Adorenament No. 1: Immanuel
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means, ‘God with us.’” Matthew 1:23
Many years ago, I ordered an “Adornament” kit in the mail produced by FamilyLife containing twelve Christmas ornaments entitled, Adorenaments. So, for twelve Mondays in the 2016-2017 Advent/Christmas Season, I am going to share with you a clip of what I will be hanging on our Adorenament tree which has been placed in our sanctuary for both children and adults to contemplate this holiday season. The first Adorenament features the baby Jesus in His manger with today’s Scripture written across the design.
The truth is, hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born, it was foretold (See Isaiah 7:14), that a virgin mother would bring a very special baby into the world—the Son of God. This baby would not be a normal baby. He is perfect—without sin—because He is God, but He was like us in that He was human. He’s both God and man! Therefore, one of His names is Immanuel, or ‘God with us.’
The name Immanuel (or Emmanuel) shows how much Almighty God loves us by coming to earth as a man to save us. Jesus made it possible for us to have a relationship with the Father, for He took our sin upon Himself so we, in turn, could be forgiven and made right with God now and forever! Only the sinless Son of God, the God-man could accomplish this!
Jesus also came that we might understand God the Father and the life He wants us to live. Jesus lived, ate, slept, drank water, and breathed air as we do. He was happy, sad, angry, and tempted as we are—yet He did not sin. He was the perfect example for us on how we are to live our lives to please God.
Also by coming to earth, God could understand us! How awesome is that! As Max Lucado says, “God gets us!” We don’t fully understand this mystery—that Jesus can be both God above us and God with us, but we know from the Bible that it’s true! Immanuel: God with us, now and forever!
Pastor Louie