What is so significant about Emmanuel: God With Us?
•Notice the word ’with’ (Gr. prep. met-ah’)- a preposition properly denoting accompaniment; in the same way the instrmentalists accompany our singing.
•Often used in composition, in substantially the same relations of participation or proximity, and transfer or sequence.
•Compare to Matt. 12:30 -Against (Gr. prep. kat-ah’) in this case denoting opposition
1. God Against (kat-ah’) Us is a Losing Proposition
•Cain understood this when God pronounced judgment upon him for killing Abel for he said, "My punishment is greater than I can bear."
•The inhabitants of the earth in Noah’s day found this out when it began to rain for 40 days and 40 nights without reprieve.
•The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah found this out when fire and brimestone fell from heaven and consumed them.
•Pharoah and his mighty army found this out when he pursued after the Hebrew children and perished in the Red Sea.
•The Hebrew children found this out when they failed to trust God and possess Canaan, the whole generation wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and perished without receiving the fulfillment of God’s promise.
•The inhabitants of Jericho found this out when Jehovah caused their great walled city to crumble and they perished.
•The rest of the inhabitants of Canaan also found this out when they called not prevail against God’s people in battle.
•Friend, the Bible is replete with examples of people who found themselves on the wrong side of the issue - God Against Us is a Losing Proposition.
2. God With (met-ah’) Us is a Winning Composition
•Abel, on the other hand, was in the right and offered a better sacrifice, but it cost him his life.
•Noah was in the right, but it cost him 100 years of labor and mockery.
•Lot was a righteous man, howbeit a compromised one, but it cost him his wife and home as he was thrust out of Sodom just prior to its destruction.
•Moses was in the right, but it cost him a lot of difficulty in leading God’s people.
•Rahab, the harlot, got in the right, protected the spies, but it cost her her home and the city she lived in as the walls crumbled around her.
•Joshua was in the right, but he too found out the high cost of leadership and the hardship of war.
•You say, preacher, if that’s the case I don’t know but what not serving God might be the easier proposition!
•Ah, but friend, you have forgotten that God With Us is a Winning Composition!
•It will cost you something to be in the right, but it is worth the investment--just keep in mind the alternative God Against Us is a Losing Proposition and all who ever persisted to be against him met destruction.
Call to Action:
I shared all of that to get to the best part of all: Emmanuel: God With Us means....
God was faithful to fulfill His word in sending the Savior.
Jesus came in fulfillment of God’s word to effectively accomplish God’s plan for redemption for all mankind.
Once you embrace Him as Savior you have His spirit to live in you and literally everywhere you go is Emmanuel: God With Us.
It means you have a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
The choice is yours... you can decide if He is Emmanuel: God With (met-ah’) Us and you can work as part of a winning composition with active participation and in close proximity...
OR
You can remain with those who are counted as opposition and share in the awful reality of ultimate judgment and destruction.
Won’t you receive Him today and begin enjoying all the blessngs that are a part of that Winning Composition--Emmanuel and You?!?!
