Well, when our country was in its infancy, the most powerful man in the land had an extremely important decision to make.
General George Washington had been given almost the powers of a dictator while he was the commander of the Continental Army.
He could do basically anything he wanted with his power in order to defeat the British and win the war.
But now that the war was over, the question before him was whether he would stay in power or lay down his sword.
He had the hearts of his countrymen, of his soldiers, and of the Congress.
He could have easily marched into Philadelphia, tell the Continental Congress that he desired to remain in power as a conquering king at the head of a victorious army.
And he would have been warmly received, because that's all that our country knew.
Ruled by a king, by one man.
He would have been crowned king of a new monarchy, the American kingdom.
But surprisingly, he marched into Philadelphia, all right, but he declared his mission accomplished, unbuckled his belt, and set his sword on the table, and walked back to civilian life.
George Washington exercised his might in a very surprising way, because he knew it was in the best interest of his people.
They didn't need another dictator.
They needed a stable form of democratic government for the American people at the time.
He exercised his might in a very surprising way.
And this morning, it's our privilege to explore how the mightiest person, in the mightiest position of all, exercised his might in a very surprising way for the good of his people.
Throughout the whole testimony of this book, scripture, and particularly in our passage today,
we cannot help but see that God exercises his might in surprising ways to deliver his people.
God exercises his power in surprising ways to deliver his people.
So we're going to start in Isaiah 9 to see this.
And there we're going to see the first of four Ps that will guide us through our time together today.
We're going to first see God's surprising promise in our passage for today.
We'll proceed there to see how that promise is based on a surprising pattern.
We'll see how that all points to a very surprising person and a very surprising plan.
So four Ps.
Let's start with a surprising promise.
In our passage for today, Isaiah the prophet foretells that God is going to deliver his people yet again.
Last week, Pastor Mike introduced us to what was going on in Isaiah's day.
Several generations after Israel's great King David died, who was the first monarch that God put over his people,
God's people were consistently choosing to trust other nations and their own wisdom instead of depending upon God and his word.
They were choosing darkness over light.
They were becoming blind and stubborn, insisting on delivering themselves through their own strength or wisdom.
And judgment was on its way in the form of foreign armies to come and conquer them.
This is the note that chapter 8 ends on in verse 22.
They will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish.
They will be thrust into thick darkness.
And yet, chapter 9, we see, unlooked for, surprisingly, on the other side of the gloom of judgment, God is promising light.
In verse 1 of chapter 9, the very epicenter of the gloom and the darkness, which was the northern region of Galilee,
where the Assyrian hordes were going to first invade, God is saying that light is going to dawn there.
In verses 3 through 5, Isaiah tells us that the dawning light would produce an expansive joy for God's people,
and that light would mean deliverance from bondage, victory over enemies,
and an end to the warfare and the conflict that was coming because of their sin against God.
And we see that this light that produces joy because of this deliverance and this great victory is all centered on one person.
Let's look at verse 6.
This whole work of gracious rescue and light would center upon this one ruler.
Last week, Pastor Mike unpacked the beauty of that first phrase, wonderful counselor,
one who has supernatural insight, miraculous wisdom that is going to deliver God's people.
And today, I have the opportunity to unpack that word, that term, mighty God.
We're going to focus in on that particularly this morning.
So, what is so surprising about this promise of a ruler who is to be called mighty God?
Well, that word mighty shows up all through your Bible in different ways.
It's the Hebrew word gabor.
Everybody say it with me.
Gabor.
Nice.
Turn to your neighbor.
Tell them they're looking mighty gabor this morning.
Looking mighty, mighty.
Gabor is a synonym for other words in the Bible like strength, power, greatness.
But interestingly enough, the majority of the times gabor is used in the Bible, it's referring to warriors.
Mighty men of battle.
David, the great warrior king, the anointed ruler of God's people, was called a gabor in 1 Samuel 16
when God tells Samuel to anoint David as king over God's people even though he was basically the runt of his family.
And the very next chapter, 1 Samuel 17, this little runt gabor defeats the giant gabor, Goliath, the gabor of God's enemies.
