Immanuel – God Is With Us

Immanuel means God is with us. Don reminds us that Christmas is a time of year when we can remember that God has come close.

God Has Come Close

Can you believe that Christmas is coming soon? I mean, it is close. When we step into December, it’s not very long when we think of all the things we need to do – that Christmas is coming. I don’t know how you feel about that. I know some people sadly have had difficult experiences in their past Christmas’s. I’m sorry if that’s been the case for you. In my situation, I had great Christian parents and Christmas was a delight. It was a joy. But you know, there’s something more important than the day of Christmas being close. What is really significant is that God has come close.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

Now let me just explain what I mean by starting with this passage that we read often at Christmas time,

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows; “After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. Saying” Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary, to be your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she will bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. So, all this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the Prophet saying. Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated “God with us.””

Matthew 1:18.

God With Us

Just let that soak in a little bit. God with us. Now, this phrase, carries with it a deeper significance than just that God is among us. I mean, God is omnipresent, so He is everywhere all the time. But this is a special sense. It comes out of a prophetic statement that was given in the book of Isaiah. It was declared 700 years before the Christ Child was born in Bethlehem, and we find the passage in Isaiah 7:10

“Then Lord spoke again to Ahaz.”

Isaiah 7:10

Ahaz was a king, of what we refer to as the Southern Kingdom of Judah of the Israelites, in this particular situation, he was under a grave threat to be conquered, and so the Lord came to him to give him encouragement.

You Shall Call His Name Immanuel

There are several things going on in this passage, but I simply go to verse 14, which is what is in our Matthew passage, and it says

“therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign,”

saying this to King Ahaz;

“Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Immanuel was to be the name of a child who would be born of a virgin, and this child was a sign to the king and his people of deliverance from this threat of being conquered. There is a great deal of discussion among Bible teachers about who the virgin was in the Isaiah passage, but our focus, in the Matthew passage and what we want to look at is the name of the child, Immanuel, which means “God with us,” or literally we could say “with us is God.”

The Name Was a Testimony to King Ahaz

The name was a testimony to King Ahaz, that God was with them, that He was for them and that He would deliver them. This was to be a sign. So, the name of the child symbolized God’s presence with His people to deliver them. It was a special presence with a special benefit for His people. The Lord was with them. He was for them. He was on their side.

So, when we look at this, we realize that God is with those, in a special sense, for special benefit, for those who know Him, who know the Lord Jesus as their savior. There is this special sense in which God dwells with His children.

Times When You Have Felt Alone

Now you’ve probably had times in your life when maybe you felt alone, and you really wanted somebody to be there to help you. I think I’ve shared this in the past, but I remember when my two boys were young, and our youngest son was playing hockey and for his team they were to raise a little money through selling chocolate bars. He’s grown out of this, but at that point in time he was pretty shy.  He didn’t really want to go to a stranger’s door, knock on the door and asked them if they wanted to buy a chocolate bar.

So, what ended up happening, he asked his big older brother to go with him to sell these chocolate bars. Well, his big brother, just a few years older than he was, was outgoing and he did not mind knocking on a door and asking somebody to buy a chocolate. So, they would go together and most of the time, my older son would do all the talking, and my younger son found great comfort in his presence. Well, you know what? There’s something lot more important that the Christian has than just a big brother. Although big brothers can be great, but God is far greater.

A Prophecy About the Messiah

In the name Immanuel, we have this prophecy, a prophecy that the Messiah is going to come. You had the first statement in Isaiah and there’s this additional prophetic statement that came all the way to what we call Christmas when the Lord Jesus came into the world; Immanuel -God with us. We think of that phrase again, that verse again,

“behold the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel. Which translated means “God with us.””

Let that soak in. God the son, Jesus Christ, came among men, but far more, He came to be with us, with those who have put their trust in Him as their personal savior, and they can say “God is with me.”

A Very Difficult Situation

Again, an illustration I’ve drawn from the past, of ministry; I remember one time, and perhaps I’ve shared this before, excuse me if I have, but one time I had a very difficult situation to deal with. It was even somewhat dangerous; I had to go to a house and visit with a family and there were lots of issues, lots of difficulties. I remember going and one of my very good friends went with me and we went together. You know, I was so thankful I didn’t have to knock on that door all by myself. You know what though? It’s great to have a good friend, but it’s far greater to have a great God.

God, for those who know Him through knowing His son, the Lord Jesus, they can say “God is with me.” Now I don’t know what this Christmas holds for you. I don’t know what this season holds for you but let me encourage you. Jesus wants to be with you, and if you receive Him, trust Him as your savior, you can confidently say in this season and for the whole year ahead of us, for your whole life, Immanuel- God is with us, Immanuel-God is with me. Oh, may we all know that. May we find great comfort and confidence in that.

Do you have peace with God? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.