Sunday
Morning Bible Study
December
23, 2007
(Isa 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.
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given
There is a connection between our savior and us.
Last week we talked about the genealogies of the Bible, the connection
between the people and their deliverer. We
saw a connection between the Israelites and Moses. The Bible is very clear that though Jesus was
also the Son of God, He was also the Son of man. He is connected to us.
The God of eternity would one day be born in a manger.
(Micah 5:2 NKJV) "But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting."
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
Jesus is one day going to be coming back.
When He comes back He will be known as the “King of Kings and Lord of
Lords” (Rev. 19:16)
And His name will be called
In the Bible, a person’s name often was a reflection of who that person was
or would be. We’ll look at five
character traits of our Jesus.
1. Wonderful
Wonderful – pele’ –
wonder, marvel; it’s a word that speaks of the amazing, miraculous.
God promises to deliver Israel
from Egypt by
doing “wonderful” things:
(Exo 3:20
NKJV) "So I will stretch out My
hand and strike Egypt
with all My wonders which I will do
in its midst; and after that he will let you go.
We’re going to be seeing some of the miracles and amazing things that God
is going to be doing to get the Egyptians to let the Israelites go. God will do “wonders” like parting the Red
Sea.
Lesson
Powerful
Do you need help? Do you face
difficult things in your life?
You need Jesus. He is “wonderful”. He is powerful.
Some of the most trying times of life can come when there is a physical
affliction. We’ve been with my Dad for
the last three weeks as he has been in and out of the hospital. I’ve been spending time with Mike and Bev
Leighton as they watch their son Michael struggle in the CCU
to recover from his heart surgery.
The Bible tells us of a woman who had an affliction for twelve years.
(Mat 9:21
NKJV) For she said to herself, "If
only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."
She pushed her way through the crowd to touch the hem of
Jesus’ garment.
There is one who is Wonderful, able to do impossible things. There is nothing too difficult for Him.
(Jer 32:17 NKJV) 'Ah, Lord
GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and
outstretched arm. There is nothing too
hard for You.
Some God may heal, some God may call home, some God may sustain through
their difficulty. I just wonder how
people do it without God.
2. Counselor
Counselor – ya‘ats – to
advise, consult, give counsel, counsel, purpose, devise, plan
Some of the translations have “wonderful” paired with “counselor”, but I
like the way the KJV and NKJV separate them into individual qualities.
There are different examples of “counselors” in the Bible, both good and
bad.
We’ll be seeing Moses get counsel from his father-in-law, Jethro (Ex. 18).
King Rehoboam (1Ki. 2) had a problem after he took over the kingdom from
his father Solomon. The people were
tired of the hard labor they had under Solomon and were asking for a
break. Rehoboam had two groups of
counselors. The older counselors advised
him to lighten up on the people. The
younger counselors advised him to crack down and make things tough. Rehoboam followed the bad advise of the
younger counselors and in the end the nation went through a civil war with
Rehoboam losing control over 10 of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Lesson
Guidance
Who are you getting your advice from?
I’m afraid that sometimes I don’t call on the Lord and ask Him for advice
like I should. Why? Because I’m afraid I already know what He’s
going to say, and I don’t want to hear it.
So I go to everyone else for advice, looking for someone to tell me what
I want to hear. Why am I so afraid of
doing it God’s way when deep down in my heart I know His ways are best?
Jesus wants to give good guidance for your life.
(Jer 33:3 NKJV) 'Call to Me,
and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not
know.'
How does He guide us? There are
several ways that God will use to guide us, but one of the most reliable is His
Word.
(Psa 119:105 NKJV) Your word
is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
3. Mighty God
Lesson
Jesus is God
The Savior that God was promising was not just an ordinary person. He would be God in flesh.
What’s the big deal about believing
that Jesus is God?
The Bible teaches that mankind is sinful.
We are by nature people who rebel against the ways of God.
(Rom 3:23
NKJV) for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God,
The Bible also teaches that the result of our sin is separation from God.
(Rom 6:23
NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This means that in order to keep you from going to hell, someone is going
to have to pick up the tab for your sins.
You can do that yourself, but God would rather that someone else pay for
your sins.
That’s why Jesus came – to pay for our sins, to die in our place.
(2 Cor 5:21 NLT)
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,
so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
If Jesus was simply an ordinary man, then His death would
only be able to pay for one other person.
But because Jesus was God in flesh, He died an eternal death to pay for
an infinite amount of sin.
Jesus has paid for all of your sins, and offers to you the free gift of
forgiveness.
Like any gift, it is only good if you accept it. Did you leave any of last years Christmas
gifts under the tree unwrapped? Receive
God’s gift of forgiveness.
Jesus is the “Mighty God”. He is
strong enough to save you.
4. Everlasting Father
Everlasting – ‘ad –
perpetuity, for ever, continuing future
Some have translated this, “the
Father of eternity”. In this sense,
it would refer to the fact that Jesus is the one that has opened up the door of
eternity to us. It was Jesus dying in
our place that made it possible for us to inherit eternal life.
Lesson
Life Giver
Thinking of Jesus as the Everlasting Father can be a little confusing. Isn’t God the Father and Jesus is the Son?
How could Jesus be a “son” and a “Father”?
I’m a son. I’m a son to my father,
Richard T. Cathers Sr. But I’m also a
father. I’m a father to David Tomlin
Cathers, Daniel Josiah Cathers, and Timothy John Cathers.
Jesus is our Father in the sense
that when we believe in Him, we are born again.
It is through Jesus Christ that we become born of God, the children of
God. In Hebrews, Jesus calls us “the children which God has given me”
(Heb. 2:13).
5. Prince of Peace.
Lesson
True peace
Peace in the world
At Christmas we songs about “peace on earth”, but the truth is there won’t
be peace on the earth until the Prince of Peace returns to the earth. Until that time, there is a different peace
that Jesus brings.
Peace with God.
(Rom 5:1 NKJV) Therefore,
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ,
If you have not started trusting Jesus, you have no
peace. In fact, you are in a state of
“war” with God. When you say “yes” to
God’s gift of forgiveness, there is peace with God.
Peace of God
(Phil 4:6-7 NKJV) Be anxious
for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God; {7} and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus.
Even after I open my heart to Jesus, I will continue to
experience difficult times in this life.
But God wants me to know His peace in those difficult times. Peace comes from prayer. Peace comes from trusting God with my
problems.