Mighty God
Advent 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Who is the most powerful person in Suffolk right now?
The mayor? The city manager? School superintendent.?
This time of year, at least, I would suggest to you that the most powerful person in Suffolk is the one standing outside of Walmart next to a collection bucket, ringing the Salvation Army bell.
Think about it. With only a brief moment of eye contact and the ring of his bell, the Salvation Army bellringer is able to change your plans for you.
You didn’t plan to dig change from your pocketbook outside of Walmart, but many do just that when they pass the bellringer.
You didn’t plan to come up with some weak excuse for not donating. (“I don’t carry cash.” “I just gave over at Kroger.” “I’ll give something when I come back out.”) But I’ll bet every one of you has used those excuses and others when passing by the bellringers.
You didn’t plan to go in through the lawn and garden entrance. But the power of the bellringer to make you feel guilty for not donating caused you to look for a different way into the store.
Yes, the bellringers have power, and yes, they’re probably what the modern Salvation Army is best known for.
But all the way back to its founding in London by William Booth in 1865, the Salvation Army has been a powerful tool for the spread of the gospel, especially for the poor, the homeless, the hungry, and the destitute.
Early in the 20th century, when Booth was in his 80s, American evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman had the opportunity to visit him in London.
“Dr. Chapman listened reverently as the old general spoke of the trials and the conflicts and the victories. Then [Chapman] asked the general if he would disclose his secret for success.
“‘He hesitated a second,’ Dr. Chapman said, ‘and I saw the tears come into his eyes and steal down his cheeks, and then he said, ‘I will tell you the secret. God has had all there was of me. There have been men with greater brains than I, men with greater opportunities; but from the day I got the poor of London on my heart, and a vision of what Jesus Christ could do with the poor of London, I made up my mind that God would have all of William Booth there was. And if there is anything of power in the Salvation Army today, it is because God has all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life.’”
“Dr. Chapman said he went away from that meeting with General Booth knowing that, ‘the greatness of a man’s power is the measure of surrender.’ [https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/the-greatness-of-a-man-s-power-is-the-measure-of-his-surrender]
General Booth understood something important about the life of a Christ-follower: We are weak, but He is strong.
Today, as we continue to look at the four titles of Jesus found in Isa. 9:6, we’re going to see how the “Mighty God” born to us in Bethlehem nearly 2,000 years ago imparts His strength to His followers and see what that tells us about the work He has given us to do.
I’m sure this verse is familiar to you:
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
One of the things that strikes me about this verse is that it was so well known to the Jews as a prophecy of the coming Messiah.
And yet, even when He who is the fulfillment of this prophecy made a pretty explicit reference to it in the Gospel of John, the people still rejected Him, by and large.
Keep your eyes on that verse as you listen to THIS familiar verse:
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Did you hear Jesus’ reference to the Isaiah prophecy? “A son will be given to us,” Isaiah wrote. God “gave His only begotten Son.”
Now, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisee Nicodemus when He said the words of John 3:16. And I think He intended this scholar of the Old Testament to recall the prophecy of Isaiah when Nicodemus heard Jesus say that God had given His Son.
Indeed, by pointing Nicodemus to the promise of Isa 9:6, it’s likely that Jesus intended the Pharisee to recognize that He was not only the fulfillment of the prophecy but also the embodiment of all four of the titles we see in that verse.
Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Eternal Father. Prince of Peace.
Now, the religious leaders of Judea at the time were incensed that Jesus would claim to be the Son of God. And they considered His claim to be God in the flesh to be heresy and blasphemy.
Nonetheless, that seems to be JUST what Isaiah’s prophecy foretold. A child would be born — a son would be given to us — and HE — that child — would be called Mighty God.
Among the things Jesus was telling Nicodemus during this exchange was not just that He was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy but ALSO that He is the mighty God to whom King David lifted praise in 1 Chronicles, chapter 29.
11 “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. 12 “Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.
