So, we come to what might be one of the more confusing, perhaps one of the more difficult,
of the names of Jesus that we find in the Bible. Theologically, it causes some people a little
! bit of confusion. Why is this promised child being spoken of at the same time as being a
father? And some people have gone wrong by thinking, well, here is this proof that God the Son is
God the Father, so that when Jesus comes to the earth, it's just God taking a different form.
And that's not at all what it's saying. That's a wrong way of thinking about it,
but it can seem confusing. But it can also be hard for us personally, because I imagine that
some of us, when we hear the word Father, it comes with particular connotations and emotions.
It's interesting to see the number of, this time of year, Christmas movies where father issues of
one kind or another become a dominant theme. We think of It's a Wonderful Life, and we think of
George Bailey and his wrestling and his redemption. Is he content to live in the small town with his
small family, to be part of the community? We think about the Santa Claus with Scott Calvin and his son
Charlie. Think about Elf with Buddy the Elf and his dad. There's definitely a theme that emerges
within the way people tell Christmas stories. If you've seen the John Lewis ad this year,
it's been praised for the way it has tried to handle the complexities of how fathers and sons bond across
the generations, the challenges that particularly as men we have in sharing emotions. And so John Lewis
recognized, well, there are issues in communicating and relating to fathers, so let's try and make a story
to help us towards that. And all that to say that when we come to a title like Everlasting Father,
it's important for us to recognize that we'll all come with a certain amount of expectations,
a certain amount of emotions. So why did Isaiah use it is a really important question for us to ask.
How can we find hope in Jesus, our Everlasting Father, regardless of how the word Father can often
at surface level make us feel? And that's what I want us to think about this evening, to think about
the wonderful gospel hope that is in thinking about how is Jesus like an everlasting father to us?
To think about the fact that Jesus is now being presented to us as the everlasting one who can
perfectly meet our needs. Those basic needs that we have to be seen and known, to be loved,
to have safety and security. We're being told that in this coming son, this everlasting one,
he has a father's heart and he's a perfect father and so he can meet those needs.
We're also being told that Jesus as everlasting father is one we can trust in when we understand
his nature and his character being divine. He is good, he is faithful, he will always act for the good
of the children of God. And so through this Christmas season, and indeed through the changing seasons of
our lives, it's important that we are able to see what Isaiah is pointing us towards, to understand why
this title offers great hope and comfort. And all we're going to do is think about two words together.
We're going to think about the word covenant and we're going to think about the word compassion,
because I think everlasting father contains both. Firstly, to recognize that when we talk about Jesus
as everlasting father, what we're invited to see is that Jesus is our covenant king, and he's the covenant
king of his people forever. Because in Isaiah's day, father was a family word, but it was also a kingship word.
And more than that, it was a covenant word. Because when you look at covenant treaties from the day
when great kings and lesser kings entered into covenant, the language will be used of the great king
being the father and the lesser being like the son. In 68 nations of the world today, the leader of that
country or the founder of that country is known as the father of the nation. Interesting fact.
But what we're being told about here is that this son of Isaiah chapter 9, he is the king of kings,
and he is the father. He is the founder of an eternal kingdom. And he has this covenant commitment
to act in such a way to secure an everlasting relationship with his people. When we think about
Jesus as everlasting father, we recognize he is committed in covenant to be for us and for our good.
Now, when we think about that announcement as it came at the time of Ahaz, we recognize this coming
as light in the midst of darkness. So we were thinking about Ahaz a little bit this morning. We
were remembering he was a terrible king. We remember in Isaiah 7 that there was this twin threat that
Ahaz was facing. There was Israel and there was Syria. And Ahaz is called to trust in his God
and to ask for a sign to strengthen his faith. And he refuses to ask. And God gave the sign,
the child who would be called Emmanuel, God, with us. But what happens after that?
Well, if we go to 2 Kings 16, we hear how the story turns out. What Ahaz does next is he doesn't turn
in repentance and faith to the one true God to say, God, you're my king. I'm going to trust you in this
moment of threat. Instead, he goes to Assyria and to their king, Tiglath-Pileser. And he said to that
foreign king, in effect, you are now my master. I regard you as my overlord and as my father.
