"His Name"

Isaiah 9:6.

 

What mystery, for Isaiah's generation, must have enshrouded the prophet's remarkable utterance concerning the child that was to be born, the Son that God would give to Israel. The apostle Peter shows that prophets searched their own writings to endeavour to discover what the Holy Spirit had given them to write of Christ; but they were informed that what they had written was not for themselves, but for a coming generation. It was not until the Son of God became flesh, and had entered through death into His glory, that the Holy Spirit came to indwell believers, and to give them the ability to understand the meaning of such Scriptures as this in Isaiah 9.

The Name given to the holy child brings Him before us in the greatness, glory and excellency of His Person. Who but a divine Person could bear the Name of Wonderful? Does not this Name remind us of His own words, "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father"? (Matt. 11:27). Whether we contemplate the Lord Jesus before He came in flesh, or in Manhood, the heart of the believer is compelled to exclaim, Wonderful! It is a Name reserved for God alone!

Before Samson was born, the Angel of Jehovah appeared to the wife of Manoah, then to Manoah; and Manoah said to the Angel, "What is Thy name, that when Thy word cometh to pass we may do Thee honour?" And the Angel of Jehovah said to him, "How is it that thou askest after My Name, seeing it is Wonderful?" (Judges 13:18). If we contemplate the Lord in the Christophanes of the Old Testament, or as dwelling in the unapproachable light which no man hath seen, or can see, the only suitable exclamation is "Wonderful!"

How wonderful it is to find the creator as an infant lying in a manger! All the mighty power that upholds the vast and innumerable orbs of the universe, as they pursue their appointed courses through the shoreless sea of space, at almost incredible speeds, was held in the little hand of the dependent Babe of Bethlehem. How wonderful that the Creator in Manhood should submit to all the indignities that men heaped upon Him; and that He should be a stranger, and an outcast, in the world His hands had made. Every detail of his holy life causes the saint of God to marvel at the lowly mind expressed, and at the patience and endurance with which He bore the contradiction of sinners against Himself.

It was indeed wonderful that a Man should be able to feed the multitudes from a few loaves and fishes: it was yet more wonderful that He, the incarnate Son of God, should feel the pangs of hunger, and yet refuse to make the stones bread to satisfy His need. When we realise who Jesus is, the originator of life, we may not wonder that He was able to raise the dead; but it is surpassing wonderful that the Prince of life should allow men to slay Him, and that for three days He should lie in the dust of death. This shall make us wonder and adore for all eternity!

Men wondered at the power that enabled Jesus to still the storm on the Lake of Galilee, that opened the eyes of the blind, and that raised the dead; but the One who exercised such power was "crucified in weakness." He offered rest to all who were weary and heavy laden; yet was Himself weary by Sychar's well: in the great day of the feast of Tabernacles, He cried, "If any one thirst, let him come unto me and drink"; yet, on the cross, He cried, "I thirst." Every detail of the life of Jesus, to the anointed eye and ear, is indeed wonderful.

All the teaching of Jesus, while on earth, vindicated His Name of "Counsellor"; whether His words to the multitudes of Galilee or Judea, His teachings in the temple, or the precious counsel given to His disciples before He went to the cross, and what He spoke to them after He rose from the dead. From His place of exaltation in heaven He still speaks words of counsel, saying to the church at Laodicea, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold purified by fire, that thou mayest be rich"; and speaking to those that are athirst, He says, "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 3:18; Rev. 22:17).

The New Testament Scriptures speak in no uncertain fashion of the Godhead glory of Jesus. His godhead glory shone through the human veil, and was discerned by those in whose hearts God had wrought. Although perfect Man, He was the "Mighty God," and the Jews took up stones to stone Him because, that being Man, He made Himself equal with God. His power to heal the ills of men, even when at a distance; His walking upon the water; His answers to the unspoken words of men, and the outshining of His glory on the "holy mount," and the Father's voice proclaiming Him as His Son, all unite to declare the glory of the great I AM come in flesh.

As "The Everlasting Father" He is the One who inhabits eternity, and who brings into existence all the ages, from eternity to eternity. Man is a creature of time, and can think of an eternity to come, but his mind cannot conceive an eternity without a beginning. The One who came into the world, though an infant of days was yet "The Ancient of Days." All the ages prior to human existence had their origin through Him; the ages of time, whether past or still to come are from Him and for Him; and He will yet usher in the eternal age, "the age of ages," where God shall be "all in all."

In the coming millennial age the Lord Jesus will be manifested as "The Prince of Peace." His entry into the world was acclaimed by the angelic praise, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace;" but men rejected the One who alone could bring them peace. On entering Jerusalem, shortly before His rejection by the leaders of Israel, the multitude of the disciples rejoiced, and praised God, saying, "Blessed the King that comes in the Name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest" (Luke 19:38). Peace, having been refused on earth, was about to spread her wings and fly to heaven.

Since the rejection of Jesus there has never been lasting peace on earth; human history being a recital of conflicts in every circle in which men are found. Yet there is one circle, even on earth, where peace is known. Before leaving the world, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you"; and in resurrection, coming into the midst of His troubled disciples, He said, "Peace unto you." In the circle where Christ is known there is peace, and Christ's own peace. The peace that filled His heart amidst all the trials and opposition He had to face is the peace that is known in the circle of His own.

Soon the Lord Jesus will come again to reign as "Prince of Peace"; but peace will be introduced through fearful judgments. The peace that men have long yearned for, but have never been able to procure by their own efforts, will come when all evil is set aside by the executive and sessional judgments of the Lord. The One who "made peace by the blood of His cross," and who now preaches peace in the Gospel, will bring to the world a peace that men have never known before. Till then, all the united efforts of men for peace will end in failure, for Christ is not in their thoughts. They will continue to say, "Peace, peace," as we hear all around today, and vainly imagine they are able to procure it, only to be overtaken with "sudden destruction."

In the midst of all the confusion around, whether in Christendom, or in the world at large, how blessed it is for the Christian to know Jesus as "Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." We know Him as our Lord and Master, and have been brought into association with Him as His brethren, His body and His bride; but how blessed for us to know our Lord in the varied glories in which He is presented to us in the holy Scriptures.