December 25, 2015
Isaiah 9:6, 7
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
The Scripture for our Christmas day blog is one of the greatest Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah – Isaiah 9:6 and 7:
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, Coun-
selor, 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.
The Infinite Infant – how can a newborn human infant be at the same time infinite? Our Scripture in verse 6 definitely includes both ideas:
• “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given….” I once read a tract by a Catholic society – I can’t remember the name of the group – that said something like this:
The Child Jesus was not born into the world the way ordinary people are born.
He just passed through the wall of Mary’s womb, the flesh of her belly, and ap-
peared in the world.
But it says concerning Jesus in Hebrews 2:14 and 17: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same…. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren….” And in Hebrews 4:15 it is written that He experienced all that we, as human beings, could ever experience! It reminds me of the opening two lines of a 1974 folk rock song by Harry Chapin called Cat’s In The Cradle. “My child arrived just the other day. He came to the world in the usual way.” And Jesus came into the world in the usual way also! He was a fully human infant, born the usual way after nine months in the womb of Mary! But He was also God…
• “And His name will be called…Mighty God, Everlasting Father….” All the names given in verse 6 are amazing! There are four or five titles here, depending on if Wonderful, Counselor is considered one or two. But these two especially – Mighty God and Everlasting Father – I have chosen to feature speak of His infinite nature! As Paul wrote in Colossians 2:9: “For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily…” – even in the tiny body of an infant! Yes, Jesus Christ was and is infinite!
But it is written three times in the Bible – in Psalm 2:7, Acts 13:33, and Hebrews 1:5 (the Father speaking) – “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.” It sounds like the Son had a beginning. And if He did, He could not be infinite! But Paul clears this up in Colossians 1:18 where he says, “…He is…the beginning, the firstborn from the dead….” Jesus is the first to be resurrected from death to a glorious eternal body perfectly adapted for spiritual living! And we will someday have the same! (See I Corinthians 15:49; I John 3:2).
Jesus told His listeners in John 8:58, “…before Abraham was, I AM.” Abraham lived about 2,000 years before Christ was born. Before that, He is still I AM! I AM is the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14. The note page, “THE NAME OF THE LORD” in The New Open Bible says this: “‘I AM’ and ‘LORD’ are both probably derived from the Hebrew verb ‘to be’ (hayah) because God is the ever-present One, ‘the Eternal’ ” So Jesus, saying that He is I AM, is identifying Himself as the Eternal One! (See also John 6:35, 48, 51; 8:12; 8:24, 28; 9:5; 10:7, 9; 10:10, 11; 11:25; 13:19; 14:6; 15:1, 5; 18:5, 6, 8; Revelation 1:8, 11, 17; 21:6; 22:13).
How can it be? How can a tiny infant contain the infinite God? Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The Lord said to His disciples after He appeared in the upper room in Luke 24:39: “…a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” A spirit does not have physical qualities as do human beings! So God – in all His fulness – can indeed be contained in a tiny infant born in Bethlehem! And God – in all His fulness – can indeed be contained in the human spirit of every believing human being! (See Ephesians 1:23).
This is the miracle of Christmas – The Infinite Infant! This is the One who – by His death and resurrection – procured salvation and eternal life for us all! Open your heart and life to Him!