[Biblemat] A) WONDERFUL (1)

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Thursday morn-
ing to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.  Here is the
first installment of this particular study:

WONDERFUL  (1)

       "For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us: And
the government will rest upon HIs shoulders: And His Name will
be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, 
Prince of Peace."  (Isa. 9:6).  This passage of Scripture is a prop-
hecy concerning the Lord Jesus Christ: the descriptive terms of
the passage refer to Christ, the Anointed One.  Notice the first one of 
these intense descriptions is "WONDERFUL."

       This Hebrew word, has much the same meaning as we give
it in English -- A Wonder.  In other places in Scripture where the
word is used, we find some translations using the word "Aston-
ishing" or "an Astonishment."  In regard to the Christ, how 
appropriate are the first few entries in the American Heritage
Thesaurus: "Marvelos, Magnificent, superb, glorious, sublime."
Christ is simply astounding.  Have we thought about some of the reasons why?

       Christ Is Wonderful Because Of His Eternal Nature: -- Our
text not only describes Him as "Wonderful" but also as "Ever-
lasting."  He spoke in reference to His eternal nature when he
spoke to the Jews as recorded in Jno. 8:56-59; "Truly, truly, I
say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."  His eternal nature
is in clear reference by the apostle John.  "In the beginning was
the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jno. 1:1).  "And 
the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, 
and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the
Father, full of grace and truth" (Jno. 1:14).  This shows that Christ is 
"from everlasting to everlasting" as spoken by Moses
in (Psa. 90:2).  Paul reminds us that this eternal nature gives Him
a unique place:  "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold 
together" (Col. 1:17).  When some claim, as do the Jehova-
h's Witnesses, that Christ is a created being, they violate the Scriptures, 
and rob HIm of the glory, the magnificence, the wond-
er of His eternal nature.

       Christ Is Wonderful Because Of His Part In The Creation: --
Closely related to His eternal nature is His role as Creator.  Not-
ice what Paul tells us in speaking of this nature, and His work
in Creation: "For by Him all things were created, both in the
heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether throngs
or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things have been
created through Him and for Him" (Col. 1:16).  The first chapter
of Genesis shows clearly that God was not alone in the creation,
for, in the twenty-sixth verse, God said, "Let US make man in 
OUR image, according to OUR likeness."  Concerning Christ as
the Word, John says:  "All things came into being through Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into
being" (Jno. 1:3).

       Creation is astounding!  Simply because God spoke there
ame into existence out of nothing this great physical universe.
The theory of evolution offers no real explanation fo the origin
of matter and of life.  It robs God and Christ of the Wonder of
Creation.  (More will be posted on this subject tomorrow, the
Lord willing, JWS).</HTML>