For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace.--Isaiah ix. 6, 7.
These words, like numerous other passages in the word of God, are
far too sublime to be attached to a mere creature; at the same time,
they certainly express ideas which cannot be attributed to Deity.
"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given," is language
improper to be applied to Godhead, while the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, are titles too Godlike to belong to humanity. In
what light are we to view them, if not as descriptive of the person
of the God-man, Christ Jesus? To whom but the Messiah, are we to
apply this, and the many expressions of a similar kind, which we
find so profusely scattered through the sacred volume? It is to the
wonderful person of the Messiah, God united to the man Christ Jesus,
that we direct our thoughts, as the glorious object presented to the
faith of the patriarchs and ancient Israel of God. To him give all
the prophets witness. All the types prefigure him. All the shadows
are designed to represent him, the substance. He is exhibited to
our view in a variety of characters, relations, and offices; and is
not God and man, united in one complex person, clearly revealed in
this prophecy? Let us apply it to Jesus:--Unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given. Behold him! a babe at Bethlehem, subject
to all the wants, weakness and helplessness connected with a state
of infancy and childhood; such was the holy child Jesus. Unto us
a son is given, who is acknowledged to be of David's royal line;
yet this son of humanity, is also declared to be the only begotten
Son of God, a Son who is the brightness of his Father's glory, and
the express image of his person. But this Son is not given as a
Saviour to fallen angels, they are passed by, although possessed of
faculties and powers, far superior to the sons of earth; "God so
loved the world as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Yes, Christ is the gift of God, and the richest, God could bestow;
he parted with the choicest jewel in the treasury of heaven; and
God has not such another son to give, even if the redemption of ten
thousand worlds required it. How amazing the love that could prompt
even God, to deliver up such a son; a son, in whom he declared
himself always well pleased; a son whom all the angels of God
are commanded to worship; yet he was given up to shame, reproach,
and sufferings; yea, his Father became the chief executioner. "It
pleased the Father to bruise him, and put him to shame." Well might
the prophet exclaim, "Wonder O heaven and be astonished O earth!"
Jesus declared that, as the son of man, all power in heaven and
earth was given to him; and surely the government ought to be on
his shoulders, for who so fit to manage all, as he who is the
Wonderful Counsellor; he who, from all eternity, knew the plans and
counsels of Jehovah, and with whom he concerted and contrived the
creation and redemption of man; and was it not between the Father
and this Son, that the council of peace was settled and established,
and is it not "a covenant well ordered in all things[30] and
sure," and does not that part of it published to us in the written
word, proclaim it the work of a Wonderful Counsellor? He indeed
is wonderful, both in his person and work: the wonders of his
love are here past finding out; the wonders of his grace are now
unsearchable, and it is reserved for an eternity to discover all
the mysteries in the Wonderful Person of the God-man, Christ Jesus,
which are here incomprehensible.
[30] Zech. vi. 13
Are we not told that the child born, the son given, is the mighty
God? which must surely mean, that the same divine essence dwells in
the Father and the Son; that it is one true and essential Godhead,
dwelling in the person of the Father, Son, and Spirit; not that
they are three Gods, but three distinct persons, constituting one
Godhead?--(Does not the body and spirit form one man?) Is not the
Son declared equal to the Father as touching his Godhead? Are not
their names more descriptive of the relations they sustain in
the scheme of Redemption, than indicative of any superiority or
inferiority in their essence, or Godhead? Is it not the second
person in the glorious Trinity, who has taken the human nature
into union with his divine person? And are not God and man united
in the complex person of Jesus of Nazareth, Israel's long promised
and expected Messiah? His humanity is fully proved by his birth,
life, and death; and his Deity is fully attested in the strongest
language, for to whom the names, titles, attributes, works and
prerogatives of God are ascribed, and declared to belong, surely,
He must be the true God; and we have only to search the record of
truth, and we shall find ascribed to him, all the distinguishing
names and titles of God, as:--
Jehovah, or the Lord,--Isaiah vi. 1. 9, 10. John xii. 37-41.
Isaiah xlv. 24, 25. Rom. v. 18. 2 Cor. v. 21. Psalm lxxxiii. 18.
Isaiah xlii. 8., xlv. 5, 6. Jeremiah xxiii. 6. 1 Cor. i. 30.
Zech. xi. 12, 13. Math. xxvii. 9, 10.
The true God,--John i. 2., xvii. 3. 1 John v. 20, 21.
The Great and Mighty God,--Deut. x. 17. Jer. xxxii. 18, 19.
Isaiah ix. 6. Titus ii. 13.
The only God,--Rom. xiv. 9, 10, 11, 12. Deut. iv. 35. 39. Isaiah
xlv. 5. 15. 18. 21-25.
