From Jim Wood:
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Matthew 1:22-23
At this season when family and friends gather, many people feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness. Whether in the middle of a crowd or isolated and alone in the darkness, many are pained by a lack of loving connection. No other human relationship can cure an innate sense of our broken relationship with our Creator. Our sin separates us from God. We cannot repair the breach ourselves. That is why God came to us.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:1, 14
The long-awaited Messiah would bring “salvation through the forgiveness of (our) sins, because of the tender mercy of our God” (Luke 1:77-78). Amazing grace caused the eternal Son of God to be born in a stable, placed in a manger, and one day offered up as the perfect sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world.
The kingdom was among us because the King was among us. Fully human, he walked dusty roads, slept under the stars, knew hunger and thirst. He would even wash his disciples’ feet. While tempted as we are, he would never sin. Yet, he took the punishment for our sins. This is the way God revealed himself among us.
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Hebrews 1:1-3
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Colossians 1:15-20
It took his disciples by surprise again and again. They were amazed by his miracles, but they were sure of his humanity. They could not grasp how he could be “with God” and yet he “was God.”
Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.
John 12:44-45
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
John 14:8-9
The ancient promise of Isaiah 7:14 found its perfect fulfillment in Jesus. It turned out that God was not only living among us, as one of us, but was here for us!
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Romans 8:31-32
The story of Christmas is not myth. It is the historical fact that the infinite God became a tiny child growing inside a virgin’s womb. Born into a human family, he lived a life of humility and service to others out of obedience to his Father. God was with us, not just in theory, but in the nitty gritty stuff of life. He was genuinely tempted and genuinely conquered temptation and the tempter. He genuinely died and utterly defeated death, rising to life on the third day just as he had promised. Let the music ring out! We are not alone! God is with us!
