SPROUL: Can you unbuckle the Belt of Orion?
Can you bind the Pleiades? Can you draw out the Leviathan with a seven pound fishline?
The same power that God unleashes in creation
is that power He invests in this baby in the manger in Bethlehem.
"So, He’ll be called “Wonderful,” He’ll be called “Counselor,”
and He will be called “Mighty God” (Isa. 9:6). And in the use of the language here in Isaiah, this
doesn’t simply indicate God’s omnipotent strength, which the Bible documents over and over and over
again. But the particular description that is used here is the description of God as a warrior
who fights for His people. Who rescues them out of slavery in Egypt. Who crushes the entire
Egyptian army and the power of Pharaoh. Who brings down nations by His laughter
because He is the almighty One. The mighty warrior who fights for His people.
The title that is used in the Old Testament for the mighty power of God is that title El Shaddai,
which is found more often in Job than in any other book in the Old Testament. And that title, El
Shaddai, describes the One who overpowers; the One who can’t be conquered; the One who cannot lose.
You remember when Job was on the edge of despair and he was sitting on the dung heap,
and his wife is encouraging him to curse God and die that he might be relieved of his relentless
pain and suffering. And Job begins to question God: “Why are You doing this? Speak to me.”
And when God answers, He says: “Gird up yourself like a man.
I will ask and you will answer. Who is this who darkens counsel
with words without knowledge? Who are you? What’s your name? Speak up.” He said: “You want to ask
Me questions, Job, I’m going to ask you some first. Here’s your theological examination.
Where were you when I set the foundations of the world? Speak up. Where were you
when I set the stars in their courses? Job, can you unbuckle the Belt of Orion? I can. Can you
bind the Pleiades? I can. Can you draw out the Leviathan with a seven pound fishline? I can.” And
God goes on for chapter after chapter with these questions. And Job was saying, “No, no, no, no.”
And when God is finished, Job said: “I will place my hand upon my mouth. Behold, I abhor myself.
I repent in dust and ashes. I will speak no more against Your name.”
You see, the way God answered the questions of Job, beloved, was not with a proposition
but with Himself. He displayed the unconquerable power of Himself to Job’s utter amazement.
And we have lost that sense of awe
before the power of God. We think of the power of creation when there was nothing but this darkness,
and God speaks the world into existence. He says, “Let there be light,” and the lights come on.
In the very first act of creation, the darkness is vanquished by His word.
There’s nobody here who can begin to conceive of that power, the power of creation.
But the same power that God unleashes in creation is that power that He visits this world with
in His redemption and that He invests in this baby in the manger in Bethlehem. “For unto us,
a child is born, and unto us a Son is given. And He shall be called Mighty God.”
And so, this babe is endowed from on high with the fullness of the power of
God. That’s the One we worship. Not an impotent deity, but an almighty One."