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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“For to us a Child is born, to us a
Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of
the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end.”
“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”
Isaiah
9:6-7a, 7b
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
A sign from God would be given to His people in the way of a virgin
giving birth to a son named Immanuel.
God would send a light into the world that would come to break through
the darkness His people were living in.
These were the first two predictions found in the Book of Isaiah and
highlighted in the first devotions of this four devotion series. Today, we look
at prediction number three and start by looking at these verses from Isaiah,
Chapter 9:
“For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government
will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government
and peace there will be no end.”
“The zeal of the Lord
Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7a, 7b
In Isaiah 7, God promised the Israelites that a son would be born to a
virgin and although the boy’s name would say almost everything about Him, there
was still more that defined Him. For yes, Jesus was (and is) Immanuel or God
with us but as we see in our passage for today, He also came to bring so much
more to a people in need. Let’s examine those other qualities of Jesus that the
scriptures predicted one at a time.
1. Jesus would have the
government on His shoulders.
The government is in charge,
dictating laws and establishing societal mores but a government does not exist
without someone to govern. When it comes to creation and the government of it
as a whole, there is only one true Leader who holds all government on His
shoulders and that is Jesus. Everyone and everything are subordinate to Him.
Period.
2. Jesus would be the Wonderful
Counselor.
Why do people go to a counselor?
Often they need some guidance as to how to proceed through a certain
situation. Academic counselors help people work through their educational
challenges. Transition counselors help people go from one job or career to another
one. Marriage counselors help couples work through relationship problems with
the hope of healing them.
Still other times, people go to counselors to just be able to talk about
the way they are feeling. The counselor becomes a sounding board, actively
listening to their client and allowing them an opportunity to express
themselves, often helping them gain comfort and a sense of being cared for and
valued.
In Jesus, we have all this and more, a perfect source of direction and
wisdom as well as a loving, caring, compassionate advisor who is always
invested in what is best for us. He is indeed our Wonderful Counselor.
3. Jesus would be the Mighty
God.
Jesus was Immanuel (God with us) and so He was fully God while being
fully man as He was born into the world and walked upon it for 33 years. And
since He was fully God then He possessed the same power and might of His
Father, a power and might He never hesitated to put on display as He worked
miracle after miracle during His ministry.
4. Jesus would be the
Everlasting Father.
Jesus was fully God. He was God’s own Son and so everything of God was in
Jesus’ DNA. He was just like His Father during His time of earthly ministry; He’s
just like His Father today and He will be just like His Father forever because
He is the Everlasting Father.
The good news is that through a belief and trust that Jesus is our
Savior, we get to live eternally with Him.
5. Jesus would be the Prince of
Peace.
The world in the time Jesus arrived was one of turmoil, especially for
the Israelites. They were under Roman rule and oppression like so many other
places and the people therein. Conflict and tension were always present and people
yearned for a day when they could be liberated from the tyranny they were
under. They needed a Prince of Peace and although Jesus did not come to be
their mighty warrior as they thought, He did bring to them a chance to be at
peace in life, no matter the circumstances, through the salvation promise He
brought to all mankind and His death being the atoning sacrifice for all sins.
Today, we still live in a world filled with turmoil, hardship, war, and
evil acts manifested against people such as terrorism. It would be easy to be
uneasy over it all but we always need to be reminded that we have Jesus, the
Prince of Peace, who will one day return to set everything straight and usher His
faithful, beloved followers into a life with Him and God forever, a life where
there will only be peace and light and love.
So to sum up this third major prediction about Jesus from the Old
Testament, He will have the government on His shoulders as He comes as our
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. We
would be nothing but lost without Him but with Him, there is nothing we can’t
do (Philippians 4:13) and our eternal future is secured (John 3:16).
Tomorrow, we will look at the final prediction, one that will reveal
where Jesus will enter the world to bring God’s presence to earth, to bring a
light to dawn upon man’s darkness, and to bring us more than we could ever
imagine in the way of an eternal hope in the truth that through Jesus, we have
secured our way to God (John 14:6).
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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