Mighty God, Immanuel
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.
He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything. – Colossians 1:15-18 (HCSB)
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
– Colossians 2:9-10
Prayer
LAST WEEK – we kicked off a brand new series called, ‘Name Above All Names.” A SERIES – where we are unpacking several of the names or titles given to, in an effort to know more fully the One we have chosen to follow.
AND LISTEN – I am convinced that knowing Jesus better is the exact thing we need in these troubled and uncertain times.
NOW LAST SUNDAY – we kicked off this series with a conversation called – ‘The Word Became Flesh.’ It was a message about the humanity of Jesus and how though He was fully God, He was also fully man.
Like is in every way and like God in every way.
Yeah I know, that's some seriously crazy stuff to wrap our brains around.
AND WE SAW – last week that Jesus becoming a man, the Word becoming flesh - was a really big deal for at least 5 reasons.
Jesus the man…
• Allows You To See God
• Allows You To See Yourself
• Shows You Who You Can Become
• Destroyed Death and the devil
• Understands Everything That You Will Ever Experience
NOW THIS MORNING – (5/3/20) the title for Jesus that we will be unpacking is kind of two fold… YET – expresses the same truth, ‘Mighty God, Immanuel.’
BOTH of these titles show up in the book of the prophet Isaiah who lived about 700 years before God the Son put on flesh and invaded our planet.
AND THEY – speak to the divinity of Jesus.
UNDERSTAND – when it comes to Jesus it was not just flesh and blood that walked the earth…
IT WAS – all the fullness of the God-head in bodily form.
OKAY – here is how I want to attack today’s conversation, by unpacking 3 statements.
• Jesus is God
• That’s a really huge deal
• And He is with us always
Let’s do this…
I. Jesus Is God
QUESTION…
• Do you believe that Jesus is God?
• Do you believe that Jesus is 1/3 of the trinity?
• Do you believe that there is God-the Father, God-the Spirit and God the Son?
Go ahead and raise your hands and (say or type) in the comments AMEN!
NOW – I am not at all surprised by your response.
I MEAN – for most of us the fact that Jesus is God… is a no brain-er. LIKE – we have known and believed that for years.
BUT LISTEN – not everyone believes that Jesus is God… IN FACT – of the ~ 8 billion people who currently walk on this planet, 5.5 billion don’t believe it…
UNDERSTAND
• Other religions don’t
• Cults don’t
• Most college professors don’t
• Secular society doesn’t
SURE – they may admit that Jesus existed (I mean, you would be a fool not too)
HOWEVER – they just believe that Jesus was a good guy, a nice guy and some may go as far to say that he was a great moral teacher…
BUT – 2/3 of the world refuses to call Him God.
NOW – if I may be so bold… ‘those 5.5 billion people are all wrong!” BECAUSE - Jesus is God…
AND – let me share a few reasons why I know that He is…
FIRST - because of;
A) What Other People Said About Him…
1) Isaiah
NOW LET ME – give a brief background for this text I am about to read in Isaiah 7:14.
UNDERSTAND – this is the first time we find the term ‘Immanuel’ (which means God with us) in the Bible.
IN FACT – the term is used only 2 more times in all of Scripture… IN - Isaiah 8:8 and when the angel appears to Joseph in Matthew 1:23.
JUST – 3 times and Isaiah 7:14 in the first time.
NOW AS – Isaiah chapter 7 opens up Judah (the southern kingdom) was about to be attacked by her enemies.
AND THE - people (rightly so) were terrified of the foreign army that would soon invade their land…
YES – the horrors of war and the terror of occupation was about to rain down heavily upon God’s people…
SO GOD – give the prophet Isaiah some encouraging words (at least they were intended to be encouraging) to speak to Ahaz the King of Judah.
TELLING HIM - not to be afraid of the approaching army… BUT INSTEAD - to trust in Him for deliverance.
