During the next few weeks our posts on worship.vintage21.com will focus on preparation for the season of Advent. Please join in the conversation by commenting after posts, or email matt at vintage21.com with questions, ideas, or topics you’re interested in.
Over the past few weeks on this site we’ve noted the small view of Christmas held by many Christians. Jesus is often relegated to the baby in the manger, with other factors holding equal places of importance – the setting in which He was born, His parents, the guests, even the animals. At best, we recognize that this is an amazing act of God – He sent His only Son to be born as a human! We worship the Father in Heaven but find it difficult to worship the baby. Until Jesus grows up and becomes a man, we’ll stick with the Father and Spirit, thank you very much.
Scripture doesn’t leave this as an option. There are four names Isaiah called the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. The difficulty of understanding these names in relation to Jesus as a helpless baby is natural. How can it be that this baby born in a manger is “Mighty God”? Of the four names Isaiah prophesied this is the most difficult to comprehend. The baby could grow into the roles of counselor, father, and prince, but no one grows into the role of Mighty God. In fact, this isn’t a role at all, but denotes the nature of Jesus. @PastorTyler will be preaching from Hebrews 1:1-3 this week, which reads “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” He does not grow into or earn this; it’s who he is. In addition, each name given in Isaiah 9:6 isn’t something he earns, they describe the nature of Jesus.
That Jesus was born as a helpless babe while being Mighty God in his nature is a testimony to God’s power and mercy. It was necessary that Jesus be both God and man in order to absorb the wrath of God and wash away the sins of every believer. Were his mediation as God alone, he would be unable to live a sinless life as a human on our behalf. Thomas Torrance writes it this way: “…the whole work of reconciliation depends upon the fact that one person acts both from the side of God, and from the side of man, both in his divine acts and in his human acts, and that these acts are really and truly identical in the person of the mediator.” The name “Mighty God” implies that Jesus’ holiness and sinless nature was not earned by his works as an adult. Therefore the Christ child is Mighty God, as is God the Father in heaven who sent His Son and the Holy Spirit who was present. They are the same. He is the triune God. If we miss this, we miss the essence of the Three-in-One God.
In preparing for Sunday, consider the helpless babe in the manger as Mighty God. Do you find this difficult to comprehend or accept? Are there aspects of the Christmas story that distract you from worshiping God?
Join us tomorrow as we introduce a new song we’re singing this Sunday!
Matt Stevens is the Worship Pastor for Vintage21 Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. Contact him via Twitter: @MattStevensNC
Matt, if I am honest, I find Jesus difficult to connect with at all stages from infant to resurrection. I feel much more comfortable with God the Father who in my mind is less tangible, more abstract, etc. Jesus is so real and his life so challenging that it makes me uncomfortable. As I read the gospels in high school, I found his words offensive or rude at times. I’m not sure what all this stems from, but I will take a stab and say that I fail to see Jesus as “Mighty God”. My view of him is far too small. It is just so baffling that he is fully God and fully human.
The idea of Christ the child being both fully God and fully human is something I’ve always been taught but never fully wrapped my head around. While I believe I’m not meant to fully understand the immensity of God’s power and capabilities, the idea of the all powerful Lord in this tiny infant bundle is hard to believe. In saying that it’s not so much that I doubt it, merely that I don’t really get it. How can a child grow up being fully God and have the same “levels” of Godliness in Him all the while? I believe it’s true but I’m not sure how to understand it… My other question is where the Holy Spirit rests in all this? I know the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity and thereby has to be part of the life of Christ I’m just not sure how.