Month: November 2024

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government
will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful,
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

This well-known “Christmas verse” contains seven important titles of Christ, most of which are unique to this verse. Perhaps the most wonderful of all is Wonderful. It’s not just my opinion of Jesus; it is one of His names.

In a world where people pay top dollar for entertainment, production studios spend hundreds of millions of dollars to produce mediocre films where plot and character development take a backseat to flash and dazzle. Most movie-goers are bored if a film doesn’t have lots of pyrotechnics, sensuality, and computer-generated imagery. It takes an awful lot to impress the average American nowadays.

These entertainment addicted individuals are usually turned off by religion and totally uninterested in the Lord Jesus Christ. Such a pity. He offers the excitement they seem to crave and can transform them in real and meaningful ways. They don’t know Him, and they don’t know that He is Wonderful.

All I can say to those who are addicted to stimulus and troubled by reality is that I can get them an appointment with a Great Counselor who can set them free from their vices. To those who think they’re all alone in their world, I’d like to introduce them to the Mighty God. To those who are afraid to die, I’d like to show them the Everlasting Father, and to them who have given up on world peace, I know the Prince of Peace. Jesus is all these things and He is truly Wonderful!

Wonderful, Wonderful
Jesus is to me.
Counselor, Prince of Peace,
Mighty God is He.
Saving me, keeping me
From all sin and shame,
Wonderful is my Redeemer
Praise His name!
                       – Haldor Lillenas (1885-1959)

December 13 

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Son – Now that’s a title that Jesus shares with half the human race. At first glance, it doesn’t seem very important or noteworthy yet the title is among many prestigious designations that Isaiah gives to God’s beloved Son (Matthew 3:17).

It used to be that when a baby was going to be born, no one knew if it would be a boy or a girl until the day it arrived. Predictions were usually made, but they were right only about 50% of the time. But this prophesy of the Son being “given” was not a prediction at all, because Christ was “given” before the foundation of the world – long before the prophet even penned this verse.

God chose to manifest Himself as “the Son” to His human creation. “For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son. Today I have begotten You?’ And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son?’” (Hebrews 1:5). God didn’t reveal Himself as some sort of all-powerful, fear-inducing giant. He came as a little baby – “a Son was given.”

In a normal pregnancy, people wait nine months for the child to be born. But the world had to wait a really long time for a special Son – God’s Son. The gestation period for Isaiah’s prophesy was seven centuries. Finally, the Heir of God came in the fullness of time to accomplish redemption for humankind and to bring from Adam’s race, sons and daughters that would be joint heirs with Himself.

“Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him” (Psalms 2:12). Amen!

December 12 

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given …
Isaiah 9:6

Why was Jesus born as a baby and then made to go through all the indignities of childhood? He really didn’t have to come that way. The second person of the Trinity appeared as a full grown man on a number of occasions before He was the Babe of Bethlehem.

The pre-incarnate Christ manifested Himself to Joshua as the Commander of the LORD’s Army when He ordered Joshua to take off his sandals because he was on holy ground. He appeared as the Angel of the LORD to Samson’s parents and then ascended to heaven in the flames of the altar. Finally, the Son of God was seen in the fiery furnace with Shadrach and crew, which shook up the king.

Being born in the same way that all humans come into this world left the Messiah vulnerable to His enemies. Satan urged King Herod to try to kill the child. After Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather, was warned by God in a dream, “he arose, he took the young child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt” (Matthew 2:14). Jesus needed care and protection.

Why, then, did He even have to become a child? It’s because Christ was the Heavenly Man, 100% God and 100% human. He needed to be of the Seed of the Woman to fulfill prophesy (Genesis 3:15), but He also needed to be a Man born of woman to be able to share the human experience and understand our failings. As our Great High Priest, He is able to empathize with humanity.

Being a child meant going to school, learning to read, doing chores, and being obedient to His parents. At age twelve, Jesus was able to astonish teachers, but most of His youth He spent subject to the authorities around Him. Mary’s son was an exceptional Child,  but He was a Child nonetheless.

December 11

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.
Isaiah 9:2

The Lord Jesus is not a candle in the night; He’s a floodlight, searchlight, beacon, lighthouse – Great Light. That’s a lot of light, because there’s a lot of darkness out there. Since people stumble around in the blackness and live under the shadow of death all their lives, a lot of light is needed to take care of everybody’s problems.

It’s really surprising how often Christ is associated with light. He is, after all, the brightness of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3), the Dayspring (Dawn) From on High (Luke 1:78), and the Morning Star (Revelation 2:28). Add to this that He is the Light that Shines in a Dark Place (2 Peter 1:19) and three times in the book of Revelation it says that the glorified Christ has eyes that are flames of fire. Yes, that is a lot of light.