BOTTOM LINE…
God reminded Ahaz that those who were about to attack him, were just mere men and that Judah had The Sovereign Lord on their side…
YOU SEE GOD – really wanted Ahaz to trust IN HIM, to have faith IN HIM… BECAUSE if God was with them no man or nation could stand against them…
I MEAN - God even told Ahaz to ask for a sign as proof of what He would do for Judah…
BUT - Ahaz refused to even ask for a sign from God… Why? ANSWER – because the king had already made up his mind to look somewhere else for deliverance.
AND LISTEN – before we get all ‘high and mighty’ and start pointing fingers… we do the very same thing (don’t we)…?
OFTEN TIMES – we make up our mind to do something that we know is not in line with God’s Word or Will…
AND – in those moments the very last person we want to hear from is God… or someone who will speak for Him.
SO AHAZ - formed a coalition with the Assyrian Empire who would later betray him and attack Judah themselves…
LESSON – trusting in, looking for deliverance in places other than God, usually results in some pretty negative consequences.
OKAY
SO THIS BRINGS US – to that famous text in Isaiah 7 that is quoted in Matthew 1:23 and adorns countless Christmas cards.
The Lord himself will choose the sign.
YOU SEE – God is like, okay so you do not want to ask me for a sign, fine…
HOWEVER - here is one nevertheless, here the ultimate sign of looking to and trusting IN ME for a future rescue and deliverance.
Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel--`God is with us.'
- Isaiah 7:14
AND LATER – in chapter 9, we find the prophet Isaiah talking about the coming of the Messiah and about the great light that will come on the nation because of HIM says the following…
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Is 9:6 (NLT)
SO ISAIAH - speaking 700 years before Christ’s birth, clearly proclaims that Jesus was…
Mighty God and Immanuel
Call me silly but those sound like names of God to me…
NOW THE PEOPLE – I am going to quote next were eyewitnesses to Jesus…
LIKE - they knew, saw, heard and watched Jesus up close and personal…
2) John The Baptist
I was there and saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven. And the Spirit stayed on him. 33Before this I didn't know who he was.
But the one who sent me to baptize with water had told me, "You will see the Spirit come down and stay on someone. Then you will know that he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit." I saw this happen, and I tell you that he is the Son of God. - John 1:29-34
3) Paul
We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.
– Titus 2:12,13 (NLT)
4) The Apostle John
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. – 1 John 5:20
5) Thomas
Thomas replied, "You are my Lord and my God!" – John 20:28
6) Peter
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
- 2 Peter 1:1
7) The Centurion
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” - Mt 27:54
YEAH I KNOW – that Jesus is God because of what other people said about Him.
THE SECOND - reason why I know that Jesus is God is because of;
B) What Jesus Said About Himself
AND LISTEN – despite modern opinion and Scripture revisionists Jesus clearly said that He was God… That He and the Father were the same.
The Father and I are one. – John 10:10
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? - John 14:9 (NLT)
The Father and I are one
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father
AND THEN – in John 8 Jesus makes this truth (that he is God) so clear… THAT - the Jewish leaders begin to pick up stones and try to kill Him.
NOW - I wish that I had time to really dig into this entire chapter with you, but I do not.
IN – this chapter Jesus tells the people;
• That He is the light of the world and if they follow him, they will not have to walk in the darkness any more
• That he gives life, That he was from above
• That he forgive sins
• That he is truth and that his truth would set them free
LIKE I SAID – awesome stuff…
AND – not only that but in this chapter, Jesus makes 4 statements that remove any doubt whatsoever about who HE claimed to be…
BUT – before I tell you what He said, let me rewind the tape about 1,400 years.
