Immanuel: God with Us
ICS Daily Devotions
Matthew 1:23 (NKJV). “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” translated, “God with us.”
In the Old Testament, the people could not see God face to face because of His holiness. The sin of men had separated them from God. Therefore, God’s presence was in the form of a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. The knowledge about God was passed down by oral tradition, and the law has taught them about the holiness of God and caused them to know their inadequacy in standing right before God. Therefore, it drove them to seek after the grace of God. The coming of Jesus was the good news that they had been waiting for.
John 1:18 (NKJV) No one has ever seen God. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
In His wisdom, God established a covenant with Abraham so that His only Son could walk among men rightfully and be the ultimate sacrifice for humanity. Jesus came to declare to man the good news of the Gospel, the character of God, and the power of God when He ministered among the people.
Hebrews 1:1-3a (NKJV) God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, two has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power,
Jesus was the Word that became flesh and walked among us. It was a declaration and revelation of who God is because Jesus told His disciples that if they saw Him, they also saw the Father. Jesus has put on display everything there is to know about God. Jesus and the Father are one, and Jesus is the exact image of the Father and the brightness of His glory. We will not have an accurate picture of God without Immanuel.
The Word of Jesus carries power because the whole world was put into place by His Word. The same power uttered during creation was available when He was walking on earth. The written Word of God has the same power. Therefore, we should put our trust in the Word because it is the Word of God that gives substance to our faith.
God has promised never to leave or forsake us. Today, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead dwells within believers. We will experience Immanuel, God with us, when we know that all talents that God has belong to us in a covenant relationship. The idea of Immanuel, God with us, is also proven through the diversity of activities that He is working in and through us by the Holy Spirit.
Sermon Series: Christmas
