Wonderful Counselor

“Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78-79 NASB).

by Larry McClellan

Wonderful. What a positive expression of joy, of inspiring delight, pleasure, or admiration. When we truly see Jesus, we understand just how wonderful that “wonderful” can be. He was not only the express image of the Heavenly Father — but he was the apple of the Father’s eye! Jesus was not only God’s delight and joy — but as we come to know him through the scriptural testimony, Jesus becomes our inspiring delight and joy and, eventually, the world’s as well.

With His own hands, God shaped our Lord’s wonderful character like pliable clay in the hands of a divine potter. But our wonderful Savior had to be submissive and obedient to become the final product. Indeed, Jesus learned obedience by the things that he suffered — the circumstances that the Father used to mold his son as the first fruit of a new creation. Similarly, God fashions a wonderful “Bride” for His son who will all share with Jesus the joy of blessing and restoring all the families of the earth.

How wonderful that Jesus, being guided by the Father’s eye, voluntarily complied with the direction he knew the Father wanted him to take — leaving the riches of heavenly glory to submit to the human experience (John 17:5). Our wonderful Savior submitted to the stench of bad smells, to be surrounded by the horrible diseases and the plights and pain of man. He compassionately felt their pain while walking amongst the uncouth, the ignorant, unrighteous, and sin-ridden members of humanity. Jesus learned to cry compassionately when he experienced up-front and personally, the death of his dear friend Lazarus — and saw the sorrowful effects on Lazarus’ loved ones.

The internalization of his human experience would give Jesus the credentials to someday become the world’s great counselor. Jesus will use this experience to guide humanity, giving them direction and instruction because he can feel where they are coming from and better understands their struggle of transformational change in his earthly Kingdom.

Jesus was the marvelous Light of the World in the midst of a dark world contaminated with the virus of sin and the darkness propagated by the adversary — the god of this world. However, Jesus’ light of truth, and his reflection of the Father’s personality and principles, were blinding to some. Darkness hated the light, because the light brought judgment, guilt, and loss of power to the leadership and wisdom of this world (Colossians 1:17-19). It is no wonder that the leadership of this world, especially those who supposedly represented Jehovah, sought out and killed the most wonderful human being that ever walked on the face of the earth. No other character in the history of mankind has ever made such an impact on the global community. He was the life and the light of men (John 1:4).

In Christ’s kingdom, he will be the light of mankind on an even grander scale, the sunshine that will have healing in his wings. He will heal them from the numerous stains of sickness, suffering, pain, and death brought about by humanity’s experience with sin. The radiant light of truth, God’s truth, will cover the earth with the enlightenment that will dispel all the ignorance, misinformation, and misrepresentation fostered by Satan and his minions. Christ’s knowledge will cover the earth, as the water covers the sea. Jesus and his Bride will jointly educate, counsel, and guide mankind to the divine laws of righteousness and love (Malachi 4:2, Revelation 20:1-3, 21:4, John 1:4, Habakkuk 2:14, Isaiah 1:26, Jeremiah 31:33-34).

“What think ye of Jesus?” The reply someone wrote was: “Jesus meets the needs of all conditions and classes of mankind. For example, to the artist, he is the one altogether lovely. To the architect, he is the chief cornerstone. To the astronomer, Jesus is the Sun of righteousness, and to the baker, he is the living bread. To the builder he is the sure foundation, to the carpenter, he is the door, and to the doctor, he is the great physician. To the geologist, Jesus is the rock of ages. To the jeweler, he is the pearl of great price, and to the newspaper reporter he is the good tidings of great joy.” For us Christians, he is our everything — our hero, the author and finisher of our faith, our prospective bridegroom, and our Advocate with the Heavenly Father. Likewise, Christ will be the world’s everything. Every need will be fully supplied: mentally, morally, physically, and reverentially. Under his teaching, the world will come to love righteousness, hate iniquity, and find everything, and more than they lost through Adam’s sin. They will have life in its fullest in the kingdom.

All of the titles in Isaiah 9:6 that Jesus procured were contingent on him coming to earth to be the corresponding price for Adam, whose disobedience plunged mankind into the loss of life rights, illness, and death. Everything that came to Jesus as the future counselor of humanity came to him because of that redemptive work at his first advent — his ransom sacrifice. That wonderous sacrifice, laid down at Jordan and courageously finished at Calvary, is the legal basis for both the Christian’s imputed justification during the Gospel Age, and the ransoming work and privileges that will transpire in the Messianic Age. Yes, two of the most important times in the history of man are the first and second advents of our Lord — and the marvelous effects of the ransom as well as restitution.

