Audio By Carbonatix

It’s Advent, which means it’s officially the season when Christians everywhere re-read the same handful of passages with misty eyes and mugs of something cinnamon-adjacent. But buried in those familiar words is a depth we rarely stop long enough to consider. Isaiah didn’t just toss out poetic titles for the Messiah or throw a dart at a wall of adjectives. No—these names mean something. And they mattered profoundly to his original hearers long before they were embroidered on our seasonal throw pillows.

Let’s dive beneath the glitter and get into the glue of these Christmas titles of Christ. Because if we understand what these names meant then, we’ll understand why they still hold us together now.

WONDERFUL COUNSELOR (פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ — Peleʾ Yoʿetz)

Yeah…I know. Wonderful. Pretty self-explanatory, right? Maybe a little, but it’s even better than you might think.

“Wonderful” in English sounds like “aww, how lovely.” But peleʾ in Hebrew means miraculous, incomprehensible, beyond human explanation. This is the same root used for the “wonder” God performs in Exodus. We’re talking burning-bush, sea-splitting, brain-blowing divine acts.

Supernatural, not sentimental.

“Counselor” (yoʿetz) is not a therapist with a clipboard—it is a wise strategist, the kind of adviser kings begged to have on speed dial. A yoʿetz could win wars with a sentence and avert national disaster with one whisper.

To the people of Isaiah’s day—trapped between collapsing leadership, corrupt kings, foreign threats, and internal turmoil—the promise of a miracle-working strategist was electric. They didn’t need a warm hug; they needed a Leader whose wisdom pierced through darkness like a sword, wisdom that helped exiles make sense of their situation.

And we do, too.
Our decisions are no less tangled than theirs. The One born in Bethlehem is still the only Counselor whose wisdom is not merely good but supernatural. He isn’t just offering helpful suggestions, He offers the best way in every way–backed by the power to make a way. Joy to the world, indeed!

MIGHTY GOD (אֵל גִּבּוֹר — El Gibbor)

This title is not subtle.

El Gibbor means “God the Warrior,” the Hero-God, the Champion.”
It’s used in Scripture to speak of divine strength that crushes evil and delivers the oppressed. Israel didn’t hear “mighty” and think of Santa doing CrossFit. They heard the battle cry of Yahweh—the God who shows up when no one else can.

Isaiah’s audience had watched earthly kings fail spectacularly. They needed the assurance that the coming Messiah wouldn’t be another fragile ruler, another political disappointment, another nervous leader wringing his hands over foreign policy. They needed a Deliverer who could actually deliver. Amen to that.

Christmas isn’t the story of a soft God.

It’s the story of a Warrior-God who entered the battlefield disguised as a baby so He could win the war no one else could fight.

Take heart, citizens of earth!
Our Savior is not only wise—He is able. He doesn’t just counsel; He conquers.

EVERLASTING FATHER (אֲבִי־עַד — Aviʿad)

This one throws people off—how can the Son be called Father?

In Hebrew, father often means source, origin, protector, benevolent leader. It isn’t confusing the Persons of the Trinity; it is revealing the Messiah’s character toward His people.

Aviʿad literally means “Father of Eternity,” the one who authors forever, the one whose reign never ends, the one whose care is not seasonal or conditional but eternal and unwavering.

Israel’s experience of leadership was marked by turnover, treachery, and disappointment. Kings died. Empires rose and fell. Fathers failed. Family lines fractured. Nothing lasted. Nothing was stable.

And into that instability comes this promise:

You will receive a King who shepherds like a Father—
whose protection does not expire, whose love does not falter,
whose rule does not end.

Christ is not a distant ruler. He is the eternal, compassionate care-giver that weary children long for.

PRINCE OF PEACE (שַׂר־שָׁלוֹם — Sar Shalom)

Shalom isn’t peace like “everything’s fine, I guess.” It means wholeness, flourishing, settledness, harmony with God and man.
And sar is not a delicate entitled heir—it is a ruling sovereign, a commander, a chief.

In other words:

He is the One in charge of peace. The One who governs it and gives it.

Isaiah’s world was saturated with war, threat, and national fracture. Peace wasn’t a common circumstance or sentiment; it was an impossibility. Yet the Messiah would not merely bring peace—He would make it then rule it.

For us?
We live in a time of internal unrest, cultural unraveling, political anxiety, familial trauma and drama, spiritual exhaustion. But peace is not something we must manufacture. It is the rule of the One who reigns over our hearts.

Christ doesn’t just give peace.
He is peace.

WHY THESE TITLES? Why not others?

Because these four names answer humanity’s four deepest needs, satisfy the longings of our souls:

• We are confused → He is our Wonderful Counselor.
• We are powerless → He is our Mighty God.
• We are lonely and unanchored → He is our Everlasting Father.
• We are fractured and afraid → He is our Prince of Peace.

These titles aren’t ornamental. They’re oxygen.

The titles of the Coming King declared to the weary world that He would be victorious in every area earthly ruler failed–supreme in wisdom, power, love and peace.

At Advent, remember that the Child who cried in a manger is the King who carries these eternal promises in His name.

Take heart this season.
Your Counselor is supernatural.
Your God is mighty.
Your Father is eternal.
Your Prince is peace itself.

And He has come.