Isaiah chapter nine verse six. “For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor. Mighty God, everlasting father, Prince of peace.”
– Isaiah 9:6
Oh, let’s think about that second name for God here in Isaiah 9:6. His name shall be called, this child, this son given to us. His name shall be called mighty God. Let that soak in. This is not a normal son, a normal child. Oh, this is God in the flesh. This is the astounding miracle of Christmas. You think about it, I would argue the most astounding miracle in all of the Bible, like greater than the resurrection from the dead. Greater than calming wind and waves, or turning loaves of bread and fish into enough food for thousands of people. Like those things that Jesus did make total sense if he is God.
The Mighty Child Celebrated at Christmas
The child who we celebrate at Christmas is the Mighty God who has come to us. Jesus identified with us in every way yet without sin and has saved us through His finished work in the cross and resurrection.
Of course, he can calm the wind in the waves. Of course, he can conquer death. He’s God. The most astounding miracle claim, really in all the Bible, is that Jesus is God. That the child born, that we celebrate at Christmas, is God in the flesh who has come to us. And when you realize the wonder, the beauty of this … and I say realize, like the more you think about it, the more baffling it is. God in the flesh. But it’s the beauty of the Bible, of the gospel, because this is the only way we can be saved from our sins. By one who can fully identify with us, fully tempted by sin, yet perfect over sin. And one who can fully identify with God, who can bear the divine justice and judgment due you and me and our sin.
Isaiah 9:6 Praises Jesus as Fully Man and Fully God
The beauty of the Bible, of the gospel, is that Jesus is fully man and fully God. He is the son, the child born, who is the mighty God. Now here’s the deal. This is a truth, a reality at the core of the Bible, at the core of Christmas, at the core of the gospel, that is denied by billions of people in the world. I think about Muslims in particular. Muslim friends who I’ve had conversations with in multiple places around the world who say there’s way God would stoop to become a man. I think about the Naji Arabs in Iraq, 1.6 billion of them, no known followers of Jesus. The reality is all have been taught, that even if they know about Jesus, Jesus is a prophet. He’s just a man. There’s no way he’s God.
In other words, they have been taught the exact opposite of what Isaiah 9:6 teaches, what the Bible teaches, what we know is the key to Jesus being able to pay the price for our sins and give us eternal life with God. So God, we just pray right now for the Naji Arabs of Iraq and multitudes, over a billion other Muslims in the world, Lord, including some right around us right now.
Isaiah 9:6 Thanks God for Taking on Human Flesh to Pay for Our Sins
God, we praise you for your common grace in them. We praise you. I think about friends of mine, just for your grace, and their hospitality and their love and their compassion in different ways. Just thinking about individuals I know. Just thank you. Thank you for them. God. I want to love them. Help us to love Muslims well. And help us to care for them well and to point friends, neighbors, and acquaintances to the beauty of your love for them in Jesus.
You taking on a robe of human flesh to pay the price for our sins, living among us, identifying with us, conquering sin on our behalf, rising from the dead. Jesus, you are the mighty God. We praise you, Jesus, as God. And we pray that you would make yourself known as God among more and more Muslims among the Naji Arabs in Iraq and so many other people, groups where there are almost no followers of Jesus. They’ve all been taught wrong things about Jesus. God change that. God open eyes, we pray, to your supremacy, and your grace, and your mercy in Jesus. So, God, we pray especially here at Christmas. God, we pray that you would use this among Muslims and many others to share the glorious good news that Jesus is God in the flesh come to save us from our sins.
Oh may it be that many, many people, in and through our lives, our families, our churches, would be brought to know Jesus as God this Christmas. God, please may it be so we pray. For the glory of Jesus, the mighty God, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
