Brookdale Baptist
December 22 AM Service
  • Angels We Have Heard On High
  • Hark The Herald Angels Sing
  • The First Noel
  • What Child Is This

  • Introduction

    iPhones. One of the most successful products of all time. Apple. One of the most successful brands of all time. Steve Jobs. The man perhaps most individually responsible for building these things.
    Here is an excerpt from Walter Isaacson's famous biography of Steve Jobs.
    His closest friends think that the knowledge that he was given up at birth left some scars. “I think his desire for complete control of whatever he makes derives directly from his personality and the fact that he was abandoned at birth,” said one longtime colleague, Del Yocam. “He wants to control his environment, and he sees the product as an extension of himself.” Greg Calhoun, who became close to Jobs right after college, saw another effect. “Steve talked to me a lot about being abandoned and the pain that caused,” he said. “It made him independent. He followed the beat of a different drummer, and that came from being in a different world than he was born into.”
    Later in life, when he was the same age his biological father had been when he abandoned him, Jobs would father and abandon a child of his own. (He eventually took responsibility for her.) Chrisann Brennan, the mother of that child, said that being put up for adoption left Jobs “full of broken glass,” and it helps to explain some of his behavior. “He who is abandoned is an abandoner,” she said. Andy Hertzfeld, who worked with Jobs at Apple in the early 1980s, is among the few who remained close to both Brennan and Jobs. “The key question about Steve is why he can’t control himself at times from being so reflexively cruel and harmful to some people,” he said. “That goes back to being abandoned at birth. The real underlying problem was the theme of abandonment in Steve’s life.”
    Even though Steve was adopted by good people who loved him and raised him well, he could not escape the void of fatherlessness that he experienced. Perhaps, people in this room can relate to the feelings of abandonment that affected Steve Jobs.
    In fact, in our series through the names for the coming King in Isaiah 9, we have studied a nation that had in some ways, experienced these emotions in a very real, political sense. For all of Israel's history, from the judges to Saul to even David and Solomon, they had longed for the stability and kindness of an everlasting father.
    Unfortunately, stories of abandonment or fatherlessness like Steve Jobs are not uncommon today. More than ever, we need to understand, appreciate, and trust in the news of the Everlasting Father.
    Good fathers bring good times. And even good fathers fail. They end. They break. The good kings in Israel were not always good, and even if they redeemed themselves, eventually, they died. And they were replaced.
    We need an everlasting father. Life consists of good times and bad times.
    I have ready mentioned the name of King David. Though complicated, He is regarded as probably the greatest king of Israel, when you take into account all the aspects of what it meant to be a king in Israel.
    It is no accident that the Bible says that the Messiah-King would reign on the Throne of David. In fact, the Scriptures use David's quality as a king as a standard for what it means to be a good king.
    At his best, King David is a compassionate and successful king. Even more, he not only leads his people into battle, but leads them in worship. Not only was he an example of mature devotion to God, he was active in directing others to do the same.
    1 Chronicles 16:1–4 NKJV
    So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel:
    ​
    1 Chronicles 16:7 NKJV
    On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the Lord:
    ​
    This is a powerful and dangerous man, who proactively engages for the interests of others. As a father, one of the main temptations I feel is to turn inward. To disengage. To use the strength and abilities God has given them to make myself comfortable or happy. I think this is a temptation we all face, to as sociologists describe it, orbit our homes, rather than dig in and cultivate godliness and potential in our families.
    As a king, David did not generally "orbit" but he engaged. And when he did disengage and turn his focus inward, we see disastrous results.
    Regardless of his failures, we see that, because of his major successes, the nation of Israel was always comparing every king to him. They longed for that fatherhood from their king again.
    And here, we find a reality that we experience but might not consider too much: Even good fathers fail eventually. Our fathers, in some instances, change our diapers. Good ones take care of us and love us. And one day, if they live long enough, our fathers need to be taken care of. They lose the ability, little by little to lean in to being present and active in the family, until they pass away. Why do we need an everlasting father? Why did Israel long for a father that would last forever? Because even the best men end, if their name is not Jesus Christ.

    King Jesus brings good times that will never end.

    And so when Isaiah tells the people in darkness of this great Light Who will reign on the throne, he promises that this wise and powerful king will never fall. His rule will last for eternity.
    And the fact that He would reign forever also made this king's identity clear to discerning Jews who read or heard this.
    When speaking through the prophet Nathan to King David, God made a covenant with David.
    2 Samuel 7:16 NKJV
    And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
    This king would be the fulfillment of that promise. This was further confirmation that even though they were going through dark times, God would still keep the covenants he had made with their fathers. The first coming of Jesus was always a reminder to God’s people that the Second Coming is real.
    God had not forsaken His people and He never does. And He always keeps His promises.
    Like the Israelites, we live in a broken world with pain and disappointments. We were created for good world, untainted by sin and death. We long, with all of creation, for the goodness of our Creator. And so often, the good times end, and the bad times begin. We mourn the loss of those good things we once enjoyed. The good king dies; David can’t reign forever.
    But when we celebrate Christmas, we are reminded that one day, there will be a good king on David’s throne that will not fail. There will be no moments self-exaltation or moral failures of any kind. This king will be the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, and His wisdom and power will never end.
    Not only will he be the most competent king of all time, excellent in His ability to reign because of His unmatched mental and military capabilities, but He will also be like a father. We have seen how this king is trustworthy and worthy of our worship because of things about Him, but now we learn about how He relates to His people.