David understood something about the power and glory of God. David may have been the king of Israel, but he knew that the nation — indeed, all the earth — belongs to God. And he understood that any and all blessings that would come to Israel came from God.
And the greatest of those blessings would be Jesus, who fulfilled the promise of Emmanuel, God with us.
The Jews of Jesus’ time were watching for the advent, the appearing, of Emmanuel. They were watching for the promised Messiah. But, probably, in part, because of the way they interpreted Isaiah’s prophecy, they didn’t recognize the Messiah when He came.
They were looking for a warrior to come and lead an overthrow of their Roman oppressors. They were looking for a savior who would restore Israel as a nation.
And many of them weren’t ready to accept a Messiah born to a young virgin girl in Bethlehem. They weren’t ready to accept a savior who seemed uninterested in restoring Israel’s political fortunes.
They couldn’t imagine a Mighty God who would teach them to respond to violence by turning the other cheek.
They wanted God’s Messiah to come and claim victory over the Romans. But what HE came to do was something far greater and more important. HE came to claim victory over sin and death.
And the way He did so gives us an important lesson in how WE can experience the power of God in our own lives as believers.
He COULD have come as conquering king. Indeed, He WILL come as conquering king one day. But in His first advent, Jesus allowed Himself to be killed by the very people who should have seen themselves as His subjects.
He COULD have come demanding to be served. Indeed, there will come a day when every person on earth will serve Him. But in His first advent, He came as the Suffering Servant. He came to serve US.
Instead of having the attitude of a king or a master, Jesus came with the attitude of humility and obedience. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says about this in Philippians, chapter 2.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
He emptied Himself. He set aside His rights and privileges as the second Person of the Trinity. And then, He humbled Himself. Even to the point of dying on the cross for our sins.
Having set aside the power and glory that were rightfully His as God’s unique and eternal Son, Jesus came and subjected Himself to a life in which the only power He had was that which came to Him from God, through the Holy Spirit.
There was certainly power in His teachings, and there was certainly power in His miracles. But the power for all of that came from God as a response to Jesus’ faith and obedience.
After all, Jesus said Himself that He only did and said what the Father told Him to do and say.
And His example of faithful obedience sounds a lot like that quote I read from William Booth.
Jesus made up His mind that God the Father would have all of Jesus that there was. And the power He displayed in both His teaching and His miracles was a result of the fact that God had all the adoration of Jesus’ heart, all the power of His will, and all the influence of His life.
Even as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for God to provide some alternative to the cross, Jesus submitted Himself to His Father’s will. “Not my will, but thine,” He prayed. He had fully surrendered Himself to God’s will for His life.
He made Himself weak, allowing Himself to be crucified, so that through His weakness, God could demonstrate His power over sin and death.
Jesus must have appeared weak to everyone around as He hung upon that cross. In fact, many of the onlookers mocked Him. “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself,” they said.
But what they didn’t understand was that He was fighting a battle against sin itself as He hung on that cross.
Having lived a life without sin, He now took the sins of all mankind upon Himself — along with their just punishment — so that all who turn to Him in faith can be saved from the penalty for sin and released from the power of sin.
And as the body of Jesus lay inside that tomb for three days, people must have wondered how He who had raised the dead had succumbed to death Himself.
But then, on the third day — that first Easter morning — the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty, and the risen Jesus presented Himself as proof that God has power over death itself and that He will keep His promise of eternal life to all who turn to His Son in faith.
Complete surrender. Perfect submission to God’s will. Total faith in God.
Those things characterized the life of Jesus. They’re the things that enabled Him to do the work He was sent to do.
They’re also the things WE need in our lives in order to do the work God has given US to do.
We’d like to think that what we do for the Lord is some function of our own talents and abilities. I’d love to stand here and tell you that I’ve accomplished great things for the Kingdom as a Sunday school teacher, a deacon, a missionary, or a pastor.
But the simple fact is that without Him, I can do nothing. It is in my WEAKNESS that God is glorified, not in my strength.
Paul talks about this in his second letter to the Corinthians.
