You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
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Whew.
That's a, no, no, don't do that.
That's a tough act to follow.
I'm really thankful for a committee and the session.
And definitely want you all to know of our love for this church, this city.
How excited we are about what God is doing here and the fact that we get to be a part of it.
We're really thrilled about that.
As hard as this seems to me right now, I'm going to preach this morning.
It's been recommended that I'm not.
Y'all would all go for that.
But this is actually really important because the reality is this, and I mean this with all my heart.
The big news this morning is not that the search committee has a pastor nominee.
It's not.
It's that the God of the universe wants to meet with you and bless you.
Isn't that amazing?
We're going to talk about the fact that Jesus, the baby in the manger that we're celebrating at Christmas,
has come to us to be the mighty God, come to his people to live on earth for us,
to die in our place, to set this table before us this morning and invite us to commune with him,
to be his friend.
Isn't that incredible?
And you get excited about a pastor nominee.
That's something to be excited about.
And that's what we get to look at in God's word.
I've been saying since early this year, back when I didn't know what was going to happen,
what God was going to do in my heart to call me to this position,
that what Southwood needed to be hoping in and relying on was not new programs
and was not a new pastor,
but the power of God at work through Jesus Christ in his church.
That has been our hope.
That remains our hope.
I'm convinced that is still true today.
We need to believe that now.
We continually need a renewed vision of God's love for us in Jesus Christ.
And that's what he gives us this morning.
That's what we need today.
We need to open God's word.
We need to hear from God's heart.
We need to come to God's table together.
So let's turn to Isaiah chapter 9.
And hear from God's holy word.
Isaiah 9 at verse 1.
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.
In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.
But in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea,
the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.
You've multiplied the nation.
You have increased its joy.
They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult,
and every garment rolled in blood,
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace,
there will be no end.
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness,
from this time forth and forevermore,
the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Thus far, God's holy word.
Will you pray with me?
Father, we are thankful for your word.
We're thankful for good news of great joy,
that a Savior is born.
And it is our prayer this morning
that we would have the joy that comes from knowing
that you have met our deepest needs for deliverance,
that our sin has been atoned for,
that a Savior has been born to us,
as we learn more of him in your word today.
Would Jesus indeed be the one in whom our hearts rejoice?
Would that be true for us today?
Would that be true for us always?
We ask it in his name.
Amen.
We are talking this Christmas season about the identity of Jesus.
What child is this?
Who is Jesus?
And we are using these four titles that Jesus is given here
in the sixth verse of Isaiah chapter 9.
So last week we talked about Jesus as wonderful counselor,
as the one who unfolds God's wise plans for his people,
who gives direction to where life is truly found,
who shines light on the proper paths for us,
who in fact himself is that light
and is the way to the Father.
This morning we are going to talk about Jesus as mighty God.
The mighty God who can carry out his wise plans.
The one who is capable,
who is able to achieve the ends of his wonderful counsel.
Isaiah describes it this way in chapter 14.
He says,
This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth.
This is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
For the Lord of hosts has purposed and who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out and who will turn it back?
When he has purposes, when he has plans,
they cannot be changed.
He's able, he's strong and mighty to accomplish his purposes.
They will come to pass.
Jeremiah chapter 32.
Ah, Lord God, it is you who have made the heavens and the earth
by your great power and by your outstretched arm.
Nothing is too hard for you.
You show steadfast love to thousands,
but repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them.
Oh, great and mighty God,
whose name is the Lord of hosts,
great in counsel and mighty in deed.
Great in counsel with wisdom and plans,
and mighty in deed,
strong to see them accomplished.
This is what it means to be the mighty God.
That nothing is too hard for you.
When he's talked about as mighty God,
he talks about things like creating everything out of nothing.
Redeeming people out of slavery.
Judging all of mankind.
He is strong.
He's active and at work.
His plans cannot be thwarted.
He's the mighty God.
But this is much more than just a description of a child who's coming.
That this is what he's going to be like.
That he's going to be strong and mighty.
It is that.
But in particular,
in this verse,
it's a title of God himself,
given to the promised child.
In both of the passages we've just looked at,
those are speaking of the Lord of hosts,
of Yahweh himself,
God Almighty.
The one referred to as mighty God
was God himself.
El Gabor.
That's how you say it in Hebrew.
The mighty God.
You may have heard of many Hebrew titles like that for God.
A lot of them start with El.
El Shaddai.
