I want to encourage you today on this Christmas with two Scriptures which connect the birth of Jesus and living to love with Him. The first is often read at Christmas. Matthew 1:23 “‘BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,’ which translated means, ‘GOD WITH US.’”
The second passage is from Isaiah 43:4-5. God spoke both of these through Isaiah the prophet. This verse is the only place in the Bible where God is quoted saying He loves Israel. He said, “Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you.”
Here’s the encouragement from these verses. The Matthew verse tells us that Jesus is God with us. The Isaiah verse tells us why God is with us. It’s because He loves us. This helps us to see what love actually means—what it looks like in real life. The love of God is revealed by His coming to be with us to help us. We, the entire human race need help. We are separated from God. There’s no way a holy God can come be with us and stay with us because we are sinners. For Him to be with us on a continual basis requires that all our sin be removed from His sight. We must be made holy so a holy God can be with us.
This is what Christmas is all about. It’s about the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ, who came to be with us to help us at the point of our greatest need—the removal and forgiveness of all that separates us from God. That was accomplished when Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross to the point of death. Then God raised Him and Jesus asked the Father to send us another Helper, the Holy Spirit, who would be “Immanuel”, God with us, forever. The Holy Spirit is with us also because God loves us and that love, like a powerful tsunami, fills and moves through us. What does that love look like? It looks like brothers and sisters wanting to be with each other in order to help each other become more like Jesus. Living to love with Jesus is bringing the Spirit of God near to those who are in need of life, forgiveness, peace, joy, hope, and love.
May the love of Jesus fill you with His joy as you are “Immanuel” to those He puts in your path today.
Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com
