The name, “Eternal Father” implies four hope filled actions of One who provides an everlasting, secure house for His people
I. Builds a House for His People
A. Consider the Isaiah context of “Father/Son/House /Dynasty”
Isaiah 7:1-17, 8:14, 18 - Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel…When it was reported to the house of David…Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son…on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah…Let us go up against Judah … set up the son of Tabeel as king (new dynasty) in the midst of it,…Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David!...The Lord will bring…on your father’s house…But to both the houses of Israel, a…Behold, I (Isaiah) and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion (DAVID’s HOUSE).”
B. Consider what God had promised to David (2 Samuel 7)
2 Samuel 7:1-14 - Now it came about when the king (David) lived in his house…that the king (David) said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.” But in the same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, “Go and say to My servant David, ‘… I have been with you wherever you have gone…and I will make you a great name…I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place …’ The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you. When your days (David’s) are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”
II. Unites with the House of His People
What is the tension in this text? “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given….and his name will be called… eternal father.”
A. A child that is given, a son that is be born (Isaiah 9:6)
B. Immanuel – God with us (Isaiah 7:14)
Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (God with us).
Matthew 22:41-46 - Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet” ’? “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.
“We catch sight of a new key principle – the power of the Higher, just in so far as it is truly Higher, to come down, the power of the greater to include the less … Everywhere the great enters the little – its power to do so is almost the test of its greatness.” (C. S. Lewis, Miracles, commenting on the miracle of the incarnation)
III. Becomes the Life-Giving Source for His People
Isaiah 53:10 - He will see His offspring…
John 1:12-13 - But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Hebrew 2:11-18 - For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.” And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
IV. Rises to Be the King Forever of His People – Isaiah 9:7
Isaiah 9:7 - There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
Faith family, I grew up in a very stable family life.
I know that the moment I say that, many of you cannot relate because of the background that you had was anything but stable.
I have spoke of my dad often as a pharmacist owning his own drug store.
My mother worked as his book keeper.
My parents took me regularly to church where I heard the gospel
I only knew of one childhood house/home for 51 years.
This pic taken from Zillow was my (insert pic in PPT) childhood, middle class, 3 bed-room 2 bath, 1375 sq foot home that I knew all of my life in Lawton, Oklahoma.
When I had moved away from Oklahoma to Indiana, “Home for the holidays meant traveling back there…on the corner of 45th street and Avondale in Lawton, Oklahoma.
In that house that my father purchased for his family when I was born my father would be waiting for me welcome me when my car rolled into the drive way.
There, in that house my mother would have cooked either the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
There in that house, I always knew where to look for the Christmas tree and the presents.
No matter where I traveled across America it seemed that that house with my father and mother in it was my anchor on the earth
My sentiments were echoed recently when my own son, Joshua, who is establishing his family said, “Its like whenever I come home to this house, I know everything will be okay.—It’s mom and dad.”
Now, I have shared with you before that my father died in 2014. Then my mother died suddenly in 2019.
After handling the details of my mother’s funeral, then you know what is the next step coming…what do we do with the house.
Many of you have faced what I am about to describe.
Packing up 50 years of memories was overwhelming.
Discarding or giving way 50 years’ worth of furniture or memorabilia was strangely disconcerting.
The anchor, my father’s stable house that I had know for 50 years was gone in an instant the moment both of my parents were gone.
There was nothing to ever draw me back to my father’s house, my home in Lawton, Oklahoma ever.
For the very first time in my life, I felt like a 50-year-old orphan with no anchor in this world.
What ties me to this earth…to this life??…if it were not for my father’s house and home?
Waves of tears came and went on the 15-hour journey away from my childhood house for the last time as I drove a U-Haul back to Lafayette, IN.
Again, I realize that me sharing something like the ache of being a 50-year-old orphan rings a bit hollow for those who grew up with a lack of stability and very difficult childhood circumstances.
But, that ache of a 50 year old orphan or a newly orphaned child of the Israel/Gaza war..that pain of instability, of no house, no home, no anchor is reflective of all of us in reality being spiritual orphans.
An on the occasions when what is stable in your life is gone each of us feels that orphaned status in some way….
With that in mind please turn in your bibles to Isaiah 9:1
We are continuing in our Christmas Series called “Light of the World”
Now, let me set up a bit of context here for you that helps us understand the topic at hand today.
God had established His people in a particular piece of real estate called the Promised land.
Let’s call it “home” or a “house” for the stability of the world.
There God would dwell with His people in the home of the promised land and He along with His people were to be “the light for the world”
God even promises that one individual’s house, David’s, would stand forever.
