Subject: Emmanuel, God With Us
Mt 1:23 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.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Introduction: The term Emmanuel is interpreted God with us. Christ coming into the world answered man’s greatest need. Adam and Eve’s disobedience brought guilt, fear and hiding. Man was separated from God. Man’s view of God was a Creator seen in nature. Psalms 19:1-2 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.” Man understood something of the majestic and glory of God, his power, his mighty, and his fury. He could see God in the vastness of the sky, the sea and the mountains. All of creation, every creature showed the greatness of God, yet that view was limited.
When God called Moses to Mt. Sinai and gave him His divine Law, Moses saw a different view of God. John 1:17-18 “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He came from heaven to reveal the Father God who was full of grace and truth. No one had ever saw God as a loving Father, Emmanuel means God with us, not just over us, but with us! The gospel message is Emmanuel, God with us. Not above in nature alone, or against us in the law, but God with us in Jesus Christ.
The Bible says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child. God becoming a man in Christ Jesus demanded a miraculous birth. If we doubt the miracle of the Immaculate Conception, we can never solve the idea of a perfect life and his sacrificial death. The title Emmanuel reflects the very nature of his office, the God with us, who willingly condescend to embrace a relationship with mankind. In Christ Jesus, God chose to walk we man in human form. The Christmas story is the salvation story with Jesus being the cornerstone of the Christian Faith. The plays and stories of Christmas fail to share the complete story. The Christmas story is a picture of God coming into the world in human form to give life and light. Jesus was God in the flesh. Who was the child born of a virgin in Bethlehem?
1. Jesus was God in the flesh. In appearance he looked like any other baby boy, walk and talked like any other human being, but He was God manifest in the flesh. Once we accept this fundamental fact, the rest of the story is understandable and acceptable. We can understand and accept the miracles of Jesus because he is God; we can understand and accept His power to forgive sin because he is God; we can understand and accept His resurrection because He was indeed God. Start wherever you like in the life of Jesus, if you find it difficult to believe, return to the stable of Bethlehem and ask yourself again, Who was the child born to Mary? Jesus was God in the flesh.
2. Jesus was God’s answer for the human predicament – Romans 3:10-12, 23 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one…For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Mankind was lost in sin, hopelessly separated from God, and helpless, unable to rescue themselves. Man’s spiritual death required a life solution. No matter what you for a dean man, new clothes, new house, money, education, fame and fortune, when all is said and done, he is still dead. The only thing that can remedy his condition is life. Jesus came that we might have life.
John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
3. Jesus was the manifestation of God’s Love. John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
God sending His only begotten Son at Christmas was the greatest demonstration of God’s love for mankind. God’s displays in nature frightened us, and God’s requirements of the Law condemned us, but God’s love lifted us. It is wonderful that God seeks to justify us and save us. Yes we were guilty, sinful, and disobedience, God still chose to send His son.
4. Jesus was born destine to die on the Cross. Mt 20:28 “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
God prepared a human body for Jesus Christ who became his sinless sacrifice, qualified to pay man’s sin debt and become our advocate redeemer. In uniting the nature of God with man in Jesus, Jesus became the mediator between God and man. Jesus serves as our days-man as Job called him; our peacemaker, our umpire to reconcile man to God and completely bridge the gap between God and man.
In the Apostle’s Creed notice, no mention is made of his sinless life, his miracle working power, his authoritative teaching. It says, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate….We move from his birth to his purpose! 1. Jesus was God in the flesh. 2. Jesus was God’s answer for the human predicament. 3. Jesus was the manifestation of God’s Love. 4. Jesus was Born destine to die on the Cross.
The good news is no matter what life throws our way, no matter the challenges of today or tomorrow, God is with us and God is for us. We are loved and accepted in the beloved. Apostle Paul summed up our new position in Christ in Romans 8’
Ro 8:31-32, 37-39 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Mt 1:23 “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.” (KJV)
I praise God for the love we share during Christmas, for the gifts we give, for the lights and decorations, for the music and the carols, remember it all points to God, the greatest giver of them all. It points to Jesus who was God in the flesh; Jesus who was God’s answer for the human predicament; Jesus who was the greatest manifestation of God’s Love for mankind; and Jesus who was born destine to die on the cross for our sin and reconcile us to God. It points to Emmanuel, God with us and for us! Merry Christmas.
