The gifts of salvation, 2 Peter 1:1-4

At a time when millions of people across the country are celebrating Christmas with special services and ceremonies both pagan and religious, it is with a sense of concern that I present this message to you today.  On the one hand, I feel a pressure to conform to the common theme of celebrating Christmas, as many other churches are doing.  And yet on the other hand, I feel the need to make a distinction in what I believe is the core of the gospel; mainly, as Jesus said, “They that worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” 

And I believe that though the Christmas story deserves full credit for celebration, yet a simple recounting of the mere facts of the story does not necessarily make for a true knowledge of the gospel.  I believe that there are millions of people today who will in some fashion or another attempt to celebrate Christmas, or observe Christmas and yet they are unsaved.  That is a troubling fact of Christianity; that one can have a form of Christianity and yet be unsaved.  

To know the story of the birth and life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, does not constitute salvation for any man or woman.  A person can know Biblical doctrine and not be saved. He can affirm the facts of the gospel and not be saved because salvation does not come from simply an intellectual knowledge of the gospel, though that is important.  But salvation comes from trusting in those truths and appropriating those truths for ones self, particularly that you are a sinner, condemned to death, but Christ who was righteous paid the penalty for your sins so that you may be forgiven, and given the righteousness of Christ, resulting in eternal life.  So there is a danger in going through religious ceremonies and rituals and observances as an attempt to add some degree of righteousness to your account, when in fact you remain spiritually bankrupt.  As the apostle Paul said to Timothy about such people, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” 

And let me be clear; denying the power thereof means simply that you have not been converted.  You have a knowledge of God, a knowledge about Christ, even perhaps a knowledge of the Bible, but you have never been converted.  Because, see, the gospel is not just a sentimental story, it’s not even just the greatest story ever told. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation according to Romans 1:16 which says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

Faith then is the means of transference of facts or knowledge of the gospel to trust and obedience of the gospel.  Faith is the means of transference of Christ’s righteousness to me, and the transference of my sins to Christ.  Faith is the means of transference from death to life.  Faith is the means of transfer from the old man to the new man.  Faith is the means of being  changed from darkness into light. Faith is the means of change from blindness into sight.  Faith is the means of change from deadness into life.  Faith, or true knowledge plus action, results in a transformation.

So I am not going to preach another Christmas message today, whatever that might mean.  But I am going to preach the gospel, of which the Christmas story is an essential part of the foundation.  Today we begin a new study in the book of 2 Peter.  And in these opening verses, we see that Peter is reiterating the essential elements of the gospel, which by faith in those truths we are saved, made a part of Christ’s church.

Now let me say a thing or two about the context of this letter, since we are beginning this epistle today. Peter is writing to the church at large in a time very much like the days in which we live. He is writing to Christians, to the church at large.  The date of this epistle is about mid 60s AD.  It’s written just a short time before Peter’s death by martyrdom.  And he is fully aware that his death is imminent  as he states in vs 14. But rather than lamenting the fact that he is soon to be martyred for his faith, what is foremost on his mind is a concern that apostasy in the church is on the rise and it threatens the foundations of the gospel.  At the time of this writing it’s only been about 30 years since the death and resurrection of Christ, and yet already the seeds of apostasy are blossoming. And so Peter writes this letter to assure the church of certain fundamental truths that will undergird the church as it goes through these troubling times.

I want you to notice a common theme that appears again and again in this letter.  It’s found in the word “knowledge” or a form of that word, which appears over and over again.  Knowledge of God is mentioned in vs2,  true knowledge of Christ in vs 3, and in vs 5 knowledge is a virtue that we are to add to our character.   Vs 8 he mentions the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ as the substance of our fruitfulness.  And you can go on through the rest of the epistle and seek out further references to knowledge or knowing God. But I think the point can be made that Peter is warning against a knowledge that puffs up as opposed to a true knowledge which results in  transformation. 

