Christmas 2009.

As another year draws to a close, we celebrate Christmas once more. With all of the traditions, including the music, gift-giving, family gatherings and church services, it is so easy to become completely detached or to be completely caught up in the re-enactment of Christmases past. Perhaps it is no wonder that so many people find this to be the most depressing, the most lonely of any season all year long. Yet this year has served to drive a lesson home for me that is so obvious and yet had escaped me for years.

In Matthew 1:23, the Scriptures say that a virgin will give birth to a child who shall be called Immanuel, a name that means literally, “God is with us.” A lot of time is spent traditionally on several aspects of Christ’s birth, not the least of which is his birth by and to a virgin. But perhaps we often overlook the name given to Jesus in this passage, and the interpretation or the meaning of this name. Immanuel. God with us.

The name is not one which we are accustomed to using any more and so we may overlook it or even look right past it as though it were not there. Even the meaning, God with us, is often dismissed or overlooked. After all, perhaps we can concede that He was with us about 2000 years ago but that’s all ancient history now. Further, if we take the “us” in that phrase to mean all of the population of the entire world, it becomes very impersonal at best. So, what difference does this name, and its meaning, really make?

Having served as a police officer for a number of years, I have become keenly aware of what it means to respond to a call having someone with me. Responding to any call alone causes you to think in very defensive terms. But when you have someone that you know and trust responding to the call along side you, it frees you to think more strategically and perhaps even proactively. Having someone respond with you is invaluable in producing excellent results in situations that can otherwise be extremely dangerous.

Of course there are many other situations in life which are made better by the mere presence of someone else with us. If you are lost in the woods, it is less frightening and more survivable if you have someone with you. If you should happen to be in a strange land, it is less foreboding if someone you know is accompanying you. It is a known part of human nature that we like to have someone with us in many situations in our lives. If we are cold and alone, we instantly feel better when we meet the gaze of a friendly face and perhaps a warm embrace from this same friend or family member. Whether children or adults, young or old, we do not like to be alone.

When the angel of the Lord (some would interpret this to be the Holy Spirit Himself) appeared to Joseph in a dream and explained to him that he should go forward with his plans to marry Mary, He told Joseph that the babe that Mary was pregnant with would be called Immanuel and he explained that this name meant, God with us. He was making a very important statement about the role that Jesus was to play in the lives of human beings all over the world. He was to be with us so that we would no longer be alone, lonely, cold, unloved, uncared for.

When we speak of Jesus and of Salvation, we often speak of sin and of our need for someone to pay our sin debt on our behalf. While this is true and is no small matter, it is important to realize that God was providing a means of bringing us back into fellowship, intimate friendship with Him. When He came walking in the Garden of Eden to speak with Adam and Eve and found that they were hiding from Him because they had disobeyed Him, He also felt the separation and was hurt by it. He had created us out of love and of a desire to have a friendly relationship and now the relationship had been ended. For about 4,000 years, God looked forward to the day when the relationship would be mended and Christ was the means to that end.
When Jesus came to earth, He came as the physical representation, the very physical presence of God with us. God gave His son to get us back to Him, to renew and revitalize our relationship with Him.

Thought: When God created us, it was not His intention that we should go through life on our own. He did not intend that we should fail, especially failure due to being overpowered or outnumbered. He intended to be there with us through every day and every situation. It was us who broke that relationship when we entered into sin, rebellion against Him. He would not allow even this to defeat us or to make the broken relationship inevitable.

Jesus came to be God with us here on earth. This is why it was so important for Him to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, when He returned to God the Father to let Him know that the objective had been met, that the goal had been accomplished. Having God with us, having our Creator with us, causes us to be triumphant over all our enemies through His strength. We are the winners when we allow Him to get the victory in and through us. Hallelujah for Immanuel and for His presence with us in every situation. We are no longer alone!

By His grace, there is more to come….