The God who provides.
Who's all sufficient.
El Royi.
The God who sees me.
El Elyon.
God most high.
Names for God throughout the scriptures.
Over and over again.
And now in this verse,
El Gabor.
Mighty God.
It's one of his titles.
It's who God is.
And here, don't miss what's so obvious
that we could easily look over it.
Who gets the title?
Who in this passage is the mighty God?
It's the promised baby in the manger, isn't it?
It's Jesus.
The reality of the promised child being divine
is evident in all four of these titles.
We talked last week of Wonderful Counselor,
that Jesus was to be one with wisdom
that was supernatural beyond human comprehension.
But the divine nature of the promised child
is most clear in this title of God himself
given to Jesus.
Mighty God.
When we talk about that mystery
of Jesus being the mighty God,
we talk about it in terms of him being fully God
and fully man, right?
A reality that in some ways
defies our complete comprehension.
But what's happened in recent decades
is that there's been a move away
from appreciating that mystery
and towards trying to take it and say,
here's how we'll handle this mystery.
It's actually that Jesus was not divine at all.
In fact, he never claimed to be.
And so, many people,
particularly many scholars,
even those who would identify themselves
as Christians
and claim to follow the moral teachings of Jesus,
they've argued that being divine
was simply not on Jesus' radar at all.
It was something made up by his followers
after he was gone.
And that this is what he meant
and this is what he would have claimed.
And this is standard fare these days
in religious studies courses
on college campuses.
It's standard fare in many divinity schools.
And so, because those of us
who started hearing this
when we were in school
are getting older now,
it's standard fare among our friends
and our neighbors
and those we do life with.
That this is what we're supposed to believe.
And I say to you this morning,
the significance of Jesus' deity
is of such fundamental importance
to our faith.
It's foundational to all of the early church creeds
and confessions of the church.
That Jesus was fully God
and fully man
has been vital
to what it means to be a Christian.
It's worth talking about
for a few minutes this morning.
To be honest with you,
it astounds me
that scholars can look honestly
at the New Testament
and choose sometimes to ignore
the myriad ways
Jesus claims to be divine
and to concoct other explanations
for things that are more easily explained
by that single fact.
Where do we see Jesus as mighty God
in the Gospels?
There's a number of ways.
I'll mention just a couple of them this morning.
First, He forgives sins.
Look at Luke chapter 5.
You know this story.
You've heard about the paralytic
whose friends loved Him so much
that when they couldn't get Him to Jesus,
what did they do?
They took Him around the side of the building,
climbed up on the roof,
cut a hole,
lowered Him down in front of Jesus,
and He gets there
and Jesus says what?
Verse 20,
Man, your sins are forgiven you.
And the scribes and Pharisees
began to question saying,
Who is this who speaks blasphemies?
Who can forgive sins but God alone?
They get it right.
The scribes and Pharisees,
you should know,
are good ones to follow on these.
They got a good radar
for people blaspheming.
They know when you're claiming to be God
and when Jesus forgives sins,
they said,
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Problem.
Only God can do that.
And they're right, aren't they?
To forgive sins as a whole
can only be done
by one against whom all sin is committed.
I can't forgive your sin
that you committed against somebody else,
can I?
Only the one against whom
the offense has been committed
can forgive the sin.
And they say,
Only God can do that in a general way
and forgive someone's sins.
What does Jesus say?
Why do you question in your hearts?
What's easier to say?
Your sins are forgiven you
or to say,
Rise and walk?
But that you may know
that the Son of Man
has authority on earth
to forgive sins
so that you can all be clear
that I really can do this.
I say to you,
Rise, pick up your bed
and go home.
And he does
and he goes home glorifying God
and they're all amazed
and they glorify God
and they say,
We've seen extraordinary things today.
Not just a man healed
but sins forgiven.
And so when Jesus is questioned,
Hey, you don't have that authority.
He says,
Let me actually not back down
but let me confirm to you
that the Son of Man
has authority on earth
to forgive sins.
I do have that authority
and he demonstrates it.
Another example,
Jesus receives worship
from many who fall or bow before him.
It happens several times.
One of the best ones
is during his triumphal entry
into Jerusalem.
His followers begin to praise him
saying,
Blessed is the King
who comes in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven.
Glory in the highest.
They're praising him.
They're worshiping him
as he comes into the city
on the donkey.
And again,
the Pharisees catch it.
They hear it.
