Jesus is the Mighty God (Isa. 9:6)

We have seen in previous readings that Jesus, the might Warrior, when he was on earth and when he was on the cross, defeated the enemy. But that was not the end of the warfare because Jesus continued his triumphs even after he died.

 

The Saviour celebrated his triumph when he ascended to heaven after his resurrection from the dead. This was another enemy that he defeated when he left the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Death, which had proved almost invincible, met its match and discovered that it had no power over Jesus Christ. In majestic energy he tore open its locked doors and came out of the dark domain as the conqueror of death. 

 

Then, after a period of forty days in which he encouraged his disciples and gave them their task to engage in while he would be away, he ascended to God’s throne and sat down on it, not as an usurper, but as the mighty warrior God.

 

Having won such great victories over the kingdom of darkness and over death, Jesus now continues his exploits, achieving great successes throughout the ages of time, making ongoing progress as he develops his kingdom by adding more and more subjects to it. Every time he brings a sinner into his kingdom, it is evidence that he is the mighty God.

 

One consequence of looking at Jesus as the mighty God is that we are reminded that, unlike earthly sovereigns, Jesus does not have to arrange alliances in order to ensure that his kingdom will survive. It was common in the past, just as it is common today, for powerful nations to make treaties with smaller nations in order to protect potential weak points in their empires. Jesus does not have to make deals with weaker powers in order to secure the borders of his kingdom. He protects every inch of it himself.

 

A second consequence of realising that Jesus possesses divine power is that we do not have to be petrified by the power of the enemy. If we are subjects of King Jesus, then we will be attacked by the enemies of his kingdom. They are powerful enemies arraigned against the church – the world, the flesh and the devil. In ourselves we are no match for these enemies and they will defeat us if we fight them in our own strength. What we have to do when under attack is to remind ourselves that we are to use the Lord’s strength. As Paul puts it in Ephesians 6:10: ‘Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.’