Now as Peter opens the letter, he reminds his audience of the fact that he is a servant of the church, and an apostle of Jesus Christ.  The dominant characteristic of false prophets is that they are not really serving  the church, but they are served by the church, they lord their position over the church, and they rob the church.  Peter has the heart of a servant, to tend to the flock of God, to feed the sheep the truth of God’s word by which they may grow in their salvation.  It is necessary for a true leader of the church to not only lead but to serve.  Even as Christ said, “whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  So Peter is reflective in his position of the position which Christ held.

He is also, very importantly, an apostle. An apostle was tasked with laying the foundation of the church, by teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ without deviation.  To be an apostle indicates someone who had been with the Lord during His earthly ministry, and had seen the risen Savior.  In Acts chapter 1, Peter stood up among the 11 and made a case for replacing Judas, and in so doing he gives the criteria for apostleship.  He said, “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”  

Being a witness to the resurrection was an essential characteristic of the office of apostle. Because in a court of law facts are confirmed by the testimony of witnesses.  That is true in modern courtrooms today, isn’t it?  And according to Jewish law, life or death can be determined by the testimony of two or three witnesses.  So having eyewitnesses of Christ’s resurrection is essential to establishing facts, upon which we establish a true knowledge of God.

Now in Ephesians 4, the apostle Paul gives an important description of certain facts of our salvation, and he correlates them as gifts given to men.  I don’t have time to give an exposition of the entire passage, but I want to read it, because I think it parallels in some respects what Peter is saying here.  Paul says in vs 8, “WHEN [Christ] ASCENDED ON HIGH,

HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.”  It’s talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ accomplishing our redemption from the enslavement to sin and the devil.  That’s what the resurrection of Christ accomplished.  Victory over death, the proof of the acceptableness of His sacrifice to pay our penalty, and the promise of new life to those who were held captive by the devil to do his will.  I’m sorry for you dispensationalists out there, but there is nothing in those verses to indicate He took the dead saved people in Paradise into heaven.  That’s not what it’s talking about.  Jesus didn’t go directly into heaven until 40 days after He was resurrected.  He told Mary Magdalene He had not yet ascended to His Father.  It simply is a reference to the fact that through Christ’s resurrection, our salvation was accomplished in full, and we receive new life, having been released from the bondage unto death.

And then in vs 11, Paul begins to describe those gifts; “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”  Notice Paul also refers to this “knowledge” which results in spiritual maturity.

So in a similar fashion, Peter as an apostle, reiterates the gifts that God has given to men in salvation.  And in these first four verses, we see five gifts that God has given to men.  The first gift is faith.  He says in vs1, “those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours.”  What kind of faith is that?  It’s knowledge coupled with application.  Faith is not just an intellectual assent of the facts of Jesus life, death and resurrection.  But faith is applying the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to your life. It’s not just believing that He existed, but applying what He has done to my account.  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

And that’s why Peter emphasizes that he is an apostle, and that our faith is the same as their faith, because we have believed the eyewitness testimony of the apostles.  Furthermore, notice that he emphasizes that we received faith.  Faith is a gift of God.  Eph. 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God.”  Faith is our responsibility, but it’s a gift of God whereby He gives us the illumination and inclination to believe the gospel. 

Ephesians 2:8 goes on to say in vs 9, that we received this faith, “Not of works, lest any man should boast.”  Peter says, we have received this faith, “by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”  2 Cor. 5:21 says, “God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin on our behalf, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  God does not wink at our sin, but in His justice He made the spotless,  righteous  Jesus His Son bear the punishment for our sins so that we might be made righteous by His righteousness. That’s our justification. 

One more important note on this verse, is that Peter says, “our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” The grammar of the ancient Greek indicates that Peter said that Jesus Christ is our God and Savior. Peter clearly believed that Jesus was and is our God and Savior.  And that is an important distinction of the gospel which needs to be made.  Because one of the ways false teachers deceive is by denying the deity of Jesus Christ.  Many who claim to be worshipping Jesus today deny that He was God.  And to deny that Jesus is God is apostasy.  Jesus told the disciples, “I and the Father are One.”  So either Jesus is God, or He is a liar and a lunatic, not worthy of worship or celebration. 

And you should remember that John 1:1 states that the Word was in the beginning with God, and the Word was God. So all the apostles believed this important doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ. 