But God himself is also called a gabor.
Great, mighty warrior, awesome God.
Later on in Isaiah 42 and Isaiah 49, God is described as rising up like a mighty warrior
to bring his people back from captivity in Babylon, laying waste to mountains, drawing up rivers in order to lead his people home.
God has the might of a great warrior to deliver his people.
And here we see, in verse 6, this future ruler of God's people,
who's going to bring light and joy and deliverance to God's people,
we see is called a gabor.
A mighty warrior who will bring joyful, triumphant deliverance to God's people walking in darkness.
But not just a gabor.
He is mighty. He is a warrior.
But he's not merely a warrior.
His name is to be called Mighty God.
I just can't help but wonder about what was going on in Isaiah the prophet's mind
when he took his quill or whatever he was using,
and he wrote that phrase.
Mighty God.
Isaiah was a faithful worshiper of the one true God, Yahweh.
And Isaiah knew there was no God but Yahweh.
He was passionately monotheistic.
He only worshipped one God.
And he knew that this one God does not share his glory with another.
And yet, carried along by the Spirit of God,
Isaiah is unmistakably calling this future ruler of Israel the mighty God.
There's just no other way to interpret that phrase.
This coming king will share God's very name, his very character, and his very nature as God.
But here's where we come to the jaw-dropping surprise of this promise.
This future ruler who is to be called Mighty God,
through whom God would accomplish such a mighty deliverance of his people,
is also human.
He has to be.
Look at the beginning of verse 6.
To us, a child is born.
To us, a son is given.
In God's passionate and zealous love for this people in darkness,
God is going to accomplish this great work of deliverance by being birthed.
God is going to be birthed and not cease being God.
The surprising wonder of it is twofold.
First, this human ruler is unashamedly and directly referred to as God himself.
But secondly, this mighty warrior,
who will single-handedly bring light to those in darkness,
and joy to the despairing,
and lift the burdens of slavery off the shoulders,
is coming,
not as a conquering soldier,
but as a child,
an infant.
This is the plain and simple reading of this God-breathed text.
We just can't get beyond the fact that he is called Mighty Warrior God,
and he is yet a human child.
What a surprising promise.
But if we're reading our Old Testaments well,
it shouldn't be too surprising.
Here's where we get to our second P.
This promise is surprising, yes,
but it's also based on a surprising pattern.
A surprising pattern.
I always enjoy stories that have flashbacks.
Right now I'm reading Prince Caspian from the Chronicles of Narnia to my older kids,
and we just finished reading Trumpkin the Dwarf,
giving a long flashback explanation to the Pevensey kids
about what had happened in the several hundred years
since they had last visited Narnia.
So let's take a moment,
and let's do a little flashback.
Let's do a flashback on the summary of the Old Testament story so far,
up to Isaiah's day.
God has often exercised his might in surprising ways.
He has consistently showed his might through human weakness
and through hopeless situations,
so that it was extremely clear who exactly was responsible for delivering his people.
Remember Abraham.
Old dude with an old wife,
100 years old and 90 years old respectively,
and God's entire plan to redeem humanity
was totally dependent on this 90-year-old woman
conceiving a child in a 90-year-old body
when she couldn't even conceive when she was 20
because she was barren.
Just to make sure that it was crystal clear
that God would bring about life out of death
in a hopeless situation and through human weakness.
Jump ahead to the Red Sea Rescue, Exodus 14.
God gets his people out of slavery in Egypt,
and he leads them straight into what seems like a trap.
There's water in front of them, enemies behind them,
and they have nowhere to go.
And they start freaking out.
They start blaming God, saying,
why did you get us out of Egypt
when we're going to die here on the shores of the Red Sea?
And Moses tells his people,
just stop and stand back and watch God fight for you.
And then what seems like a major blunder on God's part
by leading his people into this weak and vulnerable position
turns out to be God the cunning warrior
leading his arrogant adversary into a trap
without Israel having to lift a finger.
God got the glory.
Through human weakness and hopeless situations.
Or think about the Battle of Jericho.
Joshua chapter 6, which wasn't much of a battle, right?