However, after 700 years, God’s people regularly turned to other houses/homes and not God’s.
They delighted in other so-called gods that could not provide any stability.
God’s people/family even broken into two separate people—a northern kingdom called Israel and a Southern kingdom called Judah.
Eventually, God had to discipline and purify his own house and home.
That’s what Isaiah is about. God bringing judgment, discipline upon His own house but at the same time promising hope for a lasting house….
God’s disciplining judgement would come in the form of an invading nation—essentially destroying God’s house….
Now geographically here is the context.
(Show pic below)
God raised up the nation of Assyria to discipline His people.
In Isaiah chapter 7 the king of Aram and the king of Israel see an imminent Assyria on the horizon and threaten the Davidic King of Judah, named Ahaz
The king of Aram and Israel say to Judah, if you do not join us in our fight against Assyria, we are going to destroy you King Ahaz and replace the Davidic dynasty with a different king that we will set up.
Basically, we are going to switch out ruling houses. The Davidic House led King Ahaz will be no more.
God through the prophet Isaiah exhorts King Ahaz to trust Him, that God’s promise of the Davidic House will stand, but King Ahaz…does not believe and even goes to the King of Assyria for refuge instead of God.
Eventually, Assyria, comes and wipes out the Aram and Israel and most of Judah as well. Only Jerusalem, the capital, is left standing.
In the midst of this, bleak, dark, house destroying event, God offers this promise…..
1 But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. (One day…by the same way the judgement, darkness, and destruction came, from the north, light and salvation would come from that area as well—the area of Galilee)
2 The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
….
…Verse 6
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father (This is the name we are talking about today), Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom, (THE THRONE OF DAVID, the HOUSE OF DAVID, THE KINGDOM…here it is…)
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
This morning we are talking about
Hope For a Secure House because of the Child Called Eternal Father
The name, “Eternal Father” implies four hope filled actions of One who provides an everlasting, secure house for His people
Now, I know as we get into this text this morning, we already have tension and controversy.
If you have some exposure to Christianity, you know that the bible teaches that there is one God existing in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. –That’s the trinity…
Now this prophecy about a coming child/son being called the “eternal father” may utterly confuse you.
But, I’m going to propose the Scriptures here are not confusing the first person of the Trinity, God the Father, and the second person of the Trinity, God the son.
I hope to show you based upon context of this prophecy, the title “Everlasting Father” describes the progenitor/and securer of a house for a people and somehow the child or the son in this text…will also be a father….
Now let’s start with this question…what does a good father do….?
I. Builds a House for His People
In September, several of us returned from Israel 2 weeks before the current war broke out.
Around Israel we would see villages and houses like the following: (Put pic in the PPT).
You can see the layered residential living spaces.
Now, of course some of those are apartments.
But others are family units with multi-generational families living on the various floors.
Often, we would see rebar and beams still sticking out of the roof as if the residential unit was incomplete. Why?
Well a father establishes a house…a residence. Then he has a son…the son would grow up…and the son would start a family…The son, soon to be husband and father would prepare a place for his bride and family…on top of or next to his father’s house….so the incomplete dwelling place would be for the son to build upon the family residential unit to start his own family….
Now, the name given to the child here in Isaiah is “eternal father”
A father prepares or builds a house…..
How do we begin to understand “eternal father?”
Well…
Consider the Isaiah context of “Father/Son/House /Dynasty”
“Eternal Father” is somehow related to the context in which this name is found.
Let me draw your attention to immediate previous context in Isaiah….Notice the repetition….son/house themes
Isaiah 7:1Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, ….2When it was reported to the house of David, … 3Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son … 4…, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. …6…“Let us go up against Judah … set up the son of Tabeel as king (new dynasty) in the midst of it,”…13 Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! …17“The LORD will bring …on your father’s house…8:14…But to both the houses of Israel, a …18 Behold, I (Isaiah) and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion (DAVID’s HOUSE).
Our name “eternal father” in the Isaiah 9 prophecy is in the context of houses/dynasties/kingdoms
And promised hope that there would be some measure of permanent stability in this world….with a king/a father/a lasting house that would survive.
Again, look at this map
(insert pic in PPT)
The ruling dynasties/houses of Aram and Israel were threatening to wipeout the house of David—the Kingdom of Judah.
And in that circumstance, Isaiah records in 7:2 When it was reported to the house of David, ….the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.
Here in the US we do not have anything close to a permanent ruling dynasty.
We have elected presidents and with each time a president with different values/policies is elected, that creates a level of instability among the country.
For us here in the US, the constitution is our stabilizing “house” so to speak among the various changing presidents.