    Jesus will be like a father to His subjects.

    It is also important to make something quite clear, and I really don't want to muddy the waters by scrambling to make them clear so I will do my best to be brief here. Isaiah prophetically describes this coming king as the everlasting Father. Who is he describing as father? Jesus. Yet when we describe Jesus as a distinct person of the Trinity, we call Him not the Father, but the Son. So is Isaiah messing up his Trinitarian theology by calling God the Son the Everlasting Father? No, because he is using figurative language here. The Messiah, this coming king would have the characteristics or qualities of a father to his people. And this is certainly true of Jesus Christ.
    When we use the word "father," what comes to your mind?

    Fathers provide and protect.

    In Scripture, I think that we see an acknowledgement of something all fathers feel instinctually and very deeply. We know that fathers should provide for their families.
    1 Timothy 5:8 NKJV
    But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
    Children depend totally upon their parents to provide for them. And those who never have to worry for their needs have complete and total security because of this. They have implicit trust. What do we say about when reminiscing about childhood? It is carefree! We miss that freedom that complete security brought.
    This king would bring complete security to His people. They would be safe and have everything they needed. And brothers and sisters, the same promise is true for us too. We have no reason to fret or worry because our God does supply all of our needs.
    Yet, how many cares do we have? Not just as a human with financial responsibilities, but also as a pastor of a church, I am tempted to worry about the future of our church! Yet, the Everlasting Father is already providing for us. This is not some future, theoretical promise. He has already said,
    Matthew 6:33 NKJV
    But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
    Let us trust in Jesus as a protector and provider in spite of doubt and fear. When our anxiety rises up within, let us say no to the cycle of worry and worship God by trusting in Him.
    For some of us, this challenge may be complicated by our past. Some people have never experienced, maybe in certain aspects or ways, the security of good fatherhood. Fathers do leave, or neglect, or fail their children. And some in this room, maybe not in a technical sense, but in a practical sense even, have been fatherless.
    Psalm 68:5 NKJV
    A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.
    To those dear people, I would say that this promise, that for all eternity, Jesus will be everything your father could and should have been, and more, this promise is even sweeter. My friend, He is there for you right now. Jesus is the Everlasting Father, not because of some obligation that God has given to Him, that this is His job.
    No, I hope this is clear to you from the whole of the Scriptures. Isaiah can say that this Messiah King will be the everlasting Father because that is HIs nature. It flows out of the heart of God to be a father. This is Who God is. There is no struggle to be a good dad. He is one. Go to Him.

    Fathers teach and discipline.

    Another powerful reality is that children learn from their parents. The question is, are you actually teaching them? Your children will learn from you, and without realizing it, emulate you. Parents, and especially fathers, you are the most powerful human influence in your children's lives.
    Good fathers intentionally shape their children. They nurture their potential skills and give them tools to use to be productive and to take care of themselves in the future.
    Good dads teach their kids to change the oil, to change tires, to mow the lawn, or maybe other good things.
    And Israel needed a father who would do these things. This king would be a father that leans in to the lives of his children and takes ownership. He takes responsibility for the development of his children.
    Hebrews 12:6–7 NKJV
    For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

    Fathers care.

    ​
    Pity is a weakness of the mind that is over-much perturbed by suffering, and if anyone requires it from a wise man, that is very much like requiring him to wail and moan at the funerals of strangers. - Seneca
    Matthew 9:35–36 NKJV
    Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
    Matthew 14:14 NKJV
    And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
    Fathers take things personally.

    Application

    Fathers, be like the Everlasting Father.
    Trust in the Everlasting Father.

    Conclusion

    There Paul tried to pass along his love of mechanics and cars. “Steve, this is your workbench now,” he said as he marked off a section of the table in their garage. Jobs remembered being impressed by his father’s focus on craftsmanship. “I thought my dad’s sense of design was pretty good,” he said, “because he knew how to build anything. If we needed a cabinet, he would build it. When he built our fence, he gave me a hammer so I could work with him.”
    Fifty years later the fence still surrounds the back and side yards of the house in Mountain View. As Jobs showed it off to me, he caressed the stockade panels and recalled a lesson that his father implanted deeply in him. It was important, his father said, to craft the backs of cabinets and fences properly, even though they were hidden. “He loved doing things right. He even cared about the look of the parts you couldn’t see.”

      • 1 Chronicles 16:1–4ESV

      • 1 Chronicles 16:1–4ESV

      • 1 Chronicles 16:1–4ESV

      • 2 Samuel 7:16ESV

      • Psalm 68:5ESV

      • Hebrews 12:6–7ESV

      • Matthew 9:35–36ESV

  • The Birthday Of A King
Brookdale Baptist
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