If you will help me, O king of Assyria, I will give you authority over Judah. I will give you
authority over my cell. You can see that in 2 Kings 16. Now, do we see the problem with that?
God had already established covenant relationship with his people. And he invited them to trust him
as their God and their king. And so in this moment, because of fear and because of threat,
we find Ahaz trusting the wrong king, turning to the wrong covenant father. He's giving the wrong
father control over his life. Now, it's very easy, I imagine, for us to point the finger
and to say, well, Ahaz, you should have known better. You had the stories of how God cared for
the people in the Exodus account or in the stories of previous kingships. How could you lack faith?
But maybe when we take the time to look in the mirror and to think about our own lives,
you know, when things go wrong in our story, perhaps when our position is threatened,
when our sense of security is shaken, or when those who we expected to be friends disappoint or turn on us,
do we ever find ourselves doing an Ahaz, looking around for someone, maybe even looking to ourselves
to provide the answer, rather than turning to and trusting in God and Jesus, our covenant king,
our everlasting father? Well, into Ahaz's story, and I trust into ours as well,
the titles that we find, the descriptions of Jesus and Isaiah 9, they represent good news.
Because here is our Emmanuel, here is God with us, who is also our everlasting king,
our everlasting father with covenant commitment, and he comes to bring transformation by his grace.
That's the theme of Isaiah 9. Humiliation becomes honor, darkness becomes light, fighting and fear
becomes peace. Because this child king will be born, and will grow up to be the crucified king.
And that in the shedding of his blood, he establishes the new covenant, and that covenant is unbreakable,
it is eternal, it is unshakable. And he comes to establish that covenant, that relationship,
with all those for whom he came to save. And now that Jesus has gone to the cross,
and he has risen from the dead, and he has ascended to heaven, and he's taken the seat of the father's
right hand as the glorified king, he continues to rule over us in his love and in his faithfulness.
He hasn't broken his covenant commitment to us, he continues to pray for us, he continues to send
the spirit, he continues to speak through his word. He is the one who said, I am with you always,
to the very end of the age. He is covenantally committed to that promise. He is the one we can
trust and give control of our lives to. That Jesus is our everlasting father means Jesus is our covenant
king. And this calls for our faith in Jesus Christ. This is the way of salvation. It's the way of
trusting him as our covenant king. The covenant in the Bible, it always required faith. The people of
Israel heard that if they would trust their king, and if they would obey their king, they would enjoy
blessing and they would enjoy life. But on the other hand, if they turned away to false gods and into
disobedience, the curse would come, judgment would come upon disobedience. When we get to the New Testament,
the writers of the New Testament say to us that Christ can be in our lives either the cornerstone that we
build our life upon or the stone that we stumble over because we are offended. The difference is either
we place faith in Jesus for our life and for our salvation, or we have the faith in ourselves that we can gain
salvation by our own good work. And into this desperate situation in Isaiah 9, God invites Ahaz and Judah to lift
their eyes to see that they are weak, but Jesus, the promised king, he will be eternally strong.
And God would do the same for us as well, to lift our eyes from ourselves and our circumstances to see
our great king. And for this title, Jesus as everlasting father to be good news, it absolutely requires us to
have personal faith, that looks and see Jesus as our king, that we trust him to save us and defend us, that we are able to
rest and trust, knowing that he is eternally committed in all his goodness towards us.
So Jesus is our covenant king. But when we think about this title everlasting father, secondly, it means that
Jesus is our compassionate king. And this is where this title becomes really personal to us also.
Before we look back at our text, just to ask this question, when we think about how God views us today, if we're a
Christian as his child, how would we draw the face of God towards us?
We're invited in the Bible throughout the pages of Scripture to recognize how deep the Father's love for us is,
to recognize that he has pity and compassion and mercy on us as his children.
But often despite reading God's word and hearing the gospel, it might be the case that the face that you picture
is a stern face, perhaps a frowning face. Perhaps we imagine God is the Father who's ready to pounce on our every mistake.
