What Child Is This Part 1

Introduction

Isaiah 9:6–7 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

This is the Word of the Lord, Amen?
You may be seated

•     We focus so much of our attention on the death of Christ, and His resurrection.

•     Every Sunday at CLC we preach the Gospel, and a BIG part of the Gospel is Christs death and resurrection.

•     That means that every Sunday we talk in some part about the death of Christ.

•     We also know that all scripture testifies of Christ, so while we are preaching through Genesis, all of those Scriptures testify of Jesus… so we also look at the teachings of Christ most Sundays and the eternal nature of Christ.

•     But it is rare that we talk about the birth of Christ, it certainly comes up… such as in Genesis 3 where it is first prophesied that Christ would be born of a virgin… so it does come up, but it is relatively rare we talk about it…

•     Yet Christ’s birth was just as miraculous and just as world changing as His death and resurrection.

•     So during the Christmas season we take a break from the scriptures we are preaching through to focus in on the birth of our Savior… and this year the as I prayed and asked God for inspiration for these Christmas sermons I heard loud and clear the phrase “What Child is this?”.

•     The title of a classic Christmas hymn that is about 160 years old… and a question that sparks wonder and demands an answer…

What Child is this who, laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping?

•     The question is not meant to be asked from the perspective of Mary… Mary knew what Child was this… The arch angel Gabriel told her that she would bear a son from the Holy Spirit, that His name was Jesus, and that this Jesus was eternal LORD of all.

•     And this Question was not meant to be asked from the perspective of Joseph… He was told by an angel of the Lord that Jesus was of God and was the Savior of mankind.

•     And the question is not meant to be asked from the perspective of the Shepherds, a hole heavenly host of angels told the shepherds that this child was the Christ, and that Salvation comes through Him.

•     No, the question “What Child is this” is meant to be a question from our perspective. Just plain Jane people… no special visitation from angles, not wise men from the east… not Mary and Joseph… just boring old us… what are WE to think of this child born in a manger…

•     Clearly something is special about Him… The shepherds came to see him after the angles told them where to find him…

•     Clearly something is special about him… wise men from the east came with gifts to find him following a new star in the sky.

•     Clearly something is special about him… the king is so threatened by this baby that he orders all baby boys in the region murdered…

•     So what are we to think? Put yourself in ancient Bethlehem. Maybe you’ve lived there all your life. Or maybe you’re just in town for the census, and you happened to take the last vacant room in the inn. How would you feel about all of these happenings going on… surely there would be a rumor mill churning full speed… surely you would hear of the shepherds and the wise men… of the baby born in a manger… what would you think… What child is this?

•     What Child is this? It is a question that nearly all of humanity has come to ask since that first Christmas some 2000 years ago.

•     Atheists ask this question and conclude “this child was born as a human and nothing more”.

•     Muslims ask this question and say “this child was born to be a great prophet”.

•     Buddhists say “this child is n enlightened being of compassion”.

•     Jews look back and say “the child is a Jew, ancestor of David… and he would grew up to be a great Rabbi”

•     But 700 years before his birth God told the prophet Isaiah exactly what Child this was…

Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

•     What I would like to do this week and next, as we approach Christmas, is to go over these titles and why Jesus came to be these things for us. I want to firmly answer the question: “What Child is This”. So let’s get into it this morning…

•     What Child is this? Well this Child is the Wonderful Councilor.

Wonderful Counselor

Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor…

•     Now the New King James version puts a comma between the words Wonderful and Counselor, though in Hebrew there were no punctuation marks… so this title for Jesus could be Wonderful Counselor, or it could be two titles, Jesus is Wonderful and jesus is Counselor… The NKJV says it is two titles, but many other translations, like the ESV, the LSB, and the CSB say it is one title… either way, it carries that same meaning, and I personally prefer the singular title “Wonderful counselor” so that is what I am going to use for this serries…

•     What Child is this? This Child is the Wonderful Counselor.

•     Okay… but what exactly does that mean? Does it mean that He is a really good therapist? No, it does not mean that, though Jesus is the best therapist in the world, that much is true… but that fits more in His title Prince of Peace… than it fits here…

•     Instead Wonderful Counselor means something for more divine and far more kingly.

•     Let’s start with the word Wonderful, this is the Hebrew word Pele’ and it means “Supernatural, Miraculous, unexplainable, and awe-inspiring”.

