“…His Name shall be called Wonderful…” Isaiah 9:6. “But the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask My Name, seeing it is Wonderful?”” Judges 13:18 (NASB)
We thank God for the month of July in which we received an “Unprecedented Touch.” Indeed, it was a touch of healing, power, unction, reconciliation, relationships, etc. August is the month of the annual World Convention for the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) at the World Headquarters in Nigeria. Following the directives from said headquarters, the theme for this year’s Convention is “WONDERFUL.” I pray for you that He that is called Wonderful will do wonders in your life, in your home, in your city, state and country, in Jesus’ Name!
The person spoken of in our text is undoubtedly the LORD Jesus Christ. He was born a child, of a virgin, with reference to His human nature. Also, He is a Son given, with reference to His divine nature; so, He was given as well as born. Of course, the Godhead could not be born of woman. The Triune Godhead is from everlasting and is to everlasting. As a Child He was born, as a Son He was given. “…the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful…” (Isaiah 9:6).
When Isaiah wrote his prediction of the coming of the “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6), he was spurring Israel to remember that their Messiah was indeed coming to establish His Kingdom (Isaiah 9:7). Isaiah was writing nearly 800 years before Christ. This period of history was tumultuous as the Assyrians were on the march, taking people into captivity by droves. Isaiah’s prophecy gave the people of God a hope they so desperately needed: a Child would be born to fulfill the Davidic Covenant, and He would bear the titles “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The Child was Christ and the prophecy will reach its consummation at Christ’s second coming.
Since our Master, Jesus, is wonderful all around, we must focus on one area of His wonderfulness, as one month is too little to concentrate on all aspects. I have many juxtaposing thoughts that would be appropriate. For example, wonder in His relationships – He treats everyone the same without exception whether Jew, Samaritan, Gentile, black, white, male, female, bond or free, etc. To Him, all lives matter, especially minorities or the underprivileged. Another example is the wonders of His healing – healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with Him (Acts 10:38). Another example would be the wonders of teaching with power (Matthew 7:29) etc. However, this month I felt compelled to concentrate on the wonders of His limitless Presence in the life of those who believe in Him.
THE LIMITLESS, WONDERFUL GOD (John 6:9)
John 6:9 demonstrates that there was a large need and a little offering, but there was also a limitless God! God is not restricted by circumstances. He can roll the Red Sea back like a blanket. He can transform ordinary water into flavorful wine. The laws of earth are subject to His command and the powers of hell tremble in His presence. His authority over sickness and death are limitless. His knowledge is infinite. We serve an awesome God. He is not only wonderful because of His measureless strength but also because of His amazing concern. David declared, “Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understand my thought afar off” (Psalm 139:2). Just with five loaves and two fish, He fed 5,000 men, not counting the women and children. Wow! The unlimited limitless God! He is so wonderful that He purposed, from the foundations of the world, to make whosoever accepted Him as LORD and Savior also a wonder!
YOU ARE A WONDER TO YOUR WORLD
To you God has made known what the riches of the glory of this mystery is among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). If Christ is in you, Wonder lives in you, and that makes you also a wonder! “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The greater one is inside of you, which means that what He does, you can do and even greater works. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father” (John 14:12). So, you can say, by His Grace, you are also wonderful! Hear the warning to Jeremiah below.
STOP LIMITING YOURSELF “…SAY NOT…” (Jeremiah 1:6)
Does the Almighty mind what mortals say? Can the mere confessions of a person affect what He can or cannot do for them? That was one of the first lessons God had to teach the young Jeremiah early in his call into the office of a prophet. God struck a conversation with the young man, telling him that he had been ordained from the womb as a prophet to the nations. What was Jeremiah’s self-doubting response? “Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child” (Jeremiah 1:6). Jeremiah not only declared his inability to perform the task that God had assigned him, he proceeded to say why he thought so: “I am a child.” God had to cut in at once, teaching the young Jeremiah not to speak in the manner that he had just done, because if Wonder lives inside of you, then you are also a wonder! “But the LORD said unto me, say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak” (Jeremiah 1:7).
