Sunday, December 4, 2011 - Wonderful Counselor
I’ve got a question for you that I want you to answer honestly to yourself – the truth is the truth, and there is no hiding it
from the Lord, so no sense hiding it or trying to hide it from yourself. Resist the temptation to over-credit yourself.
Here’s the question: What if God disappeared or completely removed Himself from your existence – how would your
life change?
I’m not talking about “there would be no universe or earth or air” – I am asking you to think about your personal
existence. It’s easy to give a great Sunday School answer, but REALLY – would your life change that much at ALL?
Could you make it through your morning? Could you make it through your afternoon? Your evening? Night?
Excerpt from Francis Chan’s book “Crazy Love” page 78 bottom:
“Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don’t have to trust God if
something unexpected happens—they have their savings account. They don’t need God to help them-they have their
retirement plan in place. They don’t genuinely seek out what life God would have them live—they have life figured and
mapped out. They don’t depend on God on a daily basis. Their refrigerators are full and for the most part they are in
good health. The truth is their lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God.”
Did you just hear a description of YOU? Are you satisfied with that? God offers more – so MUCH more. Today we
are starting a series for the month of December called “His Name.” We will get back to 1 Corinthians in January, but
as we approach Christmas, I wanted to remind us of why this Savior came to earth and what it means for us.
If my life wouldn’t change that much without God’s existence, but I think it’s OK to live that way, I have some serious
reality issues to deal with. I need someone to dig out the messed up thinking in me and replace it with the truth. I need
some kind of counselor who can break down my wrong thinking and help me root out my mistaken beliefs. I need
major help breaking bad habits and decision-making and rejecting lifestyle choices that take me away from my Savior
Jesus and the truth of God’s Word.
That kind of counselor would have to be really good – really well-trained and probably pretty expensive. That kind of
counselor would have to be very insightful and know every trick people use to function that way. That kind of
counselor would have to know how to work against those tricks – recognizing when I am lying to myself and to him and
know techniques to help me make the drastic changes that would be needed. That would have to be a WONDERFUL
counselor. And that is precisely what we have. Let’s PRAY as we get started.
Please open your Bible to Isaiah 9. As we read God’s Word, we find that God tells us His name early – in Exodus – “I
AM.” We could spend years just scratching the surface of what it means that God refers to Himself as “I AM.” This
was God’s revealed name for Himself. When you hear the name “Yahweh,” this is the name “I AM.” Ancient Jewish
people would not even pronounce God’s name and would only write it as the letters YHWH.
People who interacted with God also GAVE Him names that were significant to them about who He is. Names like El
Shaddai did not come from Amy Grant – that one came from Abraham in Genesis 17 when he first realized who God
was. That name means “All-sufficient One.” Abraham gave that name to God from his personal experience with God.
In Isaiah 9, we have a description of the Messiah – the Savior God would send to accomplish His work of restoration
in mankind. And as Isaiah lays out who this Savior will be, he includes names the Savior will be known by. As we go
through this Christmas season, we are going to look at each of these names and how it helps us connect with our Savior
better – loving Him, trusting Him and doing what He says.
READ Isaiah 9:2-7. This promised King will come as a child. The government will be on His shoulders, and later in
the passage, we are reminded which government God is talking about – the eternal kingdom that God promised to
David. So this child would be a descendant of King David – but look at the duration of this Child King’s reign, verse 7
– He will reign on the throne of David and over David’s kingdom from now on and forever. This promised King is the
eternal King.
Verse 6 also fills us in on His name or names. Each of these 4 names or titles are what we will consider during the
month of December. These names – “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father,” “Wonderful Counselor” and “Prince of
Peace” are names that could really only apply to one Being in the Universe – God Himself. And that’s what Isaiah is
telling us – this child who will be born for us and this son who will be given to us is GOD. His name is GOD.
The first name in the list attributed to the expected Savior spoken of here by Isaiah is “Wonderful Counselor.” We may
immediately have a mental picture of what “counselor” means – living in the day we do where many people see
counselors for emotional and mental health issues. As with everything, we want a BIBLICAL view of our Wonderful
Counselor. And we will seek to apply this biblical view of the Wonderful Counselor to our lives. So let’s see what
Isaiah meant when he was inspired by the Spirit of God to write this.
