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Today is the third Sunday of Advent and puts us half way through our preparation for the arrival of the Christ child. This year is a little different in that we are focusing on that aspect of Advent. As you may recall, Advent is a dual-purpose preparation; preparing our hearts for the coming Christ child (his first Advent) and preparing our hearts for the return of Christ (or his Second Advent.)
Over the past two weeks and continuing on through the next two weeks, we continue to focus on the prophet Isaiah and his prophecy concerning this child that was to be born. Again our text is found in Isaiah 9:6:
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.
Many things in life do not last forever. Most of you can probably recall a Christmas gift of the past that at the time was your favorite or perhaps was the “thing to have” Christmas present. One only has to remember the fads such as Cabbage Patch Kids, Tickle-Me Elmo or even Beanie Babies to remember that these things are temporal. Even if they are not broken – they are not valuable – at least not now. I sure most of us can recall receiving a gift that didn’t last very long – no sooner than we got it out of the box it was broken or worn out or falling apart. Life is like that – our life is temporary. Things in which we place our trust, wear out, they break, or they stop working the way we want them to. We live in a changing world. Life is changing fast – whether we like it or not – it just is. We can try to keep life from changing too fast, but it won’t work. Nothing stays the same; technology, health, friendships, church life, and so on. Hopefully even our spiritual lives are changing for the better.
There are times when all of us wish things could remain the same – we which we could catch our breath. This morning we want to take a look at Jesus as the Everlasting Father – that is Jesus is God and he has all the attributes of God, including being the Everlasting Father. John writes in John 1:
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it…14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
This is partially where our concept of the Trinity comes from. God and Jesus are one and yet they are two. The third person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit, who came following Jesus’ ascent into heaven. They work together to accomplish the plans God has for the world. Verse 14 reminds us of what we are celebrating in just 11 days – that Jesus came to earth to dwell among his creation – full of love and faithfulness. We learn in John’s writing that Jesus always was. To turn a phrase Jesus was a “has been.” Not that he isn’t relevant to us anymore, but that he always “has been.” Many today say that Jesus is a great guy, a great teacher, and a great philosopher for His time. A lot of people think that the Bible is irrelevant for today or any day in the future. God always has been a has been. God. Jesus. The Bible. All of these have been around since before time began! Jesus did not just start in Bethlehem. He has always existed. Everlasting!
The book of Revelation is also one of John’s books. In chapter 4, verse 7 he is describing the worship around the throne of God. Everyone is heaven is chanting, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, Almighty – the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.” Jesus always has been and Jesus always is. Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. Jesus is not limited by time and space.
Jesus always will be. There is a huge difference between a “will be” and a “wanna be.” Jesus was and is and is to come. When everything else changes and/or fades away, Jesus will still “be!” Jesus is everlasting.
And Jesus is our Father. I’m sure if I asked you to name some characteristics of God the Father, you could come up with a few. One of the great things about the way God designed the world is that he designed it to mirror the way things really should be. Unfortunately, sin entered the world of our own choosing and the world is not that perfect reflection of God. In a perfect world, our earthly fathers would act just like God the Father. However, we don’t live in a perfect world and fathers here on earth to not act like God the Father. In fact sometimes, we act the very opposite. I know – I have my faults – I’m not proud of them and God works on me constantly, so I can be the man, husband, and father that is pleasing to God.
One characteristic that most would say is of God is love. The Bible is very clear on this. God is love. That is one of the reasons that he sent Jesus. God has no desire to see the people that he created perish. Other characteristics that we would mention are that God is caring. A loving God cares for those he created. God cares for us. In Matthew 6:26, Jesus is teaching, “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. An aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?…Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for the wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. God is our provider. In Genesis 22:13-14 we have this account of God providing for Abraham. “Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means the Lord will provide.) To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Jesus refers to himself as the shepherd. In Psalm 23, we are reminded that, “The Lord is my shepherd, I have all I need.” Jesus takes care of his sheep, us. He keeps us in his care. He guards us from the wiles of evil. He lies down in front of our lives – He is the gatekeeper. One of the things that a shepherd occasionally has to do is to discipline his sheep.
One of the things a father has to do is to discipline his children. If God and Jesus are one and Jesus is the great Shepherd, there are times when God the Father must discipline his sheep.
The writer of Hebrews writes this about our heavenly Father. “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as a child. As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of children…[you] are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening – it is painful. But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen you weak knees. Mar out a straight path for your feet so that those who are week and lame will not fall but become strong.
The purpose of godly discipline is holiness – living a life that Christ has called us to live. This is not following some man-made rules, but following the commandments that Jesus set out before us; to love the Lord our God with everything we have, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. God desires to set his people apart for special service.
Jesus is a gift that will last forever. He is God and has all the attributes of God including the nature of being our Everlasting Father. Jesus, being the Everlasting Father, is a gift which offers us the tender loving care better than any earthly parent could give. Being the Everlasting Father, he constantly offers His children grace, mercy, truth, help, leadership, instruction, wisdom, and teaching.
The gift of the Christ Child – the Everlasting Father for you and me. He will never break. He will never wear out. He will never go out of style.
