Isaiah 9:6 Christmas Series: The Mighty God Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Intro For the past several weeks we have been looking at Isaiah 9:6. A very familiar passage of scripture, that is frequently called upon in the Holiday Season. This year we have taken this one verse and examined it freshly, phrase by phrase. They say that as you turn a diamond in the light, the different dimensions of its reflective beauty are exposed and the longer one studies it the more one sees that was first overlooked at a casual glance. So it is with the word of God. As we have studied this very familiar passage of scripture we have discovered together, again and again, greater insight into our wonderful savior. Last week we considered the first of four names that described the character of Jesus. He was called the Wonderful Counselor. We discovered his divinity in the word Wonderful, a statement that underscores the phrase we will deal with this morning. And we discovered his incredible foresight in the word Counselor as we learned that it means more than just an advisor but rather one who makes a plan with the intention to see it thru. We discovered that Isaiah said that this child would be the one that knows the end from the beginning and that from the fountain of that incredible foresight he would, indeed, be our wonderful counselor. This week we look at the title, Mighty God. Might God The Hebrew for God in this title is the simple word el. It denotes a mighty power that can be found only in deity. As a matter of fact a literal translation of the single word el might be Mighty God or "The Strong God." But there is added to this, by Isaiah, an adjective in the Hebrew that is expressive of mightiness. The two taken together express the omnipotence of Christ, his real deity and his omnipotence, as standing first and foremost among the attributes which the prophet beheld. It literally reads "The mighty mighty God."
In other words, the son that was given and the child that was born was set apart from all other powers, and spirit beings. His power is seen as far superior to anyone or anything else. He is the Mighty Mighty God. Not only is the title that Isaiah gives to Jesus interesting in its explicit expression of the mightiness of God manifest in the child. It was also a radical statement coming from a monotheistic Jewish prophet. As far as Isaiah was concerned, there was only One God. But he spoke of this child that was to be born and called this human baby, the son of man, the Mighty Mighty God. It s almost as if Isaiah wants to make for certain that there is no question about what he s saying. He seems to want it underscored, placed in bold type, and highlighted for all who might read it. This child IS the Mighty Mighty God! Some would argue that Isaiah doesn t really mean that Jesus was the Mighty Mighty God. But rather that Isaiah was simply indicating that, as the second person in the godhead, Jesus was divine. They would say that He was mighty as God. But once again, just like we discovered last week with the word Wonderful, Isaiah, before he is finished with his prophecy leaves no doubt as to what he means by Mighty God. He uses the exact same phrase in Isaiah 10:21, when he declares that the remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. There is no doubt to whom Isaiah is referring when he says that the remnant will return to the Mighty God. Nor was there any doubt in the mind of the original reader what Isaiah was saying about this child that would be born of a virgin and called Immanuel, meaning God with us. Beyond any doubt, Isaiah was firmly establishing the absolute deity of Jesus Christ. This wasn t Jehovah Junior, this wasn t a secondary figure in heaven, this was the fleshy manifestation of the almighty God. Without controversy, Paul would write in 1 Timothy 3:16, Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh... He would declare this truth to the church at Corinth, 2 Corinthians 5:19, proclaiming that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself These New Testament passages only serve as affirmation of the fact that Isaiah has bluntly and unapologetically declared: Jesus Christ is the Mighty God. Importance of the Identity of Jesus
I want you to understand this morning, that it is incredibly important to understand who Jesus really is. This isn t simply an academic pursuit. It is absolutely critical to our salvation that we know and understand who Jesus is. To make an error, with regard to the divinity of Christ, is absolutely fatal. A man cannot be right in his understanding of any part of the gospel unless he is right in his concept of him who is personally at the very center of our hope. It is a fundamental misunderstanding of who Jesus really is that leads one to be baptized in a series of titles instead of into the name of Jesus. The scripture is plain, Acts 4:12 declares that there is only one saving name. But one can t grasp the absolute necessity and power of the name of Jesus until one first grasps the awesome revelation of the Mighty God in Christ. Some have called us Jesus only and, in so doing they imply that we are somehow neglecting the nature of God as father. However, m friend, they ve got it all wrong. I ve said it before, and I m sure you will hear it again. We aren t Jesus only, we are Jesus everything. Through Jesus Christ we believe in God. And, in accordance with the scripture we honor God as father thru our faith in and worship of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus was the Mighty God. There s no wiggle room in that awesome truth. Having seen me, you ve seen the father, Jesus said in John 14:9. If you ve known me, he said, you ve known the father. If all of that wasn t plain enough for Phillip, Jesus goes on to say, I am in the Father and the Father is in me. This is the declaration of who he is. It was an incredible revelation. But long before he was ever born, Isaiah proclaimed this simple and elegant truth to any that would listen, Jesus Christ is the Mighty God! The knowledge of this matters this morning, because it is impossible to reject Christ and to believe in God. 1 Peter 1:13 tells us that grace is brought to us by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Verse 20 further tells us that knowing and believing in God is bound up with knowing and believing in Jesus Christ, because Jesus is the Mighty God manifest in the flesh. John tells us, in John 1:18 that it is the Son who reveals the Father. Not only do we believe in God through Christ, but God... has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ -- God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19, NKJV).