MOSES – is standing before the burning bush…
God has called this 80 year man to
• OVERCOME – his fear, doubts and insecurities…
• COME - out of hiding…
• LET GO OF – guilt, shame and failure…
• LEAVE - to leave the desert… RETURN - to Egypt…
• STAND – before Pharaoh... DELIVER - HIS people…
IN OTHER WORDS – God calls on Moses to live the life he was created to life…
HEY… MAYBE - – God is asking you to do the very same thing, TO…
OVERCOME – your fear, doubts and insecurities…
COME - out of hiding…
LET GO OF – your guilt, shame and failure…
LEAVE - to leave thee place of desert wandering…
RETURN…STAND
AND – live the life you were created to life…
We read the following in Exodus 3:13,14;
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
UNDERSTAND - 'I AM… Is the proper name for God in Hebrew (Yahweh…)
AND – in Greek it is ‘ego eimi’…
AND – in the Greek bible (LXX), the bible that most Jews used during the time of Christ, Exodus 3:14 says – “ego eimi has sent you…”
AND - that’s the word that is used in Isaiah 44:6;
This is what the LORD says- Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I AM (Ego Eimi) is first and I AM (Ego eimi) the last; apart from me there is no God.
WELL - 4 times in John 8 Jesus applies this title of God to Himself.
The last time… is in John 8:58
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” - John 8:58
AND - at this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
YES – I know that Jesus is God, because of what other people said about Him and because of what He said about himself…
AND LISTEN – as people are faced with these claims about Jesus there are only four possibilities.
UNDERSTAND – Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, a legend or the truth.
AND – anyone who says that Jesus is not the truth, is automatically embracing one of the other three alternatives (whether they realize it or not). SO – let’s briefly look at the 3 alternatives that 5.5 billion people around the world have embraced (and see if they hold water).
AGAIN – one possibility is that Jesus lied when He said that he was God…
LIKE - He knew he wasn’t God but He deliberately deceived His hearers so that His teaching would have more clout. NOW - few if any people seriously hold this position.
I MEAN – even those who deny His deity think that Jesus was a great moral teacher.
BUT UNDERSTAND - Jesus could hardly be a great moral teacher if, on the most crucial point of His teaching – His identity – he was a deliberate liar.
He’d be a hypocrite because He told others to be honest, whatever the cost, while He Himself taught and lived a colossal lie.
AND MORE THAN – that he’d be down right evil, because He told people to trust Him for their eternal destiny, but he could not back up those claims, He’d be no better than cult leader throughout history.
THEN - what about the possibility that Jesus was a lunatic…
SURE – that could explain someone thinking that they are God. I MEAN – psych wards are full of people who think they are God. BUT – as we look at the life of Christ, do we see any evidence of Him being a lunatic.
NO – we don’t, instead we see a someone who seems to always be in control of himself… Someone who can handle incredibly stressful situations with great composure…
AND – we see someone who spoke more rational, powerful and undeniable truth then anyone who has ever lived…
OKAY - that leaves us with the possibility that Jesus claiming to be God was just a legend…
AND HERE’S - how the story goes…
MAYBE – you’ve heard it… JESUS – was a great guy…
DID – some cool stuff… TAUGHT – some great lessons.
BUT HIS FOLLOWERS – sometime around the 3rd or 4th century put words into His mouth, that Jesus would have been shocked to hear.
BUT LISTEN – this legend theory holds no water… BECAUSE – it is a proven fact that the Gospels were not written in the 3rd or 4th century but a mere 20-30 years after the cross. THEREFORE – people who knew Jesus were alive at the time these accounts were written and circulated…
AND – if Jesus had never claimed to be God, those claims would have quickly died out.
QUESTION – how successful do you think anyone would be today who claimed that JFK said that He was God, before he was killed in 1962…?
WHY – would that claim never take hold?
SO – if Jesus was not a liar, nor a lunatic or a legend… That leaves just one option… Jesus was what? Jesus was - the truth… I love how CS Lewis puts it in his classic book ‘Mere Christianity…’
"I am trying to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say.
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be either a lunatic – on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell.
You must make a choice.
Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.
