ix. 6. _The Everlasting Father._
We usually associate the name of father with the first "Person" of
the adorable Godhead. But there is no manner of doubt that the title
here belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ--to the very same Person who,
in human nature was a Child born, and a Son given up for the
salvation of men. But there is this difference: the title given to
the Son born is not merely "the Father," but "the _everlasting_
Father." The title is not "Father," but the entire phrase. Read more
exactly in accordance with the original words, the phrase is this:
"the father of perpetuity, the father of eternity, the father of for
ever." "Father" means here simply possessor or author. To be the
"Father of eternity" is to _have_ eternity, and to _rule_ in
eternity--to be the Lord of eternity. Christ Jesus, who hath the
government upon His shoulders, hath it on His shoulders for ever; He
is King of kings and Lord of lords throughout eternity. The eternity
here spoken of is not the eternity that is bygone--if we may so speak
of eternity; it is the ongoing and unending duration that lies before
us, and Christ Jesus is Lord and Ruler of it all. No doubt He who can
hold the future eternity in His hand, and who can rule all its
affairs, must have been Himself the Unbeginning and Eternal One; and
the Scriptures leave no doubts about that being the attribute of our
Lord Jesus Christ (John viii. 58; Col. i. 17; John i. 3). But it is
that for ever which lies before us which Christ is here said to be
the Father of. He is so as its Possessor--He has it; as its
Originator--He makes it what it is; as its Controller--He rules in it.
I. Jesus Christ is the father of the eternity that lies before us,
the father of the for ever, because He Himself lives for ever. He has
it. Observe, this is true of the Second Person of the Godhead in
human nature. The connection of the text will not permit us to forget
that. It is the Child born and the Son given who is said to live for
ever. That is a great thought; the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ in
humanity is to live for ever is a stupendous expectation and belief.
Sometimes it has seemed to me as it were more wonderful even than the
Incarnation. It seems as if it would have been less strange for the
Son of God, for some great purpose, to have clothed Himself with a
creature's nature, and then, having accomplished that purpose, to
have laid down that nature as a thing too far down from the Infinite
to be worn for ever. But now the wonder is, that having made Himself
our kinsman, He is to be our Head for ever, and is never to cease to
wear the human nature in which He died on Calvary. That this is an
important thought appears from two considerations. 1. It is part of
the Divine promise of the Father to our Lord, and it is a thing for
which our Lord prayed as part of His Father's promise (compare Isa.
liii. 10, Ps. lxxii. 15; xxi. 4). 2. It implies that His work was
finished to His Father's satisfaction. It is clearly spoken of as a
reward for work well done. Hence this title "Father of
eternity"--hath in germ within it the great facts of Christ's death,
resurrection, ascension, and session in glory (comp. Rev. i. 18).
From this fact two inferences can be drawn, both of a most
consolatory and joyful character. 1. To God's people. What a Saviour
they have! They need never fear that they will find a world in all
the universe where He is not with them, and they cannot live on to
any age when He shall cease to be their light and King. 2. The same
thing brings comfort to every sinner (Heb. vii. 25). Do not lose
yourselves in a great general thought of Christ living for ever;
rather narrow the broad and grand conception, and fasten it down upon
the present fleeting moment. Christ lives _now,_ and lives
_here_--lives _here_ and _now_ to save the sinner and bless the
saint. Apply to Him, and rejoice in Him that liveth now and for ever
and ever.
II. He originated this age that is spoken of. As by His death He
secured His own immortality on the basis of the faithful covenant,
and received life for ever because He had done the Father's will; so
by the same completion of His mediatorial work on earth He purchased
this immortality for His people. All that is valuable in the prospect
of unending existence to any human being he owes to our Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the father of the eternal age; it could not have been
without Him.
III. As Jesus Christ, personally and in humanity, lives through this
eternal age, and as He introduced it and gave it its great
characteristics, so the administration of its whole affairs is in His
hands. The Author of our Faith is the ruler of its progress, and that
not on earth alone, but in heaven (Matt. xxviii. 18). What follows
from that? 1. What a terrible and what a hopeless thing it must be to
resist Christ! To resist Him effectually, we would require to be able
to do one or other of two things: We should need either to go beyond
infinite distance and get away from Him that way, or live longer than
for ever, which is equally impossible. The only question is this, "Am
I in Christ's hands to be slain by Him, or to be saved by Him?" and
that turns on my submission to His will. "Am I to sit on the throne
beside Him? or take the other alternative and be made His footstool?"
2. What a good thought it is for the Christian, that he can never go
away from Christ's care, that He can never be for a moment without
his Friend watching over him, and never in any place in which he does
not hear the music of those precious words, "Lo, I am with you
alway!" (Matt. xxviii. 20).--_J. Edmond, D.D.: Christian World
Pulpit,_ vol. ix. pp. 145-148.