God is with Us
“All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” Isaiah 7:14
Jesus is known in the gospel of John as the Word. Consider theses words of John (John 1:14): the Word became human and made his home among us. Christ, the visible image of the invisible God who existed before anything was created, who is supreme over all creation and holds all creation together, became human and made his home among us. Immanuel. God with us. (Col. 1:15-17)
God does not merely sit on his throne in heaven and look down on His creation. He came in the flesh. He moved in. He took up residence. The Creator took on the form of the creation. God was born. God was swaddled. God was nurtured and grew into a man. God was with us. He felt pain. He cried. He got hungry. He got angry. He was loved. He was abused. He was misunderstood. He was crucified.
But the God who is with us defeated death when He rose from the grave. He ascended to the Father, but He is still with us in the person and presence of the Holy Spirit whom He sent. He moved out of the neighborhood and into the hearts of man. Mary could hold the Son of God in her arms, but you and I can hold Him in our hearts. Immanuel is still with us.
Merry Christmas.