Advent: Mighty God

Soft, adorable bundles of joy. Who doesn’t love sweet little babies?

Vulnerable, helpless, and defenseless. They bring out the best in us, don’t they? Our instinct is to cuddle and protect them. To keep them safe and give them everything they need to stay healthy and grow.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of a baby when he wrote:

“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” (Isaiah 9:6 NIV).

In my previous blog post, I talked about the name Wonderful Counselor—not a title we usually associate with babies. Neither is Mighty God.

But this child was born to be Israel’s Messiah. The long-awaited Savior. The Hope of Israel. And He could not be these things unless He was both fully man and fully God.

Babies are not intimidating. Perhaps that’s one reason God sent His Son to become man, beginning His earthly life in Mary’s womb. The God of creation carried in the womb of one He created. The infinite bound by the finite. It boggles our minds.

Helpless Baby –> Mighty God

He is our Mighty God. So when He makes a promise, He has the power to keep His Word. He stands behind every promise in His Word to fulfill each one in the proper time.

For example, Israel wanted a king to throw off Rome’s yoke of slavery. But what they needed—and what God had promised—was a Savior who could throw off the yoke of slavery to sin. Only our Mighty God could do that…and He did.

Think of it this way. As a result of our sin, we became prisoners of sin and death and the devil. Under Satan’s rule, we were prisoners of war with no hope of escape. But Satan is no match for Mighty God. God sent His Son into the enemy’s camp. He came incognito, in the form of a baby, and lived in the territory ruled by Satan. Then, at just the right time, He paid the price for our sin, breaking the enemy’s hold and freeing us from being POWs to become subjects of the true King.

The apostle Paul describes it this way in Colossians 1:13 (NIV):

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, i
n whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.”

He is our Wonderful Counselor. And He is our Mighty God!

How does knowing the baby in the manger is our Mighty God change the way you will approach His birth?