"… Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
Matthew 1:23b [KJV]
Emmanuel. It’s a word sometimes emblazoned in gold letters on Christmas cards, or we sing about it in the carol, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. In the prophesy of Isaiah 7:14, it’s spelt Immanuel, and in its fulfilment in the Christ child in Matthew 1:23 as Emmanuel. In both instances, it’s a name given to Jesus Christ that means “God with us.”
Jesus Christ is God with us. This precious truth is more than just a message at Christmas. It’s more than a faint, warm feeling at some other time. It’s the foundation of our salvation; Jesus Christ can only be our Saviour because He is God the Son (John 3:16, 1 John 4:14). It’s also fundamental to how we live as Christians now.
God is with us.
He is with us as the great Comforter in sorrow and grief. We carry many spoken and unspoken griefs, yet 2 Corinthians says, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). In John 14:26, Jesus promised, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
God is with us in trials. The Son of God walked with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they were thrown into King Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace for refusing to worship false gods (Daniel 3). The Lord is our Shepherd, and we can testify like David did, that “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [God] art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).
God is with us as we face uncertain futures. He gives us His word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). When our prayer is, Lord, “neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee” (2 Chronicles 20:12b), God’s response is, “fear not, nor be dismayed …for the LORD will be with you” (2 Chronicles 20:17c).
God is with us in our weakness. He says to us what He said to the Apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Our response should the same as the Apostle’s too, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
God is with us in times of rejoicing. Joy comes from seeing His hand at work. When Sarah gave birth to Issac, she rejoiced, saying, “God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6). Psalm 118:15 says, “The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.”
Finally, God is with us always. Matthew 28:20 repeats some of the last recorded words of Jesus to His disciples before He ascended to heaven. What He said to that group of disciples, He says to us, His disciples, today, “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”
May the truth of Emmanuel, God with us, encourage our hearts today and in the coming year.
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