So how wonderful was Jesus? Jesus modeled the divine character and was a reflection of God Himself. “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father” (John 14:9 KJV). Jesus gave us a marvelous portrayal of God’s beautiful character. Let us look as some of the prismatic reflections of Jesus’ character according to scripture.

Jesus was bold in declaring the truth. He loved righteousness and hated iniquity. He was compassionate and merciful. Jesus was courageous, unselfish, and entirely humble. Our tender-hearted Master demonstrated forgiveness and was sensitive to people’s feelings. He did not intrude himself on others and had great self-control. Jesus was patient with people’s idiosyncrasies but came down hard on the hypocrites. Jesus was full of love divine, with all its beautiful expressions. How his love radiated warmly to all with whom he came into contact and who could appreciate that warmth (1 Corinthians 13).

What a wonderfully superb personality of Jesus is portrayed in scripture! How we admire and adore Jesus in every fiber of our being. How wonderful it will be when the whole world of mankind will come to appreciate and truly admire the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the glorious phase of his earthly kingdom. The word “wonderful” in Hebrew gives the thought of a miracle — a marvelous thing. Will it not be like a miracle, when awakened humanity come to realize the scope and beauty of the marvelous thing that has taken place on earth at that time? All because of the unfathomable depth of love — of a wise, loving Father and a very beloved Son.

Jesus will also be a Wonderful Counselor. A counselor is someone who advises, resolves issues, and guides others with a purpose in mind. Who could make a better counselor than Christ Jesus and those he has invited to be conformed to his image? If successful in submitting to God’s will and developing within themselves the mind and personality of Christ, they will be raised from the dead to the glory and office of the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4). “Christ in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). What a Wonderful Counselor Christ and his Bride will be, engaged in the ministry of reconciliation in Christ’s earthly kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:18, Ephesians 5:32, Obadiah 1:21).

What will this divine counselor, head and body, be teaching to awakened mankind? (John 5:28, 29). They will teach the two great commandments Jesus gave in Matthew 22:37-38, namely, to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind … and … love thy neighbor as thyself.” In this teaching process, mankind will learn how to forgive one another, not hold grudges, and not to have anger or bitterness toward their fellow human beings. They will learn not to be selfish or prideful, nor have malice toward any, nor speak evil of other people. This Wonderful Counselor will teach them the importance of having compassion for one another, how to be clothed with humility, and how to have meekness. Mankind will learn the principles of truth and righteousness in Christ’s Kingdom. However, obedience to God’s laws will be demanded, and mankind will be tested for their adherence to them, in order to earn eternal life (Acts 3:22-23, Revelation 20:7-9).

The Wonderful Counselor, head and body, will rule this earthly kingdom through the princes called Ancient Worthies. These personalities from the Old Testament will be awakened from death and communicate the teaching and laws of the Lord from the world capital — Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2). This Wonderful Counselor of The Christ, a mediator of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 9:1128, Hebrews 8:8-12) will counsel, guide, and direct restored humanity to the universal laws of justice and love that must prevail for universal peace, love, and prosperity to envelope all of creation. They will teach and train mankind to internalize the wonderful character of Jesus, so that they can fully come into harmony, or at-one-ment, with the Heavenly Father — and consequentially, gain everlasting life. Jesus transforms his church, and then with him, the church transforms the world. Jesus’ perfect life could bring all mankind back from the dead, but he needs the composite experiences of his Bride, the 144,000, to identify with all the many struggles mankind has faced. Thus, The Christ, head and body, will be fully equipped to accomplish their mission — “the salvation of souls” (1 Peter 1:9 RVIC).

In conclusion, we see how this one solitary life, Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten son, is a wonderful hero to humanity. He courageously came to earth, endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, and was despised and rejected of men. He made a meritorious ransom sacrifice that will save the whole world from eternal death. This arm of Jehovah, God’s express image, was with the Father from before the creation of earth. He made man and then died for their redemption. Jesus Christ not only bought the human race with his own precious blood but will miraculously change mankind through his teachings in his earthly Kingdom to become like him, to the ultimate glory of his Father (Colossians 1:16,17).

This incredibly marvelous being has invited his followers to reign with him in that Millennial Kingdom to help restore mankind back into harmony with Jehovah God. He has also asked us to spend the rest of eternity in his divine home as the divine family of God. Talk about wonderful. How much more wonderful can it get? If we make our calling and election sure, we might just find out! (Revelation 2:17).