There are things that even God does not want to hear from us; things that our mouths should never say; things about which even God promptly advises, “Say not.” The “I cannot” language is particularly so unlike His nature that He would not let it in His Presence. Apostle Paul probably learned that lesson early enough, so we could hear him declare, in spite of his many apparent handicaps, “I can do all things”; and he also proceeded to say how and why: “through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). Not all confessions are spiritually healthy, even where they might seem factual. Never call yourself by a name that your God has not called you. God believes in you even when you cannot believe in yourself. He says of you, despite your professed doubts, “for thou shalt go… and… thou shalt speak.” Yes, you can. Amen.
THE WONDER OF HIS RETURN
Our wonderful God is eternal, existing from everlasting to everlasting. His love for us is unfathomable. He died to save us because of His great love even while we were yet sinners. Rising from the dead and having earned the Name that is above every other name, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, ever interceding for us, so great is His love! As our loving Bridegroom, He will return to take us home. In J. Wayne Kilpatrick’s “The Seven Wonders of Jesus Christ,” one segment was on the wonder of Christ’s return. It is contained below.
In the Old Testament days, the prophets sang of His first coming. But the years passed, and hope grew dim and people forgot the promise. When He came, they knew Him not. They were not prepared for Him. In like manner, the Bible tells us He is coming again. But the years have gone by and many have said, “Where is the sign of His coming?” Since He has not yet come, they have let the promise slide into oblivion. But just as surely as He came the first time, He must come the second time. The prophecies must be fulfilled. They are not vain promises; they are the sure word of an Almighty God. What will happen when He comes? He will bless the saved. The saved will be caught up to meet the LORD in the air. Paul wrote, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air, and thus we shall always be with the LORD” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). We will be rewarded according to our works. John said, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds” (Revelation 20:13). When He comes, all the wicked will be judged and cast into hell (Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:13-15). Sinner, come to Jesus so that you can escape the judgment.
CONCLUSION
We serve a wonderful God whose wonder is limitless and is from everlasting to everlasting because He and His Name are one. Being a God of wonder, He expects, desires, and is able to enable each one of us to be a wonder in this world in anticipation of His return. Will you surrender your all to Him that His wonder may be made known through you to the world?
PRAYERS:
- Father, I praise You. Psalm 18:1-3 says, “O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.”
- I confess every sin, personal, generational or ancestral that has made anyone in my family tree, including myself, candidates to be submerged.
- Today, I plead the Blood of Jesus over my body, soul and spirit. Let the precious blood of the Lamb make total and complete atonement for my sins, personal or ancestral.
- Father, you delivered Daniel from the power of the lions (Daniel 6:27). Please LORD, deliver me from the powers that are stronger than me, in Jesus’ Name.
- Father, make me a wonder in my generation, in Jesus’ Name.
- God of wonders beyond the galaxy, do wonders in me, for me, around me, ahead of me, and make me a wonder to my world.
- From today, I violently refuse to continue to be a prey of the terrible and a captive of the mighty. I apply for my comprehensive deliverance through the power in the Name of Jesus.
- Father, show yourself in my life’s situation as the God of Wonders, in Jesus’ Name.
- Father, convert every blunder I have committed with my life into wonder by your mercy, in Jesus’ mighty Name.
- Father, crush every power trying to contend with You over my life, without remedy, in Jesus’ Name!
- Father, rid my destiny of every attitude and character defects that keeps one from being less than wonderful, in Jesus’ Name.
- You spirit of rejection, disfavor and ill-favor, your time is up! Leave me and let me go, in Jesus’ Name.
- Heavenly Father, by your power, deal ruthlessly with every strange summon from my roots that wants to keep me under, submerged with negative thoughts and assumptions about myself. He that lives in me is wonderful, in Jesus’ Name.
- Father let Your grace, that connected Saul to his kingmaker and Joseph to his destiny helper, locate and connect me today, in the wonderful Name of Jesus!
- This year, I arise from story to glory, from labor to favor, from shame to fame, from Mara to Naomi, from sorrow to joy, from pressures to pleasures, from trials to triumph, from tribulation to testimonies, and from problem to promotion, in Jesus’ wonderful Name.
- O LORD do not ever let me become an old glory, faded glory, or blotted glory, in Jesus’ Name.
