EDITORIAL

The Meaning of Christmas

Do you know what it feels like to be utterly alone? To try to attempt to live your life with no one to fall back on, no safety net, no help? If you’ve been through some desperate times in your life, then you know exactly what this feeling like. The wonderful promise made through the Christ-child Immanuel is that God promises to be with you in your troubles. He will not leave you to your own resources. All of His resources are now available to you.

The difference for you can be like night and day. In past times, God had made this kind of promise to special people in history.

Abraham was an alien in a threatening land, but God said to him, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go." Moses was told to personally confront the most powerful king on the face of the earth with nothing but a staff and the promise from God, "I will be with you!" Moses believed Him and went to Pharaoh at great risk. As a result, God delivered the people of Israel from Egypt through the Red Sea. After Moses died, his apprentice was thrust into leadership. God promised Joshua, "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Powerful stuff! But what about you and me? That Jesus is Immanuel, "God with us," means that His promise is not just to the great leaders but to all. The promise is to you. Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He spoke to His disciples, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

That promise of Immanuel is not just to the apostles, it is to us also, for we see the same promise in the Bible to reassure all the rest of us — "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

God Himself Is With Us in Jesus

The title Immanuel tells us about the mission of Jesus, It also tells us about his nature. Remember the context? Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph’s concern, and the angel’s assurance ("What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit"). At that point it tells us that this fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ — which means, ‘God with us.’" Matthew’s account of Mary’s conception tells the story from Joseph’s point of view. Luke’s account focuses on Mary’s experience. The angel Gabriel has told Mary that she will bear a son who will be the Messiah.

"How will this be?" Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’

In other words, Immanuel, "God with us," is to be understood literally. Jesus is physical son of Mary in his human nature, but spiritually, He is the Son of God. He has been begotten by God himself.

So when the shepherds and wise men gathered and worshiped the Baby, they were worshipping God himself. Jesus the Son is divine to the same degree that the Father is divine. Jesus is God!

That is the very radical meaning of Christmas. It isn’t about mistletoe and music, or parties and presents, or even the spirit of giving. Christmas is a celebration of the radical fact that God took on human flesh when Jesus was born. Jesus — God Himself — is Immanuel, God With Us! /MP