His Name-Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6) - Charles Spurgeon Sermon

Devotional

Day 1: Light Piercing the Horizon of Chaos

When storms rage and darkness thickens, hope often feels distant. Yet even in life’s tempests, a glimmer breaks through—like moonlight cutting through storm clouds. This light, foretold by prophets, is no fleeting spark but the dawn of Christ’s reign. His arrival disrupts despair, scattering shadows with the promise of unending peace. Those who fix their gaze on this horizon find their chaos ordered by the One who governs history. The Child born in Bethlehem’s obscurity holds authority over every storm. [00:57]

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2, KJV)

Reflection: Where has Christ’s light pierced your darkness recently? How might fixing your eyes on His promises reshape your view of current struggles?

Day 2: Infant Hands Holding the Cosmos

Eternity cradled in a manger—divinity wrapped in swaddling cloths. The One who shaped mountains rested in a mother’s arms, His breath sustaining the universe even as He nursed. This paradox defies reason: the Everlasting Father became a child, the Mighty God wept as an infant. His incarnation bridges heaven’s glory and earth’s frailty, proving God’s zeal to dwell with His people. To behold this miracle is to stand awestruck at love that stoops without shrinking. [04:54]

Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:6–7, ESV)

Reflection: What aspect of Christ’s humility as a servant stirs your wonder most? How does His choice to become vulnerable challenge your view of strength?

Day 3: Tomb’s Chains Shattered Like Green Twigs

Death’s grip, unbroken for millennia, snapped like brittle twigs when Christ arose. The grave’s bars could not hold the Lord of Life, whose resurrection redefined impossibility. His victory echoes through every prison—physical, spiritual, emotional—proving no bondage outlasts His liberating power. The empty tomb declares that despair’s night always yields to dawn. Those who trust Him walk not as escapees but as heirs of a conquered enemy. [21:22]

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. (Acts 2:24, ESV)

Reflection: What “chain” in your life feels unbreakable? How does Christ’s resurrection empower you to confront it?

Day 4: Name That Quells the Storm Within

When guilt’s tempest threatens to drown the soul, one name stills the fury. Christ’s voice cuts through condemnation’s roar, turning inner chaos to calm. His cross anchors the heart, transforming raging shame into peace deeper than understanding. To cry “Jesus” is not mere ritual—it is to summon the One who walked on waves and walks into our storms. His name, whispered in darkness, carries the weight of eternity’s victory. [27:40]

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. (Psalm 107:28–29, ESV)

Reflection: When has calling on Christ’s name brought you unexpected peace? What storm might He be inviting you to trust Him with today?

Day 5: Cloud-Rider Amid Crumbling Pillars

As empires totter and stars dim, one throne remains unshaken. Christ returns not as a hidden hope but as the undisputed King, His glory unmasking every counterfeit power. Saints and skeptics alike will see the pierced hands that hold history’s reins. For some, His coming brings terror; for others, triumph. Yet all will confess His wonder—either in trembling dread or rapturous joy. The only question is where we stand when pillars fall. [40:26]

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. (Revelation 1:7, ESV)

Reflection: How does the certainty of Christ’s return shape your priorities this week? What would it look like to live today in light of that dawn?

Sermon Summary

Isaiah beholds clouds and darkness rolling across the field of history, yet the prophet’s eye is fastened upon one bright spot where heaven’s clear shining falls. The text gathers all the brightness of peace, prosperity, and blessedness into the child born and the Son given. Christ stands forth as that child in his human nature and that Son in his divine nature, for the Godhead was not born of woman, but the manhood truly was.

The name Wonderful belongs to Christ because God gives no flattering titles to his Son. The word cannot overstrain his glory, but rather falls infinitely short of his deserving. Christ is marvelous, miraculous, separated, distinguished, “the chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely.” The name Wonderful first belongs to what Christ was in the past, before all worlds, coequal and coeternal with the Father. The old man, the oak, the soil, the rock, the sea, the heavens, and even the angels all have histories, but Christ stands before them all, for by him all things were made.

The incarnation makes the wonder deepen beyond thought. The eternal of ages becomes an infant. The infinite hangs at a virgin’s breast. The one who supports the universe must be carried in a mother’s arms. Bethlehem’s manger receives a miracle greater than sun, moon, stars, or all creation’s marvels. Christ’s whole life bears the same name, for the Lion of Judah submits with lamb-like meekness to taunts, shame, spitting, slander, and suffering.

The cross makes the wonder darker and brighter still. Christ lays aside the coronet of stars and wears the thorn crown. Matchless love opens the floodgates of grief, matchless power bears the Father’s wrath, matchless justice will not save without suffering, and matchless mercy suffers for the chief of sinners. Even the cold corpse in the sepulcher is wonderful, for death binds Samson only to find its cords snapped on the third day.

The name Wonderful also belongs to Christ in the present experience of his people. The law enters like a terrible messenger and smites the conscience, but Christ appears upon the cross and heals the bruised soul with one look of love. The same name cools the burning lava of anguish, turns Gethsemane into paradise, and makes trouble a black foil for the diamond brightness of Christ.

