He’s Not a Baby in a Manger Anymore: Mighty God, Part 1
I. He’s Not a Baby in a Manger Anymore
During the coming weeks as we celebrate this Christmas holiday, many of us gather our families around the tree or the fire and retell the story found in the book of Luke. The beginning goes something like this (my paraphrase): “He was born of a young virgin teenager, laid in the animal’s feeding trough, and wrapped in strips of cotton fabric.” The prophesied Messiah’s entry into the world was quite a humble beginning, even for those more primitive times. However, the Jesus that lives today as Isaiah prophesied in chapter 9, verse 6 was to be known as Mighty God.
What are the first words that come out of the mouths of those expectant parents who finally hold their child for the first time? You hear things like, “Isn’t she beautiful?” or “He has your eyes” or “Isn’t he cute?” Very few long-awaited children have the words “Wow, he’s a mighty child” spoken over them, let alone that he or she is a “mighty God.” Isaiah’s words were those used to describe not who He was to be at birth, but who He would become as the full-grown Jesus. This is expressed so wonderfully by one of my favorite songs written by Misty Edwards. In the song “People Get Ready” she tagged a phrase that says, “He’s not a baby in a manger anymore; He’s not a broken man on a cross.” Our Jesus, our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God is no longer to be identified as a baby in a manger or the dying God-man broken on the cross. He is alive and is the all-powerful man, Jesus, who came to seek and save the lost and today is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling and reigning. He is our Mighty God.
II. Jesus is All Powerful
We all use the word “powerful.” We say things like “The President of the United States is powerful” or “That tornado was really powerful.” We may refer to a car’s powerful engine, an orator’s powerful speech, or a hitter’s powerful swing. Yet, we also make statements claiming that God is powerful. It seems odd that we use the exact same word to describe God and the President of the United States. It’s almost as if we need another word to heighten the level of power that God alone holds. Yet that word doesn’t exist in our language; therefore, we are left to find adjectives that describe the greatness of His power.
Jeremiah 32:17 declares that by the great power of His outstretched arms the heavens and the earth were created. Who can claim that sort of power? From there Jeremiah continues saying, “Nothing is too difficult for Him.” During one of the worship times of our month-long outpouring, I can specifically remember a holy moment I experienced while singing the song, “Healer. The bridge from that song repeats the words “Nothing is impossible for You.” While singing those words, I can remember having the thought, “There is no such thing as ‘impossible’ in heaven.” Every impossibility that exists in our minds is non-existent in Heaven. If Heaven had a dictionary, I doubt seriously that we would be able to find the word “impossible” in it.
Maybe your business is failing or you recently lost your job. Perhaps you have received a disturbing diagnosis from your doctor. Perhaps you or someone you know is suffering with the consequences of a collapsing marriage. Our impossibilities are God’s opportunities for the infusion of supernatural power.
At this moment, think of the most impossible thing in your life or in the life of someone else you may know. Ask your Mighty God to work His power on your behalf.
Worship Team Christmas Party 2008
LS College Christmas 2008
Questions to Consider: Wonderful Counselor, Part 4
- Read Luke 5:27-32. For whom did Jesus come? In what area of your life are you “sick?” (Be honest. What is your deepest struggle, fear, hurt, or addiction?)
- So many people don’t do what the doctors or counselors suggest. What is Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, leading you to do? Be specific. As the group to pray for you and hold you accountable to follow through on His direction.
How To Approach the Counselor: Wonderful Counselor, Part 3
If you ask any counselor what one of the biggest frustrations about their job is, at the top of the list would be that their patients don’t do what they ask them to do. I know as a pastor, I have experienced this when at times I have advised people to do certain things. Yet, for whatever reason, they choose not to heed my advice. How many of us approach Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, the same way. We cry out and ask for help. We beg for resolution and relief. We say we’re desperate, yet we fail to respond when directed. In any counseling situation, there are a few keys.
· Be brutally honest with the Counselor. Honesty is the key to freedom. If we can’t be honest with ourselves and with our Wonderful Counselor, there is no hope of freedom. Psalms 55:22 reminds us that we are to cast all of our cares upon the Lord. Why? Because He cares. He cares about every situation. Many times in the counseling process, we are asked a question like Jesus asked the Samaritan woman in John 4. When asked about her husband, the woman responded that she didn’t have a husband. She was honest in the literal sense because she didn’t have a husband, but she wasn’t brutally honest. She knew what He was asking, but she didn’t tell the whole story. What’s amazing is that even in her lack of brutal honesty, Jesus had a way of getting to the truth. He prophetically spoke into her situation. Jesus knew that honesty and truth was key to her freedom. Where are you not being completely and brutally honest with the Wonderful Counselor?
· Listen to the Counselor’s voice. At the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the Father spoke of the importance of listening to His Son’s voice. He said in Mark 9:7, “This is My Son . . . listen to Him.” Jesus reiterated this in John 10:27 as he likened us to sheep. He said, “My sheep listen to my voice . . . and they follow me.” If we are to be completely healed of every sickness (physical and spiritual), we must listen to the voice of Counselor. This is easy to do when we like what the Counselor asks of us. This is easy when we agree with the Counselor. But what about the times when he asks us to give up something sacred and precious to us? Then what? Do we continue to listen or do we do tune him out? Where are you refusing to listen to the voice of your Counselor?
· Do what the Counselor tells you to do. You’ve all heard it — obedience brings the blessing. Obedience is easy when it’s easy. The true test of obedience is when what we’re asked to do what is hard. It’s hard when we are asked to do something that is uncomfortable. It’s hard when it hurts. It’s hard when we have to sacrifice what is most precious. Ask Abraham about obedience when asked to sacrifice the promised son, Isaac, on the altar. Ask Noah about obedience when he’s told to built an ark when he’s never seen rain. Ask David about obedience when, as a teenager, he faces a giant that everyone in the land fears. Ask Peter about obedience when threatened with jail and ultimately the taking of his life. Obedience in all these cases brought great freedom and great blessing. However, in Mark 10, when a man was asked to sell everything as an act of obedience, he left sad because he wasn’t willing to do what Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, asked him to do. Where have you been disobedient to what the Counselor has asked you to do?
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