Born as Immanuel
The name Immanuel is one of our Savior’s most precious names. And we all know that it means “God with us.” Our Lord Jesus Christ received this name as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy. The Gospel of Matthew explains that in this way, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” That, of course, was the fulfillment of what the prophet Isaiah prophesied 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ in Isaiah 7:14, “Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah spoke these words to King Ahaz, king of Judah, who was being threatened by surrounding nations. When you read the context you will discover that, sadly, Ahaz had no interest in God being with him. Do you have an interest in God being with you? Can you imagine anyone who has no interest in that? Why do you think Ahaz was disinterested in God being with him through the promised Immanuel – Christ the Lord? It was because Ahaz chose to rely on his own arrangement for security. And what was that security? The king of Assyria, a human shield.
By doing that he was basically saying to God, “No thanks, I trust my own arrangement/wisdom for security more than you or your deliverance.” And what was sadder about Ahaz’s choosing of human protection over God’s sovereign keeping was that he used a pious excuse by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.”
You see, he masked his refusal to trust God for deliverance with a false and distorted quote from the Scripture. But why? What was the one thing that caused the king to trust his own plan (alliances with Assyria) as his ultimate security rather than God’s ever present help and protection? It was FEAR. It was the news that he and his people heard about the league between Syria and Israel to destroy him and his kingdom (Isaiah 7:1-4). It was the fear of man and threat of an imagined danger that caused him to rely on his own devices rather than on God who promised him Immanuel – God with us.
Are you also afraid? Are you in fear of a real threat of conflict, failure, loss of someone who you love, deadly diseases like Covid 19 and death? If you are wrestling with a fear of one or more of these things or other imagined dangers, what are you doing about it? Are you like Ahaz, depending on your own arrangements for security and safety, or are you depending on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born in a manger in Bethlehem to be your Immanuel – God with you? God with you, not only to bring spiritual salvation to your life, but also to deliver you from all fears and physical dangers.
Remember, Assyria, as a security and shield upon which Ahaz depended, was destroyed by the “Immanuel” who Ahaz rejected and distrusted. Jesus Christ, who was born to be a lamb for the sacrifice of your sins, also came to the world to be your Shepherd. And he shepherds you as the Lord over all things that trigger fear and anxiety in your life as a Christian. That was the reason why the angel who pronounced the birth of Christ told the shepherds that the Savior who was born in the City of David was Christ the Lord. The title “Lord” makes him the ruler over all things — including the details of your life that sometimes cause you to rely on your own human resources and wisdom rather than on his creating and governing power over all things.
Thus, during this Christmas season, do not let your fear cause you to choose your own human plans and arrangements over Immanuel who rules over all things (including your feeble human provisions) here on earth. As we all celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and welcome another new year, as families and as a church family, I want to encourage you all to find your peace and inner security in the words of the one who was born as Immanuel: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go-in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9)
A very blessed Christmas and New Year to you all!
Pastor Zaki