•     Today we might use the word wonderful to describe any number of things… “how was your sleep
?” “Oh it was wonderful!”! or “These cheesy thanksgiving potatoes are wonderful, thank you!”

•     But in the Old Testament it is never used this way, instead the word Pele’, Wonderful, is only ever used to describe the supernatural acts of God.

•     So when we say “wonderful counselor” we mean “Divinely miraculous and awe-inspiring Counselor”.

•     But what does that word counselor mean, if not “therapist”.

•     The word here is yo’etz and it means a king’s strategic wisdom and guidance.

•     In ancient Israel a King was looked to for guidance and direction… he was the ultimate judge of all matters and situations… you remember when two women brought a baby to King Solomon both claiming it was theirs, and King Solomon used His wisdom to figure out which woman the Bible actually belonged to? That was the King’s yo’etz… that was the Kings counsel, his guidance, his wisdom.

•     Of course the King had to guide national matters too… who to trade with, who to enter into military alliances with, who to go to war with and how to carry out the war… these things the people trusted to the king… to let the king guide them… He was the counselor of the nation, the chief strategist.

•     So Christ is our Wonderful Counselor, our Supernatural Advisor, our Mountain Moving, chain breaking, water walking nation shaking, wisdom beyond understanding King.

Psalm 147:5 NKJV

Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.

•     He can only know it because He is God. He can only do it because He is God. He can only say it because He is God.

Job 12:13 NKJV

“With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding.”

•     His divinity makes Him the wisest King to ever exist, so much so that in Him wisdom is personified!

1 Corinthians 1:30 NKJV

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God…

•     Jesus became for us wisdom from God, He is our wonderful councilor.

•     So this Christmas season as you look at your nativity set, and you see that little Baby Jesus and your heart ponders “What Child is this” now you have a response for that question… This child is all the Wisdom from God that I will ever need.

There is no wisdom outside of Christ. I really believe that. I don’t think Dr. Phil is wise. I don’t think Jordan Peterson is wise. I don’t think Joe Rogan, or Neil deGrasse Tyson, or Bill Nye, or Anderson Cooper, or Oprah, or Ben Shapiro, or Elon Musk, or Sam Altman, or Richard Dawkins, or anyone else our culture is wise outside of Christ. Some of these people might be intelligent, but without Christ all men are fools.

Psalm 14:1 NKJV

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

•     A fool looks at the baby in the manger, born of a virgin, surrounded by shepherds and wisemen, and says “Eh… it’s just a baby…”

•     If someone is not wise enough to pronounce Christ as Lord, then they are not wise enough to instruct me in any area of life.

•     I might buy a Tesla, but I am not taking marriage advice from Elon musk.

•     I am not watching a 5 part series on “The Gospels” from a guy who rejects the core message of the Gospel.

•     I am not looking to a podcaster for tips on how to improve my mood.

•     And I for sure am not listening to a political podcaster on what is best for our nation, when the reject the very Baby Boy on whom the government rests…

Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor…

•     So your encouragement here this morning… I don’t know what kind of wisdom you need…

•     Wisdom in your marriage… wisdom in your circumstances… wisdom for how to raise your children…

•     But I know where you will find that wisdom…

•     And I don’t know what kind of strategies you need…

•     Strategies for finances, how to save for retirement, or how to advance in your carreer… Strategies for ministry, or for healthy living…

•     I don’t know what strategies you need, but I know the Chief Strategist…

•     And the strategies that He gives… the wisdom He provides… as He counsels you in every area of life… be prepared… because it is going to be wonderful… miraculous… beyond understanding… divinely inspired and divinely given… Wisdom may say step out of the boat. Strategy may demand a mountain to move… and all the wisdom of the world may say it is impossible… but who cares… their wisdom is not wonderful like my wisdom is… their wisdom is foolishness compared to the Wonderful Counselor’s wisdom…

1 Corinthians 3:19 NKJV

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

•     They can keep their foolishness… because 2025 years ago, give or take a few years, a Child was born, a Son was given… what Child is this? He is the Wonderful Counselor… And He is Mighty God.

Mighty God

Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given… And His name will be called…Mighty God.

•     If anyone ever tells you that the Bible does not say that Jesus is God, you can now know with CERTAINTY… Christ Jesus IS Almighty God.

