“…they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” ~ Mattew 1:23
Immanuel ~ God with us is one of my favorite aspects of Christmas! I know, it’s a very common theme, but it’s a meditation that never fails to warm my heart, or fails to cause me to pause in awe and wonder. And, you have to admit, in this day and age, causes for real awe and true wonder are few and far between! So as you can, as we draw quite near to the actual days of celebration, pause with me to dwell on and in the stunning Truth that the Lord God Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, the creator of all that is or will ever be chose to come to us.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them ~
He remains faithful forever.
~ Psalm 146:6
The whole of the Bible is the record of God reaching to us, to be near us, with us, in us, and redeem us because He is love and He loves us! (1 John 4:8, Rom. 5:8, John 3:16)
No other “god” does that, and certainly no other “god” laid down his life for his children, to save them from themselves and their own destruction! While we are adoring the baby in the manger, Who came not to palaces, but to a most humble habitation, let’s retain Who He is in Truth. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace,
and a host of other tremendous titles!
The Lord is exalted over all the nations,
His glory above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
Who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?
~ Ps. 113
In your own meditations on this, remember you are loved ~ by the very God of all Who came to save us, to save you…
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… This was the true Light that, coming into the world, enlightens every person. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not accept Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For from His fullness we have all received, grace after grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known.
~ from John 1