The name Wonderful shall finally be confessed in the future. Christ shall come upon the clouds, and despisers shall wonder and perish. The redeemed shall gather around the throne with no shriek, only song. His name shall be wonderful in terror to the lost and wonderful in ecstasy to the saints.

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Key Takeaways

1. Christ’s wonder begins before worlds Christ is not a marvel newly made by Bethlehem, but the eternal Son who stood before oak, rock, sea, heaven, and angels. The oldest created thing is but of yesterday beside him. The name Wonderful begins in his everlasting being, for creation itself is younger than the Redeemer who made it. [08:38]
2. Bethlehem holds the deepest miracle The incarnation gathers impossibilities that faith adores though reason cannot climb. The infinite becomes an infant, the Almighty hangs upon a woman’s breast, and the King of angels is reckoned Joseph’s son. The manger is therefore not sentiment first, but astonishment first. [13:06]
3. The cross reveals matchless love The cross shows more than pain, for grief so vast must have a spring vast enough to pour it forth. Christ’s suffering unveils love, power, justice, and mercy meeting in one awful and saving act. The wonder is not merely that he died, but that such a one would suffer for sinners at all. [17:48]
4. Christ’s name heals condemned souls The law exposes sin like a terrible messenger and leaves the soul without refuge in tears, promises, or amendment. Christ crucified gives the look that heals what accusation has broken. The name Wonderful becomes personal when pardon reaches not sinners in general, but the guilty conscience itself. [28:09]
5. Judgment will unveil Christ entirely Christ shall be wondered at by all, either with horror or with holy joy. Despisers shall discover that he was never merely such as themselves, while the redeemed shall find the throne a sun of happiness. The same appearing will be terror to the rebel and ecstasy to the saint.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:57] - Spurgeon’s Text: His Name Wonderful
[02:20] - Isaiah Sees a Bright Spot
[04:38] - The Child Born and Son Given
[06:33] - Wonderful, Marvelous, Miraculous
[08:07] - Christ Wonderful in the Past
[13:06] - The Wonder of the Incarnation
[16:05] - Christ’s Meek Suffering
[17:48] - The Cross and Matchless Love
[20:00] - Wonderful in Death and Resurrection
[27:26] - Christ Wonderful in Present Experience
[32:31] - The Name of Jesus in Trouble
[38:35] - Christ Wonderful in the Future
[43:03] - Terror for the Lost, Song for the Redeemed

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Isaiah 9:6
“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.” [00:57]

Song of Solomon 5:10
“My beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand.”

John 1:3
“All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”

1 Timothy 3:16
“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

Observation questions

In Isaiah 9:6, what titles are given to the child and the Son, and which one stands out as the focus here? [06:33]
What details show the difference between “a child is born” and “a son is given,” and how do those words point to both Christ’s human nature and divine nature? [04:38]
What images are used to show that Christ existed before all created things, including the earth, the heavens, and the angels? [08:38]
What contrasts are used to describe the wonder of the incarnation—things like infinite and infant, Almighty and yet dependent? [13:06]

Interpretation questions

Isaiah joins peace, rule, and hope to the child born and the Son given. Why does all true brightness in the world and in the heart have to come from him rather than from anywhere else? [04:18]
John 1:3 says that all things were made through Christ. How does that shape the way a person understands the name Wonderful when applied to Jesus? [12:49]
1 Timothy 3:16 calls the incarnation a great mystery. Why does Christ becoming man deepen wonder rather than lessen it, even when the mind cannot fully explain it? [14:34]
The cross reveals love, justice, mercy, and power all at once. Why is it important to see Christ’s death as more than an example of suffering? [19:21]

Application questions

Many people can speak about Jesus as a distant figure, but not yet as a present Savior. Has Christ become wonderful personally, or does he still feel like news from a far country? What seems to make the difference? [27:48]
The law can expose sin so deeply that tears, promises, and self-improvement no longer feel like a refuge. When guilt rises in the conscience, where does there tend to be a search for peace, and what would it look like to look instead to Christ crucified? [28:09]
Christ’s name has often brought comfort in sadness, sickness, and trouble. In what kind of burden or sorrow is there a need right now to cast care upon him instead of carrying it alone? [32:31]
Trouble can become a black foil that makes the diamond of Christ’s name shine more brightly. Can anyone point to a hard season that ended up showing more of Christ’s goodness than would have been seen otherwise? [35:46]
Jesus is wonderful not only in Bethlehem, but also in meekness, shame, suffering, death, and resurrection. Which part of Christ’s saving work most stirs wonder and gratitude right now, and why? [17:48]
Christ will be wonderful to all at his appearing—terror to some, joy to others. How does that future meeting with him shape the way life should be lived now? [43:03]
The redeemed gather around the throne with song and not with shrieking. What helps a believer grow from merely fearing judgment to actually longing for Christ’s appearing with joy? [44:35]

