Wonderful Counselor - Isaiah 9:6 - Part 1 (page 2)
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Jesus is the chief counselor because God’s spirit was with him. Notice:
“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11:1-3).
Absolutely, the best counsel originates with God, because, “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:11). Yahweh's word or counsel, which is His purpose and design, stands forever. It may go out of fashion for us, but it is always the best. Wise counsel comes from the word of God.
John’s gospel opens with; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1, 2). John is simply rephrasing Psalm 33:11. Some have inserted “Jesus” in John's first two verses, but that doesn’t fit with “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth” (Psalm 33:6).
The “word” is the counsel of Yahweh that stands forever. Jesus comes into the text of John 1 in verse 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The word, purpose, counsel, decrees, plans and design of God inhabited a man. Notice the results: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (vs. 18). Just as Moses received the law (and passed it on), Jesus showed us grace and truth (vs. 17).
We can look further into John’s gospel to see how he explains this to us:
John 5:19, “Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”
John 5:30, “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
John 14:10, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”
Because Jesus spoke the counsel of God, he is the Wonderful Counselor. Indeed he was wonderful in everything he did.
The Apostle Paul followed that example, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel ofGod” (Acts 20:26-27). Dispensing the whole counsel of God is not an easy task. All of theApostles, and countless believers after them, suffered for doing just that.
You too, can be a wonderful counselor. You can speak the whole counsel of God. First, you have to let God’s counsel invade your life and let it take over, as Jesus did. We are told, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).
When the word of Christ takes effect you will then be, as the Apostle Paul says, “Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another” (Romans 15:14).
Follow the example of Jesus, as Paul and others have done. Let the word of God become flesh in you!
Reprinted with permission from Wisdom and Power - Nov/Dec 2007
Editor Chuck Jones Pastor of Church of the Open Bible, Pomona, CA
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