God formed man and then breathed into him the breath of life to make him a living being who could speak to Him, worship Him and be in a close relationship with Him. Only mankind can listen, understand and obey God’s commands and live a meaningful life of fellowship with Him as well as with each other. In this closeness God desires to be with each one of His creation and the fulfillment of the prophecy of Immanuel in Lord Jesus Christ is a step in that direction only.
Understanding the blessing of Immanuel for us – Genesis 1 God created everything by expressing His desire through His Word and it all came to be. After completion of every step of the creation God reviewed His creation so that any flaws could be corrected, and termed it as ‘good’. God is perfect and His creation is also perfect. The work of creation was completed with the creation of man ‘in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them’ (Genesis 1:27&31). After blessing man and appointing him as ruler over all of creation as His representative, ‘God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good’.
After this as per the second narrative of creation of man ‘God formed man of the dust of the ground’ and made him a living being by breathing ‘into his nostrils the breath of life’ (Genesis 2:7-8). The Hebrew words ‘yatsar’ have been used meaning ‘form, fashion’ and ‘chay nephesh’ to mean ‘alive, living being’. Then ‘The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man He had formed’. The same word ‘yatsar’ is used, thus implying that the man placed in the garden yet needed change and transformation to make him into a truly living being. The daily visit of the Lord to meet both Adam and Eve was with this very purpose to help them learn His ways, for they were created as adults and not as children to undergo the process of maturity through life experiences (Genesis 3:8). This process was interrupted by the sin of disobedience committed by them and resultant separation from God and His Garden. The result of this sinful state was absolute moral degradation of mankind and ‘The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in the heart’ (Genesis 6:5-6). The process of recreation happened through the only eight people of Noah’s family (1 Peter 3:20).
God did not abandon mankind and the prophecy of restoration of mankind to a close relationship with God was included in the curse on the serpent. God had then declared, ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel’ (Genesis 3:15). Since reference was only to ‘the seed of the woman’, the role of male is not included in this seed and this further gets reflected in the prophecy by Prophet Isaiah. God chose Abraham and his descendants to be the people who will represent Him and reveal His ways to the rest of the world. With the failure of the Jewish people to perform this role properly, due to sinful living, God decided to choose another way to turn His created human beings from their sins to a life of close fellowship with Him.
The LORD God revealed His plan through His prophet Isaiah, the ‘The LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel’ (Isaiah 7:14). Immanuel is a Hebrew language word meaning ‘God with us’. This was a prophetic announcement about the plan of God to send His Son to be our ‘goel’ or ‘Kinsman Redeemer’. This word is used only three times in the Holy Bible, second time in Isaiah 8:8 with a similar reference two verses later in Isaiah 8:10 also. The same prophecy is quoted in Matthew 1:23. The prophecy in itself is something that is impossible to be fulfilled in any way except directly by God Himself. God in the form of God, being holy and righteous could not have dwelt with mankind nor could He then be one of us to be our kinsman. God became Man to show that righteous and holy living is possible; One can love and obey God in fullness without seeking any personal benefits and One can love others even to the extent of suffering immensely to display God’s love for mankind.
As per Jewish mysticism, before God could create anything, He had to withdraw Himself from a part of the universe to create empty space, for in His perfect state nothing else could be added to His divine presence. In the empty and dark space God released a beam of His glory to fill it with His light and then His Holy Spirit with His glory created everything in that space by commanding through His spoken Word. This beam of Light is the Son of God, for His origin is from the Father and He in His exactness is like the Father. The stages of progression of God’s relationship with mankind started with His daily visits, walking and talking with Adam and Eve, for man was created to operate in both earthly and spiritual realms. In their holy state they could be in His Divine presence, but with sin came the fear and man started hiding from the loving God for fear of punishment.
The name Immanuel revealed that God would manifest His presence with the deliverance of His people from captivity. The larger application of this prophecy is about deliverance of His people from the slavery to sin, death and the devil through the birth of the Messiah, the Incarnate God, and Lord Jesus Christ. All along in the history of the Jewish people God was with them, as per His promise, and His visible presence was with them as in the pillar of cloud by day and by fire at night to lead them in the way (Exodus 13:21). The birth of the Son of God was in fulfillment of this promise of God. Lord Jesus during His ministry on the earth assured the believers, ‘where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them’ (Matthew 18:20).
Being fully aware of the evil nature of man, He could further bless them that ‘I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you’ (John 14:16-18). And before this He stated that God the Father will answer the prayers of God the Son and ‘He will give you (the disciples) another Helper that He may abide with you forever’. God decided that mankind in their fallen nature is incapable of staying focused on Him and will keep on falling back into sin and evil, and thus needs a Helper in them to strengthen and guide them. God became Immanuel first in physical form in His son and then dwells in every believer as His Spirit to ensure regular and continuous conversation and fellowship with Him while being changed into His image through daily transformation.
Effect of Immanuel on the world – What did this prophecy mean to Prophet Isaiah? The prophecy was made to King Ahab, a wicked king of Judah. The Assyrian Empire was becoming very powerful and the Syrians and Israel wanted Judah to join them in forming a coalition but Ahab wavered and they decided to attack him instead. Prophet Isaiah was told by God to tell Ahab to ‘ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above’ but Ahaz refused (Isaiah 7:11). The prophecy about Immanuel was then given as a ray of hope for the people of all ages. And though Ahab did not believe, the prophecy about the deliverer for mankind pointed towards the future. In their hour of darkness, the Child was to bring a ray of hope for the people.
What did it mean to Apostle Matthew to record the dream of Joseph and this proclamation being made to him by an angel in his dream (Matthew 1:23)? He presented Lord Jesus as a King to the Jews, a caring and a loving King who fights their battles and gets them freedom from oppression. In the Old Testament a priest was a mediator between man and God to plead forgiveness and seek His blessings. For Apostle Matthew, who was a Roman official, a tax collector, the Son of God is holy and special, to free the people from their slavery to sin and the devil through offering a special sacrifice to God, His own, who could then open a way for them to directly commune with their God as His children. Matthew wrote essentially to a Jewish audience, both believers and non-believers, presenting Lord Jesus as the Son of David and of Abraham to fulfill the promise of God to both. He is the way through whom all nations are blessed and whose reign will be forever. The details of the Sermon on the Mount reveal what it means to be a part of His Kingdom of heaven.
For Matthew He is God incarnate living among men (Matthew 1:23), conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of virgin (Immaculate conception) (Matthew 1:20). His Gospel thus reveals more of ‘kingdom of heaven’ and kingdom of God’ than other Gospels. The theme verse of Apostle Matthew’s Gospel is ‘She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21). For him, Lord Jesus is the One revealed in the Old Testament, who fulfilled all the prophecies through a righteous life, His teachings, what it means to be righteous, His death and His resurrection. He also reveals what He seeks from every one of His disciples, ‘make disciples’ (Matthew 28:19).
What does Immanuel mean to you and me? Prophet Isaiah saw the glory of God in the Temple and cried out, ‘Woe is me, for I am undone!’ (Isaiah 6:5). Moses prayed to God to show him His glory but was told, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live’ (Exodus 33:20). Immanuel reveals the Divine glory of God to me, a God who loves, cares, understands my weaknesses, is forgiving and who became a baby to undergo all that I do – My Immanuel came to set me free from the clutches of the thief who steals, who kills the innocent and unsuspecting and who destroys lives and relationships (John 10:10-11). Immanuel gives me life and that too abundantly.
While warning Adam about eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God told, ‘the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’ (Genesis 2:17). But Adam lived to the age of 930 years (Genesis 5:5). So what was this death that he suffered? Lord Jesus declared, ‘For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself’ (John 5:26). Separation from God, the source of all life is spiritual death and my Immanuel came to give me life for ‘In Him was life, and the life is the light of the world’ (John 1:4). With Him I can then fellowship with God for He has made me a part of His family, a citizen of His heavenly kingdom and has prepared and earmarked a place for me in heaven (John 14:1-2). The life that He has given me is not a one time fellowship but abundance of it, for I can go before God as His child goes to his Father, as many times as he wants and at all times.
Immanuel not only gets me free from the demonic forces of darkness and sin but also empowers me to face these with confidence. He has protected me and given me authority to ‘trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you’ (Luke 10:19). Everyone looks for God and Immanuel has chosen me to bless me as I live the life of submission and surrender to His Divine authority. The King of kings and the Lord of lords has come to be with me and you not to make us His subjects but be His sheep so that He can take us to the places of abundance and fill us with His peace. Whatever was said of Him in the Old Testament, Immanuel has fulfilled. The Israelites were told, ‘The LORD your God is in your midst, the Mighty One who saves, He will rejoice over you and will not rebuke you; He will rejoice over you with singing’ (Zephaniah 3:17). Immanuel goes looking for the one lost sheep and on finding it ‘He lays it on His shoulders, rejoicing’. He does not rebuke and punish in anger but like a loving Father lifts up the child that has fallen, loves him and then teaches and trains him to walk in His ways. All along, in His love He sings and rejoices over him.
In your darkness, depression, sickness, lack and weariness, do you see Immanuel calling out to lay your burdens on His mighty shoulders? Do you see Him leaning forward to listen to your prayers and supplications to suitably answer? As you celebrate His birth do you hear His call to go and make disciples and help someone else escape the darkness of sin and evil? Have you experienced His presence in You, in His Holy Spirit, transforming you into His own likeness? He comes not as a Master but as a Servant King to make us friends and encourage us in every way and not only reside with us but in us. He took upon Himself our nature to change us into His nature, to empathize with us and He left all His beauty and glory and richness to be poor for us and make us rich in Him. He is one in and with His Father in heaven but He is also in me and you while taking us even in our sinful nature in Himself (John 14:20). He is with us not to sleep in the boat but partner in our journey of life to take us to His place.
What is Immanuel to a non-believer? Lord Jesus has said, ‘You did not choose Me but I chose you’ (John 15:16). It is not a coincidence that you are watching this but it is as per His plan. Immanuel is here in the world calling out to everyone, ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me’ (Revelation 3:20). Dining with someone is to give Him honour and when we invite Him into our hearts, He blesses us with a close relationship with Him. Lord Jesus is gentle and loving and does not force His way on anyone and all can invite Him into their lives. However, this period of grace is not forever and whoever has the Son has life and his name will be written in His book. Finally, on the day of judgment, He will be sitting on His throne and the books will be opened and all the dead will be raised and ‘anyone not found written in the Book of Life’ will be cast into the lake of fire, the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:11-15). Now is the time to open the door, for then you will find Him right there waiting to be your God and make you His people. He is not a demanding God who needs something from us but a loving One who listens and answers all our prayers.
This Immanuel is fully God and fully human also and understands all about our pain and joys to share with us His pain for us. He does not look at us for our colour of skin, our evil deeds, sex or country but is loving and forgiving. He cast out around six thousand demons from a man, who was not a Jew but the people of the region felt fear and ‘asked Him to depart from there’ (Luke 8:26-39). He went with love to the Samaritans, a people the Jews hated and blessed the woman on the well and through her testimony many others. All those who believed declared ‘that this Man is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world’ (John 4:42). You have a choice to make that will affect your destiny for eternity, for this is the only time you have.
Ruth was a Moabitess and when her mother-in-law Naomi decided to return back to Bethlehem after her husband and her two sons’ death and told her to return to her people, she refused. Ruth told Naomi, ‘Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried’ (Ruth 1:16). Ruth was married to Boaz, a rich relative, had Obed as her son, Jesse as a grand-son and David the greatest King of Israel as Jesse’s son. Moreover she came to be reckoned in the genealogy of Lord Jesus (Matthew 1:5-6).
He had openly sought each and everyone to prove if there was any sin in Him, and no one could accuse Him of any wrongdoing but still He was crucified for our sins. Out of the two criminals who were crucified with Him on His left and right, one realized the truth and prayed, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom’ (Luke 23:42-43). His life was changed with that one statement, for Immanuel assured him immediately, ‘today you will be with Me in Paradise’. Everyone has the free will to make a choice to answer His call and seek Him or reject Him and tell Him to depart. Immanuel is here with us and ready to ensure eternal life for all those who accept Him as their Saviour and Lord and also freedom in this life on earth. You can receive Him or send Him away. This Christmas give life to someone by bringing the Light of the world to him, failing which your faith is probably limited to celebrations only and nothing more!
God sent His Son to be with us and in us, so that we could spend our life on earth in His glorious light and be with Him in His kingdom forever. Immanuel is God incarnate in human form to bless and transform us to be like Him and be a blessing to others. He is here for all of humanity irrespective of national or gender identities but is with only those who call out to Him. Have you made your call to Him?
