Names of the Son of God: Immanuel

"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, NIV).

What does it mean to be "with" someone? Even today we use the term with to express different things. There is a sense in which it express to be in the presence of it. It also means that to show support. Matthew wanted his readers to know that Jesus was "God with us."

To get a better picture of what God meant by saying the virgin's child would be called Immanuel, we have to understand the context from which the promise originated. Isaiah's prophecy comes out of the greater redemption story that is woven into the fabric of the Bible.

The hope of God with us started with broken fellowship. Adam and Eve were created to be image bearers for the glory of God. Adam's disobedience brought judgment and separation, and now all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. We don't bear the glory of God in the manner in which we were intended. In the fall, God is against us. We are by nature objects of wrath. Were it not for the grace of God, we wouldn't be able to approach him. In Christ, God is with us, for us.

What does it mean for us today? Paul says, "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). How is it that Christ is in us? John sheds some light on it. He states, "Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us" (1 John 3:24). Again he said, "We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit" (1 John 4:13). Christ is with us by the presence of the Spirit.

Jesus as Immanuel also means we have a future hope. The broken fellowship between man and God has been restored in Christ. John paints a beautiful picture:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every teat from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for old order of things has passed away" (Rev. 21:3-4).

 There is coming a day when Immanuel, God with us, will be with us face to face. We will know as we are known. That is a glorious truth.