Hey, teacher,
tell them they've gotten it
out of control.
They're getting run away
with this whole worship thing
that you would be God.
Teacher,
tell them to stop saying
such horrible things.
And Jesus says what?
No, it's not that
you misunderstand
what they're saying.
They don't really mean
that I'm God.
The Pharisees,
you misunderstand them.
No, he doesn't say that at all.
He says you misunderstand
who I am.
That I am worthy
of this worship
to the point
that if they stop,
the very stones
will cry out
and worship me.
Be clear about who I am.
I will receive such worship.
One last example.
One of the great demonstrations
of Jesus as mighty God
is his miracles, right?
The wonderful deeds
that he does
that demonstrate
his power and authority.
Things like turning water
into wine.
Like feeding more than
5,000 people
with five loaves of bread
and two fish.
Healing many, many people
of various diseases.
Many of his miracles.
Those miracles, remember,
were written about
in the lifetime
of many people
who witnessed them.
If they were made up later
by his followers,
they would have been
easily repudiated
by people in the towns
where they're recorded
to have taken place.
It would have been easy
to say,
that didn't happen.
He never said that.
That event never took place.
And instead,
they were widely affirmed
and therefore believed.
But the unique thing
about Jesus' miracles
is that he performs them
on his own authority.
Time and again,
he performs miracles
on his own authority.
Now that's strange
because before
and after Jesus,
prophets who performed
wonders and signs
always were quick
to point out
where their power came from.
To say,
oh, this wasn't me.
It was the authority of God
by which this happened.
And Jesus never
gives such explanations.
In fact,
he did quite to the contrary
in many of his miracles.
One example would be
Matthew chapter 8.
He heals a leper.
The leper comes to him
and says,
Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean.
And Jesus said,
don't be confused.
Not me,
but if God's okay with it.
No.
Jesus does what?
Jesus immediately
stretches out his hand
and says,
I will be clean.
And he is.
Jesus says,
it only requires
me willing it.
And the miracle occurs.
My authority is my own.
Because I will it,
you will be clean.
There are many,
many other such proofs
of Jesus' awareness
of his deity
in the Gospels.
He teaches on his own authority
as we saw last week.
He grants eternal life.
He judges mankind.
He applies Old Testament passages
about God to himself
over and over and over again.
He does that.
This is God incarnate.
Emmanuel,
God with us.
The one who has been promised.
The one we've been hoping for.
God is coming to save us.
Here He is.
This distinction
between Jesus being
yet another prophet
or good teacher
and being the eternal Son of God,
the mighty God Himself
is a vital one.
It distinguishes
between world religions
like Islam,
Mormonism,
and Christianity.
It's the distinction
that C.S. Lewis makes
when he gives his famous trilemma
in mere Christianity.
When he says,
Jesus is either liar,
lunatic,
or Lord.
This is the way Lewis says it.
I'm trying here
to prevent anyone
saying the really foolish thing
that people often say
about Jesus.
I'm ready to accept Jesus
as a great moral teacher,
but I don't accept
His claim to be God.
Lewis says,
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 either be
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 your 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 his being
a great human teacher.
He has not left
that open to us.
He did not intend to.
Lewis,
a long committed atheist himself
goes on to say this,
now it seems obvious to me
that he was neither
a lunatic nor a fiend
and consequently,
however strange
or terrifying
or unlikely it may seem,
I have to accept the view
that he was
and is God.
It's a famous argument,
an old one now
and people of course
don't like it anymore.
And the most popular response
right now to this
and this comes from
those who call themselves
Christians
and those who don't,
it's the one I mentioned earlier,
that Jesus never claimed
what the Gospels indicate
and so Lewis has left out
a fourth choice.
Liar, lunatic, Lord
or legend.
Legend, they would say.
He was completely,
it was made up
by his followers.
This guy existed.
There's too much evidence
to deny that
but he didn't really
claim these things.
So the fact that he's God
is a legend.
He can be a good teacher
as long as he never claimed it.
I've begun to show you
why I don't think
that line of thinking
holds any water.
There's much, much more there
we don't have time for
this morning.
But,
this important distinction
is one that we talk about
because it's been
on Jesus' heart.
It's one he wanted
to make clear.
It's been on his heart
since his earthly ministry.
In what may be called
the first public opinion poll,
Jesus asks his disciples,
what are you hearing out there?
Who do people say I am?
In Matthew 16,
they tell him
what they're hearing.
