“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” [Isa 7:14]
Immanuel, God with us. That’s the old, old story. God came to us so that we could one day go to Him. He wanted His children around Him, but we had rebelled, shaken our fists at Him and declared we didn’t want Him to rule over us. We became His enemies. We didn’t want His laws or His moral obligations. We wanted to do things OUR WAY without interference from His Holiness or His Righteousness.
But God was relentless. He pursued us until one day the time was exactly right. One exact moment in time, God entered the world through a humble, obedient servant who found grace, favor with Him.
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” [Gal 4:4-5 NKJV]
Immanuel, God with us. I am always undone by the thought that the God of the universe wants me. For God doesn’t just love people, He loves PERSONS, individuals, you, me, our neighbors, family, friends, and yes even our enemies. He loves us with a sacrificial love that spans the millenniums from eternity past to eternity future. It is a love that is as boundless, as glorious, as He is.
And on that day so long ago – in the fullness of time – God proved that love and glory and grace when He sent His Son to redeem lost mankind.
Immanuel, God with us.
