05 - Advent

Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
Christmas–Advent 2023
Day  5 | UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN
UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN

Isaiah 9:6
“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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

 
What a promise, again, hundreds of years before Jesus’ actual birth to Mary and Joseph.
Consider… Jesus could have come to earth as Adam did, as a full-grown man. But then, he wouldn’t have fully identified with us all who started as weak, helpless babies.

But more than a baby, “unto us a Son is given.” And more than just a child… the eternal Son of God, the second member of the Godhead, aka the Trinity.

How amazing!  We needed a perfect, infinite Being to offer a perfect, endless atonement for our sins. We needed Immanuel; God is with us (Isaiah 7:14).

The Holy Spirit leads Isaiah to clarify that this baby had BOTH humanity and deity.  One was not added to the other. He was fully man and fully God.

“And the government will be upon His shoulder.”  Ultimately, this will be fulfilled in the Millennium when Jesus Christ will rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Revelation 20 et al).

And then the Holy Spirit shares – through the Prophet Isaiah – various descriptive titles about this Child to be born.
 
“And His Name” – (His character) – “shall be called” :

Wonderful – He will be amazing!

Counselor – Jesus knows all, can guide, and intercedes with the Father for us today.
The Mighty God – Jesus is God in all His glory!

The Everlasting Father – Here, the Hebrew words are that Jesus is the author of all eternity, that HE is the Creator.

The Prince of Peace – the one who makes peace, especially between God and man.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Your plan for Jesus coming is amazing!  Help us not take all of this for granted this Christmas, but give thanks a-new for what You did by sending us Your Son, Jesus.  Amen.