Immanuel, God With Us

Isaiah 7:14 NIV

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Matthew 1:18–25 NIV

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “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. 21 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

There are many names or titles in the Bible that are given to the person Jesus Christ. We’ve considered a number of them: Light of the World, Good Shepherd, Prince of Peace, King of Kings....and there are many others....Rose of Sharon, I AM, Redeemer, the Vine…..but there is no other name or title of Jesus Christ that more succinctly captures the Glory of Christmas than the Name we consider this morning…… As the prophet long foretold, one day would come a son, born of a virgin, and his name shall be “Immanuel”….”God with us”.

This name captures the very essence of the Good News we celebrate at Christmas…..Immanuel has come into the world…. “God with us.”

GOD with us……

That first word is most important. GOD with us.

GOD…. not a man that had godlike qualities….not a man who gave us godly inspiration….. not a man who was simply LIKE God….but God.

Several years ago I read a column in the Globe and Mail written by Arthur Cockfield, a professor of Law at Queen’s University in Kingston. The column was titled, “How an Atheist Celebrates Christmas”. Cockfield has great respect for Jesus, “I see much to celebrate about the birth of the Lord of Lords. Christ’s life stands as a template for acceptance, tolerance and generosity.” Or later, “This holiday season I will rejoice in the birth of an iconic figure – not just because of the beauty and joy he brings to my Christian neighbours, but because of the sense of fairness and decency he brings to our world.”

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When you read the entire column, its remarkable how positively he speaks of Jesus….. his fairness, decency, compassion, wisdom…. But sadly, what he cannot do is confess the Glory of Christmas that is contained in the name Immanuel…… Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, to Mary and Joseph, in the year when the first census was taken while Quirinus was governer of Syria….that’s from Luke’s Gospel and its essential how important it is for Luke to locate the birth of Jesus in actual history….. what Cockfield and far too many others cannot do is confess that Jesus Christ is GOD.

In Jesus, God became a human being….God took on flesh and blood…. Not as a kind of outward clothing…. No God joined himself inextricably to human flesh…. The person of Jesus, who walked this planet, ate our food, breathed our air, laughed, cried, walked, slept, this Jesus is GOD.

That is the Glory of Christmas….and everything else is secondary…..

Jesus Christ is GOD become flesh….

What makes this fact about Jesus so believable in the Bible is something that many people can easily overlook…. Of all the other religions of the world, eastern pagan religions, or especially the religion of the empire of Jesus’ day, the Imperial cult, the empire of Rome….. in these religions that believed in a pantheon of gods….many gods…..it would not be so unbelievable to a god to come in the form of a person…..remember in book of Acts, Peter and Paul do miracles or live through poisonous snake bites and people respond by saying something like the gods have come among us…… that is something that can be expected within those religions.

…but not Judaism…..[elaborate…. God is wholly other….unique, above creation…..for Jew to worship a human being would be scandalous and blasphemous…..but they did towards Jesus….all of his first followers were Jews….. they bowed down to him and never did Jesus say…. ‘Oh don’t do that, get off your knees….I’m just a man…..” no, he received their worship…… why, because he was God…..and those first followers knew it….. calm wind, heal a blind man, FORGIVE sins…..elaborate on this….

Jesus was GOD…..his first followers WORSHipped HIM…..

In fact as you read the NT you will find that people who encounter Jesus respond to him in basically three ways. John Stott, in his book Mere Christianity captures that for us….3 responses (Basic Christianity)

“If you read the bible you’ll see that nobody who ever met Jesus Christ ever had a moderate reaction to him. There are only three reactions to Jesus: they either hated him and wanted to kill him, they were afraid of him and wanted to run away, or they were absolutely smitten with him and they tried to give their whole lives to him.”

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· Filled with fear and run away

· Hate him and want to kill him, do away with him

· Submit to him…..

If he is God….he cannot remain just an interesting person……

Nor can he remain a kind of helper….. someone who I simply turn to when I need some benefit…..

That’s often how we think about God, isn’t it?????

God is an interesting idea….a fascinating concept…..or as an iconic figure as that Queens University professor, Arther Cockfield put it.

Or even if God is more to us than an interesting idea, sometimes he’s only someone I turn to when I need some benefit that will make my life better…..

The remarkable story that we encounter at Christmas is that even when we are much more concerned about protecting our own individuality and our own self interests, God never gives up on us.....

God did not give up on his people….. and he never gives up on us…..