And maybe that's because of our own upbringing, our own experiences, and our great need
is to let God through his word and through his gospel show us the true picture that he is the perfect Father
Father, and that Jesus shows us the Father's heart.
That God is the original and perfect blueprint of
Fatherhood. He is the Father from whom all Fatherhood
is named, and then Jesus comes into this world
to show us, here is what the Father's love is like
in flesh and blood as he walked
among us.
So just very briefly,
to just trace something of the theme of God's compassion
and how it connects
to Jesus, our compassionate
King.
Just to,
I was just thinking about it this afternoon,
Dane Ortlund has a wonderful book,
Gentle and Lowly,
talking about
the heart of God, the heart of Christ.
It's a wonderful, rich
book to read.
And so often it talks about and captures that sense of the mercy and compassion of God
and goes against some of our natural instincts.
So, you know, we sin,
and just like Adam and Eve in the garden,
our instinct is to hide away in our shame.
And what we need to understand,
and what the Bible shows us,
is that it's our sin,
actually, that moves the heart of God,
that moves the heart of Jesus to come
in order to save us.
Compassion is rooted in the gospel.
So it's a wonderful book to read.
But just to think about
compassion as we find it in God's word.
Exodus chapter 34,
as God describes himself
to Moses.
Moses wants to see
God's glory,
and God gives him
a picture
of himself.
He says,
he passed in front of Moses,
proclaiming,
the Lord, the Lord.
And what's the first quality
of God's character?
The compassionate
and gracious God.
Exodus 34, verse 6.
What God wants us to know
about him
is he is compassionate
and he is gracious.
Then we sang
in Psalm 103.
As a father
has compassion
on his children,
so the Lord
has compassion
on those
who fear him.
And that compassion
is fueled
by his knowledge
of us
because he created us.
He knows
how we are formed
and he remembers
we are dust.
And he explains
the extent
of his compassion
from everlasting
to everlasting.
The Lord's love
is with those
who fear him.
We can never
exhaust the compassion
of God
and God's compassion
will never
be exhausted.
God wants us
to know that.
And then to very briefly
jump to
Jesus speaking
about himself
in relation to God.
John chapter 10
or John chapter 14.
we hear
Jesus say
on multiple occasions,
I and my
Father
are one.
He encourages
people to
believe
in the works
that they have seen
that you may know
and understand
that the Father
is in me
and I
in the Father.
And then
as he speaks
to his disciples
in John 14,
as he speaks
to Philip,
he says it
this way,
anyone who
has seen me
has seen
the Father.
The amazing truth,
author of Hebrews
takes us here also,
Jesus is
the perfect image,
the perfect
representation
of God.
Jesus in his time
on earth
and now that he
rules in heaven
displays for us
the fatherly
compassion
of God.
Perhaps
sometimes we
find God
a distant idea,
but if we
want to know
the Father's
compassionate
character,
we look at
the person
of Christ.
We can look
at his life,
we can look
in his ministry
and we see it
in so many ways.
We see it
in his humble
birth in Bethlehem.
Jesus didn't
come to
lord it over us,
but to fully
identify with us,
to sympathize,
to empathize
as he walked
in our shoes.
We think about
his compassion
for the marginalized
and for the weak.
His heart
that was moved
for the widow
that day
in Nain.
His heart
of love
for the sinful
women despised
in society.
It's there
in the touch
of the leper.
It's there
in the feasting
and the hospitality
extended to
tax collectors.
God's compassion
comes through Christ
in the stories
he told.
Maybe most famously
the compassion
of the father
in the prodigal son
story.
Embracing his
wayward rebel son
in all his filth,
in all his disgrace.
Welcoming him
back into the home,
honoring him
and throwing
a feast
for him.
We hear the
compassion of Jesus
in his preaching,
announcing to the world
the son of man
came to seek
and to save
the lost,
urgently,
lovingly calling
people to enter
his kingdom,
persuading them
that it wasn't
by their merits,
but by God's grace
and through Christ's
merits.
presence.
