A Son is Given

I place my nativity set on my table every Christmas. I used to watch my children, and now my grandchildren, gaze at the stable, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, and the animals; but guess who they quickly wrap their little fingers around? Yes, baby Jesus. Only in a moment, they swoop Him out of His manger, only to pull Him up close for a better view. What is it about the baby? Is it the innocence; the purity?

Babies don’t stay babies very long. The little girl or boy that we used to pull up into our laps is now standing tall, and we realize that they have become adults. Well, baby Jesus, too, became an adult. What’s so interesting about Him though, was His beginning was not His birth on Christmas morning. He has always been; from “the beginning with God” (Jn. 1:1&2). Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” This child, Jesus, left His Father and the splendor of Heaven and came into this world born of flesh. The world…? The very world that He created by speaking its existence. He came into His own creation. He would experience it not only from a distance, but as a man within it. Jesus was God with the Father and God in His flesh. He was called Emmanuel – “God with us” (Mt. 1:23).

Notice that Isaiah tells us as he prophesies by the Holy Spirit that this child was a Son that was “given” (Is 9:6). Yes, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He tells us that “the government would be upon His shoulder” (Is. 9:6). This refers to the ensign of government – the scepter, the sword, the keys, or the like, that were borne upon the shoulder, or suspended from it. We read, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Is. 22:22). A key symbolizes the authority to open or to close. He carries that authority; that government. Now, we read in Matthew 16:19, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Jesus gave to us the authority in the earth to decree the Word, to release His anointing, and to bind and loose in Jesus’ name.

"His name shall be called Wonderful.” He excites amazement, wonder, and admiration, He is miraculous. He is called “Counselor”; He advises with ALL wisdom. He is called “The mighty God”; the term we see in the New Testament for the Messiah (Jn. 20:28). He is God. He shall be called “the everlasting Father” – the Father of eternity. Finally, He shall be called “the Prince of Peace”. Jesus is a peaceful prince, and He rules in peace. You, too, may want to embrace the figure of baby Jesus from your nativity and be reminded Who this Babe is today. He is WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE, AND HE IS ALL AUTHORITY.