Immanuel and Christmas trials

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. Our church family just had a wonderful time of celebration both through our annual Christmas concert and our childrens’ Christmas musical. It is a wonderful season of hope, anticipation, and joy as we celebrate the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.

But Christmas can also be difficult. There can be difficult family relationships. There can be pain and grief. It can be a reminder of financial hardship. It can be a time of uncertainty. It can be a time of mourning over what has been lost. Christmas, as well as other holiday seasons, can bring up a variety of trials and hardships in our lives, and a variety of emotions that come with that.

But the truth of Christmas itself speaks to us in the midst of those hardships and gives us hope: Isaiah prophecied, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Immanuel means God with us. And the account in Matthew 1 is explicitly clear that this prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus.

Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God with us!

So what does that mean? Well, three things:

1. It means that God himself is near to us, he is not some far off and distant deity who has no interest in what you’re struggling with.

2. It means that God in Jesus Christ identifies with us, he identifies with our struggles and our temptations, and so closely identifies with us that he died for us on the cross for our sins.

3. And it means that now through the Holy Spirit when we trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation we experience an even deeper closeness with God, he dwells in each and every believer through the Holy Spirit. So God is truly with us in the most intimate way imaginable.

So this Christmas we can celebrate Jesus as Immanuel, God with us, who died for us, and brings us into a deep intimate relationship with God. My prayer for us this Christmas is that we would experience the depth of this closeness with God as we grow in our relationship with him.

But then how can this truth, that God is with us and close to us, comfort us in all of these trials and difficulties that we face? Well, this truth has any number of wonderful implications:

·         God is with us, so he is intimately aware of our struggles and our circumstances.
·         God is with us, so we are not alone in the struggles and trials that we face. We don’t need to ask, God, where are you in this mess? He is right here in the middle of it with us.
·         God is with us, so he gives us strength to face each and every day.
·         God is with us, so he can minister to us in our pain.
·         God is with us, so he can provide for our needs.
·         God is with us, so he gives us his peace.
·         God is with us, so we can pour our hearts out to him in prayer. And he is a God who hears and answers prayer!
·         God is with us, so he can encourage us through his Word.
·         God is with us, and there is no problem that is too big for him. And if your problems and issues and struggles are not too big for God, then think about it, if God is with you, then they’re not too big for you.
·         God is with us, and he knows what is unknown to us. You know those questions that we don’t know the answers to that cause us a lot of anxiety? God knows the answers, and he is with us, so we don’t need to be anxious.
·         God is with us, and he can move the unmoveable, fix what cannot be repaired, and fill what is seemingly a bottomless pit. So we don’t need to get frustrated if we can’t change a difficult situation, because God is with us, and he can change it.
·         God is with us, and he is in control of all things, even those things that seem like they are spiraling out of control. From God’s perspective, nothing is out of control. Nothing! And since God is with you, then nothing in your life is actually out of control! Let that sink in for a few minutes as you consider the circumstances surrounding you!

Jesus Christ is Immanuel. God is with us! This is such a beautiful, beautiful truth. And whatever circumstances you are facing this Christmas, remember this truth: that God is with you. And I hope that this deep and amazing truth is an endless source of encouragement, joy, strength, and perseverance for you as we celebrate the birth of our savior. Merry Christmas!