453. ISA 9:6. CHRIST THE WONDERFUL

Isa_9:6. Christ The Wonderful

"And his name shall be called Wonderful."’97Isa_9:6.

When the angel of the Lord (doubtless none other than the Son of God) appeared to Manoah, and was asked his name, he said, "Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret or wonderful," Jdg_3:18. Now this is the very title the evangelical prophet is here applying to the Redeemer: his name, he says, shall be called Wonderful. How truly applicable is this title to Christ! He is wonderful in every respect in which he can be contemplated. As the Deity, he must of course be past finding out. But he is wonderful in all that relates to his mediatorial person, offices, and work.

I. Consider the wonderful Constitution of his Person.

Jehovah-Jesus, God manifest in the flesh Eternity united to a span of human existence. Omnipotence dwelling in the weakness of our manhood. The great and most high God assuming human form, and really allied, by the most mysterious of all unions, to a nature which had become degraded and worthless, by reason of transgression Then, too, how wonderful, that not with standing that union, his own purity and dignity remained unaffected; he partook not of one feature of our depravity, or of one sinful infirmity. How marvellous indeed that the glory of Jehovah of hosts should be enshrined in a tabernacle of flesh And dwell amongst us, that the splendor of his divinity should be beheld, as the glory of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. In the mysterious formation of Christ’s human nature, the Holy Ghost employed his miraculous influence in a way unknown before, and thus produced a divinely glorious personage, who is the wonder both of heaven and earth. O let us contemplate the character of our adorable and wonderful Jesus. Here our thoughts may be employed to our real profit and abiding welfare. Here is a mystery, which prophets and apostles, yea, and angels, have endeavored to explore, but in vain.

"’Tis mystery all, let men adore,

And angel minds inquire no more."

II. Wonderful in the Offices which he assumed.

In previous ages, God had separated his servants to various duties and pursuits. Some had filled the prophetical, others the priestly, and others the kingly office. Some were rulers over the people, others teachers, and others the generals, or leaders of their armies. In Christ all these offices centred, on him all these duties devolved. He was emphatically the prophet of the most high God, the priest after the order of Melchisedec, and Zion’s great and glorious king. He came to rule over his people, to instruct the ignorant, and to be the illustrious captain of salvation. And he possessed all the requisites for these various offices, and that in the most perfect degree. He was copiously anointed with the spirit of prophecy, and knew ail things The sacred unction rested on his priestly head in all its sanctifying plenitude. Wisdom, power, and essential dignity contributed to elevate him as the King of kings, and Lord of lords. His rule was associated with perfect and infallible knowledge, and spotless justice and equity. As a teacher, he spake and taught as no man ever else did; he spake with divine authority and power, so that the people were astonished at his doctrine, and exclaimed, "Never man spake like this man." And as the captain of God’s sacred host, he went forth to conflict, and spoiled all his foes, and returned to his throne, as the Bozrah conqueror, terrible to his adversaries, yet mighty to save. Oh the amazing combination of qualities in our wonderful Redeemer! Greatness and humility, courage and meekness, power and voluntarily assumed weakness, glory and abasement, riches and poverty, holy, wise, omnipotent, and eternal, yet accounted base, utterly worthless, and at last actually despised, and put to death.

III. He is also wonderful in the Titles by which he is set forth.

He is the great, mighty, and only true and wise God. He is the prince of the kings of the earth’97the Lord of armies’97the only living and true potentate’97king of kings’97governor of the nations’97and proprietor of the universe. Before him the loftiest seraphs bend, and all the angels of God worship him. The Father speaks of him as his fellow, his eternal delight, and says unto him, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever." All ascriptions of praise, and blessing, and honor, and power, and glory, and rule, and dominion, are presented to him by the intellectual hosts of glory, incessantly:

"Before his feet the countless hosts

Of seraphim do fall,

And, with profoundest awe, unite

To crown him Lord of all."

IV. He is wonderful in all his Works.

His works are those of true and essential divinity. He hath created all things by the energy of his omnific voice, and he upholdeth all things by the word of his power. Here then Christ appears before us in all the inconceivable greatness and grandeur of his boundless operations and works. Who then can understand his wonderful character, or by searching, find him out to perfection? Oh the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! And yet in redemption it appears that he has exceeded all his other works, that here has been a mightier and grander display of his essential and infinite perfections; hence, says the poet,

"Our thoughts are lost in reverend awe,

We love and we adore;

The first archangel never saw,

So much of God before"

O yes, in redemption we have not the hidings, but the manifestations of his glory and power; here is not a partial, but a full display of the glories of the divine nature

"Here the whole Deity is known,

Nor dares the creature guess,

Which of the glories brightest shone,

The justice or the grace."

V. Christ’s Love is wonderful.

If we consider the objects of his love, now sinful, wretched, and unworthy they were of the least favorable regard. Yet he pitied, and had compassion even on the ungodly. And the intensity of his love towards us is wonderful. He loved us with a love altogether unparalleled and unknown. He loved us so much as to yield himself a free atoning sacrifice for our guilt. Loved us more than he loved the dignities and joys of his glorious and imperial palace. Herein is love; love setting all description and all human conception utterly at defiance,’97love that passeth all understanding.

VI. His sufferings were wonderful.

Well might he be called, "A man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs." How varied, yet how deeply intense were his sufferings! He suffered poverty, calumny, and hatred; he was bitterly persecuted, falsely charged, unjustly tried, and wickedly condemned to die. He was scourged, buffeted, spit upon, and nailed to the cross. In dying, he was ridiculed, taunted, and mocked. Earth and heaven seemed combined to cause the waters of affliction to cover his sacred spirit, and the waves of trouble, in successive rolling billows, went over his blessed head.

"Oh, Lamb of God! was ever love,

Was ever grief like thine?"

His life in all its stages was wonderful. From the announcement of his incarnation, to his last shout upon the cross, there was one continued series of great and astonishing events. He spake as never man spake; he lived, and prayed, and blessed men, in a way peculiar to himself. He arose upon our world, as the great and wonderful orb of spiritual day; and in a sky of sable blackness’97except as it was streaked with the crimson of his precious blood’97he set on Calvary’s elevated and solemn summit Christ is,

VII. Wonderful in his Triumphs.

He triumphed over all his adversaries. Over sin and Satan. Over death and the grave. He is the Bozrah conqueror, "Mighty to save."

Application

1. How worthy is Jesus of our highest admiration.

2. How deserving of our most exalted praises.

3. How suitable as the foundation of our peace, and hope, and salvation.

4. How supremely should we love and serve him.

Autor: JABEZ BURNS