God With Us.

The Bible says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). How beautiful is this that God is with us?

What does it mean that God is with us? The Bible tells us that God took the form of a man and came to be with us. (John 1:1;14) Jesus was God and man, like none other. If you wanted to warn some almost extinct animals of their demise the best way might be to become one of them and show them the way. God came humbly with His immense strength shielded in Jesus Christ to warn us, love us and provide the way. He let His own creation nail Him to a cross that He Himself might be the substitute for the penalty of our sin to satisfy divine justice that we might be redeemed. Those who receive this gift are sure of an eternal destiny in heaven instead of hell.

He was miraculously born of a virgin. He was His own seed, that Jesus Christ would be without sin. He was the perfect substitute. He came to be with us.

What does it mean in practise that God is with us? Does it mean that God is here to serve us? He certainly did serve us on the cross and He said He came to serve. The Bible says of Jesus, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). He came to serve us in this marvelous and extravagant way by providing salvation in Himself for all who receive Him in repentance and faith.

The RCMP have a moto that says they are, “To serve and Protect.” Does this mean if when we get hungry, we can phone up the RCMP and they will deliver a cheese burger happy meal at our request? Hopefully we would say that this is not the way it should be taken in context.

In the same way do we think God is her to serve us, especially our every whim? If He served, we should follow His example and serve Him and others. God came to be with us so we could be with God. This is the greatest privilege in the world and into eternity. Do we begrudge serving others in the right context and do we have a loving attitude? Jesus did not begrudge going to the cross.

Jesus’ desire is that we be with Him and the Father and Holy Spirit the same way He is with the Father and Holy Spirit. Jesus’ prayer for us in John 17:21-23 states, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” The world will know if we are in close union with God. as His presence will shine forth. Some will receive Him.

Who do we primarily serve? Is it primarily self—or recognition by others, or the world’s centered success, or even others before God? Jesus said in the wilderness temptation against Satan, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve” (Matthew 4:10). Whose glory do we seek, our own or God’s?

We should be growing in our union with God in love. The way we are with God is by being close to Him, to be one with Him. It will take eternity to enter into all that God has for us, let us use this time to give Him the glory that is truly His. Again, Jesus said, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor” (John 12:26).

The Psalmist says in Psalm 56:9, “This is I know that God is for me.” God wants the best for us. He is not manipulating us to feel good about Himself. Unlike us and others He is complete in Himself. He doesn’t need us to be happy or fulfilled with anything or anyone else, but He loves us because unlike man He is the essence of love. God is absolutely sufficient in Himself. However, God is for me. He wants the best for us. There is no self interest in His love. He loved us even when we were enemies of Him. As the scripture states,” In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Do you believe that He is for you or do the circumstances determine what you believe. Jesus didn’t look to the circumstances when He went to the cross and neither should we. We should trust God as revealed in His Word and especially in His love as displayed on the cross. What immense good has the cross brought. Even though the human side of Jesus felt forsaken, He did not let Him deter from the cross. God didn’t forsake Him but some times it may feel like it. Sometimes we may also go through the desert with God, some call it a time aridity but in these times God in HIs great wisdom wants to build our faith and purify our heart so that we fully enter in His love by loving Him for Himself not just for what He does for us. Have faith even during those times and continue to spend time with God in prayer and His Word. On the cross Jesus commend His Spirit to the Father. We also can trust God through the hard times. However we to often make a mess out of things and then blame God for not overriding our free will.

God with us and us with God. How beautiful is this. Let us truly appreciate God and worship Him so that we not only state the truth but walk in it. Let us walk with Jesus as Jesus walked with the Father, even though unlike Jesus we will not ever be perfect here on earth, although in heaven we will not even be in the presence of sin. Walking with Jesus is the way to the fulness of life. As God’s word says, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19).