Sermon by Pastor Brent Kompelien
December 4, 2022
INTRO
We are continuing our Advent series called “For To Us A Child Is Born” and we are going through the four messianic names from Isaiah 9:6 — Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
We’ve been asking this question: What kind of king do we need? In the darkness of this world, in the struggles of our lives, in the desire for truth, in the reality that we are sinners in need of forgiveness…what kind of King could possibly establish an everlasting kingdom and bring true forgiveness, true hope, true joy, and true peace?
This week we are going to talk about the second name from Isaiah 9:6 — Mighty God.
PROP — And here’s what we are going to learn: The king we need is a King with divine power, with the ability to defeat sin and evil and death, and with superior strength to achieve his purposes for history. In other words, we need a powerful king who exercises God’s power.
ASK — Now, when I say the word “power” what do you think of? Often, we think of power in political terms; power is something you wield over others through controlling money or decision-making. But the Bible uses the word “power” more in the sense of “strength” or “might”…it literally is describing the physical capability of someone or something.
ILLUST — We are living in an era of incredible physical power. Ever since the industrial revolution, we have lived with machines that are capable of unbelievable power.
Think about your own car. Many cars today have somewhere around 200 horsepower or more. It’s funny that we still use horsepower as a measurement for our machines. I can’t imagine having 200 horses attached to the front of my car!
That’s nothing compared to heavy equipment like a tractor. (SLIDE 2) A combine can have over 600 horsepower. I got a chance years ago to ride on a combine at my uncle’s farm up north near Thief River Falls. It was incredible to feel the rumble of this powerful machine as we marched across that wheat field.
But it gets crazier. (SLIDE 3) A single jet engine from a Boeing 777 produces over 30,000 horsepower, or about 100,000 pounds of thrust. That’s why you can move 300 people, their luggage, and 300,000 pounds of fuel down the runway fast enough to get airborne!
If you’re not wowed yet, the machine with the most raw power ever built is the Saturn V rocket that was used for the Apollo moon missions. (SLIDE 4) The five F1 engines on the first stage produced a combined 160 million horsepower, or 7.6 million pounds of thrust. These five engines together consumed over 3000 gallons of fuel per second! This first stage alone has enough power to accelerate a 6.5 million pound spacecraft to over 6,000 mph in under 2.5 minutes!
But friends, for all the raw power that can be unleashed by machines created by human beings, there is nothing stronger and no one more powerful than God! As David wrote in the Psalms, (SLIDE 5) “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom…he determines the number of stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power.”
Put yourself back over 3000 years ago into the ancient near east. (SLIDE 6, blank) Power was also measured in horses! But it wasn’t about horsepower for acceleration, it was about the size of your army and the speed and strength of your horses in battle. You see, the strength of kings was measured by their chariots and horses and warriors. And in the ancient world in the early days of the Israelites, there was no stronger army than the Egyptians and no more powerful ruler than Pharaoh.
So when the Israelites found themselves enslaved by Pharaoh, it was going to take divine intervention to deliver them. Only God himself could save them.
And that’s exactly what happened. When the Israelites had been released from bondage in Egypt, Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued them all the way to the Red Sea. The Israelites’ backs were against the wall. There was nowhere to go. But then God said to Moses, (SLIDE 7) “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.”
And God’s power was displayed as he held back the waters of the sea to make a path for his people. And then the Egyptian army pursued them, but God caused the sea to come crashing down upon them, wiping out the most powerful army in the ancient world in one fell swoop.
The Scriptures go on to say, (SLIDE 8) “When the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.”
You see, when the Bible talks about “power” or “strength” or “might”, it is usually about God’s special divine power as he fights for his people. God’s purposes will not be thwarted; he will win the victory to redeem his people.
(SLIDE 9) Open with me to Exodus 15. I want to introduce you to the great power of God, the Mighty God who has surpassing strength, even to the point of holding back the waters of the Red Sea to deliver his people from the most powerful army and the most powerful ruler on earth, Pharaoh.
ORG SENT — Here’s what I want to do this morning. We are going to read a song in Exodus 15 that describes the power of God, and then use it as a launching point to see how God’s power is displayed through Jesus Christ, the king that we need, the deliverer we need.
Let’s read Exodus 15. This is a song of Moses and the Israelites after the parting of the Red Sea. READ Exodus 15:1-18.
This is a song of deliverance, and I want to look at three simple observations about God’s power from this song.