Once, I was driving on a country road in the desert of New Mexico when my oil light went on. Those were the days long before cell phones and GPS. At that time, I had no clue which way to turn for help. I knew I passed a town about twenty miles back, but I could see the glow of something on the horizon. It was the city of Roswell about ten miles ahead. Eventually a car passed me and I got help, but the main point is that the distant city lights let me know where I was and that I wasn’t alone in the desert. I had seen a great light.

The verse above in Isaiah comes before the famous Christmas verse about a Child being born and a Son being given. It gives the context of why the Savior came to this world to redeem mankind. The human race was lost, scared, and groping around in darkness. He came to bring hope, direction, and a Great Light.

December 10 

And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
John 6:42*

When talking about the inspired word of God, there is no such thing as a coincidence. Christ was the stepson of a man named Joseph. It could have been Judah, Hezekiah or Zebulon, but it wasn’t. Jesus was the son of Joseph.

Joseph never made a big deal about adopting Jesus. That would have just stirred up more gossip and disparaging remarks about Mary. He took Mary’s son as his own, provided for Him and made Him his legal heir. That’s why everyone knew the man as Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Joseph.

There is another very important Son of Joseph that doesn’t appear in the Bible, but was written about by Jewish sages long before the New Testament was written. Rabbis and scholars earnestly searched the scriptures awaiting the Messiah and were perplexed at what seemed to be contradictory descriptions of the LORD’s Anointed. Sometimes the Messiah appeared to be a majestic, conquering King. Other times He was like a suffering servant. Their conclusion was that two Messiahs must be coming.

For the sake of discussion, these two were labeled “Moshiach ben David” and “Moshiach ben Yosef” (“Messiah, Son of David” and “Messiah, Son of Joseph”). Although most awaited the Messiah that would put an end to Roman domination, just as David conquered Israel’s enemies, it was clear in much of Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah would be like the patriarch Joseph who delivered his people through suffering. Portions of scripture such as Psalms 22 and Isaiah 53 were believed to refer to the Messiah, Son of Joseph.

So when the unbelieving residents of Galilee called Him the Son of Joseph, they only confirmed what their rabbis taught them would come of the Messiah; “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”(Isaiah 53:3).

What the first century Jewish people didn’t understand was that there weren’t two Messiahs coming, but one who would come twice. The first time He came as Messiah, Son of Joseph to redeem mankind through His suffering. At His second coming, He will cause all enemies of God to bow the knee and He will bring the Davidic dynasty back to the throne. 

December 9 

“Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon?
And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.
Mark 6:3

The folks in Christ’s hometown of Nazareth resented Him and that caused real attitude problems: “Who does he think he is anyhow? He’s just a common laborer, a woodworker. He doesn’t come from a good family. After all, he’s Mary’s son; he was born out of wedlock.”

People back then and there were judgmental just like they are today. They felt anyone who they labeled as “illegitimate” could never obtain greatness much less do anything for God. Being the Son of Mary meant “bad blood.”

The self-righteous are never so wrong as when they convince themselves that they are better than others. Mary descended from royalty and could trace her bloodline back to King David, and then even back to Adam.

Jesus has two genealogies recorded in scripture. Matthew traces Jesus’ birthright through His adopted father, Joseph, who could have had title to the throne of David if they were still doing that kind of thing at that time. One big problem with this succession of legal heirs is that it included King Jeconiah who was cursed by God in Jeremiah 22:24-28. The prophet said that “Coniah” and his descendants would be cut off, meaning that the Messiah could not come through Joseph. This presented a prophetic contradiction for the Messiah. Only the miracle of the virgin birth could solve this problem.

People assumed Jesus to be Joseph’s son, but the genealogy of Christ in Luke 3 is actually Mary’s. She was a descendant of David, but not of Jeconiah.

Christ had all the legal rights to the throne of David, because Joseph adopted Him and made him his own. He also had to have a human blood line back to David, without being Coniah’s relative. The King of Kings was able to fulfill scripture, because He was the Son of Mary. 

December 8 

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

Babies sin because it’s their nature. No one needs to teach them how to lie, steal, or destroy; they are born with that ability. In fact, one of my son’s first words was a lie. He had recently turned one and still wasn’t walking or talking, but he could crawl everywhere, stand up on his own, and understand lots of words.

As my wife was cleaning one of the bedrooms, she noticed that the house was strangely silent and the toddler was nowhere to be seen. As she moved towards the kitchen, she called out, “Stephen, are you touching the stove?”

There were very few “no-no’s” in the house, but that was definitely one of them. The one year old was defiantly touching the stove and began looking around to see if mom was near. When he couldn’t see his mother, he assumed that she also couldn’t see him, so he proudly lied, “No!”

The sin nature might raise a chuckle when seen in a small child, but it gets very ugly very quickly, and it is not a condition that cures itself. That old nature has to die and a new nature has to come in to replace it if sin is to ever lose its power over us.

Christ never had that addiction to sin. He certainly knew what sin was, but had no desire to do it. He was sinless by nature, so on the cross he swapped rap sheets with humanity. He gave mankind a clean slate and took on Himself trillions of terrible sins, which he paid for with His death.