Every Christmas we are reminded of the sign that God has given to us….to all the world……God has come to us....as a baby.....as one of us.....

[God come to us.....as opposed to ......we trying to reach up to God]

As we think about this simple fact....that God came to us because it was impossible for us to reach up to God..... I have found this analogy quite helpful..... I think the first time I encountered it was reading C.S. Lewis.....

C.S. Lewis said of God in Surprised by Joy, “and I could no more ‘meet’ Him, than Hamlet could meet Shakespeare.”

In one sense, if Hamlet were to explore his world he wouldn’t actually find Shakespeare anywhere. He wouldn’t find him deep in outer space, or hiding a tree, or contained inside the sun, or riding on the clouds.....

In another sense, however, Hamlet would see evidence of Shakespeare everywhere. He would be living in the world Shakespeare made. The existence of this world  entirely dependent upon its author.

But for Hamlet to know Shakespeare personally, intimately even, the author himself would have to do something.....He’d have to write himself into the story. As Lewis said, “Hamlet could initiate nothing.” For the two to meet, “it must be Shakespeare’s doing.”

This is the basic claim of the Christian narrative. There is an author to our story, to our world. If ever we would meet him, it will not be of our own initiation. He must act. He must write himself into human history. And he has. As the Apostle John says, “In the beginning was the Word . . . and the Word became flesh.”.....The Word, you could say, wrote himself into our story....

The scandalous claim of Scripture is that the Author entered the plot. He stepped over the threshold of time and space to be born in a seemingly insignificant town in the Middle East. The Creator of the world wrapped in a first-century diaper: the phenomenal cosmic power that is GOD entered into a stable.....

And I think, if I can quote CS Lewis once more, “Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.”

No wonder we sing....

Joy to the world The Lord has come Let earth receive her King Let every heart prepare Him room And heaven and nature sing

https://www.theolatte.com/2017/12/the-author-entered-the-story/ (Dan DeWitt)

What is true about that stable is also true about the human heart.....remember Mary..... she made room in her heart for God to write his story....and once the Word was in her heart, she contained something in her that was bigger than the whole world....

And that is our invitation this Christmas....to let every heart prepare him room....

Make room in your heart..... (Make Room.....Casting Crowns)

Is there room in your heart For God to write His story?

You can come as you are But it may set you apart When you make room in your heart And trade your dreams for His glory

…trading our dreams for his glory..... ELABORATE...... can be unsettling.....

“Do not be afraid…”…… such powerful words that come to us through the Christmas story and because they are repeated so many times in the Gospel we must not miss them….

Do not be afraid, Zechariah….Luk 1:13

Do not be afraid, Joseph…. Matt 1:20

Do not be afraid, Mary….Luk 1:30

Do not be afraid shepherds….Luk 2: 10

tedious

Again and again….do not be afraid……

Why? Because God is WITH us….

But it’s altogether different when we meet God….. he speaks to our heart a word of healing, encouragement, forgiveness…… WITH US makes all the difference…..

Making room in our hearts for Jesus Christ.....

Making room in our hearts for Jesus Christ is akin to creating a welcoming space for a cherished guest. It involves intentional acts of spiritual hospitality—clearing away the clutter of anxieties, resentments, and distractions. By embracing gratitude and cultivating moments of silence and reflection, we open a sacred space within ourselves. Prayer and contemplation become the gentle invitation for Christ to dwell in the depths of our being, transforming our inner landscape with love and grace. As we prioritize virtues like kindness, forgiveness, and humility, we not only make room for Jesus but also allow His presence to shape and guide our thoughts, actions, and relationships, fostering a profound and enduring connection.

Many years ago I came across this true story that powerfully illustrates the way in which Jesus can enter our hearts and write his story.....

In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics (based on biblical principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments and a large orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage. They relate the following story in their own words:

It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger. Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given small paper squares, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the city. Following our instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia, were used for the baby's blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States. The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help.

All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately--until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib. He made up his own ending to the story as he said, "And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have anyplace to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift.

So I asked Jesus, "If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?" And Jesus told me, "If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me." "So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him...for always."

As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon or abuse him, someone who would stay with him - FOR ALWAYS.”

The little orphan had found room in his heart for God to write His story.

And that dear friends is God’s invitation for all of us this Christmas morning..... will we trade our dreams for His glory and make room in our hearts for Immanuel.....God with us....to write His story.