Everlasting Father

So grateful to be worshiping the Lord this morning with all of you, especially if you’re a guest here for the first time, welcome you to our church. We’re grateful for God’s blessings upon so many of our lives, God’s continued healing and provisions, and what a privilege it is to be in God’s presence to sing the praises of our God and to listen to His Word as well this morning.

We start our series on Advent, He Shall Be Called, a couple of weeks ago, focusing specifically on Isaiah 9:6. And the verse reads like this, 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.

We had the privilege of looking at the first two titles that are given to him through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by Isaiah, in Isaiah 9:6. We looked at the fact that our Lord is Wonderful Counselor, wonderful in every sense of that word wonderful, more descriptive, more amazing, and more beyond any human description or imagination is our Lord. But He is also the Counselor of our life, the embodiment of wisdom, the source of all true wisdom. In fact, every true knowledge and wisdom comes from Him and originates from Him and He is wisdom personified.

Last week, we talked about the fact that our God is a mighty God. The one who came as a baby in a manger described by Isaiah is a mighty God, a warrior God, a God who fights the battles of His people. And we talked about how the same God who fought all of our battles throughout the piece of the Old Testament in the nation of Israel is the same God who would come down and would be incarnated and living on this earth, who would fight His ultimate battle for us on the cross of Calvary and giving us the ultimate victory in our lives. And rightfully, He is known as the mighty God.

To come to the third title that is given to Him today, Everlasting Father. Just as a disclaimer very initially on this passage, you do not need to be confused when you hear this term, Everlasting Father. Because if you’re not very careful, you can easily drift into modalism or a theology that is not in line with what Scripture teaches us. When the Bible calls Jesus Everlasting Father, it is not making somehow the Father to be the same as Jesus. And that is a teaching of modalism where Father becomes Jesus, Jesus becomes Holy Spirit. One God existing as three manifestations. Even very well-known preachers in our own community here in Dallas kind of ascribe to this teaching. And that’s why you and I had to be very careful as to whose teachings and whose church you follow even online.

So Everlasting Father, this is a title that is given to us. But what can we learn from it while still understanding that there is a Heavenly Father, there is the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, three distinct and separate persons living together as one, so much so that we still believe in one God. That is the doctrine of Trinity that we believe in and we preach and is also taught to us throughout the pages of the Scriptures as well.

But why is our Lord entitled Everlasting Father? Probably a more accurate translation of this word, Everlasting Father, is the fact that He is the Father of Eternity. He is the Father of Eternity. Anytime in Hebrew that you call someone a Father of something, you’re immediately mentioning that person to be the one who owns that or His own life characterizes Eternity itself. For example, in the New Testament, Satan is known as the Father of Lies. What does that mean? Everything about him is about lie. He is a liar himself through and through.

So when the Bible uses the word, our Lord who came, the Son that will be given, the Child that will be born, is an Everlasting Father, He is the Father of Eternity. Immediately, we have here a term that is kind of beyond our understanding. If I could explain it to you in a word that would be easily understandable to you, He literally owns Eternity. He is eternal through and through, even though He is going to be born into this world. Isaiah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes to us and makes us understand something. This Child that will be born, this Son that will be given, is not like any other child that is going to be born in this earth. He has an eternal nature to Him, even before He is conceived in the womb of Mary.

See, every single one of us has a beginning in our life. We all were conceived in our mother’s womb. There is not a single person who has ever walked on the face of the earth who does not have a beginning. We all have a beginning. But there’s only one Child who was ever born into this world who was eternal, even before He was conceived in the womb of Mary. He does not have a beginning. Now, you and I are sitting here going, and this is a question that often atheists ask, where did God come from? Or when was God created?

What an almost dumb question to ask. You’re asking somebody who is limited to time and space, who is not an eternal being, to understand the beginning of an eternal God. The day you figure out when God came to existence, God stops being God. You know why? Because He is now confined to your mind and your mind is able to fully understand Him. The very definition of God demands that God is beyond your understanding. But God in His grace and mercy reveals and makes Himself known to us. And that’s why we have the Bible. That’s why we have God’s creation. That’s why we have His Son who came into this world. Because God wants us to understand certain things about Him.