Some say John the Baptist.
Others say Elijah.
Others, Jeremiah,
one of the prophets.
Jesus said to them,
but who do you say
that I am?
Simon Peter replied,
you are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.
Some say John the Baptist,
a great teacher.
Kind of strange,
but a great teacher.
But then you do
all these wonderful deeds
and they've watched you
and they've seen them
and so they say,
oh, it's Elijah,
one of those prophets
that did great signs.
And Jesus turns the question
on them,
who do you say that I am?
And the answer
that Jesus praises
is neither of the ones
that have come from the crowds,
but Peter's declaration
that Jesus is indeed
the Son of the living God,
the anointed King
promised to God's people.
This grasp of His identity,
Jesus says,
is so foundational.
It's the basis of the church
that I'm going to build.
Yes, blessed are you
and I'm going to build my church
right there on you
knowing and understanding
who I am.
The thing I love most
about Jesus' question
to His disciples there
is that it moves us
from the merely theoretical
or theological
to the intensely personal,
doesn't it?
But what about you?
Who do you say that I am?
Not what do the polls say?
Not what do you hear out there?
Who do you say that I am?
And we said last week,
that's what we were going
to ask ourselves
during this series.
As we look at these
four titles of Jesus,
not just what's His identity,
who is Jesus,
but who is Jesus to me?
We want to ask
if we're merely identifying
a great chef
and knowing who He is
or if we're personally
experiencing Him,
actually tasting His food
and personally identifying
and being impacted
by that reality.
Not a mere identity
at arm's length,
but who is Jesus to me?
Isaiah has prophesied
that Jesus will be
the mighty God.
I've argued that Jesus
claimed to be
and is the mighty God,
but is He your mighty God?
Who do you say that He is
and perhaps even more importantly,
who do you experience Him
as in your life?
Let's apply that to our lives.
These first couple
may seem obvious,
but if He is your mighty God,
then He receives
all your worship,
doesn't He?
All of it.
Do you live as though
He's worthy of all honor
and praise?
Do you worship Him like that
when you are in this room?
Do you worship Him like that
when you leave this room?
Do you pray to Him
as though He actually is
strong to help you?
As though nothing is too hard for Him?
As though He really intervenes
in the world that He has created
and would do that in your life?
Do you pray to Him like that?
Is He actively and practically
your mighty God?
Do you seek to obey Him
in everything?
If He's just a good teacher
or an inspirational leader,
had some good things to say,
then you can follow
the things you like
and the places you don't understand
or don't like,
you can just leave Him out
like you would with anybody else, right?
If that's all He is,
then take what you like
and leave the rest.
But if He's God,
then I must follow all of it, right?
We say, sure, of course,
yeah, right,
but do we live like that?
Are there areas of your life
where you'd prefer
to stay on the throne,
where you've decided
you know best,
where you're committed
to doing it one way
regardless of what His Word says?
I'd ask you this morning,
are you regularly seeking
to know Him
and His heart for you more?
Do you hunger for this
in a way that you want to know
what Jesus would have
to say into my life
or only on the times
when you want to look good
or when you really feel confused?
Is He actively and practically
your mighty God?
Worship Him.
Obey Him.
And finally,
trust Him
in every situation.
John Calvin says
that's what Jesus being
the mighty God is about.
That the big takeaway from this
is that we may now
rely on Him with safety.
That He is strong for us
and for our salvation
in every circumstance.
We can trust that.
And we're going to get
to talk more about this
in the next couple of weeks.
But Isaiah here in chapter 9
sees God's people.
What He says is coming for them
is they're going to be oppressed.
He sees them as weak.
He sees them as failing.
And that's where God's people
are going to be,
Isaiah says,
when this prophecy comes true.
And it's going to be
to those oppressed,
weak, failing people
that to us,
a son is born.
To us, Isaiah says,
there's a child coming
and He's going to be given to us.
Do you see the glory
of what He's saying?
Do you see God's solution
to our problems
and our weakness and failing?
The mighty God
has come to us.
The point we noticed
at the beginning
that the title is given
to a baby in a manger,
come to earth
to walk among us,
to suffer with us.
He has given Himself
to us.
That's the child
Isaiah is speaking of.
Listen, friends,
God is indeed
strong
and mighty.
He is great
and powerful.
But He's not removed
and distant
from you.
He's not a theoretical
mighty God.
He has entered in.
He has come
to be
your mighty God
to rescue
you.
