“He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9.6-7).

It is important to remember that Jesus is the eternal King. His authority and sovereignty is never in question. But right now we live in a world where people and governments are not in submission to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There is coming a time when that will all change. Just what kind of sovereign is He? Isaiah offers four descriptive titles for our eternal king:

1.    He is the Wonderful Counselor – The Bible exhorts us as believers to be knit together in love, and attain to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the tresures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2.6). Jesus is wisdom personified. He is the Word become flesh! His ways and judgements are beyond our comprehension. We look to Him for wisdom and guidance! He is the King Forever – the Wonderful Counselor.  

  2.  He is the Mighty God – He is not only God with us; He is God over us. If Jesus is not God, then He could not be the Son given. If Jesus is not God, then He could not reign as King forever. He shares in all the attributes of the Father. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere present. The Mighty God was the Lord of glory crucified. It is His blood that is the purchase price of our redemption – matchless blood, perfect blood. He is King Forever – the Mighty God.

  3.  He is the Everlasting Father – This text is not saying that Jesus the Son is actually God the Father. I believe in the triune nature of God: Father, Son, and Spirit – three persons and one God. So how is Jesus the everlasting Father. I believe He has begotten us as children by His word and Spirit. Jesus is the second Adam. He is the giver and source of everlasting life. Through His blood, He has opened the new and better way to God. We are adopted into the family of God through supernatural rebirth.  Jesus made this possible. He is the Everlasting Father in this sense. He is the King Forever – the Everlasting Father.

  4.  He is the Prince of Peace – While Jesus will reign upon David’s throne and bring peace to the entire world, we as believers experience the benefit of peace with Him today. He redeemed us and reconciled us to the Father. We are no longer enemies but children. Not only that, we have peace fortifying our hearts to this day. Nobody is able to take this peace away from us. He is the King Forever – the Prince of Peace.

Father, all we can do is meditate upon these verses and simply get lost in wonder and in praise for Jesus, the Child born, the Son given, and the King forever. The more we think about this passage, the more devoted to Christ we become. May we bow the knee to our King and reflect our loyalty and love in our obedience today.