But it is impossible for man to understand the eternal nature of God. But the Holy Spirit wants you to know, this Child is going to be born. He is eternal in nature. The same book, Isaiah 57:15, Isaiah talks about this. This is what the High and Exalted One says, “… He who lives forever, whose name is holy.” Again, here is an eternal title of God, the everlasting title. Again, given in Isaiah 57:15 as well. That Child that is going to be born is a child who has always lived forever, continues to live forever and He will always be in existence. He lives in a high and holy place. But also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. So a God who is holy, who lives forever.

Same book, 40:28, Isaiah tells us this, “… Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary and His understanding no one can fathom.” The God that you worship, the God that came as a child is an everlasting God. He is the Creator of the ends of the earth.

Almost 58 years ago, in 1966, for the first time, Time magazine asked this question, Is God dead? For the first time they asked the question, Is God dead? What they were talking about was that God was no longer relevant. That God was no longer relevant in the minds of the people. The society has improved so much that somehow, even though the idea of God itself needs to be dead.

But here’s a sad part, 58 years later. We have lived our lives, so many people, as if God is dead. And we have reaped the benefits and the curses of it all around us. And you’re seeing broken lives, broken families, broken countries. Because man has ascribed to this theory that somehow God is dead. But I’m here to tell you, 58 years later, the person who gave this title is dead. But the God who wrote about is still alive and living forever. And that is the truth of everything.

Life magazine once asked the question. In fact, they didn’t ask the question. They said, God is dead. Guess what happened to Life magazine, 8 years later? It stopped. Life magazine came to an end. But the God that they pronounced to be dead is still alive today. God has a funny way of treating the people who think He is dead. He is still relevant. And there are millions and billions of people all around the world who can stand and testify today. God is real. God is alive. He is everlasting. He is the most real thing in our life. He makes more sense to us than anything this world can ever offer. God is alive. He is the everlasting one.

Every kingdom comes to an end. Every ruler’s rule comes to an end. Every kingdoms and thrones and principalities ultimately comes to an end. Every man’s wealth and fame comes to naught. But God’s glory is everlasting in nature because He is an everlasting God. He has no beginning. He will have no end and He will forever remain as Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. He alone is the everlasting God of the universe. That God became a child and was born in a manger. Unable for me to explain how to wrap my mind around a concept such as that, that the eternal God would be wrapped around into the body of a child.

What does it mean by the fact that He is our everlasting Father? The first thing that it means is that He is our creator and redeemer. The first thing that we need to understand about this idea of everlasting Father is that our Lord is the creator of our lives. Isaiah talks about this. Isaiah 64:8. You, Lord, He says, are our Father. We are the clay. You are the potter. We are all the work of your hand. So what does it mean by God is your Father? The first thing is that He is your creator. You are the clay of His hand. The height that you have, the weight that you have, the way you look is all determined by a God in whose hands you were formed. So don’t question His authority or the way you were made because He knows exactly what He’s doing. You are the clay. He is the potter and we are all the work of His hands.

Do you know that you are created by a God in His image and He has breathed His life into your very soul. And not only that, look at Deuteronomy 32:6. Moses asked the question, is He not your Father? And then he says, and is He not your creator who made you and formed you? So the idea of fatherhood of God immediately communicates to us the fact that God is our creator. But not only God is our creator, He is also the Redeemer of our life. Our Father is our Redeemer as well. And that’s a beautiful thing.

All the world is God’s creation. Every human being is created by God. But only certain people can call Him Redeemer where God becomes their Father. Isaiah 63:16, you are our Father. Though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us. Look at that. He says, you are our Father. Abraham, our father, does not even know who we are. Israel, Jacob does not even acknowledge us. You, Lord, are our Father. How? Our Redeemer from of old is your name. So not only is God our creator, Him being our Father means that He’s our Redeemer as well.

Isaiah 45:17, Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You will never be put to shame or disgraced to ages everlasting. How are we, the modern Israel, the New Testament Israel or the Old Testament Israel, able to be saved to the everlasting? You know why that is? Because you have an everlasting Father. If you do not have an everlasting Father, your redemption will not be everlasting. It will only last as long as the Redeemer is there. Because your Redeemer lives forever. Your redemption is also an everlasting salvation.

Any kind of a rescue as futile and as worthless as it is that man could ever give to you would only last for his lifetime here on earth. If a man comes to you and says, I will save you. I will protect you. I will give you everything that you want. It will only last as long as he’s around. The moment he stops around, so stops his salvation. So stops his deliverance. So stops his work for you. But our Redeemer, He is an everlasting Father who lives forever. So He can say, I give you a salvation that is everlasting in nature. Oh, aren’t you glad that your Redeemer is everlasting? And He gives you a salvation that is everlasting as well.

God identified with His people as His Father in every stage of redemption in their lives. When God sent Moses to stand before Pharaoh and asked for His people to be let go from the nation of Egypt. The first sign of redemption for them in Exodus. Look at the way God identifies Himself. In Exodus 4:22-23. Then say to Pharaoh, this is what the Lord says, Israel is my firstborn son. And I told you, let my son go so he may worship me. God is saying, you go to Pharaoh and tell him, you might be slaves in your sight. But they have a heavenly Father. Israel is my firstborn son. Let my son go and worship me because I have redeemed him. Because I am their Father. They are not fatherless.

A lot of times when the people of the world look at the people of the redeemed, they think they have nobody to care for them. But God is reminding them, yes, for the last 400 years, they might seem that I have forgotten you. But no, I have not forgotten you. You were always my firstborn son. Go and tell Pharaoh, they have a heavenly Father in heaven that is greater than any ruler of Egypt. Let my son go so that he may worship you. In fact, God killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt because Pharaoh did not let the firstborn of God be freed to go and worship Him. Look at the way God cares about His people. You touch God’s children, you’re touching the apple of His eye. He is our heavenly Father.

But not only does He redeem them from the bondage of the land of Egypt, the redemption that He gives to them is a complete one. Not only does our heavenly Father redeem us, but He does not leave us to fetch for ourselves. Every step in our journey of faith is one in which our heavenly Father watches over us, carries us until we reach the heavenly shore. And our salvation that we have found in Him is complete in Him. Look at the testimony of their lives in Deuteronomy 1:31. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a father carries his son all the way until you reach this place.

In your life, your heavenly Father has been carrying you as a father carries his son. You came this far, not because of your prowess, not because of your abilities, not because of the wisdom of your life, not because of the abilities that you had naturally or with some kind of human knowledge. You came thus far because as a father carries his son, our Lord has carried us all the way because He is our loving heavenly Father. We all can testify to that today even itself, doesn’t we?

Not only did He redeem me as a father carries his son. Oh, there’s a father carrying his son all the way at the end over there. Just like that, our heavenly Father carries the son every step of the way. Such gentleness, such care that is given. Every time you look at the face of your child and see how your heart breaks for their well-being, you understand and get a small glimpse of the heart of the heavenly Father who carries the son.

Not only is He our Creator and Redeemer, but also if He’s our Father, He is our provider and protector as well. He is the ultimate provider of your life. Jesus wanted His people to understand that fact about the heavenly Father. After telling them all the things that they need in their life, He tells them, but don’t worry about any of these things. Why? Matthew 6:32. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

So you know what that means? If you did not get something, heavenly Father knew that you did not need them. If this is true, the opposite is also true. If you didn’t receive healing, your heavenly Father knows you did not need healing. If you did not receive deliverance in a particular prayer that you prayed the way you wanted to, your heavenly Father knew that that was best for you, not to get that prayer request answered the way you wanted to. But if there is a need in your life, according to His sovereign plan, perfect will, heavenly love that is so much greater than our love for ourselves, He will give it to you because He is a good, good Father who does not withhold anything that is good, eternally good in our lives. If you need it, He will give it. If you don’t need it, He will not give it.

