“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].” (Isaiah 7:14)

Everything about the Christian faith hinges on the reality that God would come near to us. 

Ancient life in God was marked by the constant pursuit of nearness to Him. Sacrifice, law, ceremony, and priesthood offered a means by which humanity could seek the presence of a holy God who could not dwell closely with unclean sinners. He was too good, and we were too far from it. His nearness, without boundary, would have decimated us. So God lived in the camp, but only a select few could approach Him, and even those few could not see and experience Him the way human hearts have always longed to do. 

As we read the Old Testament we inevitably sense its forward slant, always moving toward a moment in time that would bear the fruit every moment before. There were promises and prophecies – mysteries to be realized; there were laws and practices – shadows of redemption yet to come. The fulfillment of it all would arrive in something so simple: a living, breathing man – a person you could see, touch, and speak to. His simple, yet unimaginably profound presence.

Jesus Christ.

Emmanuel.

All of our hope came to life the moment God was born as a child – the eternal in time, the omnipresent born in human likeness, majesty clothed in vulnerability. Scripture tells us that Christ is the exact imprint of God’s nature (Hebrews 1:3) – all that He wants us to see about Him and experience with Him in relationship. We were made to know God and, in the birth of Christ, God suddenly became deeply, personally knowable. God with us. 

So now, we who know Him have the great privilege of living into the benefits of God’s nearness.

Peace & Love

You’ve come to bring peace, to be love, to be nearer to us…

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” (Ephesians 2:14)

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9)

This “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) came to unite both heaven and earth by the power of His love. He is the One True Peacemaker – able to “break down the dividing wall of hostility” both among man and from mankind to God the Father Himself. 

Because of Christ, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1) from whom we were once alienated and by whom we are now adopted. In the greatest act of love ever displayed, Jesus laid Himself down (both by descending to earth to suffer and by dying a gruesome death) so that He might secure for us – for you – eternal peace with the Father and a place with Him in the Kingdom.

So, empowered by the magnitude of that gift, we go out in peace to love and unite the world around us – ambassadors for Christ. That which we have been given, we now seek to give with all that we are and all that we have.

Light & Life

You’ve come to bring life, to be light, to shine brighter in us…

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4)

Scripture is full of this image – darkness and light. It is beautifully vivid. We can imagine a dark night sky – a vast, empty void that carries a sense of dread. And we can imagine the moment the expanse is met with the early light of morning – the indescribable majesty that is borne out of light shining in darkness; the hope and awe that spring forth from the sunrise; the total absence of darkness as it is done away with by the glory of the light.

This is Jesus.

That which was hopeless and dreadful was overcome by majesty and wonder. Death gave way to life and nothing could ever be the same. Remember, in this moment, that you were once dead and without hope – you walked in darkness. You may even remember what that time in your life felt like – the way your heart longed for something you couldn’t reach. And then, miraculously and by no merit of your own, there was light. It broke out in your heart and in your life in a way that you could not begin to explain; you just knew it was Him. 

You knew it had to be Jesus because you were still you – a cracked vessel with nothing to offer – and yet suddenly glory was shining forth from your life. The moment you were adopted into the family of God, you were given “the light of life” (John 8:12) to reflect Christ’s beauty to a watching world, that they might taste and see His goodness. What an undeserved privilege.

Redemption & Hope

Our Deliverer, You are Savior

In Your presence we find our strength

Over everything, our redemption, God with us

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)

When Christ came to dwell among us – to be our “Emmanuel” – he did it with the knowledge that we would hate Him, mock Him, and crucify Him. Christ descended to earth so that He might descend far deeper, unto the grave. He had to come so that He could die.

And when He did – the very moment He did – He tore the veil of separation between God and man, forever granting us access to the Kingdom so that God might be able to dwell with us completely and eternally.

First, He would dwell with us by His Spirit – the very breath of God within each believer. He would come as a guide and a companion to walk with us through our days on earth as another kind of “God with us.”

And finally, at the end (or rather, beginning) of it all, in the Kingdom of Heaven, the Father Himself will be fully reunited with His people – His children. We will hear a heavenly voice shouting:

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Revelation 21:3)

God with us forever. Our great help and our great hope. He came to us that we might know Him, He dwells in us that we might seek Him, and He welcomes us home to live with Him for all of eternity.

Rejoice, for our God is with us.

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