Immanuel! God with us!
Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” (NKJV).
The story of Christmas should never bore us! We should never tire of hearing the timeless Bible account of Christmas. Yes, we do get overwhelmed and bombarded with the commercialism and the hype and the glitz and the glitter of a carnal Christmas. The media presents Christmas as Xmas, devoid of its true meaning; it’s a Christmas without Christ! But there is no Christmas without Christ! He is the reason for the season!
We know the fact of the virgin birth of Christ. That doctrine alone is one of the most important in the Bible. Any rejection of Christ’s supernatural origin leaves His supernatural life and His supernatural death and His supernatural resurrection inexplicable. You gotta have it all, for any of it to make sense. And if Jesus wasn’t virgin born, then the claim that He can save is highly questionable. So Matthew to begin with affirms the virgin birth. An understanding of that truth launches us into our topic for today, the amazing statement in Matthew 1:23, that Jesus Christ is called Immanuel, God with us! Have we stopped in recent years at Christmas time to think about how big that thought is, how wide ranging its implications are, and what it really means to have…, GOD WITH US! It is, really, beyond the finite human mind to fully understand how an infinite, majestic, loving, just, merciful, creator God can be with us! But that’s part of the promise of Christmas!
The Son born to Joseph was called Jesus – meaning Saviour, but also Immanuel – meaning God with us. So here we have the perfect God-Man as Saviour, and as God. Jesus Christ is fully God – Immanuel, Christ. And fully Man – Jesus, the Son of man. He who existed before the world was created is now born into that world to be its Saviour. The Holy Spirit, who produced the world, now produced the Saviour of the world. Wow!
He was none other than God in human flesh, and Matthew tells us He came to dwell with the sick to heal them, He came to dwell with the demon possessed to liberate them, with the poor in spirit to bless them, with the care ridden to free them from care, with the lepers to cleanse them, with the diseased to cure them, with the hungry to feed them, with the handicapped to restore them, but most of all he says, that He came to dwell with the lost, in order that He might “seek and save them”. (See Luke 19:10). Immanuel, God with us, infinitely rich, became poor. He assumed our human nature, entered our sin polluted atmosphere without ever being tainted by it, took our guilt, bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, was wounded with our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, went to heaven to prepare a place for us, sent His Spirit to dwell in our hearts, right now makes intercession for us, and will someday came to take us to be with Him! No wonder the Apostle Paul said, “yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich”. (See 2 Corinthians 8:9).
As Herbert Lockyer says:
He was poor, that He might make us rich,
He was born of a virgin, that we might be born of God,
He took our flesh, that He might give us the Spirit,
He lay in a manger that we might lie in Paradise.
He came down from Heaven, that He might bring us to Heaven.
A WW1 account tells that on Christmas Eve 1914 in the battlefields of France, 50 miles from Paris, the British and German armies held their battle lines. 800,000 men had already died, the war was five months old, and there was misery on both sides. The German’s began singing Christmas carols and then the British joined in. The fighting stopped and they all climbed out of the trenches and into “no man’s land”. They exchanged belongings on Christmas day, and held a soccer match, the Germans won 3-2. The day after Christmas the fighting did not resume. Both sides had to bring in fresh troops to start the fighting again. Such was the influence of that one man, Jesus Christ, the peacemaker, and the reason for the season.
It’s not always easy to be thankful FOR the unpleasant painful things we face. But we know His Word encourages us to be thankful IN all things (See 1 Thessalonians 5:18). Knowing the God of creation, our Saviour, our Lord, our deliverer, the One who has forgiven our sins, the One who empowers us for living in His will, the One who has promised a place with Him in His Heavenly glory, knowing HE IS WITH US, gives fresh energy and freedom to be able to do just that, thank Him and worship Him IN all things no matter what is happening around us.
The question arises again for us at this time of year. Is the Christ of Christmas the focal point of our thoughts and celebrations? Are we aware of the immense promise that…, GOD is with us! We know those words so well written by the Apostle Matthew at the end of His Gospel, Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (NKJV).
Lets reconnect again with the Christ of Christmas! Lets take a moment in the madness of this season to reflect and assess where we’re at and make a fresh commitment to the One who has already done everything for our Salvation and committed Himself to being with us!
Wendy and I take this opportunity to say thank you for being a subscriber to Brief Word. We trust it has been and is a blessing and encouragement to you! We pray that you and your household and loved ones will have a wonderful Christmas, with a greater sense of the knowledge and presence of God! May His abundance overflow to meet your needs, and may His presence revealed in you, give you peace!
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself (Immanuel, GOD with you), sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NKJV).