In chapter 12 of that letter, Paul says he received some wonderful revelation from Jesus that he wasn’t permitted to share.
Such a personal encounter with Jesus might cause one to boast, Paul admits. But God had given him something to keep Paul humble. Look at verses 7-9 of this chapter.
7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Now, we don’t know what the thorn was that tormented Paul. Maybe it was his poor eyesight. Maybe it was some other physical ailment. Perhaps it was something else, altogether.
For me, the thorn is the constant inner voice that constantly reminds me I’m still a sinner. How could I ever boast about Kingdom work when I still give in to temptations?
But the thorn — in my case, that voice — doesn’t get the last word. God gets the last word, and what He said to Paul is what He says to me and what He says to you: “My grace is sufficient for you.”
Because I have placed my faith in Jesus, God’s grace covers ALL my sins — past, present, and future.
Furthermore, whatever ministry I undertake — whatever work I do for the Kingdom of God — I do BY God’s grace and IN His power.
HE is the Mighty God. I am but a weak and broken vessel.
But when I submit myself to His will — When I make up my mind that I’m going to give God all that Res Spears is — When I surrender to Him all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life — Then, HE is able to work HIS power in and through my life and ministry.
What is it that you need to surrender to Jesus so that His power can be perfected — can be made complete — in your weakness?
Are there still aspects of your life that you’ve made off-limits to Jesus? Are you holding onto control of your finances or your love life or your retirement plans or anything else because you’re not willing to trust Him with those parts of your life?
Remember what King David said: “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth.”
Everything. That includes you. That includes every part of your life. Including the parts you’ve been holding back from Him. They belong to HIM.
It’s hard to give up control. We feel weak and powerless when we don’t have control. But what Paul said is the same thing David said: “It lies in [God’s] hand to make great and to strengthen.” His power is perfected in our weakness.
When we, like Jesus, put on humility, submit to God in obedient faith, and surrender our lives to Him completely, HIS power and glory can shine through us. And His victory can be ours, too.
Now, the theme of this second week of Advent is “peace.” And it might seem odd to connect this theme to the prophetic title for Jesus that we’ve been studying today.
We might have expected the Mighty God to come with judgment and war against we who have rebelled against His righteous rule.
And in His second Advent — His second appearing, when He comes back to earth on a white horse, clothed in a robe dipped in blood — Jesus WILL come in judgment, and He will vanquish His enemies.
But in His first Advent, Jesus came to reconcile sinners to God, to make peace between a righteous and holy God and we who have rebelled against Him in our sins.
This was something that could only be done by the Mighty God. He alone could repair the breach we created between us and God through our sins. Only the sacrificial death of the Mighty God Himself could atone for the sins of man.
Only He has the power to save you. Jesus already did all the work necessary for your salvation at the cross, where folks thought He was weak, and at the empty tomb, where they’d thought He was powerless.
The King of kings and Lord of lords — the Mighty God Himself in the Person of His incarnate Son, Jesus Christ — gave up His power and glory to die covered in the shame and guilt of your sins and mine so that we might have LIFE through faith in Him.
We talk during this season about the gift OF Jesus, and He’s a wonderful gift, indeed. God GAVE us His only begotten Son.
But the greatest gift of all was the gift Jesus gave us of His very life. The gift of peace with God. The gift of salvation through faith.
Have you accepted this gift? Have you turned to Jesus in faith that only His sacrificial death and supernatural resurrection provide a way for you to be reconciled to God? He is the Mighty God, victorious over sin and death.
His victory can be yours, too, but first, you’ll have to admit your own weakness. You’ll have to confess that you are a sinner and that you can’t redeem yourself. That there’s nothing you can do to earn your way into the Kingdom of God.
Then, having humbled yourself before the Mighty God, turn to Jesus in faith that HE has done everything that needs to be done to save you.
We like to think we control our own destiny. But Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” The Mighty God has already done the work for your salvation. He offers you the gift of life.
Will you accept that gift today?