He Will Be Called Mighty God Series

HE WILL BE CALLED MIGHTY GOD

Isaiah 9:6

We have at our disposal, at any given moment, tremendous power available to us. With the flip of a switch, we activate the power of electricity and a light goes on. With the turn of a key, we activate the power of a car. Through the years, mankind has been able to use various kinds of power...man power, then horsepower, then steam power, and now even atomic power. We have all benefited from the use of these powers, but there is one basic power that is needed more than ever today. And that power is spiritual power.

With all the demands and pressures of life, we desperately need spiritual power. And the source of that power is none other than Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate this time of year.

Isaiah 9:6 tells us that one of the names he will be called is...

"Mighty God." (Read Isaiah 9:6)

I. JESUS CHRIST IS GOD

How do we know? What proof is offered for us? Not everyone agrees with us on this point. But it is a critical point. Many in the world would not agree with us on this point. The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy represents what some would say about Jesus when he writes, "I believe Christ was a man like ourselves; to look upon him as God would seem to me the greatest of sacrileges."

Isn’t that sad?

But, this is a critical point, a point that divides Christianity from all other religions, the Mormons being one of them. This is just one of many issues that separate us from what they teach.

And yet, what does the evidence say?

A. Jesus Christ Claimed To Be God

John 10:30 "I and the Father are one." (NIV)

How did the people who first heard these words respond to what Christ said? Oh, they understood what Jesus was saying, all right! They understood that He was claiming to be God. How do I know? Because they responded by picking up stones to stone Him! The very next verse tells us this:

John 10:31 "Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him." (KJV)

Near the close of Christ’s public ministry, just before going to the cross, we read these words:

John 12:44-45 "But Jesus shouted out ’The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me, and the one who sees me sees the one who sent me.’" (NET)

John 14:9 "Jesus replied, ’Philip, don’t you even yet know who I am, even after all the time I have been with you? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking to see him?’"(NLT)

In very plain and simple terms,

JESUS CHRIST CLAIMED TO BE GOD!

B. Those Who Knew Him Claimed He Was God

The apostle John, one of those in the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples opens his gospel this way:

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."(KJV)

Later on, John records these words from Thomas, the doubting disciple:

John 20:28 "Thomas answered and said to Him (Jesus), ’My Lord and my God!’" (NASBU)

And Jesus didn’t stop him or correct him!

John writes in 1 John 5:20 "And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we are in God because we are in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life." (NLT)

Of those who opposed the idea that Jesus was God in human form, one who opposed that view more strongly than perhaps anyone was the man Saul of Tarsus. Yes, when this man Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul radically changed his mind, and for the rest of his life, was convinced of the deity of Jesus Christ.

One example from his letter to the Romans:

Romans 9:5 "Their ancestors (the Jews) were great people of God, and Christ Himself was a Jew as far as his human nature is concerned. And He is God, who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen." (NLT)

Other biblical writers claimed Jesus was God.

Titus 2:13 "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." (KJV)

Hebrews 1:8 "But to his Son He (God the Father) says,

"Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.

Your royal power is expressed in righteousness." (NLT)

That is one amazing verse! The fact is clear; the evidence shows JESUS CHRIST IS GOD!

He claimed to be God, those who knew Him claimed He was God... and we also see next that...