An understanding of who Jesus is becomes absolutely fundamental to our faith. To worship Jesus as anything short of the Mighty God is to endanger your faith and leave yourself open to doctrines of devils and seducing spirits. Let me explain to you why it is so incredibly important to know that God became a man. Jesus is our Redeemer We understand from scripture that Jesus is our redeemer and we ve heard it preached a hundred times. We even sing worship songs about it and celebrate the fact that our redeemer lives. But, I wonder this morning, if you really understand what redemption means. Redemption is a metaphor based on the commerce of bible times. If a man owed a debt that he could not pay then he, by law, became a slave to the one to whom he owed a debt. These slaves could be set free from their masters by payment of a ransom, a sum of money. This is where the metaphor comes from. Because of sin I am a debtor. We owed a debt that we could not pay and because of it we became slaves to sin. But thank God this morning, the Mighty God in Christ has done what is necessary to free us from that bondage. Jesus declared, about himself, that He came to give His life a ransom for many Paul affirmed that Christ gave Himself a ransom for all (I Timothy 2:6) Jesus became our redeemer, but its not that simple. It was the law of Moses, the law of God, the law that required a redemption price, that Satan subverted to hold us captive, and it was according to that law that God set in motion the plan to set us free According to that law, a person could only be redeemed by a relative. The law required the redeemer to be a kinsman. In order for God to redeem us, he had to become our relative, he had to become our kinsman. But the law doesn t stop there. The relative had to be capable of paying the redemption price without marring his own inheritance. He couldn t bankrupt himself, he had to pay the ransom price out of his abundance, out of his overflow. And, finally, the redeeming relative had to pay the full price that the law demanded.
The Word declares that the wages of sin is death. When hell ensnared Adam, Satan celebrated because it appeared to him that the redemption price was too high for God to pay. God was spirit, but man was flesh. Understand this, God didn t have any flesh and the price was blood, but God didn t have any blood. This is why it is so significant that Jesus was both God and Man. This is why it matters so much that Isaiah declared him to be the Mighty God. Because he became our kinsman redeemer. When that child was born, the Mighty God became one of us, thus fulfilling the requirement of being a relative. The child that was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in manger at Bethlehem was our more than just our redeemer, he was our kinsman. He was, at the same time God and man. This is the miracle of what happened at Bethlehem. While never ceasing to be what and who he always had been, God became what he never had been before and added to himself what he had never had before, a body flesh and blood. And when they nailed his body to an old rugged cross and his blood flowed down that cross he redeemed us from sin and he restored us to a heavenly inheritance. My friend, that knowledge alone is incredible, but understand this, God did not bankrupt himself at Calvary. Sin demanded a price that Hell thought was too big for God to pay. But, in compliance with his own law, God redeemed us from the surplus of his abundance. The wonder of the incarnation and the price that was paid is beyond our comprehension, but in the grand scheme of things, God never even came close to over extending himself Calvary was well within his abilities he is capable of far and away more than we could even begin to imagine. He is the Mighty, Mighty God! So he robed himself in flesh and He paid in full the price demanded for our redemption. And he did it, according to the law, out of the abundance of his overflow. It was such a wondrous thing to us but it was a small thing compared to the incredible power of God. Mediator Let me see if I can add another dimension to this. In the book of Job, Job lamented the fact that there is no daysman or mediator between God and Man. He complained that God is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
