Not by Power

Introduction

This will be a shorter and to the point sermon given the short notice that I had to do an exposition. As you all know, there has been a recent controversy flying around the Reformed world about all kinds of things. I think that it is fitting that today is the first Sunday of Advent. This is the time of year when we remember Christ’s coming. Not just His coming, but His coming as a baby.

This sermon will be about power, strength, might.

I will address human power first: How it is useless and yet useful. Then we will look at Christ’s example.

Human Power

How do we typically measure human power?

Strength

Beauty

Rhetoric

Wealth

Fruitfulness

But do those things matter to God?

The uselessness of human power

There are too many examples in the Scripture to count:

Abraham against the great armies that took Lot captive.

Moses against the might of Egypt.

The Israelites against the inhabitants of Canaan.

Many of the judges, particularly Gideon.

David and Goliath.

The still small voice of God to Elijah.

The humbling of Nebuchadnezzar.

Our Lord, an unassuming Carpenter.

The uneducated Apostles.

The glory of the Gospel: appears as foolishness.

You can see a theme in Scripture of God making silly, the might of men.

1 Corinthians 1:20 LSB

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

When the Israelites chose Saul in 1 Samuel 9, they were looking on his outward glory. Absolom also had similar outward glory that people looked to. As did Esau. Peter Leithart points out that hair is associated with glory in the Scripture. Both Esau and Absolom are hairy men, full of earthly glory. These things are rubbish to God. God does not need them. And our tendency is to think that these things are how we will win.

The usefulness of human power

We must remember that our heart and soul must love Yahweh, and then our might will be at His service. If we remember that God does not need our might, and we focus on God’s glory and honor, then our resources will be useful to God. This is similar to prayer. God does not need us to pray in order to know what our needs are. He knows our needs and wants greater than we do. We pray to remind ourselves that we need God.

It would be wrong for us to swing in the opposite direction as so many in pietistic evangelical circles have in order to say that since God does not need my strength, wealth, or logic then I do not need to steward these things. I will simply trust in God.

That is a false lie of the Devil to make God’s people impotent in this world.

God has given us these gifts to use and enjoy, but not for our own glory and not simply for our enjoyment. He has given us these things for His purposes. We can use them in HIS service.

God’s Power

All of this stems from a proper view of God’s power. God is the most powerful being in the universe. At this point, let us look at what Hannah says in this prayer:

The Potency of a Baby

Think about this whole section as a picture of Christ:

Hannah is afflicted.

A son is given to deliver her from affliction.

Hannah prays and acknowledges that all good things come from God.

Brings down to Sheol and raises up.

He will exalt the horn of His Christ.

Just as Hannah was saved from affliction by a baby, so we are saved from affliction by a baby. Not by a strong man, not by a mighty demigod, not by human power. We are saved by a baby.

Jesus, the God-Man, in two natures, yet one person, entrusted Himself to Mary, the Theotokos, the mother of God incarnate.

Philippians 2:1–11 LSB

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, fulfill my joy, that you think the same way, by maintaining the same love, being united in spirit, thinking on one purpose, doing nothing from selfish ambition or vain glory, but with humility of mind regarding one another as more important than yourselves, not merely looking out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.