Preparing for the Promise - Immanuel
Preparing for the Promise • Sermon • Submitted
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· 171 viewsGod's greatest present to us is his fulfillment of the promise of Immanuel, God with us
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Welcome to Renew!
Welcome to Renew!
We are finishing up our series on Preparing the Promise
We began with preparing to sacrifice
We allow God to do whatever he needs to do in us when we decide to let go of everything
The next week we talked about rest
In the midst of the holiday rush we fail to find time to rest
We have to get away with God
He asks us to cast our cares on him
Last week we spent time looking at the gifts that were brought to Jesus
Our lives are gifts fit for a king!
This week we are concluding our series with the fulfillment of that promise!
The promise of Immanuel - God with us
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Immanuel
עִמָּנוּאֵל
It is the promise of his presence, fulfilled in the birth of Jesus
PRAY -
The word Immanuel (Emmanuel) is used only 3 times in the Bible
2x in the OT
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”
Once in the NT
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
IT is interesting to me that one of the most powerful words, with the most powerful message, is only referenced 3 times
It is interesting to me that one of the most powerful words in all of the Bible is only referenced 3 times
To understand the magnitude of this word, we must understand the context behind how the word is used.
In Isaiah Immanuel was promised to Ahaz, the king of Judah
Ahaz was the son of Jotham, whom, in was credited for doing right in the eyes of the Lord
And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices.
He was also the grandson of Uzziah who did right according to the Lord
And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
But his reign was one filled with abandoning the things of his forefathers and leaning on idol worship
tells us he even offered his sons to images he made for the baals
but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
Turned over to the King of Syria and Israel (in the middle of the divided kingdom)
but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
On a trip to Syria he saw an altar that they made the sacrifices to their gods and he replicated it in the temple at Jerusalem
When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it
Isaiah was sent to deliver a message to King Ahaz that despite this He would cause those kings to fall
Isaiah told Ahaz to ask God for a sign but he refused
Then God gave him this message
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Before this child could distinguish good and evil God would desolate the lands of Judah
In God then gives the people a message
and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”
Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered;
give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
strap on your armor and be shattered.
Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.
and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”
Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered;
give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
strap on your armor and be shattered.
Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.
In , we see the ultimate meaning of this passage
And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
This could be none other than Jesus
Now more than 700 years later, God sends this message to Joseph
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Immanuel
There were great distinctions between the Immanuel of Isaiah’s day and Immanuel the son of Mary. The first was a type; the other, the antetype; the first was the shadow, the other the Reality. The one symbolized deliverance from foreign oppression, the second was the Deliverer from the oppressor. The first represented God’s presence for but a few years; the second Immanuel is the son who abides for ever.
There is a difference in these 2 views
OT - “I am with you”
NT - “God with us”
“I am with you”
“I am with you”
In the OT God was with his people
Verse 1
He was shown in a pillar of cloud and fire that lead Israel from Egypt
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
And he was manifested in the tabernacle in the temple
But this presence was so overwhelming that it created a sense of awe rather than a since of closeness
When they would see this revelation all they could do was bow to their faces
God was more like an idea, a process, a means to an end
It did not mean that he was not with them, or that he did not love him (
Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.”
God loved them. Israel loved what he could do for them
That’s why they keep running
There are many in this world that have this type of relationship with God
It is a relationship based on what God can do for them
Prayer in times of trouble
God on a shelf
This relationship never gets deeper
It is only barely touching the soil
Seed on the Rocks -
Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.
I don’t believe that this is the relationship that God desired.
When the garden was created, he walked among them
He would have close conversations
This is what God desires from us
A true Emmanuel relationship
“God with us”
“God with us”
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Immanuel
There was, however, a difference of viewpoint, for most of the pre-Isaiah expressions are seen from the perspective of God. It was God’s assurance, “I am with you,” not man’s recognition that “God is with us.”
,
Enter in the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel
Jesus was sent to fill the gap between a God in the distance and his people
God’s desire is for us to draw near to him in a close personal relationship
The garden was his game plan. We messed it up
Sacrifices were made to for the forgiveness of sins but it was not permanent
It was a yearly reminder of their sins
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”
When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
The promise of God is Jesus and the opportunity to draw near to him
We cannot draw near to God in sin
Jesus was offered for our sins
It is this sacrifice that makes it possible for us to experience God in closeness
I do not desire a relationship with God that is strictly one sided
I want to walk with God
I want to talk with God
I want to experience God like Adam and Eve did
Totally exposed in all that I am before my creator
God desires that with us as well
He is not just a God that we can pull out when we need him
When we have that mindest we do a disservice to his promise for us
He wants us to know him as he knows us
God is not some distant far off figure
Because of Jesus, he is our closest friend
Us With God
Us With God
I know that this is not grammatically correct
Can’t talk about God with us without his desire or us to be with him
Jesus chose the disciples to walk with him closely
And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach
When he departed he told the disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them to be where he is
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
His promise to us is that there is a place for us with him on earth and Eternity
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
So Why is This Important?
So Why is This Important?
It is his desire to walk with us here and in heaven
We must live our lives in that promise
We have to live knowing that God is not a distant figure but he walks beside us, with us in our every day lives.
St. Patrick wrote a prayer:
As I arise today,
may the strength of God pilot me,
the power of God uphold me,
the wisdom of God guide me.
May the eye of God look before me,
the ear of God hear me,
the word of God speak for me.
May the hand of God protect me,
the way of God lie before me,
the shield of God defend me,
the host of God save me.
May Christ shield me today.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit,
Christ when I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Amen
Emmanuel was sent as a fulfillment of is promise to never leave us or forsake us
To be with us in our lives in a close relationship.
So What Do We Do With This?
So What Do We Do With This?
God must be at the center of our lives
He gave us Emmanuel so that we could walk with him
Are we walking with God?
Is God truly a part of our lives or is he just a good idea?
Meditate - Matthew 28:20
Ask - Do I recognize that God is WITH me?