Mighty God - Luke 9:10-17

Lost & Found  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  56:11
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Introduction

Welcome to Real Life Newport
Series Introduction
School Lost & Found
In the chaos of Christmas, we get caught up in all sorts of things that preoccupy our minds. This series is in place to remind us of who Jesus came to be.
We can uncover these truths and re-discover them for ourselves, much like finding an item of clothing on the Lost & Found table.
Once rediscovered, we put the truth back into practice and relevance in our lives.
We will return to our series in Hebrews when the Christmas season is done.
Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Pray
Break this verse down
This passage is a verse about the coming of the Messiah (Jesus) as a baby.
Some may have thought this was a metaphor for something, but this prophecy turned out to be literal.
We are looking over the next few weeks at the names that Jesus would be called
These are not simply names that people would call him
For example, I was called all sorts of names when I was a kid: String bean, hightower, Andre the Giant’s anorexic son, you know, good wholesome names that help you grow in your self-esteem.
The Hebrew way of using a name was not just something to call them. The Hebrew names came from identification of that person.
It isn’t necessarily important that Jesus would be called Mighty God. This is saying that Jesus IS Mighty God.
In our series, we are breaking these names down and looking at three points
Learn what it means that Jesus has this name
Look at reasons we may have lost this truth
Leave- with the truth we have found
Also, we are going to try to do this through the lens of Christmas
Mighty God
Learn
Learn what it means that Jesus has this name
Just like last week, as we look at this name in the Hebrew text, it says “Gibor El”
Gibor means strong, young, powerful
El is the root word for the word God.
There is really no extra depth to see inside of this definition.
I love it when the definitions are straightforward. There is no question, nor discussion.
Jesus would be called Mighty God
In His person would be the identification that He is not only God, but that He would be the Mighty God.
It is profound that Jesus would have this name for a number of reasons. Some of those reasons we will explore today.
Remember, the theme of our passage today is not to uncover new material, rather to find in the metaphorical Lost & Found something that may have been lost as we look at the birth of Jesus.
I don’t think it is all that profound to say in front of church that Jesus is God
This is something we talk about often. It is something that we all know in our minds.
But I believe there is something about this truth that may have been lost.
Look
Look at reasons we may have lost this truth
This is a difficult thing to think about. We know Jesus is God, but how does that impact our lives today?
Is this simply a fact of information that we can hold onto and know that somehow we know something that is true? We are right about something?
I don’t believe that is what this is.
We are going to take a journey through the Scriptures.
A number of years ago, we took a train to Minnesota. On the train was a “viewing car”
The train car had windows all around, and even above so you could see the sky.
We drove through Montana and N. Dakota. I loved getting to go sit in that car and watch the world go by.
That is going to be what we do. I want to take you on a journey. We are on the train car and I want to tour guide you through some realities.
Genesis 1:27
Genesis 1:27 NIV
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:29-30
Genesis 1:29–30 NIV
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God created mankind. He said “It is very good” But I want you to see this
God created the fruit trees and the berries and all sorts of other things because man needed something to eat.
It isn’t that God created a partial good creation. He created mankind exactly as desired, but he created mankind with a need.
It is a need that only God in His creation could fulfil.
God created Adam.
Adam had a need for food
God created foot
Adam had a need for God’s creation.
Now I don’t think it is too profound to understand that God created man with a need for food.
We all just filled our guts with the glorious gluttony of a Thanksgiving meal.
I want to go back to Adam. I am using my imagination here, but I wonder if Adam walked around the garden of Eden trying to fulfil that need with other things.
“I wonder what a rock tastes like” … “Nope, I don’t want to eat rocks”
“I wonder if tree bark will fill my need for food” … “Nope, I’ll stick with apples and oranges.”
I wonder if marshmallow Peeps (those indestructible Easter candies) will fill my need for food” … “Nope, God, why did you allow these to be created?”
Only the food God created for Adam would sustain the need God created Adam to have.
I doubt it took Adam very long to figure this reality out.
A number of years later, the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, being led by Moses.
Exodus 16:1-3
Exodus 16:1–3 NIV
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
They were in the middle of the desert. There was nothing to eat. They thought they were starving.
They knew that they needed food to sustain them.
It was readily seen right in front of their eyes the need God had created within them.
Exodus 16:4 NIV
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
They had a need. It was a need that God had always provided a solution for, but now the solution wasn’t evident.
God provided manna.
Later in the next chapter, their need for water became clear. God also provided water.
Did you know we need water to survive?
Do you know who created water? God did.
He made the means to meet our needs available to us.
Principle: We as humans were created with needs that we cannot meet on our own.
Jesus highlighted this reality in the book of John. I would like you to turn to John 6.
John 6:1–13 NIV
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
Again, here we find a group of people. They all need something.
They are people created by God with a need for food.
Once again, we see that the food they received, came from God.
They knew there was no point in eating the rocks, or the grass, or the tree bark. They needed food.
