If you’re not well along in the process of sending out your Christmas cards, you’d better get to it. I like to keep an eye out to see what’s new in off-the-wall cards. Do you like any of these?

1. The front of the card says: "’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." (Note the bottom of Santa’s boot). The inside says: "Hope your holiday’s simply smashing!"
2. On the front, snowmen are in a theater gasping in horror as a rabbit eats a carrot. The caption says: "Snowmen Horror Films."
3. Rudolph is seated in an easy chair reading a book. A shotgun is leaning on the wall within reach. Above his head is a row of mounted reindeer heads labeled: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and so on. That caption says: "All of the other reindeer USED to laugh and call him names."
4. A carrot, two pieces of coal and a stovepipe hat sit in a puddle adjacent to two stick arms clutching a picket sign that says, "Stop Global Warning!"

Hopefully, most of the cards you receive this year will capture a holier sense of the season. The odds are strong that you will receive at least one Christmas card this year that references our morning text. That text announced the birth of a baby, but not just any baby - a baby who would rule as a King on David’s fallen throne. Of course, He would be a much more significant king than the renowned David though that thought may have seemed inconceivable to the Israelites.

Israel was a small nation, but it had always been greatly coveted by world powers. It’s location made it a major trade route and of pivotal importance to commerce in Asia, Africa and Europe. Under David, the tiny kingdom of Israel achieved a Golden Age. David was a mighty warrior, a poet, a musician and a capable administrator. He expanded the boundaries of Israel and established a strong military. He contributed to the establishment of a unique Jewish culture.

Under Solomon, the nation continued to expand in might and wealth, but that "golden-ness" began to tarnish. Solomon committed the unspeakable sin of making slaves of some of his own people in order to fulfill his lofty visions for Israel. Through his many marriages, pagan worship found a home in Israel. Upon Solomon’s death, things fell to pieces. The nation was split in half, and though a good king emerged from time to time, most of the monarchs that ruled over the two nations were a rogue’s gallery of fools, idolaters and oppressors of their own citizenry.

The people in Isaiah’s day longed for the restoration of the glory days under David, but things would get worse before they got better. Still, in the midst of many oracles of doom, Isaiah spoke of Immanuel, a coming King whose name meant "God with us." "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). Immanuel would set things back in order for Israel.

Isaiah saw the situation in Israel as a "great darkness" but he also spoke of a "great light" that would shine in the person of Immanuel. Sometime in the future, God would bring His Messiah out of the land of Galilee as a great light to save His people from that terrible darkness. Jesus appeared first in Galilee. Our text today is a prophecy concerning Immanuel, Jesus the Messiah:

Note that this is not simply a song of two blissfully expectant parents. This baby would be born for the nation’s sake. This baby would be a king, one who bears the government of the nation on his shoulders. Verse 6 establishes a number of characteristics that would define this coming king.

"Wonderful" refers to that which astonishes or invokes awe. A "counselor" typically referred to an advisor to a king. However, this King Who would rescue Israel would need no such advisor for He Himself would be the personification of God’s wisdom. In a fascinating passage from Proverbs, the abstract virtue of wisdom utters a dialogue as though it were a person:

22"The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old;

This eternal pre-existence of the wisdom of God is echoed in the opening lines of the gospel according to John. One who is identified as the Logos, the Word, the full expression, the Wisdom of God is also identified as present with the Father and as a participant in creation:

Of course, this Word, this utterance, this Wisdom of God became personified in Jesus:

Counselors assisted a king in carrying out his program. In His self-contained wisdom, Isaiah’s Davidic Messiah would carry out a royal agenda that would cause the world to marvel:

¹A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ²The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD - ³and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; ⁴but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. ⁵Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. - Isaiah 11:1-5

Jesus demonstrated this righteous equity in His dealings with all people. He called Twelve Apostles, giving no thought to what the world might call a gross lack of leadership potential. He never founded a rabbinical school like an esteemed rabbi should. Wherever Jesus went, He talked to whatever people He encountered, teaching them in marketplaces, on hillsides and even from a boat. He healed people; young and old, rich and poor, Jew and Samaritan.

All that was only preliminary work. This Wonderful Counselor came to execute a wonderful plan. When Adam and Eve sinned, God’s perfect world was defiled. He devised a system of sacrifice in which the blood of goats, bulls and sheep could symbolically provide a price of atonement so that a holy God could fellowship with sinners. But a thing is only a symbol if there is a reality behind it. The reality behind animal sacrifices had to be a perfect human sacrifice. The plan of our Wonderful Counselor was completed when Jesus died for sinners.

The principals involved in the death of Jesus mocked Him without even realizing that they were prophesying. The soldiers said, "Hail, king of the Jews!" as they struck Him. Pilate mocked the Jewish mob when He asked, "Shall I crucify your king?" When Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified, he ordered this sign to be placed above Jesus’ head: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. When Jesus died on that cross, He faithfully carried out the royal plan. His blood sacrifice and His victory over the grave secured our salvation. Wonderful Counselor!

The Hebrew word rendered "Mighty God" alludes to deity, but a stronger emphasis is on might and invincibility, particularly, in warfare. It is not surprising that the Jews of Jesus’ day were looking for someone other than the meek and lowly son of Mary, not to mention a travelling preacher. They were looking for someone dressed in full armor and armed to the teeth.

Jesus did come to be our Mighty Warrior, and He came to fight the biggest spiritual battle of all time, but it had nothing to do with Rome, Babylon or Assyria. The Jews were looking for a mighty warrior in a worldly sense because worldly enemies were the only ones they recognized. They failed to see the forces at play behind the visible realm that were undermining their lives.

David was a mighty warrior. Messiah would be as well. The difference is that Jesus’ battle would transcend our earthly struggles and secure an eternal victory. The first skirmish for Jesus took place in a wilderness. The devil tempted Jesus three times to establish Himself as an earthly king by misusing His power. Satan used allegedly holy people in his own battle strategy. The Sadducees and the Pharisees constantly questioned Jesus about the things that He said and did.

Jesus waged battle in Gethsemane. He prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." He could have said, "Father, I can’t shoulder the sins of the ages when all I’ve ever known is Your holiness and light." He could have said, "These people are just not worth it!" However Jesus came as our Mighty Warrior, and He fought the fight in the desert, the temple, the streets, the garden and on the cross - and He won.

A champion stands up for you. Goliath was Philistia’s champion, standing as a proxy for the entire Philistine army. He challenged anyone willing to champion Israel. A young shepherd at the time, David answered that challenge, killed the giant and became Israel’s champion. David seemed an unlikely champion, much as Jesus seemed an unlikely champion when He was born in Bethlehem. Still, it pleased God to work through lowly champions, not only to destroy sin, but also to humble all who are mighty in their own eyes. Jesus is still our Champion. He speaks to the Father in our defense whenever Satan accuses us. Our Champion answers, "Yes they do sin, Father. They sin a lot, but they are among those I redeemed with my blood, and they are ours."

"Everlasting" means both: 1) perpetuity into the future and 2) ancient from days of old. Jesus is from everlasting to everlasting. An alternate rendering of the name "Everlasting Father" is "Father of eternity". Jesus is eternal, and therefore, outside of the beginning and ending of this natural creation and the time that governs it. In the Old Testament we see instances where someone appeared to men who may very well have been a pre-incarnate Jesus though we cannot be certain. One instance appears in Daniel. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace, but King Nebuchadnezzar saw four men in that furnace and it rattled him a bit.

The New Testament is clearer that this very same Jesus will be a king through eternity: