Immanuel
/… means God with us. That’s how God described to Mary who her son was – even before he was conceived. Both the Old Testament and the New tell us this message:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” Matt 1:22-23
Now that Jesus is born, God is with us humans walking this earth. Now that Jesus has died and risen again, God is with us by the Spirit in our midst, in our hearts and minds. God with us. I am deeply comforted by that idea. How about you? He knows our frame, our experience, the dust and hard work and disappointment of being human in a fallen world. He knows our confusion and sorrows too.
We focused on this source of comfort for hurting parents in our Christmas greeting.
Please click on the image to the left to view our greeting to you for more on what it means to have God with us.
Another name Scriptures give this Immanuel is Comforter. Be comforted because He came as a babe in Bethlehem.