CELEBRATING CHRIST – IMMANUEL

Behold, a virgin shall be with CHILD, and shall bring forth a SON, and they shall call His name IMMANUEL, which being interpreted is, GOD WITH US – Mathew 1:23

Beloved, join me to CELEBRATE CHRIST – IMMANUEL: “Behold, a virgin shall be with CHILD, and shall bring forth a SON, and they shall call His name EMMANUEL, which being interpreted is, GOD WITH US” (Mt.1:23). Immanuel – what a beautiful and wonderful name! Embedded in it are deep reasons for this wonderful season. This Great Name adorns greeting cards, is sung in hymns, painted on banners, and fills sermon titles; yet its impact is often lost on many people.

Centuries before Christ was born, God promised through the words of His prophet: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a SON, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isa.7:14). In telling the story of Christ’s birth, Mathew repeated Isaiah’s words, but went one step further to state what Immanuel means: “…GOD WITH US” (Mt.1:23). With all of our sinfulness and rebellion, we should have expected the thrice-Holy God to be done with us, to wash His hands off us, to keep us far off from Him, to cut us off forever – or, at worst, to delete us from existence. Instead, Immanuel bound Himself to us forever by His death on the cross. He committed Himself to be with us for eternity!

The glory of this season is that God drew near to sinful creation, and bound Himself to us irrevocably. It is not a glory we simply watch; it is one we celebrate and participate in. It had always been God over us, God above us, God on the mountain, God in the temple, God in the cloud; but never God with us! Suddenly, God actually, physically, came into our shoes, was born as a baby, and lived among us for thirty-three years. He approached lepers with a touch, gave sight to the blind, healed the sick with compassion, and caringly fed the hungry. God made a daring, but humbling move from heaven to earth on a mission to save humanity. What a sorrowful destiny would have been ours if God had abandoned us in our plight!

Immanuel means that I am far more precious to God than I ever imagined. The flesh, the world, and Satan try to devalue me and suggest reasons why I should be anything but precious to God. Yet Immanuel challenges me with the fact that there is something in God so profoundly gracious, merciful, and loving that He desires to be with me. That something is not found in me; it is found in Him, but I am the beneficiary – that’s AMAZING GRACE. God created me to be of infinite value. Sin devalued me; but redemption restored my worth in Christ. What I least deserve from Him is what He offers to me. God came as a babe came so He could be closer to us! He is WITH US! Whatever humiliation He had to endure, whatever rejection He received, whatever pain He bore were not too much of a price to pay to be with us forever (Phil.2:5-11).

Immanuel means there is far more to celebrate than I thought. God’s entrance into our world is a cause for great celebration. Instead of seeking a divorce from sinful humanity, God used our ultimate rejection to cement His relationship with us forever! The Babe in the manger was God With Us. The same babe matured into adulthood, hung on the cross, lied in the tomb, and rose from the dead – still GOD WITH US – committed to US for eternity! "God with us" was proof of His commitment to us.

Immanuel means I will never be alone. God with us is the answer to isolation and our deepest loneliness. However we may feel; we are never alone! That’s Immanuel’s promise. His last recorded earthly words were: “lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, even to the end of the age” (Mt.28:20b). Our appropriate response to Him who literally died to be with us is to COMMIT to be with Him! How consecrated and committed are you to serving and celebrating Immanuel?