“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
The problem with Christmas is that to most people it is an event that comes and goes. To the western world at large, Christmas is not celebrating “God with us” but at best, a religious tradition based on an historical event that has been and gone! The idea of “God with us” is the last thing on most people’s minds.
But for the true believer, the follower of Jesus Christ, Christmas is all about God’s redemptive plan introduced to humanity through the incarnation - the birth of Jesus Christ. This divine intervention was an act of God’s grace to a sinful world whereby sinners can know personally, through faith, the ever-abiding presence of a personal Saviour. This Saviour, sent of God, having a name above every other name, Jesus, has promise to His followers to never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). As Rick Mylander once wrote, “Jesus is not to us as Christmas is to the world, here today and gone tomorrow.”
Christmas to believers is truly “IMMANUEL - GOD WITH US” forever, everyday and never ending. But it even gets better for the believer! Our wonderful “God with us” will one day morph into us being with God forever & never to end!
Alan Redpath wrote in Christianity Today, “The immense step from the Babe at Bethlehem to the living, reigning triumphant Lord Jesus, returning to earth for His own people – that is the glorious truth proclaimed throughout Scripture. As the bells ring out the joys of Christmas, may we also be alert for the final trumpet that will announce His return, when we shall always be with Him.”
Immanuel - God with us!