There was some marching in circles
by some circumcision sore warriors,
some shouting, some horn blowing,
and God the warrior gets the glory,
and his people didn't have to do really anything
except just trust him.
Last week, Pastor Mike mentioned Gideon's defeat of the Midianites
in Judges chapter 7.
God whittles Gideon's army down to less than 1% of its original size,
300 out of an original 32,000.
And they defeat an innumerable horde of enemies
just by blowing trumpets and smashing pottery.
God gets the glory.
God gets the glory when human weakness is on display
and his mighty strength is on display.
We could mention David's defeat of Goliath,
Elijah's soaking wet altar on Mount Carmel,
or what's coming up in Isaiah chapter 37 through 38,
sorry, 36 to 37.
The Assyrian army, 200,000 strong nearly,
is camped on Jerusalem's doorstep,
and a single angel warrior slays them all on a night.
God uses human weakness and hopeless situations
to demonstrate that he and he alone
is responsible for rescuing his people
and getting glory over his enemies.
So the surprising promise of a mighty God ruler
who is a human child is really not that surprising.
It's based on a surprising pattern
that God has shown ever since the beginning.
Now, let's return to Isaiah.
Let's look at our third P,
and let's turn our attention to the surprising person
who was promised in Isaiah chapter nine
and see how Isaiah continues to speak about him
and who he turns out to be.
So third P, a surprising person.
Have you ever been at the grocery store
and you saw someone that immediately you recognize,
like, I know them,
but you had to think pretty hard to remember
how you knew them
and where you knew them from
because you just weren't used to seeing them
in that context?
I was at the store with my son the other day
and I ran into a former co-worker of mine
and my brain had to work really hard
for a few seconds to,
like, oh yeah, that's who she is.
So I wasn't used to seeing her there.
That same phenomenon happens
as we keep reading Isaiah.
If we keep reading Isaiah with our eyes kind of peeled for,
okay, so who's this person going to be?
This child, this mighty God,
this wonderful counselor,
this Emmanuel.
How else is Isaiah going to talk about this person?
If we keep reading,
what we keep,
we see in chapter nine and chapter 11,
this child is described with royal imagery,
mighty imagery over and over again.
He's the one who's going to sit on David's throne forever.
He's the prince of peace.
The increase of his government will never end.
Flip to chapter 11 for just a second.
There shall come forth,
chapter 11, verse one,
a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
The spirit of the Lord will rest upon him,
a spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might.
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor
and decide with equity the meek of the earth.
And listen to this, authority.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
with the breath of his lips.
He shall kill the wicked.
This child has authority.
He has power given to him from on high.
But once we hit chapter 40 in Isaiah,
the language shifts.
Flip with me to Isaiah chapter 42.
Isaiah 42.
All this royal, kingly, mighty imagery
that we see describing this future ruler
then shifts from royal imagery
into servant talk.
Look at chapter 42 in Isaiah.
Isaiah 42.
Behold my servant,
whom I uphold,
my chosen,
in whom my soul delights.
I have put my spirit upon him.
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry aloud
or lift up his voice
or make it heard in the street.
A bruised reed,
he will not break.
A faintly burning wick,
he will not quench.
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint
or be discouraged
till he has established justice
in the earth
and the coastlands wait for his law.
So there's,
kind of like the person
in the grocery store,
there's a lot here
that's familiar that we recognize.
God approves of him.
He delights in him.
The Holy Spirit is on him.
He will bring justice
and righteousness in the earth.
So we recognize him,
but the setting,
the language is different.
The emphasis is different.
There's not a lot of royal might.
Instead, there's a lot of servant-like gentleness
and humility.
So is this the same person?
Is Isaiah talking about somebody else?
I thought we were looking for a mighty warrior,
a conquering king to deliver his people.
Why do we now hear about a servant?
Well, that's the beautiful surprise
about this person.
As one author put it,
the king will be the servant
and the servant will be the king.
So once we get to the Gospels
and we hear a birth announcement
on an angel's lips
in Luke chapter 2,
turn there with me,
Luke chapter 2,
we shouldn't be too surprised
to hear this mingling
of royal might
and servant-like humility
in the same person.
