Part 4/5
Read: Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 7:10-14
Christmas is the time that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. The baby Jesus is the kind of Jesus that everyone likes. It’s why Christmas is celebrated by so many people, even those who would never find themselves going to Church every Sunday. I’ve even heard people pray to the “Baby Jesus.” Perhaps, for some, it presents Jesus as rather unassuming and nonthreatening.
The incarnation of Jesus is not simply about the birth of an innocent and innocuous figure from history. Christmas is celebrating the greatest miracle of all. It is the fulfillment of prophecy and the inauguration of a new covenant. Jesus will save us from our sins. He is Immanuel, God with us.
Now, this outline is not original with me, God–With—Us, but it’s not particularly original at all, so I guess it’s not really a big deal that I stole it from someone else. I simply want to look at this one word ascribed to Jesus and break down it’s meaning. What is Jesus accomplishing in the incarnation, what does that mean for us, and how should it affect how we celebrate this Christmas?
Jesus is GOD with us
The Bible does not leave the deity of Jesus in question. In fact it is one of the clearest arguments made by the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament. Furthermore, it is supported, even by secular scholars, that Jesus’ disciples, at the very least, believed that Jesus was God. This is not a later fabrication by Christian institutions, this is how Jesus presented Himself to the world.
This is an important detail to the Christmas story because it is not simply a Savior or Messiah that is being born. That would have been significant enough. No. This is the greatest miracle in the entire Bible. God humbled Himself and took on human flesh, entering into His own creation and became like us. The Apostle Paul describes this distinctly in the his letter to the Philippians, “Though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
We have to put this into context, because we, even as Christians, fail to understand the ramifications of the incarnation. This is the same God who created the world. John tells us this in the opening words of his Gospel account, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3).
This also means that Jesus was God in those parts of the Old Testament that many Christians struggle with. He brought the flood, scattered the people in Babel, brought fire and brimstone down on Sodom and Gomorrah, and led the Israelites into war to take the nation of Canaan for the Kingdom of God. This isn’t the way we often think about Jesus. It’s not the way He appears in the Gospels, but we have a bit of an insight into His full nature when we get to Revelation and we see the humble servant riding on a war horse with fire in His eyes.
So, why did Jesus come as a baby, so vulnerable and unassuming? And not just as a Baby, but of a long lost lineage when someone else was ruling over the land? Because this is how God is going to change the world.
Jesus is God WITH us
Jesus came to be WITH us. There is an undeniable holiness attributed to the God in the Old Testament. He appears to us as cold and distant. That is why we have such a hard time reading the stories and feeling our hearts warmed with love and devotion. We have experienced the wonder of knowing Jesus in His meekness and love. The two incarnations of God seem like polar opposites. But Jesus did not empty Himself of any of His holiness when He became a baby. The contrast should demonstrate to us how remarkable it is that Jesus would lower Himself to be in our presence.
There is a major void between us and God. We could not bridge that gap on our own. Therefore, Jesus had to lower Himself into His own creation so that we could be near to Him. This is a beautiful picture of both God’s holiness and love. It should move our hearts to want to be closer to Him.
Jesus is God with US
It is not simply that Jesus, being God, humbled Himself to be a part of His creation. It is that Jesus came to save His people from their sins. This is a significant detail in verse 21. It doesn’t conflict with John 3:16, but it does affirm the reality that, while Jesus came to save the world, not everyone would bow the knee so that they could be with God.
John Stott, in his book “Basic Christianity” said, “If you read the Bible you’ll see that nobody who ever met Jesus Christ ever had a moderate reaction to Him. There are only three reactions to Jesus: they either hated Him and wanted to kill Him, they were afraid of Him and wanted to run away, or they were absolutely smitten with Him and they tried to give their whole lives to Him…” No one who ever met Jesus was indifferent to Him. That is why it is so appalling to see how loosely Jesus is treated in our culture today, even amongst professing Christians.
If Jesus were to stand before you today, what would you do? Would you fall down on your face as His early followers did? If Jesus were to tell you to repent of your sins, would you tell Him He is being insensitive and try to silence Him? If Jesus demanded that you sell all of your possessions and take up your cross and follow Him, would you turn and walk away?
Jesus’ name means, “God Saves.” Immanuel means, “God with us.” The first is the message of the Gospel, the good news that we have a savior. The second is the way in which He accomplishes the good news, He becomes like us so that He can take our place. Jesus died for our sins. He suffered the wrath of God so that we could be forgiven. But that is not all. He also gives us His righteousness, imputed to us. You see, Jesus didn’t just come into our creation to die and then go back to heaven, He came to be GOD…WITH…US for eternity. And with His righteousness, WE will be WITH GOD in glory.
Have you come to grips with the glory of who God is? Can you see that glory in Jesus? Do you understand what Jesus had to do in order to be with us? Do you have a desire to draw near to Him? Do you want to be judged by your own righteousness, or will you receive the righteousness of Christ? Have you tasted and seen the goodness of Jesus that He is God with us?
