How many of you have finished your Christmas shopping?  How many have yet to start your Christmas shopping?  I overheard two guys at the gym talking and one was saying he went out and bought his wife a beautiful diamond ring for Christmas.  His friend said, “I thought she wanted a new SUV.”  The first guy said, “She did, but where am I going to find a fake Jeep?”  Well, this Advent Season, I’ve been talking about a perfect Gift that is the real deal.  The best gift at Christmas comes in the form of a Baby and we’ve been looking at His names in Isaiah 9:6.  We’ve already talked about the Messiah being our wonderful counselor and our mighty God.  But He is also our “everlasting Father.” 

Did you ever have a best friend growing up?  Where is he or she now?  Do you still stay in contact with each other?  The truth is, most of our close friends, through the years, drift away.  But we have a true friend who will never drift away.  His name is Jesus, our Everlasting Father. 

In Isaiah’s prophecy, the coming Messiah is referred to as the “everlasting Father.”  We know that our Heavenly Father is the “Father” part of the Godhead, but God the Son is also called a Father.  We cannot divorce the “everlasting Father” from our picture of God as our heavenly Father.  John 14:8-11 “Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, & it is enough for us.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so, & you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.  How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father & the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  Believe me that I am in the Father & the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.’” 

In order for us to grasp an understanding of “everlasting Father” being used to describe the coming Jesus Christ, we should look at how the people of Isaiah’s day associated with the name “Father.”  Modern culture often depicts “dads” as the Homer Simpson kind of bumbling idiot.  Today’s fathers are seen as irrelevant at best and dangerous at worst.  They are either dolts who are always messing up or they are potential abusers of wives and children.  This was not how fathers were perceived in Scripture. 

The people of the Old Testament knew what it was like to be fatherless.  Deuteronomy 24 gives instruction to be kind to widows and the fatherless in legal matters.  And farmers were told to leave some of their crops in the field when they harvested so they could be used by the widows and the fatherless.  The fatherless were those who were without protection and provision.  A father, in Isaiah’s culture, was one who provided for and protected his family.   

In Isaiah 22:20-22 describes the king as a father to his people, also to provide and to protect.  Elijah and Elisha were both called “father” as spiritual leaders of Israel.  Now add the word “everlasting” to that name.  Think of what it was like in Israel.  They would have a good king and then a couple of bad ones.  What would it mean to have an “everlasting father?”  They would have protection and provision forever; not just until the next bad king came along.  

Some of you may not have a very good image of father.  The one you had may have been anything but “everlasting”—possibly temporary would be more like it.  But the Messiah will be called “Everlasting Father” to us.  He will be there.  Forever.  And He will not follow the pattern of brokenness that so many of our fathers passed onto us.  And He will do what fathers are called to do—to provide for us; to watch over us; and to even discipline us. 

How is Jesus Like a Father to Us?

1. He Has a Permanent Relationship with Us.

Last week we saw that our Messiah, as “mighty God,” was deity—our eternal God without beginning or end.  Ps. 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth & the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”   

This Messiah came to earth to establish an eternal, permanent relationship with us.  I remember some of my friendships I’ve enjoyed over the years.  Some of the friendships have drifted apart.  I miss some of those relationships and I’m sure you can relate.  I recently signed up on Facebook and have heard from a number of high school classmates and former youth group members.  I don’t recognize most of the pictures of my high school friends (who are those old people?).  I am certain that I haven’t changed a bit since graduation.  Ha!   

Jesus, as our everlasting Father, never outgrows us or loses interest in us.  He never drifts apart or loses touch with us.  He is always there—unchanging.  What does Hebrews 13:8 tell us? “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday & today & forever.” 

Scripture gives us three aspects of this permanent relationship that He has with us.

·         His love toward us is everlasting.  Jesus will never stop loving us.  He can never love us any more or less than He already does right now.  Is. 54:8 “With everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.  Jer. 31:3 God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”   

·         His covenant with us is everlasting.  God has entered into a covenant relationship with us.  In a marriage covenant, it says, “Til death do us part.”  That clause is not in God’s covenant with us.  Ezekial 37:26-27 “I will make a covenant of peace with them.  It shall be an everlasting covenant with them.  And I will set them in their land & multiply them, & will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.  My dwelling place shall be with them, & I will be their God, & they will be my people.” 

·         His salvation for us is everlasting.  A permanent relationship between God and us could only be established once we had been delivered from sin.  When Jesus saves us, He saves us FOREVER.  Is. 45:17 “But Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.”  Jesus told us in John 6:47 “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.”   If you have entered into that covenant with God by trusting completely in and giving your life to Jesus Christ, you can be assured that His covenant—His salvation, will never end. 

2. He Has a Paternal Relationship with Us.

In Isaiah 9, the Messiah is referred to as “everlasting Father.”  It may sound confusing to call Jesus Christ, “Father.”  Up to this point, only God was referred to as Father.  But we must remember that Jesus Himself said (John 10:30) “I & the Father are one.”  We read a few minutes ago from John 14 when Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” 

Jesus is like a father to us.  He does the things that a father would do.  Four examples:

·         Our father gives life.  In a human sense, we were “created” by our parents.  In a larger sense, we were created by our Heavenly Father.  John 1:3 “All things were made through him (Jesus) & without him was not any thing made that was made.”  Jesus gave us not only physical life, but more importantly, spiritual life. John 5:24 “Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my word & believes him who sent me has eternal life.  He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”  Our “everlasting Father,” Jesus Christ, gives us eternal life. 

