Isaiah 9:6 gives us what is perhaps the most unusual and for some problematic titles for Christ, that of Everlasting Father. The whole verse says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” It is clearly a prophecy about Jesus Christ who we think of as the Son and not about who we normally think of as God the Father. This has led some down the path of not believing in the trinity (3-in-1 nature of God), but that God simply plays different roles at different times. This is called Modalism or sometimes Oneness and is not what the Bible teaches about God.
We know Jesus is the Son and not the Father within the Godhead, so how is he called Everlasting Father? He didn’t have any children as a man on earth, but that wouldn’t explain the everlasting part of the title anyway. He is the founder and therefore, father of the Christian religion and some believe this is a reference to that, and certainly this is a possibility. Others put the focus on the fact that he is everlasting or eternal and ignore the rest. Still others think of it as a reference to his work in creating all things since the creator of a thing is often called the father of it and that certainly fits as a reasonable explanation given his involvement in creation. There are some who say that the Hebrew should be translated “Father of eternity” or “Father of eons” or something else. I am not an expert in Hebrew, but the vast majority of translations don’t follow any of these alternate translations, and I see no reason to go that direction.
We don’t fully understand this phrase, perhaps it even has to do with the relationship between Jesus and the Father. He did say, “if you have seen me you have seen the Father” and “I and my Father are one” and “I am in the Father and the Father is in me”. So there could even be a connection there. Regardless of the exact meaning of this title we can be confident that it is one of great honor for Christ to be called “Eternal Father” and it is perfectly biblical for us to use this title to describe him.
We know Jesus is the Son and not the Father within the Godhead, so how is he called Everlasting Father? He didn’t have any children as a man on earth, but that wouldn’t explain the everlasting part of the title anyway. He is the founder and therefore, father of the Christian religion and some believe this is a reference to that, and certainly this is a possibility. Others put the focus on the fact that he is everlasting or eternal and ignore the rest. Still others think of it as a reference to his work in creating all things since the creator of a thing is often called the father of it and that certainly fits as a reasonable explanation given his involvement in creation. There are some who say that the Hebrew should be translated “Father of eternity” or “Father of eons” or something else. I am not an expert in Hebrew, but the vast majority of translations don’t follow any of these alternate translations, and I see no reason to go that direction.
We don’t fully understand this phrase, perhaps it even has to do with the relationship between Jesus and the Father. He did say, “if you have seen me you have seen the Father” and “I and my Father are one” and “I am in the Father and the Father is in me”. So there could even be a connection there. Regardless of the exact meaning of this title we can be confident that it is one of great honor for Christ to be called “Eternal Father” and it is perfectly biblical for us to use this title to describe him.
RSS Feed