But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about him being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
AND – the 3rd reason that I know that Jesus is God is because of;
C) What Jesus Did…
NOW - I need to hit these pretty quick…
BUT LISTEN – Jesus did some pretty huge things!
Some… I Am - Ego Eimi - Yahweh things!
Jesus Accepted Worship
In the wilderness satan tries to get Jesus to worship Him… DO YOU – remember what Jesus says in response…
“No way for it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve Him only…”
YET – in Matthew 14 when Jesus climbs into the boat after walking on water… the storm calms and Matthew who was there writes; Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Jesus Performed Miracles
IN – the N.T. we see Jesus performing all kinds of miracles… Controlling nature, multiplying food, healing the sick, raising the dead… Most of the time these miracles were done right in front of skeptics.
AND INTERESTINGLY – no one ever denied that Jesus did miracles, they just tried to say that the power to do it, did not come from God.
D) Jesus Fulfilled Prophecies
There are over 100 prophecies in the OT about Jesus. Prophecies about his birth, his ministry, his teachings and his death…
AND – because of the Dead Sea Scrolls we now have manuscripts of these prophecies that date 100 or more years before Christ birth…
In his book, Science Speaks, Peter Stoner applies the modern science of probability to just eight prophecies regarding Jesus. He says, "The chance that any man might have fulfilled all eight prophecies is one in 10 to the 17th. That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000." (one hundred quadrillion)… OKAY – that’s a big number… let’s try to get our mind around it…
• 10 to the 17th silver dollars would cover the entire state of Texas 2 feet deep
• If we marked one coin and then blindfolded a guy and told Him he had one chance to picked the marked coin
That is the same odds as any 8 prophecies coming true in the life of one man… (unless something supernatural was going on).
HEY - do you know what the odds are of 48 prophecies coming true in the life of one man?
1 in 10 to the 157th.
NOW – that’s an even bigger number… a number with 157 zeros behind it.
Do you know how big that number is…it’s huge.
Let me put it this way there are less atoms in the universe then that number (and it takes about a million atoms to equal the width of one human hair).
AND - lets say we take one of these atoms – spray paint pink or something… Question - what do you think the odds are of someone in a spaceship (even given as much time as they wanted) reaching out from their space craft and picking out that one atom on the first try… Same odds of someone fulfilling 48 prophecies by chance…
E) Jesus Rose From The Dead
NOW - many theories have been proposed over the years as to why the tomb is empty, all of which are weak and far fetched.
AND - each one requires that the disciples be part of a cover up as they promoted and preached a lie.
Charles Colson, the former counsel of President Nixon, convicted conspirator in the Watergate scandal, writes that the Watergate cover up convinced him that Jesus rose from the dead. He said,
There were only 8 or 10 of us in the inner circle around the President who really knew what was going on. All we had to do was stonewall for a couple of months and the Watergate Scandal would be over.
We had all the power and prestige of the presidency at our fingertips. And if the truth broke there would be embarrassment and perhaps a prison sentence, but there was no grave danger.
Our lives were not threatened, but we could not hold the conspiracy together for more than 2 weeks.
We could not contain the life.
Once prosecution was possible the natural instincts was so overwhelming that the conspirators one by one stood in line at the prosecutors office to escape jail.
Colson concludes,
I know that the disciples could not perpetuate a lie like the resurrection, because it was not just their reputations that were at stake, their lives were in danger.
They had no clout, that had nothing to gain by the lie and yet everyone of them stood fast in the conviction that Jesus was alive.
That it from one who saw first hand how vulnerable a cover is: nothing less than a witness as awesome as the resurrected Christ could have caused those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive and is Lord.
F) Jesus Changed History
QUESTION – if God ever came to earth…
Wouldn’t you expect Him to live the most amazing life? Wouldn’t you expect ‘that life’ to stand out among all of the billions & billions of people who have ever lived…?
SO – is there such a man?
Historian Philip Schaff described the overwhelming influence which Jesus had on both history and the world:
“This Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science…
He shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined.