·         Our father gives advice.  We looked at Jesus as advisor when we looked at “wonderful counselor” two weeks ago.  Eph. 1:16-17 “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a Spirit of wisdom & of revelation in the knowledge of him.”  How often have we asked our dads for advice or wisdom?  They’ve already traveled the road we’re on right now.  Mark Twain said, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to 21, I was astonished at how much the old man learned in seven years.”   

Why do we go to our fathers?  Because we trust them.  We know that they have our best interests in mind.  We can always go to our Everlasting Father, Jesus Christ, who loves giving us advice and wisdom and counsel because He has our best interests in mind.           

·         Our father loves us.  John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Abide in my love.”  I remember when my sons were little and they would climb into my lap.  In my arms, they would know that they were loved.  That is how I look at Jesus as my Father.  I know that He loves me, more than any earthly father could ever love me.  He will always be there, putting His nail-scarred hands around me. 

·         Our father protects us.  We saw that last week when we talked about the Messiah as our “mighty God.”  When kids are afraid, where’s the first place they run?  To their parents.  When they find their folks, they know they’re safe and secure, whatever is happening around them.  They know that their father will protect them. Jesus does the same thing. 

When Jesus prayed His “high priestly prayer” on the night He was betrayed in the Garden, He said, (John 17:11-12) “And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, & I am coming to you.  Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”  Paul promises (2 Thes. 3:3) “The Lord is faithful.  He will establish you & guard you against the evil one.” 

Jesus never lets His guard down and He never lets us down.  He will protect us from evil and will not allow us to slip away from Him.  Remember His promise in John 10:28 “No one shall snatch them out of my hand.”  Jesus is our “Everlasting Father.”  He has a permanent and paternal relationship with us, which leads to the third point… 

3. We Can Have a Powerful Relationship with Him.

Jesus is not only everlasting, but He is also the true Father to us.  Some of you have lost your earthly fathers.  Others of you may have strained relationships with your fathers.  Whatever the reason, they are no longer around for help or protection so you can’t run to them when life gets tough.  But we can still run to our “everlasting Father.”  Not only will He never leave us or forsake us, but He also loves us and protects us and gives us life.  He is our Father, who will always be there for advice, protection and love.   

Matthew 1:23 “The virgin will be with child & will give birth to a son, & they will call him Immanuel—which means, ‘God with us.’”  Think of that…God with us forever and ever. 

Businesses and corporations don’t last.  Governments and kingdoms don’t last.  Even people don’t last.  No matter how much your parents love you or how much your spouse may care for you, if you live long enough, there will come a day when they will leave.  They will abandon you--maybe not by choice, but by their death.  However, Jesus is different.  He will always be our Provider and Protector and Savior.  He will always be our refuge and strength.  His love for us will never cease, either in this world or the next.  In Him, we will have eternal joy and hope and glory and pleasure.  He will always be our God. 

Maybe you can’t go to your earthly dad today for advice or encouragement, you can go to your “everlasting Father.”  Psalm 103:17 “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him.”

One of the greatest “theological” motion pictures of the past decade is probably in the DVD collection of many of you who are parents.  That monumental masterpiece, which is a powerful story of the love and determination of a caring father, is entitled… Finding Nemo.  It’s the story of being lost and then found.  In the movie Nemo’s father, Marlin, loved him very much.  He watched over Nemo and protected him from every evil.  They were best friends. 

But one day Nemo disobeyed his dad and swam beyond the reef.  He was suddenly scooped up by a diver and taken away.  His disobedience caused him to be separated from his father and there was no way he could get back on his own.  He ended up in a fish tank in a dentist’s office.  His situation seemed hopeless. 

Nemo’s dad loved him so much that it didn’t matter how big the ocean was.  He was determined to save Nemo and he set out on an incredible adventure to seek and save his son.  Eventually word of his incredible journey reached little Nemo.  He was so thrilled to learn of his father’s love and search for him, that Nemo took an amazing step (or leap) of faith.  He jumped out of the fish tank and went down a drain that emptied into the ocean.  The movie has a wonderful ending when Nemo was saved at last and at home with his loving father. 

That is the story of our Heavenly Father and us.  When we disobeyed Him, we became separated from Him, lost and helpless.  His love drove Him to the cross, so He could rescue us permanently.  He is not everyone’s Father…He is only the Father of those who run to Him and cry out to Him. 

What an awesome Savior!  What a Wonderful Counselor!  What a Mighty God!  What an everlasting Father!  Jesus is our Everlasting Father.  As our Wonderful Counselor, we can seek Him.  As our Mighty God, we can rest in Him.  As our Everlasting Father, we can run to Him.  Would you run to Him today?  Let’s pray.