Emmanuel, God is With Us
Passage to be read: Matthew 01:18-25
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel" - which means,
"God with us."
(Matthew 01: 22, 23)
The season has been filled with the message of the birth of Christ Jesus. The creator of mankind decided to become one of His own creations. Jesus came with a greater purpose to this world, not just to live with us a human life, but to live with us forever; to lead us into eternity. His journey from the manger in Bethlehem to the cross on Calvary was not just a human attempt to cover the life span, but a Godly sacrifice to ensure that the human life exists with the good news of being saved from the scars of sin. And "Immanuel - God with us."
This is one of the most precious message that every Christmas would bring to us. It has been a season of remembering how graceful and kind God has been towards His own creation - the human beings. Knowing the struggle that we had in overcoming our own sins and being set apart from our own guilt, God decided to become one amongst us. In flesh, bone and blood He became one of us. His sacrificial love towards us was just shown in that glorious manger in which He was born in human form. The creator on whom the entire universe rests is now in the soft hands of a young woman called Mary, and there He lies in the first step of His mission on earth. What a sacrifice it is!
And all this was not just a sudden plan that God made. It was not an emergency landing! But it was prophesied by the prophet as it was long ago in the great thoughts of the Lord - to show Human beings the way. A teaching not by words, but by own example. Christ Jesus lived as one amongst us, encountering every similar stage of life that we would be going through, yet without sin! And that's where He assures us a better life, a new life and a life assured of eternity.
We call Him "Immanuel" since we know that He is with us. God with us, in this world full of diverse diversities to ensure that everyone gets an equal opportunity, a similar encounter and even a similar prestige in the eyes of God. And God wants to ensure to you by His arrival into this world that He is there for you! You may not have anything else with you, but you do not need to mourn or to lament, for God is with us - "Immanuel."
It would have been a season that reminded you again and again that you are alone. The festivities around you and the amount of gatherings and family-friends moments the people around you were having during this festive season would have reminded you that do not have anyone with you. But, my dear friend, let me remind you that your own creator hasn't left you alone. He came in search of you, to ensure that you live your eternity with Him. The kind of incidents and encounters that you are having in your life are not new. God, in His human form, had gone through the same and He knows exactly how it feels to be in your own conditions. And Christ Jesus knows minute by minute, what would go through your own head through each of this struggle, since He had come through the same. And today, this Immanuel is there for you even if your entire world goes empty and vacant.
I pray that you will be assured in the Lord that He is there for you, as Immanuel, so humbled and sacrificial to be one amongst His own creation and you will always trust Him in your each step, for He is with us!
Wish you a Merry Christmas.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
