Mighty God Series

Mighty God

Prince of Peace, pt. 2

If you weren’t here last week we began a series covering one of the most famous descriptions of Jesus in all of history.

Isaiah 9.

This is the Christmas season. Last night I took dozens of people through this story at the living nativity and was honored to share the Gospel with many of them. There are people in the world today that never make the connection that the baby in Bethlehem’s manger is the same person that later dies for their sin. This child, born in the most humble of circumstances, is the greatest gift EVER given to anyone.

Last week we discovered that God was so excited about the gift He was going to send on Christmas that he started telling people about it 700 years before it happened.

Anyone ever buy a gift and you were more excited about giving the gift than the person was to receive it?

That’s God, and that’s us.

Isaiah gives us 4 different names for this gift God is giving us.

It’s my hope that during this Christmas season as we explore these names, you will grow to understand all of who Jesus is, and what HE wants to be for you today in 2019.

Let’s start by reading Isaiah Chapter 9 again-

Isaiah 9:1 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;

On those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

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 Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom,

Establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness

From that time on and forever. – Isaiah 9:7

Let’s pray.

Keep this passage open on your laps for a minute.

I want to give you some background as to what Isaiah was speaking about that was relevant to his time. Obviously, he was never going to meet Jesus here on earth and see the ultimate fulfillment of his prophecy.

In 700 BC, the people of Israel were facing hostile enemies to their north and to their east. The nation of Assyria, which was composed of modern-day Syria and Iraq, was raiding and conquering and causing all sorts of terror, particularly on Israel’s north and eastern borders.

A quick aside here- This is probably what happened to the tribe of Dan. If you are a student of the bible and compare the genealogies between those in Genesis and those in Revelation, you’ll see they are a little different and the major omission you see is of the tribe of Dan. They were mostly likely wiped out early in Assyria’s conquests.

Because of this tragedy, God knew how the rest of the people in Israel were feeling, so He issued them a promise through one of His most respected spokesmen: the prophet Isaiah.

God says, “Don’t be afraid. Have courage, have joy. One of these days you are going to feel as happy as you do on pay day (that’s what the day of harvest was for them. Pay day.). You’re going to feel as relieved and joyful as you did on the day World War II ended. (That’s what “The day of Midian’s Defeat” was like for them.) The outcome of their war against Midian was uncertain until God brought about a huge victory.”

And then God says, “And the way you’re going to get that relief and joy is from an action you would never have anticipated: I’m going to send a child to deliver you. A child who will lead you – the government will be on his shoulders.

And if you want to know what this child will be like, I’ll tell you. He is going to be a wonderful counselor. (We talked about that last week. If you missed it, log into the podcast.) He is going to be a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace.”

This morning, as the second installment of this series, all I want to cover with you is the second two-word phrase in v. 6, “Mighty God.” Today we are going to look at the babe born in Bethlehem in a whole new light that could change not only your Christmas season but your entire life.”

And he will be called… Mighty God.

There is a paradox in this friends. In this passage, God is telling people that one day a child will come, a baby, the most vulnerable of human beings. A Baby can’t feed himself, clothe himself, communicate, or defend himself. A baby is completely dependent on others for everything and yet this child will be almighty God.