Emmanuel

This Christmas week we have no doubt recalled the verse in Matthew 1:23, Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Emmanuel, which means, God with us. When we read of God with us, perhaps we are comforted by such promises as He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5) or how we may come to Him, giving Him all our burdens because He cares for us (I Peter 5:7). However, God with us, is even more triumphant. When we receive God the Son as our Savior, He is then within us by the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. He is with us in our spiritual birth. He is with us in our joy. He is with us in our sorrow. He is with us in our work and in our rest. It gets even better. He is with us in our death and in our resurrection made possible by Jesus’ resurrection. He is with us as we are with Him.

This Christmas week as we have celebrated the birth of Jesus coming to be with us, we see the evidence of the vastness of how God loves us. For a moment, reflect upon sin entering the world. It came by a woman, Eve, when she was disobedient to God. How this act broke the heart of God, but His love would prevail. His love would bring about His masterful plan to offer salvation to each and all. He would have His Son, Jesus, to be born of a human, experiencing all we experience, yet without sin. Jesus would pay the penalty for our sin. God’s plan to bring this about was full of love and redemption that cannot be measured. Through the disobedience of one woman, Eve, sin was born which brought about — a death sentence. However, through the obedience of another woman, Mary, the Savior was born which brought about — salvation. Oh, how He loves us.

As we enter a new year, may we each one remember, everyday — Emmanuel — God with us through our every moment on earth, and then for all eternity in the new heaven and the new earth. What a promise. What love displayed. What undeserved redemption for each one who receives the One called Emmanuel.