Furthermore, the resurrection proves that Jesus is God.  Jesus said in John 10:17-18  "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.  No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”  So the fact of His resurrection, attested to by more than 500 witnesses, is evidence that Jesus is God, because only God has the power over death.

Now secondly, Peter identifies another gift of God in salvation, a couplet called grace and peace.  These two words appear very often in scripture in the form of a couplet.  And always in this order.  Grace and peace.  Without first knowing the grace of God, we cannot have peace with God.  And only when we have a true knowledge of God, can we have peace with God. 

Peter says in vs 2, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”  The multiplied blessings of God come as a result of an intimate, growing, maturing knowledge of God.  That’s the reason we study His word.  That we might know Him.  And the more we come to know Him, the more He reveals of Himself to us, that we might have grace upon grace.  And the more we know Him, the more we love Him, and the more we seek to live in a way that is pleasing to Him.

But the peace of God is because our reconciliation through Christ does away with the enmity we had with God before salvation.  We were enemies of God because we were enslaved to sin, but through Christ’s atonement we are now at peace with God, having become adopted into His family.  

The third gift is another couplet; life and godliness.  And once again, Peter says those gifts come through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue or excellence. Notice that Peter says it is the power of Christ that has granted unto us life and godliness.  Jesus said in John 11:25-26 "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,  and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

So by Christ’s divine power He has given life to those who believes in Him.  To believe is to have faith in who Christ is, and to believe what He has done in HIs death, burial and resurrection, and believe that He did it for me.   And in response to our faith or trust in Him, Christ gives us life.  He transfers us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God.  He transfers our sin upon Himself and His righteousness unto us.  This life that He gives is spiritual life, life that is in communion with God, that we might intimately know God and grow in spiritual maturity.  And such life will never die.  Now it is appointed for all men to die in their flesh, but in our spirit we will never die.  And because Christ was the first fruits of the resurrection, so our spirits shall be resurrected with a new body at the second coming of Jesus Christ. Because our spirit is alive, we shall never die, and even though our body will perish, our spirit will be given a new body at the resurrection.

So the resurrection speaks not just of the earthly body, but of new life.  Resurrection for the Christian is a reality now, in that our spirit which was dead has been reborn into new life.  That is the reality of the resurrection; that in Christ we have died to sin, and are born again into new life, and that life is a life of godliness.  That’s the other benefit that Christ gives us.  We cannot attain righteousness apart from the power of Christ in us.  But in that power we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us.  We can live godly, holy, righteous lives because He has saved us not only from the penalty of sin, but from the power of sin.  Sin no longer has dominion over us, but we are able to do the works of God by the power of God.

The fourth gift of our salvation Peter says is  exceedingly great and magnificent promises.  By Christ’s own glory and excellence or goodness, He gives us great and precious promises.  These great and precious promises are found in the word of God.  Our faith is founded upon the promises of God written in His word.  And His promises cannot fail because His glory cannot abide a lie, His goodness cannot allow His promises to fail.  The promises of God are encapsulated in the new covenant, which as Hebrews 8 tells us in vs 6 “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.”  Christ has written this covenant in His own blood, and it has been attested to by the resurrection of Christ from the dead and He has been exalted to the right hand of the Father, from which He is able to assure that His promises will be accomplished because He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and all things have been put under His feet.  

So these magnificent promises of eternal life, of the forgiveness of sins, of the credit of righteousness in our account, of the inheritance of our reward, all these things have been promised to us, and reserved in heaven for us, and nothing can alter that.  God cannot lie, His promises cannot fail, because, as Romans 11:29 tells us, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”  His word, His promises, are the basis for our eternal security. 

