Tuesday, December 4, 2018

December 4, 2018

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they shall call him Immanuel' (which means "God with us") When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. He did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." Matthew 1:22-25

Unless you enjoy being lonely or ignored or insignificant and isolated, the message of Immanuel - "God with us" is a BIG deal!

In the past few posts I have been sharing three reasons why Immanuel matters so much:

It's God's Reminder 

After 400 years of silence, God spoke with a shout when He sent His Son into the world, born of a virgin in a stable. The birth of Jesus was an exclamation mark at the end of His declaration, "I AM is with you! I have never left you and I never will! Unless you leave Me, I will be with you always!

It's God's Revelation

When God came in the Person of Jesus we got to catch a glimpse of Who He is and what He is alike.

Jesus said, "If you have seen Me you have seen the Father."

It's God's Redemption

Joseph did as he and Mary were instructed by the angel and they gave this baby boy the name "Jesus".

"But, wait! I thought He was to be called Immannuel! So, why did they name the baby, Jesus? The short answer is they did it because the angel told them to. Are you going to argue with an angel?

The name "Jesus" is the New Testament rendering of Joshua. What did Joshua do?

Joshua led God's people into the Land of Promise! 

This "new Joshua" would open the gates of the eternal "Promised Land" for those who would believe in Him!

John the Baptist declared as he pointed to Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world."

Jesus came to redeem you and me! 

Redemption means to "buy back something that has been taken from you."

Sin had taken us captive and placed us in bondage to the enemy. 

The First Adam sold us into slavery and it would take the Second Adam to set us free. But like the First Adam, this Adam would have to be born without sin in order to become the sacrifice for our sin. This Second Adam would have to be a "God-man".

Who would fill that description?

Only the One named Jesus! This Jesus would be conceived by God and born of man - divine enough to live a sinless life and human enough to die on a cross for our sins!

He Is Immanuel - God with us!

That is BIG! Really BIG!



No comments:

Post a Comment