THE MIGHTY GOD

Isa. 9:6

Morning Meditation 10/21/17

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

I want us to look at just three words in this great text in Isaiah. Several names are given to our Lord by Isaiah. Names in the Old Testament tell a story of the character of the baby from birth to adulthood. Jesus has many names each of which tell of the different aspects of His character and the ministry that He will have in this world for His Father. Matthew 1:20-23 says, "But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Joseph was in the dark as to the pregnancy of Mary to whom he was engaged. So the angel of the Lord came to clear up some things for him. The angel spoke to him in a dream and said,

1. "Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." This cleared up the matter of conception. So Joseph cooperated and took Mary to be his wife.

2. The angel told Joseph that She would have a son. We have equipment today where the doctor can, most of the time, tell if the baby will be a boy or a girl. But just as Solomon said that there is nothing new under the sun, the angel said to Joseph, "she shall bring forth a son."

3. The angel of the Lord instructed Joseph what to name this baby son: "thou shalt call his name Jesus." Jesus is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew Joshua, i.e., Saviour.

4. The angel explains why he will be named Jesus: "for he shall save his people from their sins."

5. The angel revealed that this baby named Jesus was to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament Prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Now in the New Testament the angel of the Lord added these words, "which being interpreted is, God with us." This complicates things for the humanist. But it is not complicated for the Bible believing plain ordinary man. God says it and we believe Him.

The Bible is literally filled with truths that can only be understood by faith. A good illustration of this truth is in Hebrews 11:3, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." It doesn't say, "through science." It says, "Through faith." And that is that!!!

So Isaiah says that His name is, "The Mighty God." Let's look at a few places where His might is revealed:

HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE

Isaiah 63:1 says, "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save."

This is a prophecy concerning Jesus. He is recognized as One who is mighty to save.

There are some things Jesus had to do to be called "The Mighty God."

1. To be mighty to save Jesus had to have the strength. John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. "He is Creator of all things. Look at the stars. Consider the universe that we live in. We are told that there are millions of other universes larger than ours.

All might and power belong to Jesus. Think of how creation took place. Psalm 33:6, "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Psalms 33:9, "For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." This is might beyond human comprehension.

The words "He spake" mean, "to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend. It is in the perfect tense. This means that it happened in the past, and it remains true. All God has to do to create is to think, and His thought represents His desire, and His desire moves to a spoken Word, and the spoken Word becomes immediately what God thought, i.e., a perfect universe.

Jesus has no trouble saving sinners. He has the power. Isaiah calls Him, "The Mighty God."

2. There is another place where His strength is emphasized with reference to the salvation of man. We are told in Hebrews 7:25, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." The word "able" in this verse comes from the word from which we get our word dynamite. He has the inherent power within Him to save us from sin and secure us against all of Satan's attempts to get us back in his kingdom.. When Jesus intercedes for us in the matter of salvation, He speaks the words of intercession, His Words of intercession is in essence irresistible power, that irresistible power births one into the family of God, and that irresistible power becomes the eternal protection of the new born babe.

3. Someone may say, "What if we fall?" Jude 1:24 says, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy," The word "able" is from the same word mentioned above. He is the dynamite of God with the power to blow all our enemies including Satan to oblivion. Satan dare not touch one of the Lord's children without permission. God did grant permission to Satan in the case of Job. Who won out in Job? God upheld Job and he came through the most severe trial man could ever have. Yet he came out victor through JEHOVAH, i.e., Jesus in the Old Testament.

Jesus is "The Mighty God." How absolutely wonderful to have such a powerful Saviour who surrounds us with His power and Love. He is "The Mighty God."

HE IS MIGHTY TO DELIVER

Deuteronomy 3:24 says, "O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?"

I like what Spurgeon said. "Without Christ we perish, but in Christ Jesus there is perfect safety. Noah was so shut in that he could not even desire to come out, and those who are in Christ Jesus are in Him for ever. They shall go no more out forever, for eternal faithfulness has shut them in, and infernal malice cannot drag them out."

They are delivered because Jesus is mighty to deliver. Deuteronomy 7:7-8, "The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt."

Deuteronomy 7:19, "The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid."

The deliverance from bondage is clearly taught in these verses. God is also credited for the power that brought Israel out from under the bondage of Pharaoh.

This is also true of our salvation. Every lost sinner is in bondage to sin. He cannot escape from the cruel bondage of sin and He can't avoid the eternal penalty for the sin.

This is illustrated in the Book of Revelation. Revelation 5:1-5, "And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."

1. Why did John weep? Because the destiny of man is tied up in those seals being loosed and the book opened. John was overwhelmed because no man was found in heaven or in earth that was worthy to open the book.

2. What did the elder say to John? "Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. The word "prevail" translates "nikao" and means, "to conquer; to carry off the victory, come off victorious.

Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Juda. Who did Jesus conquer? Over whom did He prevail? Colossians 2:14-15, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." There are two things over which Jesus is said to have prevailed when He died upon the cross:

- He fulfilled the Law, satisfied it's penalty by dying for the broken commandments and set the believer free from the law's demands. Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." The Law had to do with the flesh. It was something that could be used as a club to make man fear and keep him under the fear of condemnation.

- He conquered Satan once and for all. John 12:31 says, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."

- The risen Christ said to John in Revelation 1:18, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." Whatever authority Satan had was taken away from him by Jesus through His death, burial, and resurrection.

3. Now the way has been cleared for all those things to be fulfilled that are written in the seven sealed book. The seals have to be broken before we get to the millennial kingdom and the New Jerusalem. Someone hold my mules!!! Hallelujah!!!

HE IS MIGHTY TO STRENGTHEN

His strength is manifest in His power to change men's hearts and create them the second time by means of the New Birth. God creates since Adam by procreation. Man has something to do with that, therefore, man is born in sin. That is the creation of the flesh. He creates the second time by creating a new man. Man has nothing to do with this birth. Ephesians 4:24, "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." When the New Man is created, man has nothing to do with it. We find this description of him: 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." The new man is literal but Spiritual.

Jesus is also mighty in the new man practically. Paul said in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." And so can we if we trust Him. The new man is not touched by the flesh, i.e., the old sin nature. The new man is created perfectly. However, we still have to deal with the flesh. I will comment more on that later.

May the Lord add His blessings to these words.

In Christ

Bro. White