“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6
Wow! That was fast, wasn’t it? If any part of 2020 could be considered short, it was the Christmas season. I hope you were able to bask in the enjoyment of the Christmas lights, the music, the movies, the gifts. All of those things are a fun part of the season, and they were much needed this year. But most of all, I hope that Christ was at the center of your Christmas celebration.
While Christmas 2020 is on the books, the Christ of Christmas is eternal. So, I’d like to spend just a little more time contemplating the nature of Jesus, foretold in Isaiah 9:6: our “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The second title of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6, “Mighty God,” highlights Jesus’ power.
“Mighty” is a translation of the Hebrew word “Gibbor,” which is defined as “strength; power; hero; warrior.” Isaiah 9:6 tells us that Jesus is El Gibbor: the God of Strength, the God of Power, God our Hero, and God our Warrior. Do you need strength in your life? Do you need a hero to deliver you? Do you need a warrior to help you fight and win your battles? Jesus is your man, because Jesus is El Gibbor—Mighty God. The New Testament confirms that Jesus is, in fact, the mighty, all-powerful God who created the universe. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3). And “all things were created by him and for him…and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).
So, how should you and I respond to our Mighty God, Jesus Christ?
1. You should TRUST our Mighty God. It’s not enough to just believe in Jesus Christ. You have to trust in him. After all, Satan believes in Jesus, but he refuses to trust in Jesus. As a consequence, he will never experience the power of Jesus’ goodness and grace. Jesus Christ isn’t just wise enough to give you the solutions to your problems; he is strong enough to carry out those solutions. He is strong enough to deliver you from your problems, strong enough to heal you from your diseases, and strong enough to save you from your sins. So, trust him. Jesus Christ is mighty to save.
2. You should LOVE our Mighty God. When Jesus was asked in Matthew 22:36, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the [Old Testament] Law?” Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” And how exactly do we do that? Well, remember that love is not an emotion, although it includes emotions. Love is a choice. Love is a decision. Love is an action. We choose to love Jesus Christ by spending time in his word and in prayer every day. And the number-one way we can show our love to Jesus Christ is by obeying Jesus Christ. We must do what he says. Jesus tells us plainly in John 14:15: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
3. You should SERVE our Mighty God. One of the greatest Christians in the New Testament was the Apostle Paul. He was a great leader in the Church. But more than anything else, he just wanted to be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. He wanted at the end of his life to hear Jesus speak to him those six glorious words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Paul understood that Jesus came to earth as a baby not to be served, but to SERVE. And Paul urges us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps as a servant. As he wrote in Philippians 2:5-8, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant … he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Jesus Christ was born here on earth to be the lowest of the low, to be the servant of servants, because he loved us and wanted to set an example of how we should humbly serve each other. But make no mistake about it: Jesus Christ is our Mighty, All-powerful God. He is our God Warrior. He is our God Hero.
There is no obstacle in your life too big for Him to move. There is no disease in your body that is too advanced for Him to cure. And there is no sin in your life that is too sinful for Him to forgive. As you trust, love and serve him, you can stand and say with the Apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). What a Mighty God we serve!
Dane Davis is the Pastor
of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our online worship service
tomorrow at 10 a.m. at
greaterimpact.cc, on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church), or on
Facebook. For more
information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.