Jesus provided the food.
After this event, Jesus walked across the lake on the water to the other side.
Yes, that happened, read it in the Bible. It is a fascinating read.
When He got to the other side, the people all wanted to be around Jesus some more
John 6:28–31 NIV
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
They wanted a sign. They wanted to be fed bread again. They wanted to see the show!
John 6:32–34 NIV
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
They were getting what they wanted. They wanted another meal from Jesus.
Then Jesus dropped this reality on them.
John 6:35 NIV
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
They understood this from a purely physical standpoint.
They actually got into conversation about, “Does he really want us to get our knife and fork and take a bite out of his arm?”
Jesus is talking about another need that we have as human beings created in the image of God.
Much like our need for food, we all have the need for a god.
It is something that we were created to need as a human.
It is not something that some people need and others do not.
It is not something that some people crave while others do not.
Let me explain. I want to give five questions that I believe every human being needs to have answered in their lives:
Who am I? (Identity)
Where do I belong? (Community)
What is my compass? (Morality)
Where am I going? (Hope)
How do I get there? (Help)
Now we don’t often sit and dwell on these answers. However, all of us have answers for these questions at the core of our being.
How we answer each of these questions tells us how we see ourselves.
If we are good people or not
How and why we do everything we do.
If our lives have meaning or not.
Here is the truth. The answers to these questions will go a long way in telling you who your god is.
In the OT, we see this very clearly. There were idols and false gods all over the place. God called them out on numerous occasions and showed His power and authority over them.
In our time, we don’t often see people bowing down to literal idols. But do not be deceived. There are no shortage of false gods in our time.
A false god who will tell you who you are
A false god that will surround you with people to reinforce this identity
A false god that will give you a compass of what is right and wrong and how to make sense of the things happening in the world.
A false god that will give you purpose and direction
A false god that will promise help along the way.
An example of this is:
Matthew 6:24 NIV
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
We discussed this section of verses last week. Did anyone read this last week?
Again, the Bible is a great book! A fascinating read!!!
This talks about our need for a master or a god in our lives. Then is specifically calls out money as an example of a false god in our time.
Who am I? —My identity is tied to the amount of wealth I have accumulated.
Where do I belong?— My community is like-minded people who are all pursuing wealth
What is my compass?— If it ends in a profit, it is good for me
Where am I going?— To a place of more and better wealth
How do I function? — My help comes from being self-sustaining
Here is why I say this.
Even non-Christian people still have an identity. They still have a morality. They still have community and direction and a place to look for help.
We all need these things. We crave them. We need these things in our lives.
They are NEEDS that we were created with. Another way of saying this is that we have a HUNGER for a god.
This HUNGER can only be satisfied by the One created to satisfy our hunger.
We can try eating the rocks, the tree bark, and the grass. But all of these will ultimately leave us unsatisfied.
We were created with a hunger for bread that only the Bread of Life can satisfy.
We were created to serve a God and there is only one God.
John 6:35 NIV
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
When we see Jesus as God, there are tremendous applications for us spiritually.
But Jesus coming in the flesh as a baby, also showed us the love of our God who reached out to us and opened His heart in relationship to us.
Who am I?— I am holy, I am of high value, I am a child of God.
Where do I belong? — I am a part of the family of God. We don’t just go to church. We are the church.
What is my compass? — Jesus defines for us what is right and wrong and how we interpret the world around us. Follow me.
Where am I going?— We have a hope of the resurrection. This life is not the final chapter. It is the title page.
How do I function?— My help in day to day life comes from my God who dwells within me.
Leave
Leave- with the truth we have found
Jesus arrival as a baby on Christmas morning was more than simply a story, that must be preached.
Jesus came as the Mighty God.
Through Jesus, we find much more than someone to follow.
We find our identity
We find our community
We find the truth
We find our hope
We find our help
And I want to leave you with this. Jesus isn’t simply God.
He is the Mighty God.
Through Jesus perfect sinless life, His death, then His resurrection he conquered all other gods this world has to offer.
I don’t know what gods you struggle with allowing onto the throne of your life
Money, politics, career/status, self
Even appearing good gods are wrong: family, church
And one of the most pernicious gods: others
Other gods are ruthless, cold and unforgiving
They are full of empty promises
What does the god of money offer you? Security, a good time, comfort, stability
But does it follow through on those things? No, if anything you become less secure, less comfortable...
You end up believing the lie and chasing it further to find yourself less than before.
Like drinking saltwater.
If you disobey or displease another god, they hammer you
What does it look like if you disagree with someone who is in your political community?
You get canceled, ridiculed, and thrown out.
What happens if you disobey God?
He forgives.
Jesus being God conquered every other path to meaning and revealed them as frauds.
Because Jesus is God, we have forgiveness of sin. We are forgiven
Resurrection: Hope
Community: one another
Communion
Jesus is the Mighty God
He is your Mighty God
He is my Mighty God.
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