Mighty God!
- Dec 13, 2024
- 5 min read
Isaiah 9:6: "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 Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace."
Last week we started to look at this text and focused on ‘Wonderful Counsellor’. This week our time will be taken with ‘Mighty God.’
John MacArthur writes, “Christ the King loves to step into a life of chaos and not only provide wonderful counsel, but also display His divine power by bringing order to the chaos. In other words, He not only tells His subjects what to do as a Wonderful Counsellor but He can also energise them to do it - because He is the Mighty God.”
Let’s make it clear at the outset today, because He’s God, He can forgive my sin, set me free and break any chains that may be holding me. He responds to my prayers, restores my soul, rebuilds my life from one of chaos to one of order and blessing, where He reigns supreme. What a start to Christmas!
In the Hebrew, the word mighty is the word "gibbowr.” It’s a word that has at least three meanings but all wrapped up in one word.
The first of those meanings is HERO
According to the dictionary, heroes are people who are recognised as a person who is admired for having done something very brave or having achieved something great.
Israel was waiting for a Messiah, a hero to come and save them. Isaiah looks at the coming Messiah and sees the perfect Hero. He is a ‘Hero God.’ And unlike human heroes, our divine hero will not disappoint us or let us down. He would come and achieve victory, not through military might, but through a life of service, sacrifice and overwhelming love.
He may not have been what Israel expected, but He was (and is) the hero they, and indeed we, need.
What happens when the hero shows up? Despair gives way to hope, fear and darkness melt away and are replaced with faith, light and life! What a gift this Christmas!
The second meaning for ‘mighty’ is WARRIOR
Isaiah is simply telling us that Jesus is a Warrior God.
Exodus 15:3 states,“The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is his name.”
Think of the battles that go on in your life.
Battle in the Wilderness of life. Jesus has been there (Matt 4:1-11). Make no mistake about it, Jesus, our Warrior God, fought an incredible fight for you and me on that day.
Battle for Grace. Can’t enter fully into Christmas because of this battle going on within? The one of demanding your rights, your way? In John 8:3-11 there’s an example of the battle of grace.
R Sproul states, “Divine grace changes the human heart, resurrecting the sinner from spiritual death to spiritual life. In this act of God, the sinner is made willing to believe and to choose Christ. The previous state of moral inability is overcome by the power of regenerating grace."
We have ‘grace that overcomes’, it’s one of mercy and forgiveness. Let’s receive and know His grace this Christmas.
Battle for Life (Luke 22: 42). Just think, if Jesus would have said, "I can't do it...or...Father, these people are not worth it!" The battle would have been lost and Satan would have won.
We must never forget that Jesus won the greatest battle, beat the last enemy, which must mean all other battles/enemies have been defeated!!
1 Corinthians 15: 26-27 says, "The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he 'has put everything under his feet.’"
Battle for Love (John 21). Story of reconciliation. Peter not only was asked three times ‘do you love me?’ but by the simple fact Jesus had showed up, knew he was loved, even in the brokenness of life, in that inbetween place!
He, the Warrior God, fought the fight in the desert, in the marketplace, in the garden and in that in-between place of brokenness for the amazing plan concerning our salvation and walk with Him.
2 Corinthians 1:10 (NKJV): "who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us".
Let this come and impact our hearts again this Christmas!
If you are doubting whether it can be for you, listen, this is for those who are afraid, that doubt, for those with no hope, for those that feel broken, and also for those who are joyful and have that deep assurance Jesus is ALIVE!
The third meaning of the word "gibbowr” means CHAMPION
The champion that "gibbowr" is talking about is the champion of a cause or way of life.
A champion in Bible times was someone who was strong, proven and willing to stand up for a person or a nation by taking their place.
Isaiah looks at the coming Messiah and sees the Champion God, a champion who will take our place.
Jesus did that very thing on Calvary. He took our place, the place we deserved because of our sin against God. He died for us and then rose in victory over death so that we could have forgiveness of sin, a meaningful life, and an everlasting future with Him.
What more could we ask for THIS CHRISTMAS? What Joy!
Throughout history before Christ was born, God had long been known as being a Mighty God. But His might and power were displayed usually through extraordinary phenomena such as water coming from rocks, pillars of fire, pillars of cloud, the parting of waters, etc. Then God brings forth a powerful shift in His plan, He shows up - literally!
Tim Keller said, “At Christmas he punched a hole between the ideal and the real, the eternal and the temporal, and came into our world.”
At Christmas, we casually talk about Jesus the babe in the nativity scene, but we don’t often pause to think about what that means - that our Mighty God did that for us. Or as Charles Wesley in his hymn ‘Let heaven and earth combine’ wrote, ‘God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly became man’ Wow!
God emerges from heavenly hiddenness, into earthly visibility. Yet, the incomprehensible becomes the approachable, touchable, understandable, knowable JESUS! Why? Because
you and I matter to God!
Whether we’re in the desert place, in the marketplace, or that place of brokenness.
John 1:1-14 (GNT): “The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son.”
The Mighty God is powerful enough to liberate you and to sustain you as you trust in Him. He is the source of our power. In Acts 1:8, He is the strength of our lives. In Philippians 4:13, He secures our eternity. 1 Peter 1:5 assures us of His constant care, “kept by the power of God.”
The extraordinary thing is that our incredible Mighty God, who is completely beyond our comprehension, thought we were worth coming for and worth dying for.
S.D. Gordon said, “Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that men can understand!”
When you look into the manger this year, see more than a baby . . . see the King as Wonderful Counsellor and Mighty God . . . worship Him, honour and glorify Him this Christmas.
Tim Keller said, “If the baby born at Christmas is the Mighty God, then you must serve him completely.”
Let's do so wholeheartedly!
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