Mighty God Series

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given... And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

“Mighty God” = El Gibbor (Hebrew):

• El = God

• Gibbor = strong, powerful, mighty, champion, hero

The soldiers of Israel are described as “mighty [gibbor] men of valor” (Joshua 1:14; 6:2; 8:3 NKJV). The giant Goliath is called a “champion [gibbor]” (1 Samuel 17:51). King David’s top soldiers were known as his “mighty [gibbor] men” (2 Samuel 23:8). The Lord is described as being “mighty [gibbor] in battle” (Psalm 24:8).

As “Mighty God,” Jesus is a powerful warrior.

1. Jesus is the PROMISED warrior.

So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this.... I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers [her seed KJV]; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:14-15).

a. He would be the seed of the woman: a prophecy of the VIRGIN birth.

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman...” (Galatians 4:4). When an angel told Mary she would “give birth to a son” (Luke 1:31), Mary asked, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34). The angel told her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35).

Matthew’s Gospel tells us, “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). Joseph naturally assumed that Mary had been unfaithful to him, but an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him, “What is conceived in [Mary] is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20).

Jesus had only one human parent (Mary). He was a “miracle baby.” He was miraculously conceived in Mary’s womb by the Holy Spirit. As the angel said to Mary, “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

b. The serpent would strike his heel: a prophecy of the CROSS.

c. He would crush the serpent’s head: a prophecy of Satan’s DEFEAT.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8).

2. Jesus is the DIVINE warrior.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us” (Matthew 1:22-23; see Isaiah 7:14).

Jesus is GOD who became a MAN.

“In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

The angel told Mary, “The holy one to be born will be called the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35). The virgin birth made possible the uniting of full deity and full humanity in one person.

How can Jesus be both God and the Son of God? God is triune: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is only one God, but there are three persons who are God. The Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father. But the Father is God, and the Son is God. Confusing? Yes. A contradiction? No. A mystery? Yes.

The apostle Paul writes that Jesus, “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:6-7).

Max Lucado writes in his book God Came Near: Chronicles of the Christ (26):

Angels watched as Mary changed God’s diaper. The universe watched with wonder as The Almighty learned to walk.

For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary. He got colds, burped, and had body odor. His feet got tired. And his head ached.

To think of Jesus in such light is—well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it? It’s not something we like to do; it’s uncomfortable. It is much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer.

The little baby born in Bethlehem and placed in a manger was the “Mighty God.”

3. Jesus is the WOUNDED warrior.

He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

The tiny hands of baby Jesus were made to take two great nails. His little feet were made to walk to a place called “the Skull” and be nailed to a cross. His delicate head was made to wear a crown of thorns. His tender body wrapped in swaddling clothes was made to be pierced by a spear.