And His Name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

I've been teaching from Isaiah 9:6 and the prophetic Name of the coming Messiah. This past week was Mighty God. I gotta say, it was so fun and encouraging doing this study.

Sunday morning, I woke up singing the song, "I need a hero!"

How many of you have seen a Marvel movie? Greg loved the Marvel movies - we had every single one on DVD. Everyone loves a superhero, right? As I ponder the fascination of our culture with superheroes, I think it speaks to a deep need in all of our hearts - whether atheist, agnostic, non-spiritual, Christian, etc., we are living in a culture where there is a hunger for something supernatural, something divine. There is an innate need that we have in our hearts for a rescuer, a hero, a champion, someone who will come to deliver us, and that is being expressed in our books and movies.

The truth is - we HAVE a hero. He is Jesus, Mighty God!

Yes, Jesus is our divine warrior. He rescues us from darkness and He rescues us through self-sacrifice.

Mighty God in Hebrew is the phrase El Gibbor. El always meaning God, and gibbor means mighty warrior. It has a military context.

Psalm 24:8 asks, "who is this King of glory?" Here's the answer, "The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.

He is Mighty God - the divine warrior - our rescuer - our hero.

Think of the exodus - God delivers His people from slavery in Egypt and He does it by an act of war against Pharoah and his armies. You will also see in Joshua and Judges where God delivers His people from the Canaanites, the Ammonites, and all the other "nites." He delivers us from all our dark "nights" as well. Most often in those battles, you see a supernatural aspect to their victory. For example, the fall of the walls of Jericho... walk around the walls for 7 days, blow a trumpet, and the walls (the several feet wide walls) fall down! He is the divine warrior - the Mighty God!

BUT there is a shift that happens with the people, as we so often do, the tribes of Israel, after all the miraculous deliverance, after experiencing freedom, after becoming a nation, they forget and begin to depart from God. And in their turning away, the Mighty God begins to fight against Israel.

BUT (see how that "BUT God" always comes in - Mighty God, rescuer, hero) the prophets look forward to the future and they proclaim the arrival of a divine warrior who's going to come and deliver God's people once again.

They need a hero. That's what you have in Isaiah 9.

Isaiah 59 and 61 (take time to read) are a picture of an anointed conqueror who comes to bring redemption for God's people and to bring justice and righteousness to the earth.

Then when we get to the New Testament and Jesus' earthly ministry, so many times He is pictured as the divine warrior who comes and fights against evil.

Remember Jesus facing off against Satan in the wilderness for 40 days and nights? Think about His conflict with demons and His exorcizing demons, casting out demons, and of course, the final battle on the cross against the powers of darkness.

Jesus comes as the divine warrior, the mighty warrior. He comes to fight and comes to our rescue. We have a hero.

BUT the final phase of this divine warrior is yet to come. It is the second coming. Read the book of Revelation. You have all kinds of warfare imagery as Jesus comes conquering and to conquer - as He comes to defeat the enemies of God once and for all!

It's fun to connect the dots in Scripture. When we do, we see how it all holds together and how it points to Jesus - the Mighty God!

Colossians 2 tells us that Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities and He made a public spectacle of them by triumphing over them by the cross!

Jesus was able to gain the victory over our enemies, the sins of the whole world - past, present, and future - and fastened them to the cross. He has an everlasting unconquerable righteousness.

Martin Luther put it this way:

"The sin of the world and the righteousness of God, met in a death struggle. Furiously, the sin of the world assailed the righteousness of God. Righteousness is immortal and invincible; on the other hand, sin is a mighty tyrant who subdues all men. This tyrant pounces on Christ, but Christ's righteousness triumphs and reigns forever. In the same manner was death defeated. Death is the emperor of the world; he strikes down kings, princes, all men. He has an idea to destroy all life, but Christ as immortal life, and life immortal gained the victory over death. Through Christ, death has lost her sting. Christ is the death of death. The curse meant to condemn God's mercy, but it could not do it, because the mercy of God is everlasting. The curse has to give way. therefore Christ, the power of God, righteousness, blessing, grace, and life. overcomes and destroys these monsters, sin, death, and the curse, without war or weapons, in His own body and in Himself.

To which we say, HALLELUJAH! - praise God, the self-existent, eternal One.

He's won the victory! Mighty God! We have a hero!

When we think about Christmas, we often think about what is just visible on the surface of Christmas. We think about and picture the quiet, peaceful, idyllic scene of a child's birth in Bethlehem.

BUT do you know what that moment really was?

It was an act of war! It was an invasion! It was a sneak attack! It was God sending His Son, invading the realm of darkness, invading enemy occupied territory. It was God sending His Son on a rescue mission. IT is God's act against the kingdom of darkness. The Mighty God - the Divine Warrior - The Hero - comes to rescue His people.

So this year as you celebrate Christmas, be reminded of this invasion that took place over 2,000 years ago and how to let it affect your life.

Because of this invasion, the truth is there's no enemy so strong He cannot defeat. No situation so hopeless that He cannot bring rescue. There are no sins so dark He cannot forgive. There are no demos so deep that He cannot cast out and overcome.

Yes, that beautiful babe in a manger came to invade this world - to rescue all mankind. He is Mighty God - the Divine Warrior and He will and does fight on your behalf.

We have a Hero! His Name is Jesus. He is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, and He has come to our rescue!