What a Name: Emmanuel
Immanuel-God With Us
Intro. Christmas is about Gifts that work! I LOVE gift giving.
Not the obligatory Christmas gift…I can’t stand those. You know the ones. The gift you have to buy the relative or person that you never see but once or twice a year.
Maybe you drew their name but you don’t know them…or maybe you don’t even like them.
But for those I care about I enjoy buying and receiving gifts. When we were kids it was getting the big thing that you couldn’t get any other time of the year.
Why? Because at the core of gift giving is a gift that works for a person.
Why are these gifts memorable…it’s what was behind them…because they fit a need…who they were from…
Q. What works for you?
Christmas is about gifts that work. Why? Because Christmas is built around the gift that we needed most. A gift that no man can do without. The gift that worked perfectly to fix humanity.
And it’s this…Immanuel “God With Us”
We first find God revealing this gift in Isaiah 7. It’s an amazing story that fits us soooooo well!
Wanna hear a Christmas story?
Once upon a time in a faraway land called Judah there was a King named Ahaz. Ahaz was a wicked King who had forsaken God and led the nation into idolatry. At that same time there were two other kings. One was named Rezin (king of Syria) and the other Pekah (king of Israel). They came together to try and overtake the Kingdom of Judah…but could not over power it.
Even though they failed Ahaz and Judah were so scared they shook like trees in the wind.
But there was a prophet in the land named Isaiah.
God told him…Isaiah go get your son SJ (a remnant will return)…and go see Ahaz. He’s at the weakest part of the city trying to secure it.
Tell Him this… “Be Careful…calm down…don’t be afraid. I know what is happening. Rezin and Pekah are nothing but burning stumps. They have plotted against you and want to take want to rip Judah apart and split it between them and put a puppet king in your place. They are all talk.”
“Tell Ahaz it will not take place! Rezin is a mere man. Pekah will be Rubble in 65 years.
“But here is the offer…it’s Trust or Bust! If you want stand if Faith you will not stand AT ALL!”
Want proof? Ask me for a sign! Be extravagant…to the highest heights!!” (GOD IS OFFERING HIM THE MOON.)
God is always wanting to give us a way out!
But Ahaz was already making an alliance with evil Assyria and their King… Tig. So he humbly said…I can’t put the Lord to the Test.
But God knew the heart of Ahaz and said… “You try my patience with your false humility and deceit!
(Isa. 7:13–16) Therefore the LORD himself will give you [plural] a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
Immanuel…translated “God With Us. In other words…I’m coming!
What that meant for Ahaz was to come to pass some time in chapter 8. He got his sign…but the sign was a reminder. Not a Deliverer.
Ahaz found himself captive to a more evil King.
But the prophecy of Isaiah was still waiting its ultimate fulfillment 700 years later in Jesus. “God With us.”
What God promised about a Messiah to Adam, Abraham, Judah, and King David rests on what he promises through Isaiah.
This is it! This was the moment God was revealing the Incarnation…that the Messiah would come and live among us. Show us what it meant to really be human.
And Ahaz missed his moment!!!!
The incarnation of God’s Son is a sign to the world that God hasn’t forsaken his people.
He sees you. He knows the plans against you and those he has for you.
This is the gift the Works!! It’s what we all need! Are you going to miss your moment?
Fast Forward 760 years later…
Matthew the disciple is reflecting on his time spent with Jesus…his Words…his acts…his claims of messiahship…his claims to be God…the cross…the resurrection.
He begins to pin his Gospel to the Jewish community proving through the OT that Christianity is the true Jewishness. That Jesus was the Messiah…and then the Holy Spirit speaks these Words to him…
“Isaiah 7”
Matt 1:18-25 – 18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[3] because he will save his people from their sins.”
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[4] –which means, “God with us.”
24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
V22… and they will call him Immanuel”[4] –which means, “God with us.”
760 years earlier a prophet named Isaiah prophesied that God’s plan would surpass our wildest dreams. A Messiah would come…a savior…but he would not only be our hero…he would be our friend.
Jesus was never called Immanuel…His name was Jesus… His title was Christ.
But the name Immanuel was prophetic out of Isaiah that showed his assignment. GOD WITH US. It showed his heart…his desire to be WITH US.
With: alongside of …companion…near to.
ILL– WITH is such a great word.
I love golfing WITH someone…I don’t like to eat alone, I like to eat WITH someone…I love being WITH my wife.
People want to go WITH someone to an Astros game.
The world wants WITHNESS. It’s the desire of every heart. Everyone wants to feel that connection.
The perfect connection is WITH the one that created you.
You weren’t created to be WITHOUT him.
But now, like Ahaz, we find ourselves reacting to a crisis by aligning with things that make us feel superior but will destroy us.
Why? We want WITH…but also control.
ILL– Why do you think parents hearts break at wayward children.? Because the withness is broken.
APP– God wanted to be WITH us…so through Jesus, he laid down his God stuff and came to fix the connection.
ILL– Once at Christmas time when Noah was little he came in the living room…I’m eating Chili…He starts looking at the little nativity set… “Where’s God?
I point to Baby Jesus and say “right there”. He gazes at it intently and looks back up at me and says… “No, BIG GOD”
APP– The concept is amazing…God became small! He came to be with us.
So many of us have in the right way have agreed with Christ’s deity…but it’s his humanity we have a problem with.
We seem fine with a Mighty God who can fly in and save the day.
But a Jesus who will just walk with us? Live with us? Exist with us? Most aren’t interested.
That’s why we are frustrated. We want the WITHNESS without the with part.
His name is not Immanuel- God when you need a God.
It’s Immanuel God With Us!
Of all the things man needs…he needs to be WITH God.
Here’s the Power of this.
- Man was separated from God because of sin.
- Moses couldn’t look at God or he would die.
- The people trembled at Sinai.
- We had no way to have access to God in a workable relationship.
- The Garden Days were gone.
But here is God making a way to be WITH us.
I love Joseph’s response to the angel…
V24-25 24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him
Joseph responded…Ahaz took a pass.
Joseph’s response put in place what was there at the beginning. If you respond and receive the gift…make Christ Lord of your Life…God is WITH you. Your sins are gone.
People like the story…the story in itself can make people feel good. It’s been read at Christmas and to Children for years.
But goodness and sweetness is not the point. It’s about response.
Mary responded… “May it be as the Lord has spoken”
Joseph responded… “he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded.
Jesus responded…Phillipians 2 “6Who, being in very nature[1] God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature[2] of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!
Philippians is a gut punch.
God doesn’t meet us half way!
Immanuel isn’t about you getting to God. Who can do that?
Immanuel is about God getting to you. God With Us!
Song: Oh Come Oh Come Immanuel
- Lights down…spot light to left of stage.
- Stools and Mics ready
Conc.
The reality of God coming demands a response.
God’s Words to Ahaz were… “You stand in Faith with me or you won’t stand at all”
Trust or Bust.
Man’s problem is Sin. And sin keeps you isolated from him. It requires justice.
APP– Justice in our case is death..hell…eternal separation.
But this baby in a manger grew up to be your substitute. You can live because of God’s response to you. IT WORKS…IT’S THE ONLY THING THAT WORKS…IT’S THE PERFECT GIFT.
Conc. Will you choose him?