CELEBRATING CHRIST – EVERLASTING FATHER

“…He who has seen Me has seen the FATHER; so how can you say, ‘Show us the FATHER’?” – John 14:9b

Beloved, join me to CELEBRATE CHRIST – EVERLASTING FATHER: “For unto us a Child is born … and His name will be called…EVERLASTING FATHER… (Isa.9:6). Here, the Messiah is described as both a Son (“unto us a Son is given”) and a Father! God is three Persons in One – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus, the Second Person of the Godhead, pre-existed His earthly birth. As God, He has no beginning. He is the Source of all things. He lived in eternal glory and had perfect communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is the Word that was in the beginning, the Word made flesh. He was not created; He is the Creator: “Through Him all things were made” (Jh.1:1-3; 14).

The term “Father” describes the caring relationship between a Provider-protector and children under His charge. A king was sometimes described as the father of his people. Job referred to himself as “a father to the needy” (Job 29:16). At his best, a father wants and seeks what is good for his children. It might not always be what they want, but it is for their good. A father loves, protects, nurtures, and provides. Earthly fathers fail, to the point of distorting our understanding of God the Father, but Jesus never fails us. He reveals the Fatherhood relationship with us. His care and provision are unchanging and secure: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him” (Psa.103:13 NIV).

Jesus affirmed: “I and My Father are one” (Jh.10:30). He is worthy of the same honor as the Father: “that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (Jh. 5:23). The disciples once asked, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus replied: “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known me, you would have known My Father also” (Jh. 8:19b). Again, He affirmed: “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me…” (Jh.14:11a). It is therefore not odd that Isaiah described the Son as “Everlasting Father”! The symbolic use of the Hebrew word Father was an expression for “possessor of,” meaning that He became a child in time (through His birth), but He is the Father (and possessor) of eternity. “Everlasting Father” in the Hebrew, is literally “the Father of Eternity.”

All of these speak of the purpose of Christ’s coming. He is before, above, and beyond time. He is the Possessor of eternity. He is eternally like a father to His people. Along with the notion of the Trinity, this underlines the character of our Lord. All that a good father is, Jesus is to us! He is the Everlasting Father; there is nothing temporary or passing about His steadfast love and abiding faithfulness. Like a father, He cares for His people. Because He owns eternity, He rescues us from a sin-cursed planet and gives us eternal life. All human fathers pass away, but Jesus is a Father forever!

The name “Everlasting Father” reveals significant aspects of Christ’s Character: He inhabits and possesses eternity (Isa. 57:15); His name is eternal (Psa. 72:17); He is eternal in all that He is and does; He is pre-existent and self-existent (Psa.90:2); and He is the eternal provider (Rev. 21:6-7). Christ is our timeless Source of fatherly protection and provision. His character is eternally consistent and unchanging: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb.13:8). He is “Alpha and Omega” – before everything and will surpass everything (Rev.1:8). John the Baptist recognized Christ’s eternality when he said, “This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me’” (Jh.1:30).

May we take time to ponder Christ, the timeless One who invaded time to rescue us from sin and self – the Father of Eternity who has given His life so that we may have eternal peace with God and with one another!