In the ancient near Israel, dynasties, houses of rulers would arise and some times last a long time and others not so much….
…no stability…! No anchor!
Now,
Consider what God had promised to David (1 Sam 7)
1Now it came about when the king (David) lived in his house, … 2that the king (David) said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.” … 4 But in the same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, 5“Go and say to My servant David, ‘… I have been with you wherever you have gone …and I will make you a great name… 10 I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place …’ The LORD also declares to you that the LORD will make a house for you. 12“When your days (David’s) are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13“He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14“I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; …“Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
Here is my primary point even if you do not understand all of the in’s and out’s of the history here.
God promised to use King David to build an everlasting house/a home, a secure kingdom, dynasty for His people.
And, I’m going to say to you that was God’s plan from the beginning….
From the beginning of Creation, God wanted to dwell with His people in a house, a home…
And from that stable, established anchor, God would have his people rule over the earth with Him.
The first father who was to build that home, that house for his children, Adam,…sinned and was cast out of the house, the home, the anchor point.
And from that point on…we are a people who innately have a since of being homeless in this world that is suppose to be our home.
Like me when my parents died and I left my childhood home for the last time….
No anchor…no grounding…no stability…
God comes to David and says…I’m going to build you a house…forever..
God’s desire is to have a people who live in a secure house…
Let’ me ask you though…who is the builder of this house?
Is it David or Is it God?
What did God say to David???…I will build you a house.
A good father builds a stable house….
Hang on to that for a moment.
Because this is going to get interesting…..
So, the title “Eternal Father” implies One who will be the progenitor of a house…He will build the house…. for His people
But also secondly…. the title “Eternal Father” implies One who
II. Unites with the House of His People
Now, let’s ask a pretty obvious question.
When a human father gives birth to a child…what kind of a child is that?
A human child, right?
The father passes on his human DNA. That child is human.
Folks, let’s not miss the clear tension in this passage…
For those of you who have been Christians for a while, I know you have read this Isaiah child promise over and over.
And you may miss the inherent and intentional tension in this passage.
This passages on its surface is impossible!
It has a seemingly unresolvable contradiction in it.
It is meant to elicit the response…how can this be?
Did you catch the seeming contradiction?
Here is the text again…
What is the tension in this text? “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given….and his name will be called… eternal father.
What is the tension?
Why is this text seemingly impossible?
How can one who is a born as a son be an eternal father of those like him?
How can this be?
Do you feel the tension?
And furthermore, ….let me remind you again from point 1 Who is building this house that we are talking about in this passage?
It is God right? Not David.
God is building the house….Is God human? No!!!
But this passage says that the one who will establish the eternal secure house is a
A child that is given, a son that is be born (Isaiah 9:6)
How is it that God is building this house but at the same time a human child is establishing this house?
How is that possible?!!!
Don’t overlook this…!!!
Furthermore, this is the same child that was promised two chapters earlier and the child there had another name….
Immanuel — God with us (Isaiah 7:14)
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (God with us).
This is the same tension…an impossible text…
A human son that is called “God with us….”
Furthermore, if you are wrestling with all of this, you are not alone.
Do you remember this passage in the NT?
Matthew 22:41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET” ’? 45“If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” 46 No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.
There’s the evidence of the intended tension…that lasted for nearly 700 years among God’s people..
This seems to be an impossible contradiction….
God is building the house….for his people…but the house must be from built from a human child….
Tell me…what is the miraculous solution to this impossibility?
God himself came down to unite with the house of humans.
This is the only way that a stable human house would be enduring and secure.
A true father is of the same stock and DNA as the children…
Thus, God had to unite with the humanity.
…here we have the story of Christmas…right here…!!!!
Don’t miss the wonder of Christmas..!!!
God would not simply stand at a distance, but He would have to unite to humanity….
“Immanuel” God with us…a child to be born that is the eternal father—the progenitor of a house that would be secure…..
There is no other story like this from any other so called religion..!!!
This text is setting up the Christmas story like no other!
But how could God become man…?
I think the extent of this miracle will always be elusive to us…But C.S. Lewis gives us a bit of a hint when he says the following:
We catch sight of a new key principle — the power of the Higher, just in so far as it is truly Higher, to come down, the power of the greater to include the less … Everywhere the great enters the little — its power to do so is almost the test of its greatness. – C. S. Lewis, Miracles, commenting on the miracle of the incarnation.
Here is what that means…one test of greatness is its ability to come down and identify and unite with that which is lessor.
For example, what do we instinctively do in our communication with infants who can only coo and say a few syllables….we start talking to babies like what? Babies….ourselves..Right!?
