God with Us

…A manger was His Throne.

From “Rise and Shine” by Andrew Peterson

The aforementioned lyric from Andrew Peterson serves as a great illustration of the paradox that is “God with us.” Stop and think about that for a minute: God with us. Not God for us, or God near us; God with us! If that does not stir your heart to worship and awe check you pulse.

With that said, it is that time of year when people start to decorate their houses with Christmas trinkets, stores begin their twenty-four hour playlist of non-stop Christmas music, and the television programs about the mysterious birth of Jesus begin to fill the airwaves. But what about the promise from Isaiah 7:14 and the fulfillment in the Gospel of Matthew 1:23, the promise of God with us? Do we stop and think about that? Do we let that majestic truth fill our hearts, our homes, our worship? It is all too easy to get caught up in the spirit of Christmas without giving a moment’s thought to the reason for Christmas. Christmas is the fulfillment of God becoming flesh and tabernacling with us (John 1:14); it is the celebration of the birth of a child who will “save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21).

So, before another Christmas passes us by let us ponder the greatest mystery that has ever confronted humanity, the birth of God in human flesh. Let us rejoice that God is with us, and because He is with us let us rejoice that he has conquered sin and death on our behalf.

Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14