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God With Us

Immanuel

by TerryLema

Matt 1:20-23:  “’Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’-which means, ‘God with us.’”

The prophet the angel referred to was Isaiah. He lived about seven centuries before and foretold of the birth of Christ Jesus. “The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son.” [Isaiah 7:14]

That alone is miraculous, but then Isaiah said something even more miraculous … “they will call him Immanuel.”

Immanuel means God with us. One author called that “The Glorious Impossible.”

God with us. Of all the names of God, this one may be the most amazing. God with us. The Almighty, Holy, Uncontainable, All-Knowing God, the Great I Am, set aside His Glory and Godly Prerogatives, and “contained” Himself in the body of a baby, totally dependent upon a teenage mother for life and a simple village carpenter for protection.

How? That’s the part that cannot be completely understood and must be accepted by faith.

Why? Because He loved us and was not willing to see His creation condemned and separated from Him.

God with us, Immanuel. He came to be with us. HE HAS NEVER LEFT US. He is God with us, Immanuel.

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The LORD Himself

by TerryLema

“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.

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This I know

by TerryLema

I was entering one of my favorite songs in the online program a few days ago, “Jesus Loves Me,” by Chris Tomlin. I came to the line in the song which always (alway!) makes me cry tears of gratitude.  The line is found in the chorus. “Jesus, He loves me, He loves me.  Jesus, how can it be? He loves me, He is for me.”

The very next morning, my email contained a reminder that on the cross, “God With Us,” became “God For Us,” by giving up His life for us.

In high school I got in with a couple girls that were not good influences (looking back maybe I was the bad influence?). We got in a bunch of trouble. We smoked (even in the school bathrooms), drank, cut school, snuck out at night, even took an overnight trip on a bus to LA (not smart), etc.

These girls were with me throughout my senior year, but while they were almost always with me, I cannot say that either was for me. Neither wanted what was best for me, and honestly, I did not really want what was best for them. I just wanted them to keep me company in my sin.

We know that God has always been “for” us, that is why Jesus came to be “with” us. God’s love for His creation was not to be denied, even in the face of mankind’s rebellion and rejection.

Jesus came, not to be with me in my sin, but to become my sin and remove it far from.  Jesus wanted (and did) what was for my best.  For that, I am filled with gratitude.

I can sing with David, “This I know: God is for me.” [Psalm 56:9 HCSB]

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