“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.” – Matt 1:23 (NIV)
Introduction
Today we bring you the final part of Christmas Is: Emmanuel – God With US. God chose to come among us in order to reveal Himself fully to us. In that respect, He chose not to come out of the sky as a grown up man but as a baby so that He would totally share our humanity yet in doing so, sanctify our humanity by living a sinless life so that we would know that the life He gives us comes with His righteousness.
The Word Became Flesh
The opening verses of John’s gospel give us the most profound and most beautiful description of God becoming man in Jesus. John tells us that in the beginning of things God’s WORD already existed and that this pre-existent WORD was with God. This means that Jesus was with God before creation and was part of the process of creation. It, therefore, means that it is only the one who is with God and is God who can reveal who God really is. Since God is Creator and Father and wants to restore an intimate relationship with us, what better way could He do it than to come among us and show by the way He lives that He truly is interested in us and cares for us as a Father to His children. So John tells us that it’s He, the Word who became a person – the person Jesus and who lived among us humans to reveal the grace and glory of God our Creator and Father. He who created the world out of nothing can, indeed, take on the form of the highest of His creation.
Grace, Truth and Glory
“The word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” – John 1:14
When God walks the earth, there surely must be a difference between the things He does and what merely mortal and finite man would do.
So God came with His unmerited favour (Grace), that favour which made Him substitute our death for His life. He did it out of pure love and a desire to make us who He always wanted us to be. Through Jesus’ death, God brought us back from slavery to sin. God did this through another aspect of grace which translates as charm. In Jesus, God revealed His loveliness and gentleness. Humans always saw God in terms of His might, majesty, power and judgement and though Jesus embodied all these qualities, He revealed also that power,(might, majesty and the right to judge) which is best wielded not in tyranny and oppression but in love and gentleness.
Truth: Jesus is the very embodiment of truth – “I am the way the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (NIV) Truth is God and He sets us free from our wrongful motions, prejudices and fears. Truth cannot be known unless it is communicated and Jesus communicates the truth of God – who He is, what He does what He does, and who He wants us to be. In knowing the truth we become free from all that seek to rob us of our true heritage. When ignorance flees as a result of truth, knowledge comes in and enables us to do things to enhance our lives.
Glory: Jesus’ life and work on earth reflected God’s glory whether in the performance of miracles, the authoritative teachings He gave or the standing up to the falsehood and hypocrisy of the Pharisees. In Jesus’ life the reality of the glory of God shown to Moses in Exodus 33:12-20 & 34:6-7 became really manifest.
Immanuel: God With Us
Ever since Jesus (meaning Jehovah is Salvation) walked the earth God has been permanently with us. In Old Testament times, God, Through His Holy Spirit visited humans from time to time (the Israelites in the desert; at the dedication of the temple built by Solomon; with Isaiah; Jeremiah; Ezekiel; Zechariah and so on), but since 2,000 years ago when baby Jesus was born in that manger in Bethlehem, God is, indeed, with us all the time. He is with us to save us from sin, to fill us with His Holy Spirit’s power so that we can live as Jesus did, revealing God’s grace, truth and glory to a world filled with the darkness of greed, injustice, corruption, murder, idolatry, adultery and all manner of unkindness and wickedness. But as we read in Titus 1:11-14 NIV
“They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of their own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.”
Let this Christmas season be a time that you will build a throne in your heart and invite God, through Jesus, to take His rightful place. John 1:12-13 and Revelation 3:20.
“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” – John 1:12-13 NIV.
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”- Revelation 3:20 NIV.
Stay Blessed!
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BY DR JOYCE ARYEE, THE AUTHOR