We see the compassion
of God
at the cross.
He is the king
who comes
as the humble
suffering servant.
He has wept
over Jerusalem
and even as he dies,
he dies praying
forgiveness
for his enemies
and he dies
welcoming
a thief
into his
paradise kingdom.
And the compassion
of Jesus
doesn't end
at the cross.
We see it too
when he comes
to his troubled
disciples
after he's risen
from the dead.
He takes the time
to show them
that these things
had to happen.
He had to suffer
and be rejected
and die
and then rise again.
He showed them
his hands
and his feet.
He ate with them
to persuade them
that he was
the long promised
Savior.
And he welcomed
them in all their
doubts and confusion
and fear.
And we see
the compassion
of God
displayed through
Jesus in the story
and the message
of the gospel.
If we use
the idea
of fatherhood
spiritually,
outside of Christ
we are
orphans.
cut off
from God,
cut off
from life
with him
because of
our sin
and our rebellion.
But into
that comes
Christ,
the eternal
son of God,
the everlasting
father,
our compassionate
savior.
And what happens
to him?
He willingly
is cut off.
He faces
that sense
of being
forsaken
by God
his father
so that
by God's
grace
you and I
can be
forgiven,
we can be
adopted,
we can know
the loving
heart of God.
Here's how
J.H.
Bavinck
puts it,
Jesus takes
away our
guilt
and again
opens the
way
to God's
fatherly
heart.
Sometimes
even as
Christians
we can get
stuck with
that idea
that God
is our
judge
and only
our
judge.
And what
Bavinck
is reminding
us and what
the gospel
teaches us
is that
by trusting
in Jesus
and his
completed
work our
relationship
to God
fundamentally
changes
so that
now he
is our
father in
heaven.
Because of
that great
transfer that
takes place
where the
son is
willing to
suffer and
die in
our place
and bear
the penalty
and the
wrath of
God for
our sin
and he's
willing to
give us
his perfect
record of
righteousness
in exchange.
Now when
God the
father looks
at us in
Christ the
son he
loves us
as much
as he
loves
Jesus.
Jesus
came to
show us
the
fatherly
heart of
our God.
And remember
Jesus is
described as
our everlasting
father and
as Spurgeon
once said
there is no
unfathering
Christ and
there is no
unchilding
us.
This quality
of Jesus
will never
change so
we will
always know
God's love
in him.
There will
never be a
point where
that well
of Jesus
love and
compassion for
his people
runs dry.
That the
one who
died to
make us
his brothers
and sisters
now lives
to keep
pouring God's
love and
grace out
on us.
he is
our covenant
king and
he is our
compassionate
king.
There is
good news
in this
title that
Jesus is
our everlasting
father.
But to hear
that good
news we
must first
discover for
ourselves the
goodness of
our creator
and our
savior.
we must
trust that
his commitment
and his
care towards
us will
never end.
Because if we
carry a wrong
view of God
or carry a
wrong view of
Jesus that
God is a
source of
terror, that
he is a
harsh tyrant
and the idea
that he is
everlasting
father, well
that might not
seem like good
news, that
might come
across as bad
news.
And so we
always need
to be
reminded and
to uncover
more of
his goodness
and his
word as we
worship in
the gospel.
So that we
have this true
picture of
God our
father and
Jesus who
shows us the
father's heart.
Because we
have this
wonderful promise
in Christmas
and the
birth of
Jesus.
We are
invited to
see God
is everlastingly
committed to
saving his
people and
to loving and
caring for his
people.
And the
wonderful thing
is that while
we go back to
Ahaz in
Isaiah 9, he
trusted to
Tiglath-Pileser
and to the
strength of the
Assyrians.
And that
empire has
long since
crumbled as
Isaiah has
is.
But the
kingdom of
Christ never
will.
We can
trust him.
And we can
trust in his
love and
goodness.
Here is the
king we can
trust to
control our
lives.
And so that's
our invitation
this Christmas.
Will we turn
to him?
To give our
hearts to him?
To grow in
appreciating his
love for us.
Thank you.