MAIN 1 — Song of Deliverance (Exodus 15:1-18). (SLIDE 10a)
Here are the three observations we can make about the kind of king we need:
FIRST — We need a king with divine power (vv. 1-3). (SLIDE 10b)
Did you notice how the song begins? The first few verses elevate the Lord as God and emphasize how he is uniquely worthy of praise.
Verse 1 — “he is highly exalted”
Verse 2 — “he is my God, I will praise him”
Verse 3 — “the Lord is a warrior, the Lord is his name”
Throughout these opening verses, it becomes so clear that Moses recognizes his own weakness and admits his inadequacy to save himself! In verse 3 he says, “The Lord is my strength and my defense, he has become my salvation.”
KEY: The foundational thing to recognize is that we need God’s power to save us.
SECOND — We need a king who can fully defeat his enemies (vv. 4-12). (SLIDE 10c)
The whole middle section of the song repeats the story about Pharaoh and the Egyptian army, and the emphasis is on God’s superior power.
I just love this…did you notice how this song describes God’s actions?
Verse 8 — “by the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall, the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.”
Here is the metaphor: God is so powerful that he merely breathes out from his nose, and the waters of the sea stand up like a wall! ILLUST — Breathing out of your nose isn’t a lot of effort, is it? In other words, commanding the ocean to part ways so that the Israelites could walk on dry ground is nothing for God! Its easy!
And in the face of this, verse 9 describes the boast of Pharaoh, but then in verse 10 God simply breathes out again and the sea comes crashing down!
KEY: No matter what difficulty we face or what evil or sin entangles us, we need a king who is fully in control of the outcome and can fully defeat evil and sin.
THIRD — We need a king who will establish his people (vv. 13-18). (SLIDE 10d)
The final way this song talks about God’s power is in His ability to lead his people toward His purposes in the face of opposition in the world.
Verse 13 — “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.”
Then the following verses describe the nations that stood in the way of the Israelites as they marched toward the Promised Land. The Philistines, the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Canaanites will all tremble with fear. Why?
KEY: No matter the opposition we face, God’s people will prevail because God’s presence is with us and God’s power is at work among us.
APPLY
And so friends, when we look to Christmas and to the incarnation of God himself, the Word made Flesh, we need to realize that Jesus is the manifestation of God’s power in living reality. He is the Mighty God who has divine power, who can fully defeat his enemies, and who will establish his people to be with him forever.
But one of the most shocking things about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that the surpassing power of God was displayed in its climax as Jesus, God himself, hung on a cross!
Friends, it is the cross of Christ and his glorious resurrection where the power of God is most perfectly proved in history! Divine power, victory over evil and sin and God’s enemies, and the establishment of a new people of God are achieved in the ultimate expression of self-giving love and raw power ever!
To the world, this doesn’t make any sense. As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The reason the cross has so much power is that it releases us from bondage to sin by an act of grace, it breaks the power of the curse by causing us to be born again, and through the cross Jesus purchased us to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God.
Turn to Ephesians 1:18-23 (SLIDE 10e). I want to read a passage that is my prayer for you. In this prayer, we are going to see the same themes of supremacy of Christ’s power, the defeat of God’s enemies, and the promises of an inheritance for God’s people.
Here’s my concern: Many of us have been going through difficult things this last year. Whether you’ve been dealing with illness, disappointment, financial troubles, sin issues, or things that are outside of your control, we need to hear these words as a drink of cold water. We need to remember that Jesus is the king we need, one who has already exerted his perfect power to redeem us and he promises to see us through whatever circumstances we face.
MAIN 2 — Prayer (Ephesians 1:18-23). (stay on SLIDE 10e)
READ Ephesians 1:18-23.
Friends, Jesus Christ is the only king with divine power, he is the only one who is far above all authority, power, and dominion, and he is the only one who is able to be head of the church and to full us with all his fullness, for his glory.
That means we can let go of trying to gird up our own strength to face our troubles, it means we can stop trying to gain power for ourselves, and it means we can humble ourselves before God no matter what we face.
My prayer for you is that you would say what Moses said, “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him.”
KEY — When your King has perfect power, you don’t have to worry. You don’t have to pretend you’re strong enough. You don’t have to wonder whether you’re too far gone in your sin. You don’t have to fear that evil will win the day.
The king that you need, the king that I need, is a king who is the Mighty God. We need the power of the cross, the surpassing might of the resurrection, and the perfecting work of Jesus by the Spirit of God to bring us into maturity as the Body of Christ, as we await the final outpouring of God’s power when he makes everything new in the new heavens and new earth.
Come quickly Lord Jesus, the Mighty God!