Disbelievers in the biblical truth of the Trinity will sometimes scoff at this Old Testament prophecy of the coming messianic 'Child' who was to be born. His other titles they may quarrel with, too - Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God and Prince of Peace - "And surely," they will also argue, "this title of 'Father,' as applied to Jesus, completely undermines your teaching about the Trinity; are you not embarrassed?!"
Our answer is. 'Not at all.' Glance back a page, to Isaiah chapter 8, where the same messianic figure (referred to in verses 8 and 10 by yet another of Jesus' titles, Immanuel - 'God with us'), declares about himself, "Here am I and the children the Lord has given me" (v.18).
Here is fatherhood in a different kind of sense. Sometimes it will be said of certain Christians that they have numbers of 'children in the Lord'; that is to say, people who came to faith through their witness and their prayers. But of course the original prototype of a 'father' who begets believers - by the million, in his case - is Jesus. We were 'the people walking in darkness', who saw in him 'a great light'; in consequence 'the nation' was 'enlarged' (Isaiah 9:2,3).
The New Testament confirms that it is Christ who is speaking about the children he has been bequeathed, in Hebrews 2:13: "Behold, I and the children God has given me."
Be glad if you are one of Christ's family, and thank him today!
--ooOoo--