The word “wonderful” means miraculous, marvelous and wonderful. The word “counselor” means “to advise, to
consult, to devise, to plan, to deliberate or resolve.” So, this Wonderful Counselor who is given to us and for us is an
advisor or a consultant who works in the miraculous, the wonderful and the marvelous. He plans and deliberates and
resolves things in ways that are beyond human explanation or ability to accomplish. If things are beyond human
explanation or ability to accomplish, what do they kind of HAVE to be? God things. The Wonderful Counselor is
GOD.
So when we think about the Wonderful Counselor, we have to fight against our tendency to make Him a supernatural
psychologist – since that’s typically what we think of when we hear “counselor.” Let’s look at what impact this
Wonderful Counselor has on people as Isaiah describes it – then I want us to look in the New Testament.
The Wonderful Counselor, according to verse 2 of Isaiah 9, sheds light – the people who walk in darkness have seen a
great light. Turn to
John 1:1-5,14,16,17. READ. In the beginning was the Word – the Word was God, the Word created all we see and
the Word became flesh and His name is Jesus Christ. Now, turn back to Psalm 119:105. READ. God’s Word is a
lamp for our feet and a light to our path. READ Isaiah 9:2 again. This Wonderful Counselor gives light to those in
darkness. And we see that it is the Word of God that is the lamp and the light for our path. The Wonderful Counselor
brings light because He IS the light.
Look at Isaiah 9:3. READ. You, God, have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people of this nation
rejoice before You. What nation is Isaiah referring to? Isaiah was a prophet to Israel, God’s chosen people. So does
this promise apply only to Jews? Turn to Romans 9:6-9. The chosen people of God are not merely the physical
descendants of Abraham, but the descendants of Abraham who have faith like he did – this is the nation who rejoice
before God.
God sends this child to be the King of the eternal Kingdom partly to give those who are citizens of His Kingdom joy.
Joy is not happiness – joy is deeper than happiness. Joy is related more to contentment than it is to happiness. Turn to
John 15:11 – Jesus tells us one of the reasons He came. READ. What kind of joy do you think God has? Partial?
Fading? NO WAY! The joy God has and knows and lives in is total and unending, perfect and never failing. And it is
THAT joy Jesus says He came to give us – HIS JOY.
Go back to Isaiah 9:4. READ. The Wonderful Counselor relieves the burdens of His people – He breaks the yoke
that has them weighed down. As we think about this issue, it becomes pretty clear that life is hard. There will be yokes
and burdens in life. But look at the familiar words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30. READ. His yoke is EASY and His
burden is LIGHT compared to what the world weighs us down with. Do you want easy and light or burdensome and
heavy and oppressive?
Turn to Psalm 23 – one of the most familiar parts of the Word of God. Look what God tells us about His rod and
staff. Psalm 23:1-4. READ. If we have to go through life and deal with burdens and pressure and weight, is it not
better to go through it under the loving and easy and light weight of the Creator and Counselor who has our best in mind
rather than the weight and burden of the world, the flesh and the devil?
These are great promises to us from God. The Wonderful Counselor was shown in the human life of Jesus on earth.
When we went through the Gospel of Luke a little while ago, we saw that Jesus lived a totally human life and did not
pull out His God powers to make it through. He did that to show us what human life was meant to be. He was still
totally God – still totally the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. His humanity
showed us what that looks like as it is lived in a human life as God planned it and directed it.
Let’s turn our attention to how this applies to us today – having a Wonderful Counselor. Do I NEED a Wonderful
Counselor? We tend to resist reaching out for help – no matter who we are. We think we can handle life on our own –
and that may get worse as we get older in Christ. We think we have to prove that we have it all together and don’t
need to share our burdens with others. This all started back in Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve. We were wrong then
and we are wrong now. We need help.
God has given us several things to help us and to counsel us. He gave us the church. The family of God with all its
various parts was created by God to serve one another and serve the Lord in love – at least it is supposed to do that.
God designed the church to be a help and a counsel for those in the Body of Christ who struggle with various issue at
various times. And that is YOU – that is ME. Are you taking advantage of this God-designed helper/counselor? Am
I?
