“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 (NASB)
A better Hebrew understanding of the title Eternal Father would be Father of Eternity. This is the great mystery of the Incarnation, God the Father is in God the Son and they are one God. The prophet gave the Christ child to be born in Bethlehem the title Father of Eternity. When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus replied,
“Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father! So why are you asking Me to show Him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak are not My own, but My Father who lives in me does His work through Me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” John 14:9-11b (NLT)
John understood this when he introduced Jesus in the first verses of his Gospel:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. … He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— … The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-3; 10-12; 14 (NIV)
As the Father of Eternity Jesus stands outside of time and space. Theologians call this the transcendence of God. He is a God beyond us. The God of infinity, beyond human comprehension, transcending the universe and material existence. Yet, He is even more than that! As Father of Eternity, Jesus is also God among us! Many who believe in a God out there, struggle with a God right here! Maybe you do too. God took on human form so that He could relate to us and demonstrate His love for us. Theologians call this the immanence of God. It means God is present in all of creation while being distinct from it. These dual qualities make Jesus theFather of Eternity. So, how does this affect you and me?
- Because Jesus is the Father of Eternity, I can trust Him with my past, present and future! He lives in each dimension while I can only exist in one at a time. That means that I can trust Him to redeem me from my past failures! We all have mistakes in the past we wish we could change. Bad choices that were self-destructive or hurt others. While I can’t change the past, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus can redeem me from my past failures and restore my life. He can turn my worst mess into a life message of hope and redemption when I make Jesus President of my life. His political party is not symbolized by an elephant or a donkey, but a lamb. That’s why when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” That’s good news! Jesus came to sacrifice His life as the perfect Lamb of God so that He could redeem me from my sins – past, present and future!
- Because Jesus is the Father of Eternity, I can trust Him to rescue me from my present problems.The Message paraphrases John 1:4 like this:
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.”
Have you allowed Him to move into your neighborhood? When you do, you can rely on Him to come through for you. He may not come through the way you expect Him too but He will come through. He will either deliver you out of the problem or He will deliver you through the problem. He is a God of rescue! If you have a pulse, you have problems that need rescue! Three times the Apostle Paul told of how Jesus rescued him in 2 Corinthians 1:10. He said,
“And He did rescue us from mortal danger, and He will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us.”
If you want confidence in every crisis, make Jesus the Commander in Chief of every decision.
- Because Jesus is the Father of Eternity, I can trust Him to release me from my future fears. One of the greatest fears that haunts humanity is the fear of dying. The last time I checked, the mortality rate was still 100%. Everybody dies. But here’s the good news. Hebrews 2:14-15 says,
“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”
As the Father of Eternity, Jesus wants to deliver you from your fears and adopt you into His forever family! Though we are all created by God, we are not all children of God. Sin has separated us from Him and left us like abandoned orphans. We don’t have to remain alone. We have a choice. The Bible says,
“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 (NIV)
Just believe and receive Jesus today. When you do, He will redeem you from all your past failures, rescue you from your present problems and release you from your future fears.