Luke 2.
Let's read verses 10
through 12
of Luke chapter 2,
this announcement
to the shepherds.
And the angel said to them,
Fear not,
for behold,
I bring you good news
of great joy
that will be
for all the people.
For unto you
is born this day
in the city of David
a Savior
who is Christ
the Lord.
And this will be
a sign for you.
You will find a baby
wrapped in swaddling cloths
and lying
in a manger.
Good news,
great joy,
a Savior
in David's city,
the Christ,
the Messiah,
the anointed ruler
that was foretold,
the Lord.
Did you catch that?
Christ the Lord.
The Lord.
But also a baby
born,
wrapped in swaddling cloths
and lying
in a feed trough.
Do you hear
the tension?
Do you sense
the paradox?
Mighty God
of boundless power
and authority
bundled up
and weak,
exposed to the elements
in a stable
born to poor peasants
who are under the thumb
of Roman rule.
Don't let
this sight
pass you by
without adoration
bubbling up
in your heart.
Don't let
this Christmas
pass by
without you
being utterly
astounded
that the mighty
God of endless
days
and limitless
wisdom and authority
gladly
and willingly
and humbly
gave up his throne
for a feed trough.
If we cease
to be amazed
by the incarnation
of the Son of God,
then something
is not right
within us.
Lesser things
have claimed
our devotion
if we are not
in awe
at the sight
of God
incarnate
humbling himself
to the lowest
state of vulnerability.
All of history
was building up
to this point
and all of history
looks back
to this point
when the mighty
God became
a weak
and helpless
infant.
Divinity
and humanity
forever fused
in a baby.
one very surprising
person.
What is keeping
you from
beholding
this surprising
person
with wonder
and awe?
there is nothing
else that God
desires for you
this Christmas
season
than to
freshly behold
the mighty
God
lying
in an animal's
feed trough.
you have
the ability
and you have
the responsibility
to set
everything else
in its proper
place
in order that
he might take
the rightful
place
in your
affections
and your
devotion.
Oh come
let us
adore him.
How can
we not?
What a
surprising
person.
Lastly
let's look
at God's
surprising
plan.
Let's go
back to
George Washington
for a minute.
Old
George
after his
victory over
the British
he had some
options.
He had some
options.
How was he
going to
exercise his
mighty
authority?
I like
having
options.
I like
driving up
to McDonald's
and I know
I have
thousands
of combinations
of possibilities
of options.
It's rather
empowering.
God
had options.
He had a
rebellious
people on
his hand
in the
garden.
He had
options of
how to
exercise his
might and
deal with
them.
He could
have rightfully
and justly
and gloriously
for the sake
of his own
name been
done with
the human
race.
He could
have destroyed
Adam and
Eve in
their
rebellion
then and
there.
It was
his divine
right.
He had
told them
on the
day you
eat of
this tree
you shall
surely die
but they
did not.
Instead
he elected
to delay
judgment.
He
exercised
his divine
might
surprisingly
to show
mercy.
That was
his plan.
Judgment
was delayed
and he
put into
effect a
very surprising
plan to
redeem his
rebellious
image bearers.
Time and
again throughout
the Old
Testament as
we saw
earlier the
pattern was
to graciously
rescue an
undeserving
people by
exercising his
power through
human weakness
and hopeless
situations to
redeem his
people.
Turn with me
back to
Isaiah.
This time we're
going to
chapter 53.
Getting your
exercise in
the Bible
today.
Sword drills.
Isaiah
chapter 53.
As I read
parts of this
very familiar
prophecy I
want you to
listen for
the surprising
mingling of
mighty deliverance
and utter
human weakness
in God's
plan.
This is the
pinnacle,
the climax
of God's
surprising plan
to redeem
his people.
We'll start
in chapter 52
verse 13.
Behold my
servant shall
act wisely.
He shall be
high and
lifted up
and he
shall be
exalted.
As many
were astonished
at you,
his appearance
was so marred
beyond human
semblance and
his form
beyond that
of the
children of
mankind.
So he
shall sprinkle
many nations.
Kings shall
shut their
mouths because
of him.
