Names of Jesus--Emmanuel

This advent season, we’re studying the names of Jesus found in the first two chapters of Matthew. Last week we looked at the name Jesus—that he will save his people from their sins. This week we’re studying the name Emmanuel.

Like last week, the verse explains the name. Emmanuel simply means, God with us. They spell the name with an “I” in the Old Testament and with an “E” in the New Testament. The reason for this is that the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew uses an “E” instead of an “I”.

Emmanuel, God with us. This is huge. This is what the Israelites were longing for. Not since the Garden of Eden, had God been with His people. The fall put a huge, impossible distance between God and people. Very few people had a close relationship with God. Noah was one, Moses saw the tail end of God’s glory, and he had a face to face relationship with God. But most people did not see God.

Sure, God is always with His people. He led the Israelites through the wilderness, as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The name of the Lord dwelled first in the tabernacle, then in the temple. But, the Lord didn’t live there; only his name resided there. Israel, all who knew God, the one true God, longed for a closer, more real relationship.

Emmanuel, God with us.

I would like you to picture in your mind the richest, most powerful person on the planet. So I guess we’re looking at a cross between Bill Gates and Barak Obama. Those two guys have influence.

Now imagine this Bill Obama guy choosing to walk away from his wealth and power. Then imagine him undergoing a total change. While maintaining his identity as a human, he also takes on the identity of an ant. He shrinks down in size, he’s grows in the ant egg. He emerges, and then scurries all over the place, serving all the other ants.

That analogy is terrible in many ways, but it conveys something of the truth of the incarnation. Jesus deliberately set aside his power and his honour and became the servant of humanity.

But what does that mean for us? We know that God came down. We know that Jesus was born all those years ago. We know that he lived, suffered, died, was buried, descended into hell, was raised from the dead, and then ascended into heaven. We know all that. What does it mean for us?

Is God still with us?

God is still with us.

Jesus ascended in order to send His Spirit. God is still with us, Jesus is still with us. The Holy Spirit is inside us.

In fact, God is with us right now. We didn’t have to come to this sanctuary in order to enter God’s presence. Since the Holy Spirit came into our hearts, God’s never left us. God’s never left our presence, and we’ve never left His!

Does that mean we don’t have to come to church anymore? Not on your life, and I’m not saying that just because it’s my job! We come to church because a body is not a body unless it is together. All who confess their faith and trust in Jesus Christ are being built together by the Holy Spirit into Christ’s body. He brings his body together for worship, fellowship, prayer, and devotion.

Have you really thought about what it means, “God with us?” Have you considered, what it means to have the Holy Spirit inside of you?

What do you think? Is the Holy Spirit like some kind of energy, a pick me up, when I’m down? Is he a burst of power, when you’re running out of gas? A force, or feeling, that moves me and guides you?

What do you think about when you hear, the Holy Spirit is inside of you? Do you think of the Holy Spirit as a person? The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. You have a person living inside of you.

You have a person living inside of you.

We’ve all entertained guests. When you have guests, they do things differently, and sometimes you alter your schedule to accommodate them. You and your spouse may not be able to talk as you normally do. If you’re a child, you might not be able to sleep in your own room. You might not be able to play with your noisy toys. You might not want to walk around in your pyjamas.

When we give our lives to Christ, we give up our hearts. We invite Christ in, and he moves in by the power of His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a permanent resident. You can’t ask him to leave! In fact, because God is with you all the time, God is watching what you’re watching. God is seeing what you’re seeing.

Have you thought about it that way? You can never get away from God. You can’t hide anything from God. You, can’t slip away to do something you know, as a Christian, you shouldn’t be doing. It’s not as though we can say, “Um, Holy Spirit, do you mind closing your eyes for a second? I’m going to give the guy who cut me off some sign language.” It’s like a poster I’ve seen in the hospital. It shows a pregnant woman. Written across her stomach, is a statement about her baby. It says, “I’m having what she’s having.”

God is always there. Sometimes it is great. During difficult times, rough periods in life, God is there. That is such an amazing comfort. But when we want to exercise our wills, when we want to try to do things on our own, God is still there. King David describes this vividly in Psalm 139.

You surround me. You’re ahead of me and behind me. You’ve laid your hand upon me. You’ve grabbed my arm to guide me. I can’t get away from your Spirit. I can’t flee from your presence. If I go to the heavens, you are there. If I go to the depths, even death, you are there. If I settle far, far way, you are there!

There’s just no ditching God. Just as you can’t lose your shadow, you can’t lose God.

So, knowing that God is with us, knowing that God is always aware of what we are doing all of the time, how are you living your life?

Think over the things you did last week. How often did you take God’s perspective in consideration? How often did you allow yourself to go into temptation?

What’s the point of asking God “to lead us not into temptation” if we’re not going to listen to Him anyway? What’s the advantage of having the Holy Spirit, if we’re going to do what we want, when we want, and by our own strength?

So how shall we conduct ourselves? How do we put up with the Holy Spirit? Or, to put it in a more positive way, how do we live in honour, respect, love and gratitude for the presence of the Holy Spirit within us?

So, what’s the answer? Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” That’s the answer. That’s how to live with the Holy Spirit.

It seems too simple, doesn’t it? It seems almost wrong. How is that a good enough answer? It leaves too much room for error! It leaves too much room for people to be liberal, and free, and able to get into all kinds of trouble!

But it isn’t really, because we’ve been raised with Christ. Emmanuel isn’t just God with us. Emmanuel is Christ taking on humanity. Christ becoming human, Christ being God and man, at the same time. Christ, raised up, is Christ the Son of God and Christ the Son of man.

Emmanuel isn’t just God with us. Emmanuel is us with God. Since you’ve been raised with Christ, set your mind on Christ. That’s where you are, even now. Even now, we are sitting with Christ in heaven. God with us, us with God.

Let that rule your life. Let that change how you view one another. First, our actions ought to show we have the Holy Spirit in us. How we treat others, ought to show the Holy Spirit, Christ’s spirit in us. If this sanctuary—meaning, safe place—can’t be a safe place to make mistakes, admit sin, be real, be honest, then what are we doing?

This isn’t just a human thing. This isn’t just a place where we get together to hang out and, if we’re lucky, sing the songs we want to sing. Do you really know why you come here each week? God calls you here. He wants you to be with him, with his people.

What are we doing with that? We make it about us. We make it about me. If I don’t like something, I’ll grumble about it under my breath, loud enough for others to hear, but I won’t have the decency to speak to the person who’s offended me.

But that’s not even the root of the problem. The root of the problem is that for some of us, all of us, many of us, are putting ourselves in God’s place, God’s position of honour. For crying out sideways, don’t you get it? By grace you’ve been saved, by faith! You did nothing to get it. Nothing. Christ died on the cross for you. That cute little baby lying in the manger, came for one purpose only. To die as an atonement, a payment, for sin. He bore God’s full wrath, in order to spare you from it.

Then, after returning to the Father, he sent the Spirit so that you will never ever be abandoned by God, ever. He was abandoned, so that you will never be. Yep, people here will make you angry, upset. They won’t be perfect friends, they won’t be perfect congregant members. They will sin against you, they will hurt you they will do all kinds of stupid things, and they won’t even say sorry after. They may never admit being wrong. We won’t stand for that, we’ll deal with it as a church, because we’re called to be holy.

So what. Sin happens. Deal with it. If you’re the sinner, ask for forgiveness. If you’ve been sinned against, pray that God will open their heart to see their sin.

I’ve been here three years last month. I’ve had my own crap in my own life to deal with, two deaths in twenty months, and it sucks. I tell you the truth, what God allowed this church to go through, the fighting, the split, the leaving, the reason for all that still hasn’t been dealt with. The crap that caused all that old pain, I’m sorry, but we haven’t dealt with it. It is there, like a cancer, killing us from the inside out.

If we can’t be honest with each other, if we can’t deal with reality. Let’s stop faking it. Let’s stop playing ‘church’. Let’s get real people. I’m going to pray, we’ll sing a song, receive a blessing, then sing another song. Then, I’m going to stand at the front, if the elders will join me, we’re going to pray. Come forward to pray, come pray, one on one with an elder. Pray with me. Let us pray, seeing God with us, Emmanuel, the Spirit with each of us. Amen.