ix. 6. _His name shall be called . . . The Mighty God._
Various devices to escape from the force of this declaration have
been tried.[1] But after a discussion prolonged through centuries, it
is now conceded by the foremost Hebrew scholars of our time, that,
whether we accept or reject it, Isaiah's declaration _is_ that the
Person concerning whom he wrote should be called "The mighty God;"
which is merely the Scriptural way of asserting that He should _be_
"The mighty God," for names Divinely given represent realities. That
the Person concerning whom this declaration was made is our Lord
Jesus Christ is the conviction of the whole Christian Church. _He_ is
the "Child," the "Son," the "Mighty God," concerning whom Isaiah
wrote. Let us do more than give our assent to this statement: let us
think about it.
+I.+ It is essential to soundness of creed, and to any full
realisation of the doctrine of +the perfect humanity of our Lord
Jesus Christ.+ He was a _man_ in the same sense that this is true of
any man here; whatever was essential to perfectness of manhood
existed in Him. Unless we grasp this great truth intelligently and
firmly, 1. His _example_ can be of no considerable help to us
(H. E. I. 898). The example of an angel, though it might excite our
admiration, would also smite us with despair. 2. His _sympathy_ with
men, because of His identity with them in their experience, can never
be to us, what it has been to missions, one of the most comforting
and strengthening of all thoughts (Heb. ii. 17, 18; iv. 15; H. E. I.
872, 954). +II.+ It is equally necessary that we should hold firmly
+the doctrine of His Deity.+ That He is "the mighty God" is the
testimony, 1. Of His _works_ (Matt. xiv. 32, 33, &c.). 2. Of His
_words_ (John vi. 48; vii. 37; viii. 12; &c.; H. E. I. 836, 840-842).
This doctrine pervades the New Testament (H. E. I. 835, 838). The sum
of its teaching concerning Him is, that in Him God was manifest, that
He is the true God (1 Tim. iii. 16; 1 John v. 20). It is not only one
of the profoundest of all doctrines, it is the most practical. Let me
doubt it, and how can Christ be to me a Saviour? How can He be more
to me than any other eminently holy and wise man who died centuries
ago, or yesterday? 1. What comfort can I derive from the declaration
that He died for me? Could a _man_ atone for the sins of the whole
world, for my sins? 2. What comfort can I derive from the declaration
that He now lives and is in heaven? If so, as a _man,_ doubtless, He
will sympathise with me, but how can I be assured in times of
distress and danger I raise? or that, if He hears me, He is able to
help?
1. This complex Christian life of ours can be sustained only by the
complex and unfathomably mysterious doctrine of the Divine-human
nature of Christ, just as our physical life can be sustained only by
the compound yet simple atmosphere we breathe. To simplify the
atmosphere by taking away, if it were possible, either of its main
constituents would transform the earth into a sepulchre; and to
"simplify" Christian doctrine by taking away the doctrine either of
our Lord's humanity or of His Deity is the destruction of spiritual
life. 2. Let us, then, accept in all their fulness the declarations
of Scripture concerning the Person of Our Lord. Those declarations
transcend our reason, but they do not contradict it (H. E. I. 851,
4809-4814), and they should be joyfully accepted by our faith. 3. Let
us think much of Christ as the Son of man, that by His example we may
be incited to strive after a noble manhood, and that by the assurance
of His sympathy we may be sustained amid all the struggles and
sorrows of life. 4. Let us think much of Him as "the mighty God,"
that our faith may rejoice in His ability to accomplish for us a
complete redemption; that our reason and conscience may be let to bow
to the authority which must therefore belong to all His utterances;
that our love for Him, which is tender and ardent, may be also
reverent; and that our soul may feel itself free to give expression
to the feelings of adoration that rise up within us when we
contemplate His perfections, His purposes, and the work which it is
declared He has accomplished on our behalf.