Our Christmas Presence
Isaiah 9: 6 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.
Jesus Christ; the greatest gift ever given. The way, the truth and the life for all who seek God. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Alpha and Omega; beginning and the end. The author of salvation and lover of our souls. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The chief cornerstone and chief shepherd. The Hope of Glory and Immanuel God with us. The Morning Star and Light of the World. Our Prophet, Priest and King. Jesus Christ is all of this and more. He is our Christmas present and our Christmas presence in our lives.
The Prophet Isaiah, writing hundreds of years before Christ would be born, uses four descriptions of our Lord and Savior we can rely upon this Christmas and beyond. First of all, Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor. The dictionary defines wonderful as "great, amazing, astonishing, excellent and marvelous." Jesus surpasses all of that and more. For these are definitions we use in our temporal existence and Jesus transcends that to bring us eternal blessings and life.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
The usage of "wonderful" by Isaiah however is in relation to the role Jesus is supposed to play in our lives as our counselor. Let's face it folks. The advice we often get from the world is not wonderful. It is usually far from wonderful. The world gives advice that is contrary to God. The world tells you to look out for yourself while Jesus tells you that it is more important to care for others. The world espouses greed and materialism while Jesus advises that it is better to give than receive. The world tells you to seek revenge upon those who wrong you but Jesus says to turn the other cheek. The advice of the world will often lead to more problems yet we continue to seek out the answers of this world. We turn to the so-called experts of the world's theology and think that somehow it is being responsible. Or we turn to our friends, who may be in no better condition than we are.
And why? We have 24-7 access to the Wonderful Counselor Jesus Christ! He is always available:
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
