December 16
“Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son and name Him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
“See the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel.” Matthew 1:23
Today when we pick a name for our baby, we generally do it because we like the way it sounds. We might name them after someone special to us or there could be some other significance to the name itself but generally it is just a matter of preference for the name. In biblical times, the name you picked for your baby was much more important. Sometimes they reflected some aspect of the birth, or the parent’s reaction to the birth. Sometimes the baby was given a certain name to reflect his family ties. We also find several instances where the name is used to communicate a message from God regarding the character or purpose of the person. We see many names given for Jesus in the Bible. They all reflect something of His character or purpose. Jesus or Yeshua means “deliverer.” Jesus is the one who would rescue His people from their sins. He is also called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace and Kings of Kings just to name a few. The name we find foretold in Isaiah and fulfilled in Matthew 7 is Immanuel. Immanuel means “God with us.” All of His names are significant and reflect important aspects of who Jesus is, but this one is perhaps the most stunning.
Jesus, God Himself, chose to come to earth to be like us, to live with us, dwell with us, and interact with us on a personal level. No other religion out of all the religions of the world make the claim that their god dwells with them. No other god is willing to suffer for His people. Of course, the reason for that is that no other god, except the One True God found in the person of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is real. The gods of all of the other religions are just fake gods made up by humans under the influence of Satan to distract us from worshipping the true God.
Jesus is “God with us.” He understands our pain and suffering. He knows what it is like to experience sadness and grief. He knows heartache and rejection. He left the luxury of heaven to experience life with us. In the Old Testament He appeared for brief moments and then returned to heaven. He did not dwell on earth. When He came to earth as a baby and lived an earthly life, He experienced life as we know it so He could relate to us. And then, when He ascended to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with us. The moment we believe in Him and receive Him as our Savior we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He lives in us, walks with us and never leaves us. We never have to face anything alone. We have a helper to lead us, guide us, comfort us, protect us and watch over us. It is incomprehensible that that Ruler and Creator of the world would love me so much and want to have an intimate relationship with me. And yet He does.
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