And I praise God, not only for the things He has given me, but also for the things to which He said, no, you don’t need it. I trust His heart. He knows much better than I do. He is an eternal God. I am not an eternal being. He is an infinite being. I’m a finite being. His understanding, no one can fathom. My understanding is so limited. My vision is so narrow. It is limited to my five senses. My God sees everything from the heavens. There is no limit to His understanding. Who am I to stand here or sit down there and question the wisdom and knowledge and understanding and the plans of an almighty, infinite, perfect Heavenly Father?

Many of you think, why am I in this marriage? I didn’t deserve this. I served God faithfully. How come I ended up with this person? Does God not love me? It’s difficult. But I’m here to tell you, your Heavenly Father loves you. He only gives you burdens that you are able to bear. And you have such grace in your life to bear the burdens of your life. He will not tempt us beyond what we are able to bear. His heart is that of a Heavenly Father. He understands us. He knows how we are formed. He knows our frame. Even before I’m knit together in my mother’s womb, my God knows who I am. Even before the foundation of the earth was laid, He knew me by name. How can I question the wisdom of God in my life?

But our God is not only a father, a wonderful, tender father. Even to those who have not had good fathers or fathers who are absent in their lives or fathers who had untimely deaths. You know what God’s word says? Psalm 68:5, He is a father to the fatherless. He’s a defender of widows. He is God in His holy dwelling. Maybe you’re listening here this morning, listening to these sermons and thinking, I wish my dad was around. But my dad was not around when I was growing up. Maybe my dad is no longer on this earth. But the promise of God is that He is a father to the fatherless. He is a defender of widows. He is God in His holy dwelling.

Even if you had a tough childhood, if you trust in the Lord, God can make you to be great in your life. Probably one of the greatest statesmen ever to walk on the face of the earth is Winston Churchill. In fact, we owe so much of our freedom that we have today, even as Americans, to the leadership of that prime minister of England. But he had a father growing up and Lord Randolph Churchill was absolutely mean towards him. He did not like the way his son looked, made fun of his looks all the time. He did not even like his voice. That same voice that would capture the hearts of an entire kingdoms and nations around the world. His own father did not like his voice.

He did not like to be in the same room with his son. He never complimented him, only criticized him. His biographer says that young Winston’s letters begging both parents, especially for the father’s attention. But he did not let that define what he would become. In spite of an absent father, but most seriously a father who only gave him pain and grief and all kinds of disillusionment about who he is in his own life. He was able to make something great out of his life. I’m here to tell you, even if you have a home in which a father is absent, remember this, your heavenly father, the Lord you came is a father to the fatherless. He’s a defender of widows. He’s God in his holy dwelling.

So he’s not only our creator and redeemer. He’s not only our provider and protector of our lives. He’s also a merciful and compassionate father. The Lord who came, he’s a merciful and compassionate father. Aren’t you glad that he’s so merciful, that he is so compassionate? None of us would be alive on the face of the earth today if our Lord, our heavenly father was not a merciful and compassionate father.

That’s why Psalm 103:13-14 tells us, Oh, as a father has compassion on his children. Every father sitting here today, godly father can identify with this verse. No matter how many times our kids mess up, you know what we have in our heart? A compassion towards them. We continuously forgive them. They test the limits of that all the time. But we have as a piece of the heavenly father in us. And that’s why we have compassion on our children. But the Bible says, the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.

And I think it’s so infinitely greater because he’s such a great God who is greater than any earthly father. You know why God has compassion on us? He knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are dust. You might be walking around in your suit and tie and your PhDs and everything. You know what God looks at you and says, dust. You might be so walking around like your money and your bank account and how famous you are. And you are the manager of this and all this. You’re a pastor of this. You’re a reverend this and all that. You know what God says, dust.