For that
which has
not been
told them
they see
and that
which they
have not
heard they
understand.
Who has
believed what
he has heard
from us?
To whom
has the
arm,
the strength,
the might
of the
Lord been
revealed?
For he
grew up
before him
like a
young plant,
like a
root out
of dry
ground.
He had
no form
or majesty
that we
should look
at him,
no beauty
that we
should desire
him.
He was
despised
and rejected
by men,
a man of
sorrows and
acquainted with
grief.
And as one
from whom men
hide their
faces,
he was
despised and
we esteemed
him not.
Surely he
has borne our
griefs and
carried our
sorrows,
yet we
esteemed him
stricken,
smitten by
God and
afflicted.
But he
was pierced
for our
transgressions,
he was
crushed for
our
iniquities.
Upon him
was the
chastisement
that brought
us peace,
and with
his wounds
we are
healed.
Go over
with me to
verse 10.
Yet it
was the
will of
the Lord
to crush
him.
He has
put him
to grief.
When his
soul makes
an offering
for guilt,
he shall
see his
offspring,
he shall
prolong
his days.
The will
of the
Lord
shall
prosper
in his
hand.
Out of
the anguish
of his
soul,
he shall
see and
be satisfied.
By his
knowledge
shall the
righteous
one,
my servant,
make many
to be
accounted
righteous,
and he
shall bear
their
iniquities.
Therefore,
I will
divide him
a portion
with the
many,
and he
shall
divide
the
spoil
with the
strong,
because he
poured
out his
soul
to death
and was
numbered
with the
transgressors.
Do you
hear the
upside-down
surprise
that's
summarized
in verse
12?
The servant
king will
divide the
spoil with
the strong
because he
poured out
his soul
to death.
Dividing the
spoil was
what victors
of the
battles do.
They conquer
the enemy,
they acquire
the spoil
of war.
But this
king's mighty
conquering was
not by pouring
out his
enemy's blood,
but through
pouring out
his soul
to death
like a
humble servant.
This was
God's
choice.
He had
options,
and this is
what he chose
to do.
He would
demonstrate his
might toward
rebellious sinners
not by crushing
them, but by
being crushed
for them.
So when we
behold the
stricken servant
nailed to a
Roman execution
stake in Luke
23, and he's
gasping for breath
and groaning
under the crushing
weight of our
rebellion against
God, we hear
three groups of
people taunt him,
and they tell him
to save himself.
In Luke 23,
verse 35, the
Jewish leaders
mock Jesus, and
they say, he
saved others.
Let him save
himself, if he
is the Christ of
God, his chosen
one.
In the very next
verse, the Roman
soldiers mock him.
If you're the king
of the Jews, save
yourself.
The thief on the
cross next to him
rails at Jesus in
verse 39.
Are you not the
Christ?
Save yourself and
us.
Christ.
But the might of
this anointed
ruler, whose name
is Mighty God, was
surprisingly not
being exercised on
his own behalf to
save himself, but to
obey the will of his
father and to remain
on the cross for the
sake of people
condemned to eternal
judgment for me and
for you.
Jesus could have
stopped that whole
ordeal even before it
started.
And at any point
during it, he could
have said enough.
But he exercised his
might in a surprising
way according to God's
surprising plan to take
each step toward the
cross and endure the
terrifying wrath of God
on our behalf.
It was God's surprising
plan for Jesus, the
Messiah, the ruler, the
mighty God to use his
power to pour himself
out to death for an
undeserving people so we
could have life.
And three days later, God
mightily raised him from
death.
And he is the risen Lord
Jesus, our mighty God
forever.
This is God's surprising
plan.
But God's surprising plan is
not yet finished.
Our servant King Jesus is
right now enthroned in
glory.
Because he conquered his
enemies and delivered his
people through the
humility and weakness of
the cross, God highly
exalted him and gave him
the name above every name
so that the name of Jesus
every knee should bow and
every tongue confess that
Jesus is the mighty Lord
to the glory of God the
Father.
And one day this mighty God
will return in full
splendor and strength to
establish his kingdom
forever.
