104 Immanuel: God With Us
We’re all familiar with the Christmas story. How a baby was born in a stable to a carpenter and his young wife. How angels announced his birth to some ragtag shepherds who show up to see the Savior they’ve been told about. How a group of wise men travels from afar bringing gifts for the infant King.
But the real miracle of this story actually happened 9 months earlier when a teenage girl conceived a child by the Spirit of God.
Shocked and confused, her fiancée decided to break off their engagement quietly, hoping to spare her from public disgrace.
But that night an angel appeared to him and said, “Don’t be afraid to marry her. She will have a son and he will be called…Immanuel, which means ‘God with us.’
That’s what this season is all about. God with us.
But what does that mean and, more importantly, how can that impact our lives?
First of all, the Christmas story shows us that God showed up to normal people.
Mary and Joseph were not A-listers. They didn’t grace the cover of People magazine. They were ordinary people.
God still shows up to normal people. To you and me.
The Lord of Heaven shrank down, down, down and became a fetus that was planted inside that normal girl. He became one of us that He might be with us in the midst of our commonness. The very thought of this is utterly mind-blowing.
Not only does He love to show up to normal people, God shows up in normal circumstances.
We have a tendency to relegate the “with us” God to the large, significant events of our day. But what about the other days of our week? What about the issues we face day to day and moment to moment?
Could it be that He really is with us then?
How might your life change if you recognized that God really is with you? What if you looked for Him in the ordinariness of life? What if you talked to Him throughout your day?
Are you normal? Congratulations! God came for you. Immanuel. God with us.
Text: Luke 2:1-7; Matthew 1:18-23
Originally recorded on December 2, 2012, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN.