a new year.

And we ask the question, what do you want, Jesus?

What do you want for this church? What do you want for this family, this body of Christ?

What do you want as we continue to step out into discipleship?

Who are the people in our lives, whether they be in this church,

or they be those who don't know you, who are those that you are calling us to

be with, to live life with, to share, to read your word and invite them into

responding to you? Who are those people?

As we ask those questions, we want to know on this micro level,

what is next for us in the coming year.

And then on the macro level, as you are the God who leads us victoriously into

life, everlasting, you know, the way, in fact, we know the scriptures say that

you are the way you are the way, the truth and the life.

No one comes to the father, except through you. And so we know you as the God

who knows the way and who is able to take us on it.

The God who sees us through whether it be the valley of the shadow of death

or celebration of life at the feast that you've provided.

We wanna trust you. We wanna know you more intimately.

And we pray that you will reshape and rename us along the way.

We pray for that new name that you are giving us, that new name you are speaking

over us, beloved, child, wanted, cherished, forgiven, safe, free.

All of these names that you're speaking over us this morning.

Receive these names, God, and we want to know you, the name above all names.