For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
It must have sounded strange to hear Isaiah call a little baby our Everlasting Father. Is King Ahaz Israel’s everlasting father? Will his son Hezekiah be the everlasting father? Has any Davidic King before or after Ahaz been eternal?
Of course the answer is no- not until Christ Jesus. He will be the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant. A promise of an eternal throne, an eternal house, an eternal father for his people.
Jesus will be the baby, the son, who will also be the everlasting father to his people. But how?
First we should not say that Jesus is not distinct within the Trinity from the Father. The eternal Father begat the eternal Son. And with the Spirit they are three persons within the one Godhead.
But we must also note that Jesus is the true mediator of the Father’s love for us as his people. In the incarnation, Jesus has shown us the tangible version of the Father. Notice Jesus words throughout his ministry:
I am in the Father and the Father is in me- John 14:11
I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me- John 5:30
As the living Father sent me, and I live by the Father- John 6:57
Second, we must understand that Jesus is the new Adam. He is the Father of a new humanity. A new race of people. A new hybrid race of physical yet spiritual beings who love and serve God forever. Through both his incarnation and his resurrection Jesus has become our Everlasting Father.
Ok enough theology.
Let’s just take a couple seconds to ponder what it means to have an eternal Dad. Many of us have lost our dads in one way or another. Through death, desertion, or just by an emotional closure that keeps you disconnected. You have a Father that loves you endlessly. That never deserts you. That is never emotionally disconnected. That gives the best advice and fights your battles.
Why do we love good Father stories? Movies like Star Wars and Finding Nemo or Taken, stir up the longing in all our hearts for a dad who will never quit on us. A dad that will always come after us, and always welcome us back home. A dad that would die for us and live for us. We all need a father to speak our identity over us and to name us. To tell us who we are.
Only an Everlasting Father can do this in the ultimate ways that we all need. And in Jesus (and the Trinity) we have that Everlasting Father. The dad we all long for.
