Why We Call Him Jesus

Dear friends, this is the time of year when many people around the world remember the life of Jesus Christ, especially his birth. And even though historically Jesus could not have been born in this time of year, I use it personally as an opportunity to examine my life to see that the reality of who Jesus is, I am experiencing in my life. Imagine that your father told you that he had set aside a certain amount of money for you in a file cabinet. And you went there and found $100 and came back to him and said, thanks dad for the $100 that you gave me. But imagine if he said, but I gave you $10,000. I'm sure you'd immediately run back to that file cabinet to see where the remaining money is. The things of earth like money are so trivial and insignificant compared to things of eternal value. The treasures of eternity are so much more valuable. Jesus Christ being the foremost of all of them. But I use that example because there are many people who take the name of Jesus and even believe in him to some extent, but haven't fully realized his eternal value. When you think about the name of Jesus, here's what the Bible tells us we should experience. Jesus has power. His name has power. And there's a reality of experience that we are all called to have when we truly experience Jesus in his fullness. And we're told in the book of Isaiah chapter nine, as a prophecy hundreds of years before Jesus was born about what the effect of his coming would be. And I want you to consider for the year ahead especially, and the years that we have left before Jesus Christ comes back to end this world as we know it. Those are very few years that are remaining. I want you to consider who Jesus is to you in the light of what the Bible says he should be and his full value. It says in Isaiah chapter nine verse six, for a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us. And the very first thing it says about the coming of Jesus is this, the government rests on his shoulders. Today we live in a world where almost all over the world people fight over who gets to run the government. But if you've truly experienced the fullness of who Jesus is, you'll recognize that the government rests on his shoulders. So if you are in Christ, Christ is in you. There is no earthly authority that can affect your eternal destiny. And that's the only thing that matters. Jesus has all authority. Never forget that. And then it says his name will be called Wonderful Counselor. That means Jesus is a personal, precious, exciting counselor. One who wants to give you specific guidance in every situation of your life. He's a mighty God. That means there is nothing, no situation, no matter how impossible it seems, there is no circumstance that is impossible for God. This is why Jesus came to demonstrate his power. When you read about all the miracles that he performed here on this earth from impossible seeming circumstances, those are recorded to show us that he is the mighty God. And then it says God is our eternal Father. This is something they only could hear about, but they couldn't really know in experience. Jesus Christ came to show us the Father. He told us in John chapter 14. Have you come to know God as a personal Father to you? It's not just words. It's not just calling him Father even. It's a reality of experience. And we can test that by the circumstances we face on this earth. If when you face a trial or something unexpected happens to you, if you respond in unbelief or fear or worry or anxiety, that is a sure indication that you don't have a firm foundation in this, that God is your personal eternal Father. I hope that you will choose to let God be a Father to you and that you will know him more intimately this coming year as your eternal Father. Then it says he's the Prince of Peace. You know that in every circumstance God wants us to have peace. And we'd be fooling ourselves in simply calling Jesus by his name if we haven't experienced the power of peace that can only come through him. Jesus said that in the world we will have tribulation but we can have courage because he's overcome the world and in him we have peace. Later on in chapter 26 of the book of Isaiah we read this prophecy that God will keep us in perfect peace because we trust in him. Trust God in such a way this coming year, dear friend, that you experience peace, a peace that passes understanding, a peace that comes from God himself. He's keeping you in peace. Make that a goal for this coming year. I want to finish with this last promise and it is the first promise of the New Testament. It's in Matthew chapter 1 verse 21. The name Jesus is not just a nice name. There's power in it and there's a meaning in it. You must know that meaning. You must experience that power in your life. The name Jesus was given to Jesus because this was what he would do. It says in Matthew 1 verse 21 that he will save his people from their sins. That word save is much more powerful than we realize. It's more than just forgiving us from our sins. It means that we are no longer defeated by the same sins year after year after year. If you are defeated by lust, you're defeated by anger, you're defeated by anxiety, if you're defeated by jealousy, if you're defeated by the love of money, if you're defeated by bad moods, all of these things are things that Jesus has come to set us free from. And so I pray that in the coming year you will set it as your goal that you will experience the fullness of who Jesus is. The government rests on his shoulders. He's the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the eternal father, the prince of peace, and he will save you from all sins if you really desire it and if you have faith. I pray that will be so in your life. God bless you.