Our Trustworthy King: Mighty God

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?

Joshua 6 · chapter mention

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.

Judges 7 · chapter mention

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,

Isaiah 37 · chapter mention

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 · chapter mention

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.

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,

Luke 2 · chapter mention

turn there with me,

Luke chapter 2,

Luke 2 · chapter mention

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,

Luke 2 · chapter mention

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

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

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,

Luke 23:35

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.

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.

Amen.