Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel–which, when translated, means, God with us.
Matthew 1:23, quoting a prophecy from Isaiah 7:14
Immanuel: God With Us. What a beautiful concept.
It’s out-of-this-world: a Person that is with us, but is also God. Of course, this was fulfilled in Jesus.
But Immanuel encompasses so much … SO MUCH. Imagine that: if God, the Maker of all that exists, was with you what would that really mean?
Let’s take a little look.
God With Us means that God would be among us. He would become a Man like us. He would eat our food, sleep in our human beds, walk our human roads, be involved in our human conversations, and be an all-round human. This is what God did when He became a man. Jesus grew up like a human would and fulfilled the Father’s plan. He was God among us, and He was human in every way. He felt like we feel and knows how we think. He’s been in our shoes, and He knows what we need at every situation.
God With Us also means that God would be, well, with us. Accompanying us. Involved in all of our things. What does that really mean? In Isaiah 41:10 God says, “Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.” God, with you, would give you strength, help you, and hold you steady.
Finally, to those who are saved, we can look back through the lens of the Redemption Work of Jesus to see that Immanuel means God is alive in us. That’s as close as anyone can get. He is at work in us, through His Spirit, to make us will (or want to do) and to make us do what will give Him most pleasure (Philippians 2:13). He is transforming us, making us more like Him, through His Spirit in us.
It’s a refreshing and amazing thing to have such a relationship with the One Who made us and knows us.
The Faces of the Christmas Story Project has shown us a glimpse into the lives of a couple of personalities involved in and affected by the coming of God as a man. The Christmas Story. But beyond and through it all, they also show us what God-With-Us means, for it was Him working behind-the-scenes.
The Prophets showed us that God is with us to fulfil His promises.
The Angels showed us that God is with us to favour us.
Zacharias showed us that God is with us in our doubts, and will not leave us even till we come to believe His Word. He is patient with us in our faith journeys.
Elisabeth showed us that God is with us to do His miracles in our lives, even to the impossible. Nothing is impossible with Him.
Caesar Augustus showed us that God is ruling in the affairs of men, even of those in authority, on our behalf.
King Herod’s story showed us that God is with us to affirm us, and that we need not live with a sense of inferiority, seeking the approval of men.
The Magi showed us that God is with us to make us so highly favoured that others will come to our rising, to receive of His Light shining in us.
The Shepherds showed us that God came for everyone, even to the lowliest.
The Innkeeper who had no room for Jesus to be born showed us that wherever Christ enters (even if it is a stable), He makes into something special.
Joseph showed us the life of a faithful man. God is with us through His Spirit to make us faithful.
Mary showed us that God is with us to make us partakers of His purposing, using us to bring it to pass on the earth.
All of these and more are encapsulated in ‘Immanuel’.
Over the past 11 days we have covered these 11 people. And now we are at the 12th person. The tagline of this Project is ’12 Lives Called to be a part of God’s Story.’ If you noticed, each of the previous articles had names of characters as their titles, but this one doesn’t. We’ve talked about the meaning of Immanuel, but do you get who the final person should be?
Who else is called to be a part of God’s Story?
It’s mostly conditional. Because that person is…
YOU.
The relevance of Immanuel to Christmas is that God has come for you. Not just the world, but you. The story is generally celebrated worldwide, but we must understand it at a personal level.
Immanuel is God with you.
Jesus came to die and rise, to make the way for you to come back to God. The way is still open. But at the personal level, it is completed when you receive His gift, and come into this Way.
This is the comfort and confidence and blessing of the Christmas story. At the personal level, the story is complete when you receive God’s gift of Eternal Life through faith in Jesus Christ.
Immanuel is God’s Promise to us. It may have seemed like He had abandoned us, like we were alone, like we were helpless. But no more. He came to be among us, He is with us, and now He is in us.
So what do you say?
Have you received His Gift?
Will you?
And when you do receive God’s Gift, you enter into the line of those who are a part of God’s Story, and He writes the best stories for His characters. He’s with and in every one of them, working things out for their good. In saving us, He has given us His best. And He is still with us.
This way, Christmas for us becomes a celebration of all God is to us and all He gave to us when He came to us. The birth of Jesus was just the beginning.
And now every single day becomes a celebration too, not only Christmas. Because we are never on our own, and never alone.
God has come to be with us.
Immanuel.
Thanks for joining this 12-day journey.
Have a Very Merry Christmas!
Emmanuel Onimisi 