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Jesus as Immanuel

In the Old Testament book of Isaiah we find several prophetic references to the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, in chapter 7 we read: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” [Isa 7:14] Matthew, the first book of the New Testament confirms that this reference is to Jesus when the angel visited Joseph and quoted this as evidence that Mary’s pregnancy was a divine intervention in the history of humanity. He said: “‘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 1:23]

Moving on, in the New Testament we find these words in the letter to the Hebrews. It contains quotes from the Old Testament and makes them applicable to believers in the New Testament age. The passage I have in mind is in chapter 13, where we find this: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” [Hebrews 13:5-6]

Knowing that God is with us has several positive benefits for the Christian. It keeps us from feelings of loneliness. There is no guarantee that having other people around will keep us from feeling lonely. Indeed, being alone in a crowd can give us a profound sense of loneliness. Seeing others around us engaged in warm conversation with their friends while we have no one to talk to can be painful. Yet in Jesus, as Immanuel - God with us, we have a friend as the Bible tells us who is closer than a brother.

Knowing that God is with us encourages us with a sense of security. As a parent, I sometimes want to be with my children for no other motive than to protect them. When they are doing something for the first time, or something which has some potential danger associated with it, I like to be nearby to offer help as appropriate. Sometimes, they know I’m there. At other times, they have no idea I’m paying attention to their situation. Similarly, we can be sure that, even when we think everything is going fine, God is there. This is something we can never sort out completely, but I’ve had enough close calls to be sure that Jesus, as Immanuel - the God who is ever present, is watching out for me.

Knowing that God is with us reminds us to not do things that we would want to do in the presence of God. This can be a mere tool of manipulation in the hands of others, but in our own consciousness, it is a spiritual help. Sometimes we forget that Jesus, as Immanuel - the God who is always here, is lovingly observing us, not to find fault with us, but to restore us when we stumble. This sadly seems to be inevitable. How good to know that He is there to pick us up, dust us off, and stay with us as we take another step forward.

Lastly, knowing that God is with us is just plain enjoyable. I beg your indul­gence for using another family situation to illustrate a point, but sometimes, I like to be with my kids for no other reason than the fact that I enjoy them. God loves us and went to extraordinary lengths to prove it. I don’t think we should be surprised to learn that not only does God love us in some altruistic, somewhat reserved way. He likes us. He enjoys our company. Jesus, as Immanuel - the God who walks through the world with us does so, in part, because He enjoys us.

However, when we talk about Jesus as Immanuel - God with us - the chief significance is not in those spiritual aspects we have just been talking about. What matters most is that Jesus came as a man to this earth, breathed the same air we do, walked in the same dust, refreshed Himself as we do, experienced the same rigours of daily life we do and then died as we do - in the sense that His body died and was placed in a tomb for three days until He was raised out of death.

When Jesus became our Immanuel, it was with a very specific purpose in mind - our salvation. He came to seek and save those that were lost. Even though it was humanity’s sin that caused the separation between God and us in the first place, God took that sin on Himself by becoming man - God with us - and dying in our place. Jesus came to earth to die for us so that we could go to heaven to live with Him.

Ron Hughes
© July 2006