Everlasting Father

March 10, 2014


“He will be called . . . Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6).

Does Jesus care for me?
Can I depend on him to the very end?

In the Hebrew the phrase is literally “the father of eternity.” This speaks of the purpose of his coming. It means that his power is not limited by time and space. Because he is the “father of eternity,” you will never see a “Going Out of Business” sign at the gate of heaven. His power is eternal and his resources are infinite.

He is the perpetual guardian and friend to his people. When you come to him, he is always there, always ready to help in the time of need. When we considering the universe and all its diverse parts, he is the “everlasting father” because he created it:

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16).

He is eternally like a father to his people. All that a good father is, Jesus is to his people.

What he was, he is.
What he is, he will be.
What he will be, he always was.

Because he is like a father, he cares for his people. Because he owns eternity, he can give us eternal life. That’s important for those who live on this sin-cursed planet. No one lives forever. Sooner or later we will all find our own place in the graveyard. As Thomas Gray remarked, “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.” We’re here today, gone tomorrow.

A dead Christ will do us no good. Dying men need an undying Christ. Writing in 1787, Ambrose Serle showed in quaint language what this title should mean to us:

Let this encourage thee, therefore, fearful Christian, to venture, with faithful Boldness, upon thy redeeming God. Come, like a simple helpless Child, to Him, thy gracious, thy tender, thy everlasting Father, Speak out all thy Complaints . . . Lift them again and again. Thy Lord will never send thee empty away” (Names and Titles of Jesus Christ, P. 115).

Here’s a key phrase: He is a father forever! That’s important to me because I had a father, but not a father forever. I had a father, but he is gone now. I received a message from someone who said her aunt knew my father, Dr. Tyrus Pritchard. That warmed my heart because it’s been 40 years since my father died. He was a very good man, but he was not a father forever. I am a father to my three sons, but I am not a father forever. I will someday pass away. All human fathers must go. But Jesus is a father forever. He’s just what we need.

I am glad, O Lord, that your mercy endures forever. I rejoice in the thought that you care for me and that you are greater than any problem I may face today. Amen.

Do you have any thoughts or questions about this post?