Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give
you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will
call His name Immanuel.”
Matthew 1:20-23 But when he had considered this, behold, an
angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of
David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been
conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call
His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Now all this took
place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: BEHOLD, THE
VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME
IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."
Immanuel! God with
us. Do we really understand the extent of that name? The Creator came as a baby to His creation, to
be the Savior and bring Salvation, to become the Sacrifice and save us from our
sins and God’s wrath, to become our high priest and interceding on our behalf between
us and the Father, to become our King, high and lifted up. These are only a few roles that Jesus Christ
took on. Immanuel, God with us. Humility is the first thing that comes to my
mind.
Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this attitude in your selves which was also in
Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard
equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form
of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death, even death on a cross.” (NASB)
Immanuel, God with us in the form of man, with humility,
gentleness, love, patience, kindness and many more attributes. The fact that
God the Son would come to earth is stunning. Why would God the Son want to take
the form of man. It wasn’t that He was forced to, but He desired to take the
form of a bond servant and to be made on the likeness of man. As a man, He humbled himself becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. This obedience and
desire to come to mankind as a man, leave us at an incomprehensible thought. We
know this in our minds and yet when we think about it we ask why. Why would He
do this for us? He created everything and He had everything there was nothing
in it for Him. Yet there is so much in it for Him. He created everything to
bring Him glory. It shows us the characteristics of Himself. Because of His
great and wonderful Sacrifice, we glorify Him and give Him praise and
adoration.
Why would God the Son come as a Baby, when He knew He would
suffer and die. We as men and women cannot understand this, because we in our
selfishness want to get away from everything that will cause us pain. But
Christ was not thinking about Himself. He was thinking about us. Why would He
desire to do this? Love. Jesus Christ, Immanuel, loved us so much that He was
willing to suffer and die an excruciating death in order that we might live.
His death was not the end though, three days later He rose again from the dead.
This Christmas season is not to just celebrate Christ’s birth, but to celebrate
the incarnation of God the Son in human flesh. Unless He took on a body there
would be no sacrifice and he could not die. So this Christmas season we should
be remembering the reason the Son of God came as a man; to die on the cross for
our sins and to rise again. Remember that when He took the body of man, He was
both God and man. That by becoming a man was the only way he could pay for our
sins and become that amazing sacrifice for us. It is never said to remember His
birth in Scripture, but it does tell us to remember His death, because without
Christ’s death there is no atonement for our sins. So this Christmas let us
remember Christ’s death. For without it we would all be in sin and enemies of
God. Praise the Lord that we are now reconciled and now sons and daughters of
God and we can call God our Father. Without Jesus’ death, Jesus would just be
another baby born to a woman. I am thankful that He was not just another baby, but
that He is Immanuel.