Praise God for that. That’s the only way God can have compassion on you. At the end of the day, we are dust. We are nothing. We are nothing. The next words tell you, you are like a flower that just blooms up in the morning and the evening it is gone. And even the place does not remember it no more. If the heavenly father don’t have compassion upon you, you will not have anything. So be humble in your life. Remember, make yourself remember just as the father does that you are dust. I’m not asking you to put yourself down. But we need to start having the perspective of God in our hearts towards us as well. We are valuable in the sight of God. But yet when it comes to us as human beings, we are but dust. Nothing, nothing.

In Isaiah 63, you should go home and read this chapter. It’s a beautiful chapter. It talks about the mercy and kindness of God. He says, I will tell of the kindness of the Lord. And you should listen when he tells you. The deeds for which he is to be praised. Why do we praise our God? Because here is a writer saying, let me tell you about the kindness of our God. According to all that he has done for us. Yes, the many good things he has done for Israel. According to what? According to their good things? No, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

God has done a lot of good things in our life. Not because you and I deserve it. But because of his great compassion and kindness towards us. Look what God did. Verse 9, in all their distress, he too was distressed. What a beautiful verse. You think your troubles are your own? You know what the Bible says? When you’re troubled, guess who is troubled? God is troubled. In your distress, he too was distressed. In your pain, he too felt the pain. In your trouble, he too felt the trouble. Your God is not a distant God. Your God understands your cries, your pain, your prayers. Everything matters to God. God’s heart breaks for the things that break the heart of his people. He is near to the brokenhearted. He has compassion on the things that bothers your hearts.

What did God do? He sends us the angel of his presence in the midst of our distress to save us. In his love and mercy, he redeemed them. He lifted them up and just like we read in Deuteronomy, carried them. For a moment? No, all the days of old. Until their life on earth is over, he carries them. Because he is a merciful and compassionate God.

So this God, who is this so wonderful. This God, who is everlasting. The one, the everlasting father came as a baby in a manger. But this was no accident. He was prophesied by the prophets. Listen very carefully to the words of Micah in Micah 5:2. But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel. Look at his description. Whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. What is Micah saying? The child who will be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah is not an ordinary child. He is the everlasting God whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. The ancient of days is coming to be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah, the everlasting father.

Jesus himself will tell us that in John 8:58. Very truly I tell you, Jesus answered. Oh before Abraham was born, I am. Hallelujah! Before Abraham was born, I am that I am that existed in all eternity. Even before time came to be, I am the God of all the ages who is now standing before you.

Not only is he pre-existent, Paul would write to us and tell us, just like our heavenly father is the creator, Jesus is our creator as well. Colossians 1:16-17. In him, Jesus, all things were created. Why? He’s our everlasting father. Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, everlasting. And in him, all things hold together.

Everlasting father to his people is Jesus. John 14:9. Jesus would tell us, anyone who has seen me has seen the father. How can you say, show us the father? Showing his equality with God. To make matters very clear, John 10:30. I and the father are one. And that’s why the Holy Spirit could say, the child that is born is like an everlasting father. He has mercy, compassion. So does Jesus. Look at Matthew 23:37. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who killed the prophets and stoned those who sent to you. How often have I longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings and you were not willing. What is this talking about? The mercy and compassion of the savior who came to this earth.

So you see everything that could be said about the father in God’s word. Being in the life of our Lord, eternal creator, provider, protector, merciful, compassionate savior. And that’s why Isaiah would write, he is the everlasting father.

Let me leave you with two points. First one is this. There’s a hunger in every human heart that only truly is satisfied through a relationship with the heavenly father. There is a word that is very familiar to the modern society. You know what that is? Father hunger. The number one problem, reason for dysfunction in society today, sociologists will tell you, is the absence of fathers in homes. The number one problem. Everything else is secondary. The number one reason for the problem in society, absence of fathers in homes.

