Sermon
Notes December 11, 2011
FBCam

Mighty
God: The Power of Jesus to Transform Our Lives

Isaiah
9:6

Could
things be different at Christmas this year?

Could
this be the year that we overcome our anger?

Could
this be the year that we learn to submit to the Lord?

Could
this be the year that we forgive?

Could
this be the year that we find our satisfaction in God, and not our
possessions?

We
have been studying the Names of Jesus from Isaiah 9 in our series
“A.K.A. Jesus.” Today we come to the second of four
compound names, the title MIGHTY GOD. These names draw our attention
to four aspects of the coming Messiah:

Wonderful
Counselor – the PERSON of Christ

Mighty
God – the POWER of Christ

Everlasting
Father – the PROMISES of Christ

Prince
of Peace – the PEACE of Christ

Let’s
begin our study by looking at the words for Mighty God. This is a
compound of two Hebrew names. The name “El” which stands
for God. It is the name of God that is most often used and appears
in the form Elohim, normally translated God in our English texts.

The
second part of the name is the Hebrew word “Gibbor. Taken
together, these form the name “El Gibbor.” It is a title
that presents to us the power of the one who would come as our
Messiah.

The
word for power, “gibbor,” is used of MEN. It is used of
Nimrod.
Genesis 10:9 "He
was a mighty hunter before the Lord.
Gibbor is also used of David’s
mighty men
(1 Chron 11:15-19). It can mean “one
who magnifies himself, behaves proudly, a tyrant, who is bold,
audacious” (Brown,
Drivers, Briggs).

This
name is also used of GOD. Three occurrences are found in Psalm 145,
where the Lord is portrayed as a mighty warrior who rescues his
people. Psalm
145:4 "One
generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare
your MIGHTY acts."
Psalm
145:11 "They
shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your POWER.”
Psalm
145:12 "to
make known to the children of man your MIGHTY DEEDS, and the glorious
splendor of your kingdom."

Men
can be powerful, but God holds all power to deliver his people.

When
the word Gibbor and the name for God are combined, it provides a
compound word for God demonstrating His POWER and WISDOM.

In
Isaiah 9:6 the Messiah is given the name EL GIBBOR as a powerful
demonstration of the DEITY of the MESSIAH. Because the Messiah is
given the description El Gibbor, it means that the Messiah is equal
with God, because only GOD is the ALMIGHTY.

Deuteronomy
10:17 "For
the Lord
your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and
the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe."

Psalm
24:8 "Who
is this King of glory? The Lord,
strong and mighty, the Lord,
mighty in battle!"

Another
way in which this phrase demonstrates Christ’s deity is that
the only other use of compound name “El
Gibbor” is
found in Isaiah
10:21 "A
remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God."
This verse refers to the FATHER, making the coming Christ equal
with the Father.

The
promise to Judah in Isaiah 9:6 was that God would demonstrate his
POWER and deliver his people through the Messiah. This same message
is important for us as we trust Jesus to accomplish impossible things
in our lives.

How
is JESUS the MIGHTY GOD?

We
need to look to the New Testament to discover the ways in which the
power of Jesus is described. There are six ways in which Christ’s
power is described in the New Testament. These descriptions teach us
that Christ wants to give us power for living, and the power to
inherit the promises he has in store for us.

First,
we see Christ’s Creative
Power

1
Corinthians 8:6 "yet
for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came
and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things came and through whom we live."

Colossians
1:16 "For
by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or
authorities; all things were created by him and for him."

Hebrews
1:2 "but
in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed
heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."

The
second concept of Christ’s power is his Resurrection
Power

Romans
1:4 "and
was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of
holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,"

Philippians
3:10 "that
I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death,"

Colossians
2:12 "having
been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your
faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead."

Thirdly,
we commonly find reference to the Transformation
Power
of Christ. He has the power to change our lives!

Romans
6:4 "We
were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that,
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
we too might walk in newness
of life."

2
Peter 1:3 "His
divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and
goodness."

Colossians
1:29 "To
this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully
works in me."

Colossians
2:10 "and
you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every
power and authority."

Fourth,
when we read about the power of Christ, it is often associated with
the message of the Gospel. This is the Gospel
Power
that is available to all who believe in Jesus.

Romans
1:16 "I
am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the
Gentile."

1
Corinthians 1:17 "For
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not
with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of
its power."

Ephesians
3:7 "I
became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace
given me through the working of his power."

1
Thessalonians 1:5 "because
our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power,
with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived
among you for your sake."

Colossians
1:22–23 "But
now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through
death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from
accusation— " "if you continue in your faith,
established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.
This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to
every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a
servant."