The only wise God,--Eph. iii. 25, 26, 27. Jude 24, 25. Rom. xvi.
27. 1 Tim i. 17.
God blessed for ever,--Rom. i. 25. 2 Cor. xi. 31. Rom. ix. 5.
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords,--1 Tim. vi. 14, 15, 16. Rev.
xvii. 14., xix. 13. 16. Deut. x. 17.
The Lord of Hosts,--2 Sam. vi. 2., vii. 26. Psalm xxiv. 10.
Isaiah i. 24., vi. 3., viii. 13, 14., xliv. 6. Hosea xii. 4, 5.
Isaiah viii. 13, 14., xxviii. 16. Psalm cxviii. 22. Matt. xxi.
42. 44. Luke xx. 17, 18. 1 Peter ii. 6, 7, 8. Hosea xii. 4, 5.
Isaiah liv. 5. Rom. ix. 33., x. 11.
The First and the Last,--Isaiah xli. 4., xliv. 6., xlviii. 11,
12. Rev. i. 8. 11. 17, 18., ii. 8.
_All the attributes of God ascribed to Christ._
Omniscience,--1 Kings viii. 39. Isaiah xli. 21, 22, 23. Jer.
xvii. 9, 10. Matt. xii. 25. John ii. 24, 25., xxi. 17. Rev. ii.
23.
Omnipresence,--Psalm xxiii. 4., cxxxix. 7-10. Isaiah xli. 10.,
xliii. 5. Jer. xxiii. 24. Matt. xviii. 20., xxviii. 20. Eph. i.
23.
Omnipotence,--Gen. xvii. 1., xxxv. 11., xlviii. 3. Phil. iii.
21. Rev. i. 8.
Eternity,--Psalm xlv. 6., xc. 2. Isaiah xliv. 6. Heb. i. 8.,
vii. 3. Rev. i. 18., ii. 8.
Immutability,--Mal. iii. 6. Heb. i. 12., xiii. 8., i. 8.
_Divine works ascribed to Christ._
Creation of the world,--Gen. i. 1. Psalm cii. 25, 26, 27. Isaiah
xliv. 24. John i. 1, 2, 3. 10. Col. i. 16, 17. Heb. i. 3. 10.,
iii. 4.
Final Judgment of the world,--Psalm 1. 6. Matt. xxv. 31-46. John
v. 21, 22. 25. 27. Rom. iii. 6., xiv. 10. 2 Tim. iv. 1. 2 Cor.
v. 10.
_The Prerogatives of God ascribed to Christ._
To forgive sin,--Isaiah xliii. 25. Matt. ii. 5. 10. Acts vii.
59, 60. Col. iii. 13.
To Baptise with the Holy Ghost,--Joel ii. 28, 29. Neh. ix. 20.
Zech. xii. 10. Matt. iii. 11. Acts i. 5., ii. 33. John vii. 39.,
xvi. 7. Eph. iv. 8.
_The Kingdom and Honours of God ascribed to Christ_.
An everlasting Kingdom--Psalm xxix. 10., xlv. 6, 7. Heb. i. 8.
An universal Kingdom,--Psalm ciii. 19. John xvii. 10. Acts x.
36. Rom. x. 12.
Divine Worship,--Deut. vi. 13, 14, 15., x. 20. Exod. xxxiv. 14.
Psalm xlv. 11. Matt. iv. 10. John v. 23., xiv. 1., xx. 28. Acts
vii. 59. Rom x. 13., xiv. 11., xv. 12. Rev. v. 13.
Is not God represented in his word, as highly jealous of his honour,
and has he not solemnly declared, that he will not give his glory
to another? Then, if Christ is not equal to the Lord of Hosts,
whence is it, that the great God does allow, and sanction, his
distinguishing names, titles, attributes and works, to be ascribed
to Jesus? Can we imagine God to be unmindful of his own honour, or
so unkind to his creatures, as to permit those names so descriptive
of Deity, to be applied to any mere creature, however superior,
or exalted? Has he not pronounced an awful curse on those who
worship any but the true God? Can we suppose the blessed God so
inattentive to the happiness of his creatures, as to suffer in his
revealed word, language so strikingly calculated to lead men into
a belief of the Deity of Jesus, if in fact he was not God? No, the
God of Truth does not trifle thus with the children of men. He has
set all the great and fundamental doctrines of the gospel in the
fore-ground; all truths that are essential to be known in order
to salvation, are written as with a sunbeam; the Deity of Jesus,
foremost of the whole, is so plain, "that he who runs may read,"
and the "wayfaring man, though a fool, cannot err therein." It does
not require superior intellectual powers or attainments, to learn
that Jesus is the Christ of God; but it does require art and skill
in criticism, to give any other sense to the word of God. There are
persons, who deny the Godhead of Jesus, and yet acknowledge him
a being of exalted virtue, and a model of perfection, worthy of
imitation. But do they not, in robbing him of Deity, destroy all his
claim to our attention? in fact do they not make him an impostor and
deceiver? Do they not, with the Jews, raise the cry of blasphemy
against him? and bring him under the curse and punishment pronounced
by the eternal and unchangeable Jehovah, against every blasphemer?