He then defines a mediator as one "that might lay his hand upon us both." This crucial insight into the role of a mediator is important because Paul declares to us in I Timothy 2:5-6 that Jesus became that mediator. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. This is why it is so important to understand who Jesus is. It is his status as both God and man that enables him to fulfill the role described by Job and confirmed by Paul. Jesus is the only one that has ever been that stands between humanity and deity and lays his hand upon both at the same time. As such, he is the only one that could ever open the door of salvation. He is the only one that could ever become an advocate for our sins. He is the only one that could both judge sin and bear the full brunt of the punishment for sin. In Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary, Judgment and Mercy came together. On the one hand he was the righteous judge while on the other hand he was the merciful savior and Isaiah wanted to make sure that we understood He had the authority to be both. This child that was born, this son of man that was crucified, he was flesh and blood a human of the lineage of David, but at the same time, he was the Mighty Mighty God! This is the wonder of the incarnation, this is the glory of who Jesus is. He is both our judge and our savior, both God and man, he declared the price for sin then he willingly paid it. He is the one that purchased the church with his own blood! He was the mighty God robed in human flesh. As our mediator he was fully god and fully man. As a man, grounded in humanity he was tempted in all points like as we are. He faced the full brunt of every attack of hell. The bible says he was tempted in every point. Satan used every trick and device that he had. As a man he was no stranger to our trials and struggles, as a man he knew our pains and infirmities, as a man he endured the same existence that you and I know. But, as the Mighty God, he shed his blood to pay the price for sin. As the Mighty God, he broke the curse of bondage to sin. As the Mighty God he was bruised for our iniquities, wounded for our transgressions. As the Mighty God he brought us peace that passes understanding and healing for our weary bodies. As our mediator he bridged the gap between God and Man. We could not span the vast gap between God and humanity. We couldn t bring ourselves into the presence of God. But when the Mighty God became a man he spanned the gap.
He made a way for us to come into his presence! Since He has become one of us, we can identify with Him, communicate with Him, and believe in Him. God is no longer an unattainable distant figure but he has become our ever present help in times of trouble, the comforter that dwells within us and the counselor that stands beside us. The awesome truth that Isaiah declared is that God became man and that, because of this incredible fact, you and I can have a relationship with him. He stands with us in trying times. He ministers to us in difficult situations. He blesses us out of his abundance and provides for us from his providence. With one hand upon our shoulders and one hand resting upon his own deity he ushers us into his presence and fills our hearts to overflowing with the abundance of his blessing. This is the miracle of the Mighty God in Christ! Close Christian Author and Radio Personality Chuck Swindoll has said that he first started learning theology at his mother s knee. Lord help you if you do that again, She said. From that time forward he began to learn that the Mighty God is an everpresent help in times of trouble. This morning I come to you from a very familiar passage o scripture to introduce to you the one you already know. He is the Mighty God and he is more than able to help you through ever circumstance and situation in this life. I would like to extend to you an invitation, this morning, to come and put your trust in Jesus Christ, he is "the mighty God." Come and cast your troubles on him; he is "the mighty God;" When the enemy comes in like a flood, this mighty God will raise up a standard against him. When our back is against a wall and there seems to be no where to turn, this mighty God will make a way where there seems to be no way. Take to him your griefs and this mighty God will comfort you. Share with him your shortcomings and this mighty God will cover them with his blood. And, if you need a savior this morning, if you find yourself in need of a kinsmen redeemer, come to Christ and trust him for he is "the mighty God." If you have need of nothing else except the fellowship of this Mighty God that we serve then come this morning and give your worship to the one that is worthy of it. He is, indeed, the Mighty God, and he deserves your utmost praise.
Would you come this morning to a place of prayer, would you open your heart to the mighty God that is in the house this morning, would you let him minister to your life today. Let us come, let us celebrate, the mighty God became a man! Jesus Christ is worthy today of all praise and glory and honor.