He will indeed judge in
righteousness and
everything for you and me
will hinge on whether we
have bowed the knee to this
mighty God on this side of
eternity or not.
So how are we to respond to
this surprising news of
great joy of this mighty
servant King who conquers by
laying down his rights?
There are two things I'd like
for us to consider how to
respond to this good news in
faith and obedience.
First, it's helpful to
identify where you're at.
If you have bowed the knee
and trusted in this
trustworthy King, this
mighty God, then Paul's
words from Colossians 1 are
true of you.
God has delivered you from
the domain of darkness and
transferred you into the
kingdom of his beloved
Son in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness
of sins.
God has delivered you from
God.
So because of the might and
power of God exercised
through death and
resurrection of Jesus, he
has undone the power of
darkness over us.
He has brought us into the
kingdom of his light by being
under his gracious and
loving rule.
So give thanks.
Give thanks to this mighty
God if you are under his
mighty and loving rule.
On the other hand, if you're
aware that you have not
bowed the knee to this
mighty God who poured
himself out for you, if
you're aware that you have
a need to be rescued by
him, call out to him.
Confess your offense to
God.
Turn from it and turn to
him.
He will transfer you from
Satan's dark dominion into
the kingdom of his beloved
Son.
Secondly, if you belong to
this servant king, then you
have the privilege to join
him in his kingdom work now.
It's not flashy.
It's not might makes right.
It's not worldly wisdom kind
of work.
Rather, it's the joyful and
daily labor of taking up your
cross as he took up his.
It's denouncing our right to
rule our own lives.
Giving ourselves over to
death to self for Jesus'
sake.
And there, and only there,
can we find the true joy
that he brings and lasting
kingdom fruit.
So servant-like humility and
sacrificial obedience and
self-giving love are not just
the Lord Jesus' marching
orders.
They are ours as well.
Exercising our right to lay
down our rights, our time,
our comfort, our resources for
the good of others.
That is the normal pattern of
the Christian life.
Listen to Jesus' words from
John 13.
He just finished washing his
disciples' feet.
Listen to these words as if he's
speaking right to you.
You call me teacher and Lord,
and you are right, for so I am.
If I then, your Lord and
teacher, have washed your feet,
you also ought to wash another's
feet.
Truly, truly, I say to you, a
servant is not greater than his
master, nor is a messenger
greater than the one who sent
them.
If you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them.
So if mighty God incarnate has so
powerfully given himself for you
so that you could be rescued from
the wrath of God on your sin,
then surely we cannot be greater
than our master.
We serve others because he served
us.
We love because he first loved us.
It is right for us to imitate the
mighty God who used his might to
serve us.
So, in what area of your life are you
needing to become more like the
mighty God who is the servant king?
How is the risen Lord Jesus calling
you to follow him into a joyful
laying down of your rights and
comforts for the earthly and
eternal good of those around you?
Is it in your marriage?
Humbly caring for your spouse and
putting their interests ahead of
your own?
Is it with your children?
Giving yourself over to prayer for
them and patiently disciplining them
and discipling them in the Lord?
Are there opportunities for you to
humble yourself on behalf of
extended family members this
Christmas season or coworkers and
serve them as the hands and feet of
Jesus even though it may cost you
in some way?
Is it perhaps in the way that you
spend your free time and energy and
finances?
Are you hoarding time and energy and
money that God has given you to build
your own kingdom of self-security or are
you seeking to trust the mighty God to
provide for you as you give yourself for
the good of others?
So, whatever it is, go to God in
prayer and ponder how to respond rightly to
him in faith and obedience.
Let's respond to his mighty love by
trusting him, adoring him, and giving of
ourselves in the same way for the good of
those around us and for his great glory.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you that it was your plan all
along to demonstrate your great mighty
strength to deliver your people through
the cross and through the humble obedience
and love of our Savior Jesus.
Help us to trust you.
Help us to lay down our lives to you as
living sacrifices to adore this child who
is God in the manger and to live for the
risen servant king and all that you would
have us do, Lord Jesus.
Give us the faith and obedience we need
now and the power of your spirit to respond
to your word.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Thank you.
Amen.