Monday, December 24, 2012

Immanuel- God With Us


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.