The fifth gift of our salvation that Peter delineates for us, is that by these promises “you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”  This is the best part yet.  After Jesus’s resurrection, He appeared to the disciples and in Acts 1:4-5, 7-8 it says,  “Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," [He said,] "you heard of from Me;  for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." So what was it that has been promised by the Father and told of by Christ?  The coming of the Holy Spirit.  Listen to what Jesus continues saying in vs 8, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

How do we have the power as Christians to escape the corruption of the flesh and the world? By the power of the Holy Spirit.  He is the power of Christ that works in us. When you are saved, when you are justified, and given new life in Christ, when you are made righteous by the grace of God, then the final gift is that you are made partakers of the divine nature.  The Holy Spirit takes up residence in you, to lead you into all righteousness, to lead you into true knowledge of the truth, to give you the strength to live a godly life, and to give you the boldness to be witnesses of Jesus Christ.  This is the power of Christ in us; the Holy Spirit.  The same Holy Spirit who inspired the scriptures so that we might know God, illuminates our spirit so that we might come to know Him and understand the scriptures. 

Peter was a believer, but in His flesh He fell in His faith at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But when the power of the Holy Spirit came as promised on the Day of Pentecost, this same Peter suddenly had the power of God working in Him, and He was able to stand in the middle of the street of Jerusalem and preach powerfully so that those listening were convicted to the point that they called out, “what must we do?”  To which Peter replied, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

These magnificent promises of salvation are available to you today, even to those that are far off from the Kingdom of Heaven.  If you have heard the Lord call you this morning, then these promises of salvation are for you today.  If you will just believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and repent of your sins, you can receive life and godliness, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that you may partake of the divine nature.  The invitation today is to be converted, to be changed from death to life, to be resurrected in the spirit, so that you may be given eternal life.  Today is the acceptable day of salvation.  You have heard the call of God.  Come to Christ today and be saved.

The birth of Christ prophesied, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6

Well, since we finished the epistle of 1 Peter last week, I thought it was appropriate to do a couple of messages for the next couple of services on the subject of Christ’s birth before we get into our next series on 2 Peter. What I want to do today is focus on two passages of scripture in Isaiah which speak of the birth of Christ. There are other Messianic prophecies in Isaiah, but I just want to focus on two that particularly mention the birth of Christ.  The first is found in Isaiah 7:14. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Now if you look at the context, it may have not been immediately evident that Isaiah was speaking of the birth of the Messiah.  In context, the king of Judea was Ahaz, and he was  a rebellious king against the Lord.  The king of Israel and the king of Syria had plotted an attack against Judah. They wanted to attack Jerusalem, defeat the capital of Judah, then depose Ahaz and set up their own king. But God had promised that Judah would not succumb to their attacks. Ahaz, however, didn’t believe God, but wanted to make an alliance with Assyria who he thought would protect them. So God told Ahaz to ask for a sign as divine confirmation that God would deliver them.

And so Ahaz says, rather self righteously, “I will not ask neither will I test the Lord.” But of course it is God who has asked him to accept the sign and so now God says, “All right, Ahaz. If you are not going to ask for a sign, I am going to give you a sign just the same.” “Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.” Ahaz, that is your sign.

This is one of the most famous prophecies regarding the birth of Jesus the Messiah in the Bible. It also illustrates a principle of Biblical prophecy, that prophecy may have both a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment.  Theologians have found much to debate about concerning this prophecy. Many contemporary theologists want to say that this prophecy was fulfilled in the immediate sense.  Now I don’t want to get bogged down this morning about all the ways this may have been fulfilled.  Personally, I don’t think it was ultimately fulfilled until the Messiah was born which is about 700 years later.  I think the next verses speak of Isaiah’s son, and the fact that within 3 years or so, God will deliver Judah from the two kings who had conspired against them.

So without fully understanding why the Holy Spirit chose to interject this prophecy of something which will take place 700 years in the future in the middle of a prophecy that is more or less quickly fulfilled, I want instead to focus on the Messianic prophecy.  Because almost everyone agrees that this particular verse is a prophecy of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Note first of all that the sign given by God is a supernatural event, a divine intervention in the affairs of man, a miraculous sign that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.  The miracle is that a virgin, a young woman who had never been with a man, should conceive. 

And we know that this prophecy was fulfilled at Jesus’s birth. Matthew writes in his gospel, in chapter 1 vs 20 “But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."  Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:  "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."”

