His Name Shall Be
Isaiah 9:1-7
“[We should] pay attention to the fact that Isaiah’s vision is not a sentimental picture of cherubic babies in whom everything is pure and innocent. The child does not remain a baby. These four names are a full-frontal attack on all that keeps us from God and an all-out assault on what is wrong with the world.”
~ Eugene Peterson, As Kingfishers Catch Fire
Main Idea: Christmas is good news of God’s unstoppable kingdom of grace for those who humbly receive him.
I. Wonderful Counselor
We need the “Wonderful Counselor” because we dwell in darkness and need light
Isaiah 9:2: The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
II. Mighty God
We need the “Mighty God” because we are in bondage and need saving
Isaiah 9:4–5: For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
Matthew 1:21: “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
III. Everlasting Father
We need the “Everlasting Father” because we are gloomy and need joy
Isaiah 8:22-9:1: “And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness. But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish…”
Isaiah 9:3: You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
IV. Prince of Peace
We need the “Prince of Peace” because we are weary and need rest
Isaiah 9:7: Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
“The empire of his grace will forever expand. If we will live by faith in him now, accepting his weakness as our strength and his folly as our wisdom, we will be there to enjoy his triumph, forever ascending, forever enlarging, forever accelerating, forever intensifying. There will never come one moment when we will say, ‘This is the limit. He can’t think of anything new. We’ve seen it all.’ No. The finite will experience ever more wonderfully the infinite, and every new moment will be better than the last. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
~ Ray Ortlund, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners
Acts 4:12: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
