Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a Child is born, / Unto us a Son is given; / And the government will be upon His shoulder. / And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, / Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

August 3rd, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

When Isaiah wrote of this Son, “And His name will be called Wonderful,” he used the Hebrew word that denotes something indescribably great, or literally, full of wonders. Another translator suggests that it means someone or something so tremendous and amazing that it is literally beyond all description and human comprehension. Of course we recognize today that this is a description of Jesus, who is so astounding and so wonderful that we should often halt and carefully consider Him again and again. Albert Einstein said:

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

Einstein was not talking about Jesus when he said this, but it describes the idea of this verse well. British author G. K. Chesterton was describing the wonderfulness of God when he penned the words:

A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough . . . It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

Isaiah said Jesus would be a counselor, but he didn’t mean that He’s just good at giving advice. He meant that Jesus understands things that are beyond us, things that only God can know. Jesus is never confused or mistaken but always knows exactly what we should do in any situation. This Child, this Son, with all His marvelous, wonderful attributes was given to us. Let’s stop today and allow the magnitude of who He is strike us with awe until we can do nothing but marvel at the amazing gift He has given us of Himself.

“LORD, we do find ourselves in awe-struck wonder when we try to comprehend just who You are. And it amazes us that You even think of us finite beings. Thank You that You love us enough to accept us as the sinners we truly are, but love us too much to leave us prisoners to sin.”