Considering the Names of Jesus: Prince of Peace

by Steve Joosten

For a child is born to us,
A son is given to us;
And the government Is upon His shoulder;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace
Isaiah 9:6

This world grasps this name here finding it displayed often in this world full of anxiety and war. Many people wish for peace throughout it. This name however has nothing to do with the cessation of war among men. It is not earthly. Does this mean we are not against war? No, but this name speaks of the spiritual and not the mundane. We are lifted into a spiritual reality! Let us see the Prince of Peace!

His reign and his Kingdom is not as many men would like. Read John. The subject to Pilate was that His Kingdom is NOT of this world or else He would have fought. He was born to be a King and establish His Kingdom. The heart and soul of this name and even the meaning of Christmas and His names escapes so many who do not see with the eye of faith. He is not defeated, but has complete victory. The light showed in the darkness as He preached the Gospel amidst sin. That was the warfare and why He established His Kingdom in His blood. That is why we leave Bethlehem to see His great victory! He fought the battle and the enemy of sin and death and conquered them both!

We do have a citizenship. Many sing the familiar and appropriate hymns during these “special seasons” but only a few stop briefly to read and really listen to the words. “The soul found it’s worth!” It is spiritual! He gives us redemption and it is full and free! What do you and I see during these special seasons? Do we see quaint stories and narratives that take hold of us emotionally for a little while but soon pass? We know the story well,  do we not. The ONLY begotten Son of God was born of a woman. He was righteous and established His own Kingdom in His own blood so that we may have PEACE…peace with God! Forgiven as He has accomplished our warfare for us! He IS the Prince of Peace! This day a Savior Christ the Lord! And He gives peace to those of His good pleasure.

And so we move through the seasons and can continue to pray “Thy Kingdom come” until He comes again. For His is the power and the glory forevermore. It may not seem like much in this war torn world, but He will come again to establish His Kingdom in glory forevermore. And we will be with Him! We will be with Him because he has fought the fight for us, conquered the enemy that we face for us, and gives us spiritual PEACE being THE Prince of Peace!

 

Many Hats

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6b

Teaching in a Christian school community means wearing many different hats.  I wear one “hat” as Mr. Gibson, humanities teacher.  I wear another “hat” as Mr. Gibson, yearbook staff adviser.  Still another, anytime I coach a co-curricular activity, and yet another as a colleague.  For several years, I also wore a youth leader “hat” as I helped out with the local Middle School youth group.  These, of course, are all different from the “hats” I wear as a husband, or as a son, or brother, or friend.  This isn’t to say I fundamentally change who I am depending on the situation, but the responsibilities of each role are different; what is required of me is different.

 

Because I’m only human, the more hats I wear, the thinner I am spread.  I know I can never perfectly wear every single hat.  Wearing so many different hats gives me a much greater appreciation for who Christ is.  He succeeds where I come up short.  He is the perfect counselor; perfect in power; perfect in His steadfast, unwavering love for us; perfect in His reign over us.  Christ came to rule and He came to serve; He came to teach and He came to obey the will of His Father; He came to encourage the oppressed and He came to correct the oppressors.  Depending on the situation He found Himself in, He wore more hats than I could possibly imagine.  And He wore them all with perfection; He met the needs of all and nowhere is this more obvious than in His death on the cross.

 

This ancient promise was not merely about the coming of a prince, but the coming of The Prince, the multi-dimensional ruler who will fill our deepest needs and the most desperate aching of our hearts.  Today, may we truly reflect on and appreciate every “hat” that Jesus Christ wore, and rejoice in the fact that He wore each one to perfection!

 

~Nate Gibson

Christ Comes to Us to Reign as King

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
Isaiah  9:6-7
What we have here in these words of the Prophet is his testimony to a coming servant King and God’s new redemptive order. The Prophet prefaces his testimony about the coming “given Son” with the account of God’s victory over the host of Midian through Gideon’s band of 300 men.

God did this because he wanted to remind his people of two important truths.
One, the battle is the Lord’s.
Two, the Lord does not do battle with military might, that’s the world’s way.

In the sent Son a new order breaks in to history; a new order in God’s story of redemptive history. The old order is the way of the world since the fall in Eden.  It has been called “meism”, what’s in it for me? –Satan’s question for Eve. The in-breaking new Kingdom order turns the old order about face, it is marked by self denial and humble service in the name of the servant King. Jesus said “the greatest among you is servant of all”. Jesus the “sent one” showed the way by becoming a servant, and being obedient to the Father’s will he went to the cross in our stead, as Isaiah states, “the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed”.

Though he became a servant he was yet the “Mighty God”; as such he conquered death, the powers of darkness and the prince of darkness, Satan. We need no longer fear these enemies.
As “everlasting Father” he holds our lives in his hand supplying all we need through his Spirit so we need not worry or be anxious.
As “Prince of Peace” he grants us “the peace of God that passes all understanding”.
And he calls you and me to be peacemakers, to be seekers of the peaceful Kingdom.
That means we are to be forgiving, to help the sick, the sorrowing, the poor, the widows and orphans in the name of King Jesus who is at the Fathers right hand “where he will reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet”,  at which time he will usher in the new order in all its glory in the New Creation.

Thank you Father for the gift of your sent Son, our Lord Jesus. We look forward in hope to his and our final victory and the New Creation.

Amen.
~Rev. Jack Matheis

Wonderful Mighty Everlasting Peace

His name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

We are known by a few descriptive names ourselves.  Husband, wife, brother. sister, farmer, gardener, carpenter, nurse, banker, teacher, musician, pastor,–none come close to what is described in Isaiah 9.   We’re rarely mighty, barely everlasting, have to work very hard on being wonderful and how often is peace attributed to us?

How do we find the combination of all these attributes in one person?

It’s God.  That is no surprise.  He’s God and we’re most definitely not.

And there is wonderful mighty everlasting peace because He is.