Sermon Clips

But here is the wonder, he could not be holden of those bonds. Those chains which have held 10,000 of the sons and daughters of Adam and which have never been broken yet by any man of human mold save by a miracle were but to him as green widths. Death bound our Samson fast and said, "I have him now. I have taken away the locks of his strength. His glory is departed and now he is mine." But the hands that kept the human race in chains were nothing to the savior. The third day he burst them and he rose again from the dead, from henceforth to die no more. [00:21:23]

Beloved, there are a thousand things in this world that are called by names that do not belong to them. But in entering upon my text, I must announce at the very opening that Christ is called wonderful because he is so. God the Father never gave his son a name which he did not deserve. There is no panegyric here, no flattery. It is just the simple name that he deserves. They that know him best will say that the word does not overstrain his merits, but rather falleth infinitely short of his glorious deserving. His name is called wonderful. [00:05:20]

I do believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the king of heaven. And yet he was a poor, despised, persecuted, slandered man. But while I believe it, I never can understand it. I bless him for it. I love him for it. I desire to praise his name while immortality endures for his infinite condescension in thus suffering for me. But to understand it, I can never pretend. His name must all his lifelong be called wonderful. [00:17:04]

Consider his eternal existence, begotten of his father from before all worlds, being of the same substance with his father, begotten, not made, coequal, coeternal in every attribute, very God of very God. For a moment remember that he who became an infant of a span long was no less than the King of Ages, the Everlasting Father who was from eternity and is to be to all eternity. The divine nature of Christ is indeed wonderful. [00:08:41]

I do believe that the very angels have never wondered but once, and that has been incessantly ever since they first beheld it. They never cease to tell the astonishing story, and to tell it with increasing astonishment, too, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, and became a man. Is he not rightly called wonderful? [00:14:58]

And yet again, wonder is a short-lived emotion. You know it is proverbial that a wonder grows gray-headed in 9 days. The longest period that a wonder is found to last is about that time. It is such a short-lived thing. But Christ is and ever shall be wonderful. You may think of him through three score years and 10, but you shall wonder at him more at the end than at the beginning. Abraham might wonder at him when he saw his day in the distant future, but I do not think that even Abraham himself could wonder at Christ so much as the very least in the kingdom of heaven today wonders at him, seeing that we know more than Abraham, and therefore wonder more. [00:24:03]

The person spoken of in our text is undoubtedly the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a child born with reference to his human nature. He is born of the virgin, a child, but he is a son given with reference to his divine nature, being given as well as born. Of course, the Godhead could not be born of woman. That was from everlasting and to everlasting. As a child, he was born. As a son, he was given. The government is upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful. [00:04:42]

But what is the history of the angels that excel in strength compared with the history of the Lord Jesus Christ? The angel is but of yesterday, and he knoweth nothing. Christ, the eternal one, charges even his angels with folly, and looks upon them as his ministering spirits that come and go at his good pleasure. Oh, Christians, gather with reverence and mysterious all around the throne of him who is your great redeemer. For his name is called wonderful, since he has existed before all things, and by him all things were made, and without him was not anything made that was made. [00:12:13]

But when we speak of Christ, none can say they ever saw a greater wonder than he is. You have come now to the very summit of everything that may be wondered at. There are no mysteries equal to this mystery. There is no surprise equal to this surprise. There is no astonishment, no admiration that should equal the astonishment and admiration that we feel when we behold Christ in the glories of the past. He surpasses everything. [00:23:30]

Jesus Christ may be called marvelous. And a learned German interpreter says that without doubt the meaning of miraculous is also wrapped up in it. Christ is the marvel of marvels, the miracle of miracles. His name shall be called miraculous. For he is more than a man, he is God's highest miracle. Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. [00:06:37]

This is a sight that surpasses all others. Talk ye of the sun, moon, and stars. Consider ye the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the moon and the stars that he hath ordained. But all the wonders of the universe shrink into nothing when we come to the mystery of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:13:44]

But God did not leave his soul in Hades, nor did he suffer his body, his holy one, to see corruption. Yes, he is wonderful even in his death. That clay cold corpse is wonderful. Perhaps this is the greatest wonder of all, that he who is death of death and hell's destruction should for a while endure the bonds of death. [00:20:56]

It may also mean separated or distinguished. And Jesus Christ may well be called this. For as Saul was distinguished from all men, being head and shoulders taller than they, so is Christ distinguished above all men. He is anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. And in his character and in his acts, he is infinitely separated from all comparison with any of the sons of men. Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. He is the chief among 10,000 and altogether lovely. [00:07:08]

My dear friends, we live today upon the verge of that bright spot. The world has been passing through these clouds of darkness, and the light is gleaming on us now like the glintings of the first rays of morning. We are coming to a brighter day, and at evening time it shall be light. The clouds and darkness shall be rolled up as a mantle that God needs no longer, and he shall appear in his glory, and his people shall rejoice with him. [00:03:46]

As long as the moon endureth, there shall be found men and angels and glorified spirits who shall always call him by his right name. His name shall be called wonderful. [00:06:15]

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