Everlasting Father | Isaiah 9:2-3, 6

When you hear the word “father,” what comes to your mind? Few words in any language evoke the kind of feelings we have when we hear the word “father.” In the Christmas season, we either remember the father we had or the one we wish we had. Some of you had a bad dad, some had a great dad, and some of you had no dad in your life. By God’s grace, I had a great dad; he was patient, kind and funny. He used to sing little songs and tell goofy jokes. But he wasn’t perfect. We all have daddy issues. Whether you like it or not, research shows that your relationship with your dad is the most influential in your life. Sociologist Vern Bengston says that studies conclusively show that “the quality of the child’s relationship to their father is the single-most important factor in whether the child adopts the faith of the parents.” Eric Metaxas points out that almost all the famous atheists of modernity: Freud, Nietzsche, Sartre, Hume, Russell, and Dawkins, all have one thing in common: an absentee father or a traumatic relationship with their father. Lance Morrow, Time: “The damage caused by a father’s absence may be severe and may last a lifetime. It is a shadow; the longing of sons for their fathers is almost physical; something passionate and profound. It is often mysterious to sons what it is they want from their fathers, but I see it in my sons: their longing for me.” (All week I have been convicted.) People struggle to see God as their Father, but it’s not a comforting notion; it’s a complicated matter. Of all the names that God gives Isaiah to give to us to describe Jesus, one that is the most profound and mysterious is Everlasting Father.

Isaiah is writing 700 years prior to the birth of a child that would be born and a son that would be given. He is writing to real people in real time, who are going through real problems and needed a real Father in their lives. We all need a real Father; someone who will love us and protect us. God gives us four names that tell us who He is: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. There’s just something about the name: Each name moves us from gloom to glory, darkness to delight, sorrow to joy, oppression to freedom, and chaos to peace. Jesus is our Everlasting Father who founded our salvation and will be forever faithful in our lives.