God's very name is Immanuel—God with us—fulfilled in Jesus.
God's very name is Immanuel, God with us.
We see this in Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Immanuel means, of course, God with us.
But how could that be? That was a mystery for generations. But in Matthew 1, we uncover that God intended to provide not only a sign in Isaiah's day, but this statement had a prophetic fulfillment in Jesus.
The Father sends a Son born by the Spirit.
As Irenaeus of Lyons famously said of Jesus, 'He became what we are so that we might become what He is.'
Because Christ descended to become fully human, he could pay the price for our sins, we can be completely forgiven, and through our union with him, in his resurrection and ascension, we are in eternal, unbreakable fellowship with our Triune God of love.
The theologian Michael Reeves explains it this way:
"If he were not truly God, of the very being of the Father, he could not truly reveal God and we would be left wondering if the God he represented is really as good as he. But given who he is, we may confidently and deliberately say that in Jesus we know God. For he is God himself, and he comes, not only to share the love of the Father with us, but also to share his knowledge of the Father with us. He comes that we might grow to know the Father as he knows the Father. Wonderfully, then, because God is Father, Son and Spirit—because the Father has a Word who is God, of his very being, and who is with him and who knows him—we can know him, and know him with an intimacy no other God could allow."
When we named our children, it was a laborious, painstaking process. We reviewed dozens of names to find ones that could connect our children to God, our family, and an identity they could cherish.
What does it mean that God named himself, "God with us"?
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Reflect on the profound exchange that takes place through our union with Christ: He takes on our humanity so that we can share in His divine life. How does meditating on this truth fill you with gratitude and wonder at the depths of God's grace?
The fact that God chose to name Himself 'Immanuel, God with us' is a stunning revelation of His character and priorities. How does this name for God build your confidence in His care for you?
Meditate on the name 'Immanuel' this week—what does it mean for your daily life that God is with you?
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