So you see Matthew quotes from this verse in Isaiah, showing that indeed Mary was a virgin, and she was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  This text is ultimately the basis of the Apostles’ Creed, which says Jesus was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary.

And what that reveals is a very important doctrine of Christology; that Christ was fully God and fully man.  Conceived of the Holy Spirit in a virgin who gave birth to a son.  And then Isaiah’s prophecy goes on to present even more specifics: they shall call His name Immanuel.  Immanuel means God with us.  John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Previously in John 1:1 John said that the Word was in the beginning with God, and the Word was God.  So Jesus was God, in the beginning with God, and yet He added humanity to HIs nature by being born of a woman.

So Immanuel speaks of the dual nature of Christ.  God became man and thus God is with us. And that introduces us to the next major Messianic prophecy that we are looking at in Isaiah, which gives us more information concerning the birth of the Messiah, and who He is, and for what purpose He was born, and that prophecy is found in chapter 9 vs 6. “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.  Of the increase of [His] government and peace [There will be] no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

Many of you will recognize verse six as the basis for part of Handel’s Messiah, which was an oratorio written in 1742. Handel wrote this oratorio based on direct quotes from the King James Bible, and covers the life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Messiah.  It’s one of my favorite pieces of music, and it’s unfortunate that we don’t hear it played more often at Christmas.

But here in this text we have an unusual pair of verses in which the names of the Messiah are all grouped together and the result is that we have more names or titles of the Messiah crowded into one verse than we do anywhere else in all of the Bible. We read in the 6th verse: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor (that comma after Wonderful should not be there), The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” And when we think of the name Jesus which is given to the Lord in the New Testament, remember, by God Himself, it is a divinely chosen name, a divinely significant name. “Thou shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.”  The  name Jesus is probably the complete summary of all of these Old Testament names that are given to our Lord here in Isaiah. He is Jesus. He is Jehovah’s salvation.

Now for context  notice the 2nd verse, “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.” Darkness was within Galilee at the time of Isaiah’s writing.. Darkness was upon Galilee for the Assyrian was coming down upon the land but God says that the light is to come. Once again we see predictive prophecy having both a near and far fulfillment.  But it is to the future fulfillment that we look today, at the promise of the coming of the Messiah who will provide the ultimate deliverance of God’s people. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

This passage is quoted in Matt. 4:12-17 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee;  and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.  [This was] to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:  "THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES--  "THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED."  From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” So the gospel of Jesus Christ is the light of God shone upon people who were under the darkness of death.

So continuing in our text in Isaiah 9, verses 6, it tells us that, “For unto us, a child is born, unto us a son is given.” The first thing I want you to notice is that in this verse it states, “a child is born, a Son is given.” Now I do not believe that this is written accidentally. The child is born, the Son is given. You see the first expression, “The child is born” is an expression that looks at Jesus as a man in his relation to men. Just as we are born of flesh so He is born of flesh. Our Lord’s human nature comes into existence in the same way as our human nature comes into existence.

He was born as other men are born. So even in his birth he entered into the experiences of humanity. It is a child that is born, emphasizing His relationship to men, His humanity. God becomes flesh and dwelt among us. But then the text states that the Son is given. This is his relationship to God the Father. He was the preexistent Eternal Son and he is given to men. As John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son.” So a child is born, and a Son is given.

Now as child, He is called a descendant of the royal line of David. But He is at the same time, the Son, who is the descendant of God. In fact, he is God’s only begotten Son. And so Jesus is the Son of God, that is, He is divine.

So, unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given. Then notice, the government shall be upon his shoulder. What is this government that shall be upon his shoulder?  I would say without question it is the government of the Kingdom of God.  He is the King of the Kingdom of God.  Back in Matthew 4:17 which we read a moment ago we read that from that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus is the King of the government of God, or the kingdom of heaven. Both expressions speak of the same kingdom.

Notice vs7 “Of the increase of [His] government and peace [There will be] no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”  The government of the kingdom of heaven is an eternal government. It is a spiritual government. Jesus announced the spiritual aspects of it at His first appearing, and He will bring about the consummation of the physical aspects of His kingdom at His second coming, and it will continue  for eternity. 

