All-purpose God
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Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born, to 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 of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Our church’s Christmas pageant and dinner was held last weekend and “Isaiah” made this announcement as the story of that first Christmas unfolded. Dictionary.com defines zeal: Enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance. God certainly demonstrated zeal as he waited for the perfect time to send Christ into the world, for Mary to be the woman who would carry the child, and for Joseph to be the man with so much goodness and compassion that he could not abandon Mary in spite of his “right” to do so.
Note that God reveals to Isaiah a multi-faceted savior. This savior will be an “all-purpose” answer to man’s sin and God’s deep and abiding love for his creations. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace: those pretty much cover the gamut of man’s need, on an individual basis, community basis and in the world realm. Jesus wasn’t one of those other gods to be worshipped. He was THE GOD, the all-purpose, multi-faceted, all-encompassing, God to end all Gods. God made man, man and God incarnate.
My in-laws can trace their family tree back many, many generations—to before the Revolutionary War, I believe. In this part of the country—the South—that’s an important thing—especially if your family was on the “right” side of the Civil War! Christians, though, have only one side to choose from, and so our choice is made simpler. Jesus is man’s Wonderful Counselor. God told Isaiah, and Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise, that the son would be the comforter, the healer of man’s individual hurts, wounds, sorrows, and our guide for behavior and for living rightly.
Christ was probably not considered “Mighty God” even during his lifetime, except for a small group of followers. Even his closest friends and companions didn’t really fully grasp who he was until after his resurrection! Were he not a Mighty God he couldn’t have healed so many, preached so convincingly, reached so many with his words, and given hope to so many with his actions. Everlasting Father is the title he was given once he joined God in heaven after the ascension. Everlasting—as in part of God before time began – see the Genesis “we” and “us” as God converses with his multi-faceted self at creation.
The world certainly needs a Prince of Peace now just as much as it did in Isaiah’s time—and the time of Christ’s life on earth. We may pause to think that not much has changed since the resurrection. At first glance that could be the perception. But one thing is different since Christ died on the Cross and rose again: we now have the promise of eternal life in heaven! No matter how sin-filled and flawed we are, we have that promise. God knows our hearts, and His heart ached for us to be with him in heaven, so he made a way for us, in spite of ourselves.
Talk about an all-purpose God! That promise gives everyone hope – the hungry, the homeless, the sick and dying, the young and old, the “saved” and those yet to be saved. Those already buried and those yet to be born all have the same promise!
I remember thinking to myself during the dress rehearsal for the pageant, What
if every baby ever born was anticipated and desired as much that baby was. What if we welcomed every child into this world as if he or she would change the world for the better? What if we loved our children (this is the editorial we) as much as Mary surely loved Jesus? This will be my challenge today, and in the future, as I minister to my three-year old students. Some of them and their families truly need a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
My prayer today is that you announce the good news to the world by your actions and your words. And that you rejoice that we worship an all-purpose God.
Mary
