For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

The Sawi tribe of Papua New Guinea celebrated cannibalism, revenge, and treachery. When a group of Christian missionaries read from the gospels, the Sawi were more drawn to Judas than Jesus. The missionaries were at a loss about how to share the gospel—until they witnessed a Sawi peace ceremony.

To make peace with a warring tribe, the Sawi chief ripped his only child from his screaming wife’s arms and gave his son to the enemy chief, who did the same in return. Both tribes understood that harming a “peace child” was forbidden. As long as the peace children lived, there would be no war.

The missionaries were horrified, but also hopeful. They explained that, “True peace can never come without a peace child.” The good news is that God gave his only Son, the ultimate Peace Child, to make pea...

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

What does it mean that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is “Everlasting Father”? Many commentaries point out that Isaiah is not confusing God the Son with God the Father here. He seems to be saying that the Messiah will approach us with an everlasting father-like character. In Jesus’s own words, he is “gently and lowly in heart,” not gruff and legalistic (see Matthew 11:29).

I was recently at an event with the brilliant Christian psychiatrist, Dr. Curt Thompson, who offered a picture of Jesus’s father-like character that knocked me out. Psalm 121:3-4 tells us that God does not “slumber nor sleep” but he “watches over you” each night. Now, Dr. Thompson said, imagine that when you woke up this morning, the Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit—all said to each other, “Ashley’s awake! Matt’s awake! Guys...

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

My friend Hannah Brencher says, “We are a follower-obsessed culture.” I am certainly not immune. I follow authors on Amazon, podcasters on Spotify, and “top voices” on LinkedIn. If we’re not careful, we’ll reduce Jesus’s call to “follow me” to little more than casually clicking “follow” on another influencer.

But Jesus is not just another guru. Today’s passage reminds us that he is Mighty God. Christ is not one of many, but the one and only. As Tim Keller said in his excellent book, Hidden Christmas, “The people who actually saw and heard Jesus never reacted indifferently or even mildly….Nobody said, ‘He is so inspiring. He makes me want to live a better life.’ If the baby born at Christmas is the Mighty God, then you must serve him completely.”

Here are 3 signs you and I are not—3 signs...

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

This Christmas season, you’ll likely hear the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah in your church, mall, or on TV. Over the next four weeks, we’ll examine the four messianic titles sung in that glorious piece derived from Isaiah 9:6—Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace—and ask ourselves what it means for our work today that Jesus is all these things and more. 

We begin with Christ’s title of “Wonderful Counselor.” 

The best counselors have been where you’ve been—they feel your pain. That’s what makes Jesus a Wonderful Counselor: nobody understands your pain better than him. Hebrews 4:15 says, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not ...