•     For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given and His name will be called “Mighty God”… El Gibbor… a name by the way that is used throughout the Old Testament to describe YHWY. It is a name only used to describe God, El Gibbor is never used to describe an angle, or a prophet, or a teacher, or a false God… it is ONLY ever used to describe THE God… the one and only true and living God, The great I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…  Jesus Christ is Mighty God. Period… You can’t get through the Christmas story without coming to this explixitly black and white conclusion. What Child is this? He is God… He is Mighty God.

John 1:1 NKJV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 NKJV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

•     In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… The Word was God, the Word was flesh… the Word was God in the flesh with us…

Isaiah 7:14 NKJV

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Matthew 1:21–23 NKJV

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

•     Jesus Christ, the Word, God in the Flesh with us… But His title here is not just God… He is not just “El” but He is Mighty God “El Gibbor”.

•     That word for Mighty is a word that means more than just strong, though strength is a part of it… it means heroic and victorious… The word is used for Gideon… Do you remember the story of Gideon? He was a clan leader of the least important clan in the half tribe of Mannesah…  He was young and thought himself lower than every other tribe… weaker than every other clan…

•     And God wanted to use his clan to over through the Midianites who had been oppressing Israel… so God took Gideon, and made him even weaker by lowering the number of troops Gideon wanted to bring into battle from 32,000 all the way down to 300… So weak little Gideon from his weak little clan were STILL to strong for God to use them and get the glory… so God made Gideon impossibly weak, how could 300 men defeat the 135,000 Mediante soldiers… yet God used this impossibly weak force to do just that, and through a series of miracles Gideon defeated Midian… and he was called Gibbor, the Mighty Hero…

•     The verses before our key verse in Isaiah make mention of this battle…

Isaiah 9:4–6 NKJV

For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian… For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given… And His name shall be called Mighty God,

•     The prophet Isaiah says “Do you remember Gideon Gibbor… the Mighty and Heroic Gideon… and how his impossibly weak army delivered us… well there is a new deliverer coming…  El Gibbor… Mighty and Heroic God!

•     And just as Giddeon went into battle impossibly weak… what could his 300 men do vers 135,000… so will Mighty God come impossibly weak… what can this baby boy do against a king who wants him dead, and a world who hates him, and the devil and his army of demons… what can this baby boy do? He doesn’t even have a crib for a bed, He is just in a cattle trough, sleeping… Yet, this tinny baby boy is El Gibbor, Mighty God… He will conquer Satan, He will overcome the world, He will defie kings and kingdoms… and He will defeat sin and death once and for all…

•     What child is this? HE IS THE MIGHTY GOD! HEROIC AND VICTORIOUS.

•     So as you think of all your challenges this year… all the issues that come up just being alive.

•     Remember that your victory was born in a manger 2025 years ago.

•     When death rocks your world, as it does for us all… remember that death was defeated… El Gibbor defeated it…

•     When sin rears it’s ugly head… remind it that it’s been defeated… it’s conqueror grew in the womb of a virgin girl…

•     It’s conqueror was born in a manger, for there was no room for Him in the inn…

•     It’s conqueror was crucified on a cross and buried in a rich man’s tomb…

•     It’s conqueror rolled the stone away and left that tomb empty…

•     It’s conqueror ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand  of God…

•     Jesus Christ, the Word in the Flesh… a weak baby in the poorest of birthing conditions… He is El Gibbor… God almighty.

Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.

Nails, spear shall pierce him through,
The Cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word Made Flesh,
The babe, the son of Mary!

Hail Hail El Gibbor, the Mighty God, the Baby, the son of Mary…

Conclusion

Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

•     You know the Christmas Story… But do you know the Wonderful Counselor… do you know the Mighty God? Yes I know you know ABOUT Him… but do you KNOW Him?

•     Is He YOUR wonderful Counselor… Is He King over your life… because a King does not give counsel to people who are not a part of His Kingdom…

•     Is He YOUR mighty God. Because He IS mighty God. He is God whether or not you following Him… but is He YOUR Mighty God? Is He fighting your battles and winning, or are you still trying to fight battles on your own… Would you pledge your allegiance to this God King? Or will you continue to resist Him?

•     I want to give you an opportunity to Make Jesus King of your life, for Him to be the hero of your story… the mighty God who reigns victorious not just over all the kingdom of darkness… but that He would reign victorious over your life as well…

Gospel Call