God also gave marriage to help us and counsel us. I realize that not everyone has a spouse for any number of reasons.
I think we have seen in 1 Corinthians that some can go through life WITH a spouse and some can’t. If you desire a
spouse, God wants you to have one. If you can serve Him better without a spouse, God will allow you to live that way.
If you are called to have a spouse, God can and will and does help and counsel you through that person. BUT – don’t
SETTLE for just ANY person of the opposite sex. Back to Adam and Eve, notice that God took a piece of Adam and
God FASHIONED Eve specifically FOR Adam. And God fashioned Eve for a specific reason for Adam – Genesis 2:
18 – to be his HELPER. This is not the same word as “counselor,” but there are a lot of similarities. God has designed
marriage for all who are married or will be married to be the same – help, counsel and love in life.
God gave us His written Word to counsel us. Although there are still a few remote tribes on earth who do not have
God’s Word in their language, most people do (and God tells us in Romans 1 that nature itself reveals who God is and
that He is there – there is no excuse for not calling out to Him and believing in Him).
Do we – do YOU – turn to God’s Word for counsel? I am not talking about reading the Daily Bread or some other
devotional material. I am talking about digging into God’s Word, the BIBLE for help and counsel in the issues of life
day by day. As you dig in to God’s written Word, do you trust what God says and DO IT? God has gone to great
effort over human history to give almost everyone His written Word. Are you taking advantage of His counsel?
And THAT counsel takes us back to John 1 that we looked at earlier. The Word was with God, the Word WAS
God, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Wonderful Counselor now lives within us – John 14, 15 and 16
– in the person of the Holy Spirit. Turn to John 14:15-18. READ. In Acts 2, the Spirit came and took up residence in
believers from that time until now and on into the future. God Himself now lives in those who believe. The Wonderful
Counselor lives in believers.
Think a minute – is the church the Wonderful Counselor? The church is the Body of Christ. Is your spouse the
Wonderful Counselor? Marriage is a physical demonstration of the relationship God desires to have with human
beings. Is the Bible the Wonderful Counselor? The written Word of God reveals the Living Word of God, who living
in us is the way God designed human life to be (Colossians 1:27 – Christ IN you, the hope of glory). Is the Holy Spirit
the Wonderful Counselor?
Go back to Isaiah 9:6 and look at these 4 names of the child who is promised for us and the son who is given to us.
Each of these is a description of the expected Savior God would send – the coming King of God’s eternal Kingdom.
What if we arrange them in a different order – not changing anything, just moving them to a different order:
Everlasting Father
Prince of Peace
Wonderful Counselor
Mighty God
Do you see anything there? I see something significant in those 4 names. I see the Father, the Son and the Spirit – the
Trinity. Everlasting Father. The Son is the Prince of Peace – John 14:27, John 16:33, all of Paul’s greetings in his
letters, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The Spirit is the Counselor that the
Father would send at the request of the Son when He left. And all of this is fulfilled in only one person – Mighty God
Himself.
The Savior we celebrate at Christmas is GOD. God in the flesh, God in human form, God our Wonderful Counselor.
Do we need a Wonderful Counselor? Obviously we DO. If God disappeared, would we notice? If we can’t honestly
admit that we have set up our lives to exist without God’s direct impact, we need a severe reality check. And knowing
we think we COULD live without Him, we need to do something – we need to read God’s Word as if we had never
heard it or seen it before.
Do you think what God says in His Word gives any indication of ordinary human life? Do you think God’s description
of life with Him IN it resembles YOUR life? If life is supposed to look dramatically different with the God of the
universe in it, and it DOESN’T, what needs to change? Is it GOD’S fault? Hardly – we have pushed Him out and He
wants back in. We need the Wonderful Counselor tremendously. If we think we don’t, we are desperately wrong.
During this Christmas 2011, evaluate the place God is “allowed” to have in your life. Give it back to Him. Trust Him
that He may actually KNOW what He’s talking about and how to handle your life – He made it. Submit to His
counsel. Begin to enjoy life the way God designed it – Holy Spirit led and directed and empowered. Be amazed at the
work of the Wonderful Counselor IN YOU!