The
fifth way in which the New Testament often speaks of Christ’s
power is the Indwelling
Power that
Christ gives to his followers. This indwelling power is often a
theme in the Prayers of Paul for his friends. Paul prays that they
would appropriate all of the power that Christ has promised to them.
It raises an important question for us: Are we experiencing the power
of the indwelling Christ in our daily lives?

Colossians
1:10–11 "And
we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and
may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work,
growing in the knowledge of God, "being strengthened
with all power according
to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and
patience, and joyfully"

Ephesians
1:18–21 "I
pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order
that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of
his glorious inheritance in the saints, and
his incomparably great power for
us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty
strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead
and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above
all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can
be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come."

Ephesians
3:20 "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,"

2
Thessalonians 1:11 "With
this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you
worthy of his calling, and that by
his power he
may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by
your faith."

Creative
power

Resurrection
power

Transformation
power

Gospel
power

Indwelling
power

The
power of Christ is available to every believer! But it is only
accessed through FAITH. Colossians
2:12 "having
been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through
your faith in the power of God, who
raised him from the dead."

It
is this kind of faith that Jesus speaks of in Matthew
17:20 "He
replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the
truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to
this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will
move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew
21:21 "Jesus
replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not
doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also
you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the
sea,’ and it will be done."

Jesus
offers us the power of EL GIBBOR, the Almighty God. Through faith,
Christ will empower us to move the mountains in our lives. These
mountains are the things that seem immovable to us.

What
are YOUR MOUNTAINS?

We
believe that Jesus rose again by the power of God, But we don’t
believe that things will ever change in our
marriage.

We
believe that God can forgive our sins and adopt us into his family,
But we don’t believe that he has the power to change
our attitudes and
sinful
hearts.

It’s
easier to believe in things related to eternity than things related
to this earth. Eternity is out there. But our relationships, our
problems, our fears, our temptations, our bills and our health are
all things that are HERE.

God
can give you the power to overcome
your adversity

God
can give you the power to trust
him when
things
are falling apart

God
can give you the power to overcome
your troubling temptation

God
can give you the power to forgive
the
person who hurt you so deeply

God
can give you the power to be
content with
the things that He provides

God
can give you the power to trust
your spouse after
they have failed you

God
can give you the power to change
your behavior

God
can give you the power
to love him,
even though someone is seeking to destroy you

During
the end of King Saul’s reign, a small group of brave Hebrew
soldiers demonstrated their faith in God to do something impossible.
The story is told in 1 Samuel 31. Saul and Jonathon had been killed
in battle – the Lord’s judgment on Saul for his sinful
practices. In shame and disgrace, their bodies were hung on the city
walls of a small hilltop city called Beth Shean. The men of the
nearby Jewish city Jabesh-Gilead conducted a daring night-time
mission to retrieve the bodies of King Saul and Jonathon.

Beth
Shan lies along the Jordan valley, half way between the city of
Jericho and the Sea of Galilee. In the time of Jesus it was a major
Roman establishment, part of the Decapolis, the group of ten cities
in the Jordan and trans-Jordan region. While visiting the ruins of
first century Beth Shean, I saw the original city, much smaller in
size and situated on a high hill overlooking the ruins of the Roman
built Beth Shean. I climbed the hill to the ruins of ancient Beth
Shan and realized that the men Jabesh-Gilead had to climb this same
hill, completely exposed to the city occupants. A teenage girl with
a hand full of rocks could have repelled their rescue attempt! They
had to trust completely in God’s deliverance to complete this
mission, or they would die.

The
men of Jabesh-Gilead demonstrated complete confidence in God – If he
did not help them there was no other hope. There was no “plan
B.” It is this kind of confidence and faith that characterizes
great men and women of faith. Do you have that kind of confidence
that unless God helps, your plans will fail? It is both challenging
and exciting to follow God in these situations in life.

At
an earlier time in Israel’s history, the entire nation was in
peril. At the
Red Sea, Israel was in a position that only God could help them.
Moses proclaimed, "The
Lord
is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God,
and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him."

Exodus 15:2
The
Lord delivered them when there was no other hope.

Other
passages demonstrate this kind of complete confidence in God:

2
Chronicles 14:11 “Lord,
there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty.
Help us, O Lord
our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against
this vast army. O Lord,
you are our God; do not let man prevail against you.”

Psalm
118:14 "The
Lord
is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

Isaiah
12:2 "Surely
God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord,
the Lord,
is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”

Have
faith in MIGHTY GOD for the IMMOVABLE THINGS in your life.