God With Us
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
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God With Us
A virgin birth foretold, a divine name given. Immanuel would come, and He would come and shatter any notion of a distant and detached God. Immanuel would be one of us, born into this world, into a specific time and place, to walk as a human among His creation, to know our pain, and our suffering, our joy and love. For this Immanuel would not be one “who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrew 4:15).
And at the same time this Immanuel is not some God who was once with us or a God who will be with us sometime in the future. No! Immanuel is God with us! With us now, in our broken world. With us now, in our suffering and pain. With us at this moment to offer Himself to us! He is present now in His Word. Present in His true body and blood at His altar in His Holy Supper, for us to take into ourselves. He is there with us in the life-giving waters of our Holy Baptism, drowning the old Adam in us so the new man can arise daily. We do not have to pine for the days of old or long for a future day of reunion, for the Child born of the virgin is just who the Father said He would be: Immanuel, God with us. Now, today, and forever more.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
+
God With Us
A virgin birth foretold, a divine name given. Immanuel would come, and He would come and shatter any notion of a distant and detached God. Immanuel would be one of us, born into this world, into a specific time and place, to walk as a human among His creation, to know our pain, and our suffering, our joy and love. For this Immanuel would not be one “who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrew 4:15).
And at the same time this Immanuel is not some God who was once with us or a God who will be with us sometime in the future. No! Immanuel is God with us! With us now, in our broken world. With us now, in our suffering and pain. With us at this moment to offer Himself to us! He is present now in His Word. Present in His true body and blood at His altar in His Holy Supper, for us to take into ourselves. He is there with us in the life-giving waters of our Holy Baptism, drowning the old Adam in us so the new man can arise daily. We do not have to pine for the days of old or long for a future day of reunion, for the Child born of the virgin is just who the Father said He would be: Immanuel, God with us. Now, today, and forever more.
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