Without the eloquence of schools, He spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet.
Without writing a single line, He set more pens in motion and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”
Jesus is God!
Now for the second point in your notes…
AND - don’t worry it isn’t nearly as long… BUT – it is going to be fun!
II. That’s A Really Huge Deal
UNDERSTAND - Jesus being God makes all the difference in the world…
IN FACT – the apostle Paul put it this way.
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. – 1 Cor 15:19
LISTEN - what Paul is saying… IS – that…
IF Jesus is not who He claimed to be…
IF – he was not God then all of it is just a huge waste of time… It’s all a lie… your sins are not forgiven… you are not going to heaven. Your prayers, your worship and your service are meaningless…
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. – 1 Cor 15:19
BUT – it’s not a lie… Jesus is God…
HOWEVER – if I could be straight with you for a moment… EVEN THOUGH – Jesus is God,
EVEN THOUGH - He rose from the dead…
I THINK – that many believers are still living pitiful lives…
Why is that?
BECAUSE – they have allowed this world to place doubts into their minds about who Jesus really is…
LOOK UP - what I am saying is, that a lot of believers (and maybe you are one of them) are NOT living like the one they; Love, Follow, Serve, Sing to and worship is God! THEY – are not living like their Jesus is the same Mighty God who…
breathes out stars, holds oceans in the palm of His hands, created everything just by speaking words,
AND CAUSED - Isaiah to fall to His knees and angels to shout, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!
AND INSTEAD - they are living their lives as though Jesus was just a nice guy, who did nice things 2,000 years ago but is not around today to do anything significant.…
LIKE – there is no bounce in their step, no strut in their stride, no life in their hope, no confidence in their future, no security in their true identity.
BUT LISTEN – it is my prayer that our time together today has removed any doubts that this world has put in your mind about who Jesus is… Mighty God, Immanuel!
YES – the Jesus that you; Love, Follow, Serve, Sing to and worship… the Jesus who said that He is your savior, your friend, that He loves you and will always be with you - is God!
Jesus is before all things, over all things – and he holds all things together… He is huge - He is holy - He is mighty
He is God
AND – because he is God this means….that He
• Has all the answers
• Can deliver what he promised
• Provide all that you need
• Will forgive all your sins
• Can keep you from falling
• Protect you from those who seek to harm you
• He can bring peace to any conflict
• Conquer any problem
• Calm any storm
• Defeat any enemy
• What He said is true
• What He said He would do…he will
• He is faithful
• He can be trusted
• Will come back to take you to be with him forever
CHURCH - it’s time to put
• Some bounce in our steps
• Some strut in our stride
• Some life in our hope
• Some power in our living
• Some confidence in our future
• Some security in our true worth and identity
BECAUSE
OUR - Jesus is God…!
UNDERSTAND…
• His promise is sure.
• His light is matchless.
• His goodness is limitless.
• His mercy is everlasting.
• His love never changes.
• His Word is enough.
• His grace is sufficient.
• His reign is righteous.
• His yoke is easy and His burden is light…
Jesus is God
That’s a really huge deal…
III. And He Is With Us Always
UNDERSTAND – all throughout Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, we find God speaking these five powerful and encouraging words… “I will be with you”
I MEAN – we see Him speaking these words to people like…
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David and others.
AND – He usually spoke them in times of crisis, concern or uncertainty.
• When Jacob was afraid and fled from His brother
• When Moses was unsure about returning to Egypt to free God’s people
• When Joshua was about the enter and do battle in the promise land
• When God called a fearful and insecure guy named Gideon to deliver his people
EACH TIME – God reminded them that He would be with them.
AND – who can forget these words of David in His classic 23rd Psalm…
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. – Psalm 23:4
AND JESUS – shortly before returning to the Father made this incredible promise…
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. – Matthew 28:20
I AM (Yahweh) ‘with you’ always
To save us
To comfort us
To challenge us
To confront us
To confident us