Rev 21:3 speaks of this consummation of the kingdom of God. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.’ And all aspects of the kingdom of God will be accomplished because of the zeal of the Lord of hosts.  That’s a reference to the Lord of angelic armies.   I’m reminded of John 2:17, after Jesus cleansed the temple, it says in vs 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”

Notice then the titles of the Messiah. The first one, Wonderful Counselor. When we think of the Lord as wonderful, that means marvelous, incomprehensible, miraculous. We then think of Him as wonderful in the past, wonderful in the present, wonderful in the future.  He is before creation. He is beyond man’s comprehension. He is above all of the ministry and wisdom of men. He is the wonderful counselor. Wonderful in the past for He is the eternal one. He had no beginning.

He was wonderful in his birth, a miraculous conception. He was wonderful in his ministry. He was wonderful above all in his death. And he was wonderful in His resurrection and he was wonderful in his ascension. All of these great events expressed the supernatural character of our Lord Jesus. You know this word which is used here, translated here “Wonderful” is the Hebrew word pele. Now, this word has a root that is used in several places in the Old Testament and often it is a word that refers to deity.

In Judges chapter 13 there is the story of Samson and the story of how Manoah, his father, had a visit from the angel of the Lord and in verse 17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "What [is] Your name, that when Your words come [to pass] we may honor You?"  And the Angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it [is] wonderful?" So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on--  it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar--the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw [this], they fell on their faces to the ground. When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He [was] the Angel of the LORD.  And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!"

So it was God who appeared to Manaoah.  It was Jesus in his pre-incarnate glory. It was what is called a Theophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of God. Wonderful Counselor, the supernatural counselor.  Counselor means teacher, adviser, guide. Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor.

Then the next tile is “The mighty God.” The word El in Hebrew in the Book of Isaiah never means anything but God. El can sometimes mean something other than God. But in the Book of Isaiah it never means anything other than God. Very clearly here the Messiah is identified as the Mighty God.  I think that the chief priests and scribes knew this to be true about the Messiah.  And they knew that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, and thus claimed to be God.  That’s why they accused Him of blasphemy. That was the crime they accused Him of that they said was worthy of death. And yet they knew that the Messiah must be God. This baby who was born of a virgin was none other than God in human flesh.

Phl. 2:5-11 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, [and] coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to [the point of] death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  and [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  This baby in a manger was the Mighty God.

The next title is Everlasting Father, or the Father of eternity, isn’t that interesting? The infinite is an infant. The infant is infinite. Unto us a child is born and He is the Father of Eternity. He is not saying that Jesus is the Father. He is talking about his relationship to us, not his relationship within the counsel of the Trinity. In the Godhead of the Trinity there is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit,  but when he speaks of him as the Everlasting Father, or the Father of Eternity, he is speaking of Him in relationship to us. He is the giver of eternal life. He is the parent of Eternity. He is the one who made all things, and who gives eternal life to us and in that sense he is a father of that which is eternal.

Jesus said in John 10:27-28 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”  He is the Everlasting Father.

And then the last title is the Prince of Peace. The angels at Jesus’ birth announced to the shepherds, “Peace on Earth, goodwill to men.” Jesus is the One who makes peace between God and man.  Because He was fully God and fully man, He was able to reconcile man to God.  To be the substitute for man who was condemned to die, and so He took our place and died for our sins so that we might have peace with God. A favorite Christmas hymn is “Hark the herald angels sing.” In that song there is the line, “Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King, peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”  Christ has the authority and the power to rule over our peace with God.

So Isaiah says in vs 7 “Of the increase of [His] government and peace [There will be] no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this eternal salvation for His people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. God is jealous to accomplish it. That is the meaning of the Hebrew word rendered as zeal by the way, that the jealousy of the Lord of Hosts will perform this and all  power and all authority and all wisdom is given to the Son, to the Child, Immanuel, God with us, who is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, our Father of eternal life, and the Prince of our Peace.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall never perish but have eternal life. I pray that you have believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, that you might be born again as a child of God, a citizen of the kingdom of heaven and of His kingdom which will never end.