Do we not hear Jesus saying--I and my Father are one, the Father
dwelleth in me, and I in him, he that hath seen me, hath seen the
Father also? And did he not demand all men, to honour the Son, even
as they honour the Father? Did he not declare himself equal to the
Father, and did not the Jews so understand him, when they took up
stones to stone him, because he being man, made himself equal with
God? Yes, Jesus proclaimed his Godhead; he allowed and encouraged
religious worship to be paid him; in truth, he claimed all the
belief and honours due to Deity. Surely then, if he is not God, he
has forfeited all claim to our regard and veneration, and appears
as a false prophet and teacher; but the mind shudders at imputing
deception there. Blessed Jesus! may I, with Thomas, acknowledge
thee, from a full conviction of thy Divinity, to be my Lord and my
God. Thou hast declared thyself to be the Son of God with power, by
thy resurrection from the dead. Hail! thou Wonderful Counsellor,
thou Mighty God, thou Everlasting Father; thou who didst from
eternity engage to be the Father and head of thy Church; thou who
art the second Adam, the Lord from heaven; thou who watchest over
thy Church with more than fatherly care; who suppliest all their
wants, healest all their diseases, and who, in love, dost "chasten
every son whom thou receivest," and wilt at the last great day,
present thyself with them to the Father, saying, "Behold I and the
children whom thou hast given me." Yes, thou art the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace; and who so calculated to make peace
between God and man, as he in whose person they are both united? He
has peace to make between heaven and earth. He can know and satisfy
the honour of God, for he is God; he can feel the wants and sorrows
of man, for he is "bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh." When
he entered our world, was there not a proclamation of peace on
earth, and good will to man? Yes, for the Prince of Peace was come,
to make peace and reconciliation, by the blood of his cross. He is
a successful Peace-maker; he is, in fact, the only Mediator between
God and man; nor is he yet weary of his office, but ever liveth to
make intercession for us. Hail! thou Prince of Peace. Did not this
glorious Mediator love to manifest himself in that character to the
Church, from the earliest ages of the world? Did he not honour many
of the patriarchs and prophets with a display of his person? Was it
not the Messiah, who appeared to the Old Testament saints? Has he
not ever been the only visible image of the invisible God? Are we
not told that no man hath seen the Father, save the only begotten
of the Father, who came down from heaven? Do we not find an opinion
generally prevalent amongst the ancient Jews, that no man could see
the face of God, and live? Moses, and the assembled multitude at
mount Sinai, were of this opinion. Isaiah exclaimed, "Wo is me, I
am undone, for I have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Manoah,
Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos, and the other ancient worthies to whom God
appeared, were filled with the same awful apprehensions. Is it not
more than probable, that God, in the person of the Father, has ever
been invisible to the inhabitants of earth? Would not the true
majesty, and splendour of Godhead be more than man in his present
state could bear? Might not the sight of unclouded Deity destroy a
body of flesh? Are not all those passages where the great God is
said to appear and converse with his creatures, more applicable to
the God-man, Christ Jesus, than to the first person of the sacred
Trinity? Is it not more becoming him, who, in after ages, was to
take on him a body of flesh and blood, to appear as man, than that
God the Father, should do so? Were not the three men who appeared
to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, as he sat at his tent door, in
the heat of the day, this Messiah God-man, attended by two angels;
and were not the two angels sent forward to destroy Sodom, while
the Lord tarried behind to hear the intercession of Abraham, for
that devoted city? Was not the same glorious personage the man with
whom Jacob wrestled, when he is said to have had power with God
and to have prevailed? Was he not _that_ Angel of God's presence,
who led the children of Israel into Canaan, of whom God said,
"beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not, for he will
not pardon your transgressions; for my name is in him?" Did he not
also appear to Joshua, as Captain of the Lord's hosts? Did he not
in vision appear in the same form to Ezekiel and Daniel, as he
afterwards did to John, in the Isle of Patmos? And are not all the
other passages, of a similar kind, equally applicable to the Christ
of God? Can we not enter into the prophet's meaning, and set our
seal to the glorious truth, that "unto us a Child is born, unto us
a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and
his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace?"