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Sermons
God
With Us
Matthew 1:22-23 |
Pastor Howard Chang
December 23, 2001 |
This message was given on the occasion of
Christmas Sunday and a Child Dedication ceremony.
Significant Names
Children are from the Lord, aren’t they? They bring so much joy to all
people they touch. The sharing from these parents shows us how precious
children are to both the parents and to the community of God. Our
dedication has been a celebration of God’s goodness, blessing, and
promises to these dear babies. Their sharing reflects their desires,
hopes, and dreams for their children. Their names also give us some
insight into what kind of child the parents hope their child to become.
During Christmas we celebrate the birth of another child, Jesus Christ.
His birth took place two thousand years ago, but continues to have great
significance today. Just as we name our children with meaning and great
thought, the names given to God’s Son carry great significance. His names
tell us what this little baby will become and what he will do.
In the story of Jesus’ birth as told by Matthew, Joseph finds out that
Mary is pregnant with a child. What he does not know is that this child is
from God. An angel from God persuades Joseph to not divorce Mary. The
child is a son, and he will be called Jesus because he will save his
people from their sins. The name Jesus is so important to proclaim because
in this person all people find their salvation from their sins.
There is another name given to Jesus that gives us a clue as to this
baby’s significance. Let’s read in Matthew 1:22-23:
Matt 1:22-23
All 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"-which means, "God with us."
The name Matthew points us to is Immanuel.
Immanuel can be translated as God with us, or With us is God. What
significance is there in having God with us? Let’s look briefly at two
ways having God with us is significant to us today:
1. Because God is with us, we can Relate to God
Instead of calling Jesus God with us, very easily could we have called
God’s Son God apart from us. The rich, famous and powerful like to set
themselves apart from the riff-raff. If you have ever visited Hearst
Castle in San Simeon, you would see a grand mansion on a hill overlooking
the ocean. No common people could ever touch the Printer Hearst’s castle.
His extravagant pools and spacious rooms set himself apart from most
others.
If we would just imagine what God would be like on earth, I do not think
the Jesus of the Bible would be imagined by many of us. God is holy,
majestic, and awesome. The world holy means set-apart or other. What is he
set-apart from? He is set apart or separated from the human race. The
human race has flesh and blood and is tainted with sin. God is set apart
from humanity as He is the Creator of the universe--a Spirit being who has
always existed and will always exist. There is such a great chasm between
man and God that could never be bridged by any of man’s efforts.
God on earth could have the grandest mansion on the best real estate
thought of. He could have shunned taking on flesh and blood and shunned
the death reserved for humanity. But that is not the way of Immanuel.
Immanuel is not God apart-from-us, but God with us.
Because Jesus came to earth as a baby, we can relate to God. For Jesus is
God come to earth in the flesh. God is a person, and we can have a
personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus.
This Christmas season is an opportune time to think about relating to God.
God is knowable and desires to know us: 1 John 3:1 How great is the love
the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
And that is what we are! This Scripture is a truth for all believers—for
those who have faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins are
children of God as John says in 1:12-13
12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave
the right to become children of God- 13 children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
If you do not have a relationship with God, Jesus has made a way for us to
have one. Trust in him today. If we do have a relationship with God, may
this Christmas season give us a renewed awe that each one of us are called
children of the most holy, Almighty God.
We cannot only relate to God, but, secondly, we can depend on God.
2. Because God is with us, we can Depend on God
We all need people to depend on. When there is a problem to discuss or we
need advisors, whom can we turn to? We may have friends and advisors in
this world—but more importantly we have God in Heaven to turn to.
The prophet Matthew refers to in chapter 1 verse 23 is Isaiah. If we turn
to Isaiah 7:14 we enter into the world of the nation of Judah in the mid
8th century B.C. During this time, the geopolitical forces are working
against Judah. At that time the kingdom of Assyria ruled much of the
Middle East. Judah’s brothers from the northern tribes of Israel and the
Syrians wanted to rebel against Assyria. They desired Judah, the two
southern tribes, to join in as well. If King Ahaz of Judah did not join
their alliance, their plan was to depose him and place a puppet ruler on
the throne of King David who will join in their plans.
By chapter 7, Israel and Syria have marched up to the capitol city of
Judah, Jerusalem. Ahaz’s pressure to either form an alliance with them or
with Assyria became great. God sent the prophet Isaiah to dissuade King
Ahaz from joining in any alliances. Any alliance would only bring
enslavement to Judah. God wanted King Ahaz to depend on Him alone by
standing firm in faith that God will deliver them.
Isaiah tells Ahaz to ask for a sign from God. Ahaz will not depend on
God—he does not ask for a sign. Isaiah gives him a sign anyway…it is the
sign of Immanuel. Isa 7:14-15
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be
with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Who is this Immanuel? Let’s look at a couple of verses in Isaiah…
Isaiah 8:8 tells us Immanuel will rule over a land:
Isa 8:8-10
8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,
passing through it and reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land,
O Immanuel!"
In verse 9-10, Immanuel will provide security for God’s people by
outsmarting and destroying the strategies and plans of human armies.
9 Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered!
Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;
propose your plan, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.
In 9:6-7, Immanuel is the Eternal King over all the earth
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
This year when the Christmas story is read, reflect on this Immanuel, God
with us. In Jesus we have God with us, by whom we can relate to God and
depend on God. Matthew’s gospel is wonderful in this way: It begins and
ends with God’s promised presence with us in Jesus. At the end of
Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells us,
Matt 28:20
…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
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