‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ ~ Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)
Have you ever received counsel? This verse says that God is a Wonderful Counsellor. A counselor is someone who gives wise advice that leads to benefit, but a wonderful counselor gives advice that leads to blessing. God has always been viewed this way in the Bible. Because of his great love, he desires people to turn to him to receive the highest blessings that only he can give. He gives the best counsel and wisdom because he is God. Since God knows all, has existed eternally, and is all-powerful, the advice he gives is superior to any other. He’s lived thousands of years longer than the wisest sage or your oldest grandparent. As the creator of all things, his advice is only perfect. Our world and culture give unwise, ignorant, incomplete, unlearned and narrow-minded advice by comparison—this worldly advice never learns from its mistakes, never takes enough into account, refuses to admit the whole truth, and desires that others feel its pain. The advice our world and culture give us shows that it doesn’t desire to make us important in love like God does, even if it claims to.
The book of Isaiah referenced above was written about seven hundred years before Jesus and is thought to predict Jesus as this Wonderful Counsellor. Since prophecy reveals and predicts things yet to come supernaturally, many agree it prophesies that Jesus will one day arrive in places like Isaiah 9:6. While God the Father was already viewed as a Wonderful Counsellor before Jesus came, the person of Jesus (as God) is seen the same way. He gives the best counsel, which only God could give. When Jesus came to earth, he also revealed more about who God is and how we should respond to him than ever before.
While Jesus gives lots of counsel intended to bless humanity in an unmatched way, the first piece of advice Jesus gives to all people as he arrives is that we should ‘repent’ and ‘believe’. The word ‘repent’ means to say sorry to God in a way that involves action. It means saying sorry to God for our sins but also changing our ways, from living in ways that reject God to living in ways that welcome a right relationship with him into our lives. Believing means believing in Jesus. And believing in Jesus means a type of trust in him and his work for us on the cross. Both words, 'repent' and 'believe', are used by Jesus to prepare people to receive his work on the cross for them.
Jesus’ best advice is that his death and resurrection can give us true and abundantly blessed eternal life in relationship with God. This ‘gospel’ message is the best counsel we could receive. It’s better than an insider stock tip to get rich, or advice that someone likes you romantically, or a beneficial mental health plan, or proven dieting advice. All these things only have limited and temporary benefit, but the blessings of the gospel are richer than earthly gain.
God created us to be fulfilled eternally in a restored relationship with him, but our rebellious ways lived against God—our sin—stands in the way and makes us God’s enemies. The record of sin naturally means people have a hostile relationship with God, destined for eternal separation from him. But by dying on a Roman cross Jesus takes on himself God’s anger against us, which is required for God to enact his perfect justice. Jesus can bear our penalty and frees us from sin, which stood in the way of us having a positive relationship with God. If we repent and believe in Jesus, we gain a reconciled and positive relationship with God in place of the hostility sin caused between us. This leads to eternal life and blessing in God’s perfect love for us. If you accept this message, and receive it’s benefits by repenting and believing, the God of endless resources of power and knowledge will gladly become a wonderful counsellor to you, one who wants to lead and love you in his presence forever.