But will the lessor…the baby… ever in that moment start reading Shakespear to you or talking of philosophy?
A Ph.D. Physicist can teach junior high Algebra, but a junior high student cannot teach a doctoral class on Physics.
The power of the higher as far as it is truly higher shows its greatness by coming down and uniting with the lessors…everywhere the great enters the little…that is a sign of greatness.
Oh Friends, here is my appeal to you, I don’t know what house you are trusting in for your stability, your security…but there is no hope in the “houses” of this earth men the lessors….…Only if there is God who is building this house and has come down to unite with it…is there the hope of stability/security….And this ability to unite with the lessors is a sign of something great about this God….
Third,
Not only does a father build a house for His children
Not only is a father of the same substance as the offspring—solidarity with children—uniting with his house…
But a Father gives life to His children
III. Becomes the Life-Giving Source for His People
Another obvious fact…a father gives physical life to his offspring.
The term ‘eternal father’…implies eternal spiritual life in this eternal father’s house…
Later in Isaiah, Isaiah refers not to child but a suffering servant and makes an offspring father/child reference;
Isaiah 53:10 He will see His offspring,
This being, no longer child, but an adult who suffers has “offspring” like a father…..
Notice the text of John 1
John 1:12–13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And notice this fascinating passage that intermingles this unique child’s status as spiritual father and brother, in solidarity with His people
Hebrew 2:11For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying, “I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE.” 13And again, “I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM.” And again, “BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME.” 14Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
This unique individual spoken of here in Hebrews is both father and brother
Father….in the sense of “I and the children God has given me”……as if this individual is the author and source and head of their life….but at the same time one with them….being their brother.
All of this is so mysterious, isn’t it?
But finally…..
Fourth security comes
Not only from a father who builds a house for His children
Not only from a father who unites with His house---is of the same substance as the offspring—solidarity with children
Not only from a father who is the author of and source of their children’s life
But finally, a father whose fatherhood does not end….(like mine did when my father died)….
IV. Rises to Be the King Forever of His People — Isaiah 9:7
Isaiah 9:7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
Imagine the best father ever..father of the year award goes to him…imagine always being able to go to him…always being able to ask question, always having a home….what security…what stability….what assurance in this life…for that kind of security we would need an eternal father…unlike our earthly fathers who dies…..
Now friends…let’s ask ourselves this question…who is this child of Isaiah 9….
Friends, the OT gives us the name of this promised child as
Wonderful Counselor
Mighty God
Eternal Father
Prince of Peace
But you know him by a different name!
I have intentionally withheld that name from you through out this sermon until this point.
How can a human son born into humanity be an eternal father?
How can a human son build a stable house for humanity?
How can a human son give spiritual life to dead children?
How can a human father/leader/king forever of his people?
Say the name you know!
Jesus Christ!
Who was …
The eternal God who promised David to Build His House
The eternal God who came down in the manger in Bethlehem at Christmas and united with the house of humanity.
The eternal God who is the progenitor of spiritual life for His children
The eternal God who will reign over the Kingdom of God with His children forever.
Thus, he is the son, the child who would be born who indeed is the eternal father….
Now, I want to fast forward for just a moment from Christmas to Easter so you can see something remarkable.
As I mentioned in the beginning, the context of Isaiah was that God’s people’s house…the house of David was being judged… and disciplined for their failure to be faithful children….
That was the context for all of this….
And once again…a stable house for humanity seemed to be elusive…
Here is the amazing thing about all of this…If God Himself comes in and unites with the house of David…that He promised to build….but that house has been defiled and needing to be judged….what does that mean?
He Himself will take the ultimate discipline, the judgement, destruction that that house deserved…. for the impurity of that house….
And in this way…Jesus Christ on the cross acts as the true father would giving his life in place of children…..
His name shall be called eternal father…
Jesus Christ is
the one who has established the house,
and is the one who has purified the house
and is the one who establishes it forever.
This is the house that you want to be a part of this Christmas.
Sentimentally each Christmas, I think about my earthly father’s house/home.
But truly, my earthly father who was a believer in Christ is my spiritual brother and some day we will be home and part of our spiritual father’s house for ever (Jesus’ Christ’s house).
We share an eternal father….the author and head of our salvation…Jesus Christ….
For my last sermon of this year let’s end the way we began…with 1 Peter…
1 Peter 2: 4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
Gospel appeal—stable house
Believers—why are we so shaken when our houses of relationships, finances, possessions, seems to be crumbling….we have an eternal house that cannot be shaken, and we want to invite as many people into this house as we possible can this Christmas.
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