God With Us

Names carry some type of meaning. We name our children carefully, and consider many names before deciding on what will be the name that they answer to all their lives. We often name them after parents or grandparents that had an influence on our lives. We may name them based on what is popular at the time, we may give them good strong biblical names like Joshua, Matthew, Paul, Adam, Ruth, Mary. I don’t think I have run across a Judas or Lucifer yet, but the way this world is going the day may not be far off.

I got curious and had to see what the popular names this year were and they were:

Sophia, Olivia, Emma, Ava, Isabella, Aria, Riley, Amelia, Mia, Layla

Most Popular Boy Names

Jackson, Liam, Noah, Aiden, Caden, Grayson, Lucas, Mason, Oliver, Elijah

So I got curious again and thought I would see what a few of our church members names meant. I started with mine: Joey- God will increase; Mitchell- Who is like God? Matthew- Gift of God; Candi- bright and sweet; Mary Lynn- of the sea and bitter!

We could go on and on for days with the different meaning of our names but for today’s message God was very direct when he told Joseph what to name His son. He said to name him Jesus. I want to hone in on the next verse, the one that Matthew quotes from the Old Testament in . You see, during the the time of Jesus’ birth his name was a common name. It is the same as Joshua. It means “God our Savior” or God who is salvation. No other name could be more appropriate for Him. Since that name was associated with God’s Son, it ceased to be a common name and became the most wonderful, significant, and glorious name ever said by human lips! But Immanuel really puts the icing on the cake! God is with us!

I want to look at 2 questions today as we take in this particular scripture that when applied to your life should bring joy, comfort and peace to you everyday you wake up and will hopefully help you to draw closer to Him.

When is God with us

Some people say when you are saved- I say before that. When Isaiah prophesied to Ahaz what was to take place, he was telling of the birth of the Messiah, the one to save the world. This means he was the sacrifice for the sins of everyone, past, present, and future. And since we believe that he died for each one of us, that must mean that he is with us from the very beginning.

Psalm 139:13 NKJV

13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

There have been times in my life where I have felt alone in a crowded room. I felt distanced and separated, isolated. On the other hand I have been completely by myself and have never felt closer to God. Scripture tells us in “Lo and I am with you always, even to the end of the age”.

This covers a great period of time- When is God with us: always

This means in the crowded room where we feel alone, God is with us.

When we are at our best God is with us

When we are at our worst God is with us! There is never a time when God is not with you. He promised to never leave you, turn away from you, or abandon you!

When Jesus Christ was born this promise was fulfilled! God is with us today.

Transition: So we understand that God can transcend time, He is with us from everlasting to everlasting, this answers the question of when; but what about the Why!

How is God with us-

Why Is God with us

What is my purpose in life? Have you ever asked yourself that question? There has to be more than this. The reason for the birth of the Messiah was to save us from our sin! His sole purpose for taking on flesh was to die!

He died so that we could live!

He had die to defeat the grave and return to the father so that we could receive the comforter!

John 16:7 KJV 1900

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

The comforter brings us peace,

it brings us instruction (helps to guide us),

He gives us strength in our time of weakness to make the right choices

The comforter brings us peace,

He brings us conviction when we make the wrong choices, and brings us to repentance and salvation!

it brings us instruction (helps to guide us),

There is one more reason why He was to be named Emmanuel:

…For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Make no mistake, this isn’t just an end time prophecy that John is speaking of, this is used in the past tense as in Jesus has destroyed the works of Satan! Completely, utterly destroyed everything that Satan has set out to do, He took it to the cross with Him and annihilated it! He didnt’ just do it temporarily, but permanently.

it brings us conviction

This is no wonder why Herod had all the boys under 2 killed, Satan was scared, He knew what he had to lose and he lost it all!

You don’t have to give in to Satan’s lies today, you don’t have to believe that you are alone, you don’t have to believe that you are too messed up, to far gone, or to weak to be forgiven because God is with you.

Conclusion: I read this cool story the other day and wanted to share it with you today: A little boy asked his dad “how big is God? His dad pointed out a jet flying in the sky. the dad said “how big is that plane”? the boy said it is very small. Then the father took him to the airport and showed him an airplane and he said “now son, how big is that airplane?” and the son said “it’s huge”. The father said, the size of God is like this airplane, the closer you are to him the greater he becomes in your life. “ I can’t think of a greater time in the history of the world than the birth of Jesus Christ when our Lord was closer to the world. God is with you today, and he is waiting for you to make a choice, choose Him, or choose the world. You know why Jesus came, can the world offer you the same?

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 1

the living bond of holy and most intimate fellowship between God and men from henceforth and for ever.