That Isaiah would call the infant child “Mighty God” in chapter 9:6, assumes an unbelievable journey from heaven to earth that absolutely boggles our imagination. But it was a journey the mighty God had to take—for how else would Jesus be crucified unless he had hands and feet to be nailed? How else would he wear the crown of thorns unless he had a head? How else would he bleed unless he had a vascular system? How else would he die unless he had a beating heart that could stop?
Only a mighty God could accomplish this. He had all the power of the universe at his disposal, and he chose to take this power to become one of us in the most humble sense. He could have chosen a palace, but he chooses a barn. He could have chosen kinds and queens so he can be born an earthly prince, but he chooses Nazarene peasants. He could have chosen to be a military hero and conquer the world by the sword, but Jesus chooses the cross. And he took his infinite soul and he piled it with our sins, our guilt, and our death—and by his mighty power—he took it to the grave and he reclaimed his life in the resurrection.
Mighty God—Jesus was indeed Mighty God. But unlike other mighty dictates who use their power to rule and conquer, Jesus used his might to empty himself. What a profound irony—that Jesus proves himself mightiest by becoming less and less until he submitted himself even unto death.
- an excerpt of the message on 12/14
P.Dihan
December 18, 2008 at 5:59 pm |
Hey ODPC!
Aloha from the beautiful Hawaiian Islands!
This post is an indirect response to D’s message.
We serve an awesome and mighty God who blesses us everyday with His mercy and grace.
We need to continue to make God “huge” in our lives, as times are getting desperate for many people. God is not into “bailouts” as we here in the media, but a “recreation and renewal” of our society.
I’d like to share a personal story of how God has blessed my family over the past year. My wife and I got married in June and since then, we’ve accumulated a massive amount of debt ($15,000). We struggled to pay off outstanding debts and other obligations. We continued in earnest prayer, despite people telling us that we should take drastic measures. Despite our setbacks, we faithfully tithed every pay check and ensured that we never lost faith that God would provide. In essence, God was “mighty” in every aspect of our lives. Long story short, we were able to receive $15,000 from a mixture of government bonds and other funds that we never expected. Although we could’ve paid off 100% of our debt, we immediately tithed that money as well. I believe there is a reason why God allowed us to struggle. Beyond teaching us the simple lesson of perseverance, He wanted to “work” our faith! He presented to us the opportunity to exercise every faith-muscle so we could solely trust in Him to take care of us. Granted, we are not completely out of the hole, but everyday we engage in earnest prayer asking God to make us whole.
There is no rhyme or reason to everything God does, but we recognized that He was mighty in our lives. As soon as we did that, we reaped the blessings of being “good and faithful” servants. If we never underweant this storm, complacency would have created no urgency for our faiths to grow. In fact, our faith would’ve been stagnant. There were points during this time where we thought there was no hope as we would look at our monthly statements. However, we quickly set our eyes upon Jesus and read Scripture to reaffirm our faith that God would always provide.
God may not necessarily remove our storms in life, but he will carry us through every step of the way to ensure that we make it out okay. I’m so encouraged by the testimonies of so many people I’ve come across in all walks of life. Testimonies that confirm I serve a truly mighty God who is control of every single situation.
One concern that I have is that I, at times, make God smaller in my life. Part of what it means to have true Lordship is to believe that God is control of every aspect of your life. I’ve learned that earnest prayer means that you believe that God will answer your prayers even though in the end He may not. If someone is on the deathbed, I’m going to pray for healing and miracles even though He may have another plan. I’ve learned to pray with conviction that all that I ask will come to pass. There’s no room for prayers that are weak in my life!
December 20, 2008 at 12:32 pm |
Wow. Thanks for the post. Powerful testimony especially in these financial times!!