Every other religion
in the world
seeks to say,
how do we get to God?
Every idea
we come up with,
how do we get to God?
And biblical Christianity
says the story
is about this.
God came to you.
He came to give Himself
for you.
Isaiah says,
the baby you're going
to celebrate
this Christmas
who will enter your pain
and walk on this earth
is God Himself.
God is
the mighty
God.
The good news
of the gospel
again today.
You've heard it before.
It's the same
good news.
It's that the mighty God,
the creator
of the universe
has moved
towards you,
has been born
in a stable
for you,
has died
on a cross
for you,
is coming again
to take you
to be with Him
and has set
this table
before you
to invite you
to commune with Him
and be His friend.
That's the good news
of the gospel.
That's what it means
for Jesus
to be the mighty God
who created it all,
who reigns over
all of it today,
for whom nothing
is too hard.
He's come
to you.
Emmanuel,
God
with us.
that's what we celebrate
at this table.
That's what it reminds us
of.
That He is strong
for us.
We can trust Him.
He's come to be with you.
He's not waited for you
to get stronger,
to figure it out,
to clean yourself up.
He's come
to give Himself
for you
in your weakness,
in your sin,
in your refusal
to acknowledge Him
as God.
Jesus comes to you,
gives Himself
for you,
and invites you
to eat
with Him.
The
mighty God.
On the night
He was betrayed,
Jesus took bread
and broke it
and said,
this is My body
which is for you.
Do this
in remembrance
of Me.
In the same way
also He took the cup
after supper
saying,
this cup is the new covenant
in My blood.
Do this as often
as you drink it
in remembrance
of Me.
For as often
as you eat this bread
and drink this cup,
you proclaim
the Lord's death
until He comes.
Because He desired
so strongly
to have
a relationship
with you,
and because
you weren't strong enough
to get to Him,
the mighty God
came to you
and gave Himself
for you.
He came to meet with you.
He set the table
this morning.
He extended the invitation
and said,
come,
come eat with Me.
If you've known that,
if you've known Jesus
as the mighty God,
if you've known Him
as the only way
to have your relationship
with your heavenly Father
restored,
then come
and eat
with great joy
this morning.
If you hear
some of these things
and what Jesus claims
and what God's Word says
and you think,
I don't know about that.
That seems a little far-fetched.
If you're not sure
who Jesus is
or who He is
to you personally,
then I'd encourage you
not to come to this table
but to consider
the claims of Jesus.
It's a matter,
we believe,
of life and death,
of eternity
to take some time
to consider that
as something we should all do.
Who is Jesus?
What do I do
with someone
who walks on this earth
and claims to be
God Himself?
If He is indeed
the mighty God,
then when He says
no one comes to the Father
except by Me,
He's inviting you.
He's inviting you
to come
to know
the God
who made you,
to know the God
who loves you,
to know Him
through
Jesus Himself.
It would be a great honor
for any of us
to talk with you
about Him this morning.
Please grab one of us.
We'd love to talk with you
about Jesus.
Pray with me
and then we'll come
to the table together.
Lord Jesus,
You
are the reason
that we are able
to fellowship
with our Father.
You're the reason
that He has been able
to adopt us
into His family
because You
have paid
for our sins,
because You
have provided
our perfect righteousness.
We give You
thanks and praise
this morning.
Would You set
these elements aside
from a common use
to a sacred one
in our hearts
that would push us
to remember
what You've done for us
and to rejoice again
in a God
who would give Himself
for us.
We ask it in Your name.
Amen.
Jesus,
on the night
He was betrayed,
took bread
and He broke it
and gave it
to His disciples.
As I,
ministering in His name,
give this bread to you,
He said,
take, eat.
This is My body
broken for you.
Do this
in remembrance of Me.
In the same way,
after supper,
He took the cup
and said,
this cup is the new covenant
in My blood
shed for many
for the remission
of sins.
Drink from it,
all of you.
Our host team
will usher us
to the front
and to the back
and we will feast together.
Come,
taste and see
that the Lord is good
and has come to you.
For more information,
visit us online
at southwood.org.
Thank you.
You're all right.
You're right.
What to do on your mind,
pat for you?
You're right.
Take care.
You're right.
Pat.
Get ready to meet me,
vers constante,
and to the back
and see you,
in all you have to
need to read,
increase the swear
for the evil now.
해야 justice over you.
All right.
Take care.
See you.
Mayan city.