But you know what else is there? There’s also a hunger in every human soul for a relationship with the father in heaven. We are restless. We’re not complete until that day you encounter your heavenly father. That is why man around you is so lost because they don’t have a relationship with the heavenly father. God sent his son into this world so that him showing us the one who is our heavenly father will be able to allow us to enter into a relationship with him.

Secondly, always remember that your savior is eternal and still the father of your lives. I love the contrast that is included in this word. Some people emphasize one over the other. God is eternal. Jesus is eternal. And they stand away from him, rightfully so, in adoration, worship, because he is so beyond us. But they think of him as being distant to others. He is this loving opportune who is there to provide me with everything that I need. I call him daddy and all these things and do whatever names. And I kind of trivialize him to someone who is there just to help me. And they forget the fact that he is still eternal God of the universe.

This balance needs to be in our hearts as well. The Jesus that we worship is eternal and still the father of our lives. There needs to be a reverence and holy fear in his presence because he is the eternal God of the universe. But there also needs to be an approachability in your heart when you come to him because ultimately he is also the father of your lives. That revelation is beautiful. A mixture of love and fear. A mixture of adoration and admiration. A mixture of great reverence towards him. But at the same time, great feeling of nearness to him. That balance is beautiful. When you have that in your lives, your life will be so enriched as you encounter the one who is the everlasting father of our lives.

Ken Hughes tells the story of a missionary to Nigeria in the middle of the 20th century. The name of the missionary was a man by the name of Everett Fulham. He went to a tribe that was so isolated that they had never even heard the word Africa, much less the word America. Even though they lived in the middle of Nigeria, they had never heard of the word Africa. This was a pagan pre-scientific tribe with a view of creation. The view of the world was so simplistic that when Fulham mentioned that two Americans had walked on the moon, the old chief looked into Fulham’s eyes, then up at the moon and exclaimed in an angry voice, there’s nobody up there. Besides, it’s not big enough for two people to stand on. That’s what it looks like, right? You look at the moon and like, that’s not big enough for two people to stand on. One will fall off.

So these were people who had very little exposure to the outside world, much less the gospel. But this man went on and labored among them, teaching them about the God of the Bible, teaching them about Jesus. A beautiful day came and three people were to be baptized. I want you to listen to how Fulham describes it. There were two men and one woman. We stood on the banks of a muddy river, wet and happy. I have seen, never seen three more joyful people than those people on the banks of the river. I asked them, what is the best thing about this experience?

All three of them continued to smile. The glistening water emphasized the brightness of the dark skinned faces. But only one spoke in clear, deliberate English. Listen to what he said. Behind this universe stands one God, not a great number of warring spirits as we had always believed. But one God and that God loves me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for people that have never heard the gospel. You and I have heard the gospel all of our lives. So it has become something trivial. You hear this all the time and you’re like dismissing it from your heart. But don’t lose the wonder of what we have. There is this one God of the universe, unapproachable, majestic, more wonderful than anything the human mind can imagine. Yet that God knows you, that God loves you. He is the true father of your lives. What a wonderful knowledge that is.

Revel in the mystery and the majesty of it. Oh, there is nothing that we can do to repay him for his great grace and mercy towards that. Other than to bow down before him and says, you are the everlasting father. You came down, you died for my sins on the cross. Now all my life will be lived in worship and adoration of the one who deserves my entire being and entire living life lived in thanksgiving and gratitude towards him.

I pray that we will never lose the wonder of that, especially in this season. Let’s look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly father, we thank you for your son who came into this world, who is eternal and yet has shown us what our heavenly father is like. Our creator, our redeemer, our protector, provider and a merciful, compassionate God. May we always love you with our hearts and live for you and you alone. Thank you for this time. Be with us as we now enter in the time of celebrating your suffering on the cross for us. In the name of the Lord Jesus that we pray.