Coming to the Lord Jesus in faith means that sin’s power over sinners is broken. Those who were trapped in a habitual cycle of self-destruction receive a new desire to live in God’s will. They are changed, all because of Him who Knew no Sin.

March 11 

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:18

Heads are basic equipment on animal bodies. Fleas, microscopic dust mites, and even earthworms all have heads, although they may be hard to see. The head is the controlling force in all of God’s creatures, great and small. The head is connected to the various systems by way of nerves, so it can regulate the heart, lungs, and muscles. Every second, millions of bits of information are sent back and forth between the head and different parts of the body.

The Lord Jesus is Head of the Body, the church. That certainly means that He is in charge and over the church, but the title is also used to show that the church is more like an organism (a living thing) than an organization.

The human perspective views the church more in terms of the structure and hierarchy of an institution. This concept was vividly illustrated for me in a mural painted on the back wall of the Catholic cathedral in the town of Baños in Ecuador, South America.

At the bottom of the fresco, a poor peasant farmer is seen holding a rosary and kneeing before a priest. Behind him are much bigger beads of a huge rosary that forms a circle around the enormous painting. The background rosary connects the viewer’s eyes from the priest to a bishop, and from a bishop to a cardinal, and then to the pope. As the rosary beads continue around, they connect to the saints and then to the Virgin Mary and then finally to Jesus. Viewing this made me so sad, because the lesson being taught was that there is a lot of bureaucracy needed to get to the Lord. But the worst part was that, in portraying Christ at the end of the line, He looked more like the tail than the head.

Our Savior is the Head of the Body so is connected directly to each part. In my body, if my little finger is cut, a message is sent directly to the brain. It doesn’t go to the hand, then the wrist, then the arm, then to the shoulder. The head is immediately aware of what’s happening all over the body and coordinates the parts to work together.

December 6 

“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the LORD of hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones.”
Zechariah 13:7

The night that the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He quoted the verse above on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:31). The urgent message that He needed to tell His disciples was that within hours, their Shepherd would be taken and all of them would be scattered. Obviously, this was the fulfillment of a Messianic prophesy, but hidden in this Old Testament verse is another title of Christ: “the Man who is My Companion.”

In context, the Shepherd knew His sheep, but was also a companion of the LORD of Hosts. Other descriptive titles of Christ are much better known: For example, Son of God, Servant of God, and Glory of God. These names emphasize the Lord’s deity and are a stark contrast to simply being a companion.

There is more to this title than initially meets the eye. The emphasis here is the humanity of Christ. The Savior’s equality with God (Philippians 2:6) is unquestionable. He is the God/Man who came to restore fellowship with His estranged creation. He reached out to multitudes, but He established a true bond of friendship with twelve special men. Jesus was more than just a rabbi, teacher, and shepherd to his disciples; He was a companion.

Christ not only taught the apostles things about God, but also demonstrated a relationship with God that was hard to even imagine. Clearly, Jesus was the companion of the Almighty, and both the Father and the Son delighted in the relationship. The Lord would be alone for hours communing with God and the disciples also experienced the reality of this relationship.

When Christ died on the cross, He reconciled the world to Himself. He restored the broken communications and communion with God, and He allowed former enemies to become friends.

The bottom line is this: The Lord Jesus Christ is not only my God and Savior, He is the Man who is My Companion.

December 5 

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they
shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Matthew 1:23*

Getting three wishes granted is the stuff fairy tales are made of. However, in the real world, only two men since time began were given the opportunity to have anything they wanted, and they had only one chance to get it right.

Solomon was the first and he requested wisdom. This choice so pleased God that the king also received power, long life, and fabulous wealth. The second didn’t expect much from God, so He turned down the offer altogether.

The year was 753 B.C. and the political situation in Jerusalem was desperate. The armies of Syria and Northern Israel had just made an alliance to invade and conquer Judah. Just as there seemed no way out of a bad situation, God sent Isaiah to the unbelieving King Ahaz with very good news. The threatened attack would never take place. In fact, the powerful Northern enemy would itself cease to exist in 65 years. To show the certainty of deliverance, Isaiah told the King that the Lord would do any miracle he desired (Isaiah 7:1-14).

“No, don’t bother, I won’t ask,” was Ahaz’s response.

“Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign,” the prophet declared “Immanuel will come.”

It was the greatest thing that anyone could ever wish for. Immanuel means, “God with us,” and that meant the distance between man and his Creator would be gone forever. Born of a virgin, the God-man would be totally unique and would come bringing deliverance for all people.

The sad thing was that Ahaz lost in every way. He never got his heart’s desire, and he never saw God’s promise. Because of spiritual apathy, even people today pass up life’s most wonderful opportunity. They miss knowing Immanuel and the deliverance from destruction He offers.

*See also Isaiah 7:14, 8:8

December 4