His Name shall be called "Mighty God"

 Continuing with Isaiah 9:6, one of the Names of the child born,  the son given is “Mighty God.” The verse also contains the mystery that Christ is both God and man. I mean not only is He God, He is “Mighty God.” That He is man is seen in that He comes through natural birth, as a little baby, and that He grows in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man (Luke 2:52). We can get this wrong in two ways, either denying His deity, and this is exactly what the cults, and a large part of the World does. We can also deny that Christ is man (1 John 4:2). And unknowingly (I suspect) many Christians do exactly this when they say, for example, that Jesus could do miracles, because He is God.


Think about it, Jesus told the disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead etc, and they did (Matthew 10:8; Acts 9:36-42). Does this mean,  for example, that Peter is God? If Jesus did the things He did on earth because He is God, then we can applaud Him, but we can never be like Him. But if He did these things as a Spirit fulled man, then He can (and does) expect us to do these things too (John 14:12). And when we don't tap into this, we are falling short of our calling! But did Jesus cease to be God, when He came to earth? Well no, Scripture tells us that He emptied Himself of His divine attributes (Philippians 2:7). In other words He remained God, but did not use His power as God. Rather He did the things He did as a Spirit fulled man, and then calls us to do the same, and this is what the early Church did (1 Thessalonians 1:5). 


The reason it was necessary for Christ to be both God and man, is related to the nature of covenant. Covenants were sealed by blood sacrifice. Typically an animal was cut in two, and both parties would walk through between the pieces (see Genesis 15:12-18). What was being agreed,  is that if one side did not uphold his side of the bargain, then what had happened to the animal, would need to happen to him. Only by the death of one of the parties could the covenant be annulled. And God had made a covenant with man, specifically the ten commandments. And man broke the covenant (Romans 3:23), so man had to die (Romans 6:23). But the sacrificial system of the Old Testament is the foreshadowing of  another way,  through the substitutionary sacrifice of lamb without blemish.  It was a only foreshadowing however, for clearly the blood of an animal was insufficient to atone for the sins of men (Hebrews 10:4). There would need to be the sacrifice of a perfect spotless human being. And  indeed the man Christ Jesus who was indeed without sin (Hebrews 4:15),  is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the World, for  as many as will receive Him (John 1:25, 12).

Lord Jesus, without Your incredible sacrifice You could have been merciful but not just, or just but not merciful, but either of  these things would have violated Your character. Thank You for finding a way for righteous and mercy to kiss (Psalm 85:10), and for mankind to be redeemed. No wonder we will be singing Your praises for all eternity. We bless you this morning Lord,  in Your precious Name Amen