“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” (2 Cor 9:15)
Last Saturday, in “The Indescribable Gift,” Part 2, we saw that a magnificent part of Jesus’ gift is that He will one day be our government, and He will reign with order and justice and peace. We also saw that Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift” is great and excellent, it is amazing and astonishing, it is of the sort that arouses wonder, it is outside the normal course of events and cannot be explained. I don’t know about you, but even if this were all Jesus’ gift entailed, it would already fall under the category of “indescribable”. But there is oh, so much more…
Continuing with the description of Jesus’ gift given to us in Isaiah 9: “And His name will be called…Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Vs. 6c)
Counselor
The next part of Isaiah’s description identifies Jesus as “counselor.”
In its historical Hebrew usage, this word is used in connection with a king giving counsel to his people (See Micah 4:9). Isaiah himself gives us further clarification about Jesus being a “counselor” in Isaiah 11:2: “And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
Need wisdom and understanding? What about strength? Knowledge? Fear of the Lord? Come to the almighty “counselor,” Jesus, the Christ, the “Indescribable Gift.” Don’t leave this part of Jesus’ gift unwrapped. He is there, ready to give us the counsel that we need. All we have to do is ask.
Might God, Everlasting Father
In order to fully discover the meaning of this part of Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift,” it is necessary to have a basic understanding of the relationship between Jesus and God the Father. Consider this text: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4)
Thus, we see that Jesus Christ has always been, and has always been a part of God. He is the Creator, the life, and the light of men, He is an intregal part of the “mighty God.”
When asked by His disciples to show them the Father, Jesus said, “…Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” (John 14:9)
Thus, as part of Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift,” we understand that in seeing Jesus, in learning about Him through the Word, through the life that He lived on earth and through His example, we can also come to know an intregal part of God, and we can come to know the almighty God, God the Father.
Prince of Peace
In Isaiah’s day, the term “prince” would have been understood as a leader among a group of people. The Hebrew word for peace, “Shalom” was often used to refer to a time of rest between groups or nations. Thus, when Isaiah calls Jesus the “Prince of Peace,” He is saying that He is our leader, and He will bring us through times of rest and peace.
To further understand this, let’s go to Jesus’ words, given to His followers before His death: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). We also see that one of the first things Jesus said to His disciples following His resurrection was, “Peace be with you…” (John 20:19).
Jesus also tells us to come to Him if we are tired and burdened, and He will give us “rest” (See Matt 11:28)
Do you feel the need of peace and rest in your life, friends? It is part of Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift,” all you have to do is unwrap it. Don’t leave it under the Christmas tree, it’s yours for the asking. If you feel that peace is evading you, spend some time meditating upon these texts. Give your worries to Jesus. Allow Him to cleanse your heart of sin, to make things right between you and the Father. Allow Him to do that wonderful, supernatural thing, to be your counselor, to show you a picture of the Father, to establish your heart in peace; for in so doing, you will have unwrapped yet another layer of Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift” this Christmas.
So we see that Jesus gift entails individual salvation. It also provides the ultimate solution to sin. It points us to a time when Jesus will be our King, it gives us access to the wisest counsel possible, it shows us an image of God the Father, and it brings us peace. But only if we unwrap the gift.
But is this all there is to Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift?” Join us next Thursday and see: “The Indescribable Gift,” Part 4.
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two, Author — “Aboard God’s Train — A Journey With God Through the Valley of Cancer”, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.
* www.Dictionary.reference.com
** http://www.jesus.org/is-jesus-god/names-of-jesus/wonderful-counselor.html
(To access the entire “Indescribable Gift” mini-series, please click here.)