We are Awaiting: The Mighty God
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
When we think about “might” what do we think about?
The first one that comes to mind is mighty mouse
If this didn’t come to mind, we need to talk about your inner childhood spirit!
Some of us probably thought about our guy, Rambo
Or other things such as the atom bomb and the damage that that caused!
Regardless, we all probably had thoughts of great magnitude pop into our minds.
When I think about Christ as the “Mighty God,” I am not going to lie in that I struggle understanding the might of God. I will share more of this a little later.
Let’s start with looking at the Hebrew word...
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
So, the phrase “mighty God” is
“el gibbor” - mighty or strong in reference to a strong military leader
This name in an of it itself doesn’t point to the divinity of Christ as many names include the names of God in them.
However, the fact that it is also used to describe God Himself in Isaiah 10:21 later does mean that He is closely associated with God.
We know from John 10:30 that Jesus and the Father are “one,” and
We will take Hebrews 1:3-4 literally....
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
Therefore, we can take this name for Jesus literally.
Jesus is literally “The Mighty God”
And, since we believe this, there are 4 things that we want to go over today:
He has all power and authority
He will judge according to His power and Authority
He will save according to His power and authority
He gives us power and authority
1. He Has All Power And Authority
1. He Has All Power And Authority
In Deuteronomy 10 we read about the Israelites who have been saved from captivity in Egypt.
Moses is their leader and has gone atop mount Sinai to meet with God. He spends 40 days and nights there and has nothing to eat or drink.
God gives him the 10 commandments and then tells him that the people have really messed up, they have made a idol and turned their bakcs on HIm.
He tells Moses to “go” that He will destroy them and “blot out their name from heaven.”
Moses goes down the mountain and sure enough, they had made a huge golden calf. Moses gets mad and breaks the tablets. He lectures the people and then falls prostrate before God for 40 days begging Him not to destroy His people …He says
19 I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me.
The Lord listens to Moses and says
Deuteronomy 10:1–22 (NIV)
1 At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark. 2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark.” 3 So I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 4 The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I came back down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made, as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now. 6 (The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest. 7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water. 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister and to pronounce blessings in his name, as they still do today. 9 That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as the Lord your God told them.) 10 Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you. 11 “Go,” the Lord said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.” 12 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? 14 To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. 20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. 21 He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. 22 Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
God has the power and authority to breath the breath of life into Adam. And He has the power and Authority to wipe out entire nations of people and the entire world.
When I submitted my life to Christ, and for a long time after, I didn’t really understand the power of God.
And, to be fair, I still don’t, it’s a growing thing.
When I came to Christ, it really wasn’t in awe of how awesome He is in power, it was because of the hurt that He went through for me. I was super focused on His love.
In fact, it was the lyrics of the song “Above All” by Michael W. Smith
Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began
Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what You're worth
Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose, trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all
Those lyrics broke me. It was the imagery of Christ being a trampled rose that got to me.
I came to Him because of the love that He has for me.
And for a long time, that is how I built my relationship with Christ.
That part is true! He does love us that much!
Also, it’s true that He is a God of power and authority.
And when Jesus came to earth, He embodied this same power and authority...
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
He had all authority and power when He walked with us. And He still has all power and authority while He walks with us!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Paul doesn’t say that almost every knee will bow....or that only the Christian knees will bow....
No! Paul says that every knee will bow....and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!
Jesus came with the same power and authority as the Father.
This leads us into point number 2....
2. He Will Judge According to His Power and Authority
2. He Will Judge According to His Power and Authority
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
The truth is, we will all face the judgement of God!
What we do and what we say matters!
Who likes to watch all those crime and law shows?
In those shows they are always trying to get as much evidence a suspect before they go to court.
In court, they will be judged based on the evidence that they find.
As they are building a case, they will get a detective, they will interview the suspect, the will interview witnesses, they will look at patterns of behaviors....
They will do whatever they can to come up with as much evidence as they can to determine if a person is guilty or not.
And, the person will be judged. They will be determined guilty if they can prove “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that the person committed the crime.
Well, for God, He doesn’t need to hire a detective. He doesn’t need to talk to witnesses, He doesn’t need to interview us.....
He knows already. There is no hiding from Him!
We can’t wear gloves to hide our fingerprints, or wipe down the crime scene, to get away from God!
We can’t run a hide, hoping that He will never find us!
He has all knowledge. And He has all power an authority.
In His sight, we are guilty!
God’s first judgement on us has already been cast....
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 (NIV)
23 For the wages of sin is death.....
As the Father has the power and authority to judge, so does Jesus!
26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. 28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.
We sit condemned. And we sit in judgement, but.....
Romans 6:23 (NIV)
...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So, Jesus has the same power and authority as the Father.
And, He judges with the same power and authority..
And....
3. He Will Save According to His Power and Authority
3. He Will Save According to His Power and Authority
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Jesus has the power and the authority to save us!
The question for us is if we are going to continue to sit in that judgement or if we are going to accept His gift of salvation?
When Christ came to earth as the Mighty God, He came not for Himself, but for us.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The judgement of God that we talking about before, came in the form of a baby, wrapped in grace, and mercy, and love. So that we, could “no longer be condemned,” but so that we can be saved, and have life.
This advent, have you repented of your sins? And asked God to save you through faith, by the blood of Christ, and the life of the resurrection?
Don’t sit in judgement, accept the the gift of Jesus and His power to save you!
And finally,
4. He Has Given Us Power and Authority
4. He Has Given Us Power and Authority
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive the power of God!
God has given the power to overcome!
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
He has given us victory over death because of our sin!
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are conquerors…that word means to have complete triumph…and nothing can separate us from the love that is found in Christ Jesus.
We have the power of Christ in us!
Worship Team and Deacons
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
What can we ask Jesus for that He doesn’t have the power to do?
Jesus, could you restore my family?
Jesus, can you heal my broken heart?
Jesus, can you mend a broken relationship with a friend?
Jesus, can you help me to forgive someone who hurt me deeply?
Jesus, can you help me overcome this sin in my life?
Jesus, can you reveal your will for my life?
Jesus, can you help me content with what I have and not long for more?
What is it that Jesus can’t do?
He came as the “Mighty God” with all power and authority. To judge, to save, to love, to forgive, to redeem, to restore, and to give.
He sends His power to dwell within us. And He can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.
I encourage you today to:
Think about the power in Jesus
Think about His judgement on your life
Think about His saving power
And think about His power within you
As we move into communion this morning I was thinking about the reunion Christ had with His disciples in heaven.