Title: Immanuel (Matthew 1:18-25)
Contents
Immanuel (Matthew 1:18-25)
Immanuel means “God with us” in verse 23. God's presence with us as spirit will be with us from the beginning to the present and forever. The problem is that he was with us in human form. This is exactly what happened before 2006.
The Son of God, equal with God, and one with God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the body of a virgin Mary and was born. Today we read that the incident was recorded in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament. And the whole world is waiting for Christmas on December 25th, and each field is preparing to enjoy Christmas specials.
Businesses are preparing for year-end growth and settlement, people are preparing and enjoying Christmas holidays, gifts, and traders are preparing everything for Christmas sales. And the church is working hard to prepare for celebration performances and worship services. Our church in Antioch is preparing to save souls and give glory to God.
I hope it will be a time for all of us who are waiting and preparing for Christmas to realize the meaning of Immanuel in order to welcome a happy Christmas.
First, what do you think is the biggest reason the Son of God became Immanuel?
It is made clear in verse 21. To “save his people from their sins.” We each have our own sins. That sin is known to God and I know it. And there are things that people around you know. This sin is bothering me. It's making me tremble with fear. It makes you commit more crimes.
They are making the image of God, a beautiful and good person, into an evil, venomous and ugly figure. And in the end, they will be cursed by God and perish, and eventually they will fall into hell and live in eternal torment. He lived with us in the flesh to save us from this damnable sin.
It was a shameful and painful death on the cross. He took the place of the shame and pain I suffered because of my sin. When he is with him, he is Immanuel, and Emmanuel's grace is liberation from sin. What we do with Him today is to become Emmanuel and to be freed from sin when we believe in the works He has described above.
When he was on this earth, he enjoyed freedom from sin by being with him directly. Take a look at some of the Bible examples
Because of money, I cheated, knew only money, and saved a lot of money, but I was not treated as a person because of ruining human relationships. There was one.
This is Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10. He went to Jesus to be with Jesus and Immanuel. Because there were so many people, the short Zacchaeus could not even see Jesus' face, so he climbed up a sycamore tree and met Jesus and became Emmanuel. This is personal Immanuel. Zacchaeus was with him and he repented. It is desperate repentance.
Verse 8: “Half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone, I will pay back four times as much.”
Jesus declared that today salvation has come to this house. I have come to seek and save the lost. When Zacchaeus was Emmanuel, money was not life. Realize that Jesus is life. And you get freedom from that money. So, thorough repentance was possible, and I enjoyed freedom from money, freedom from sin, and freedom from the pressure of my heart. It was the Lord who declared that he was saved.
There was one person who could not live according to his will. When he suddenly got blood, he swears at others, loses his temper, assaults him, and injures himself too much. At times, he was unhappy with himself, and his family and people around him were unhappy because of his ruined life, where he was docile like a sheep but suddenly changed unpredictably. She was a woman who was possessed by a demon and could not live sanely.
One day, Jesus came to this woman. And he drove out the seven demons that had entered the woman. Returning to normal, this woman gave her whole life to Immanuel. His life soon became that of Immanuel. So greed, disappointment, worry, and blood were gone. This is Mary from Magdala in Luke 8:1 3. There are many such stories in the Bible. The example ends with these two.
I saw the biggest reason for Immanuel in the case of these two people. “Salvation”. It has been delivered from misery. The question is whether I have an Immanuel case now. What misfortune do I have? Whatever the misfortune, if you are with Jesus, you will be saved from that misfortune if Jesus is with you.
Jesus pushes away the causes that make you unhappy, and fills you with Jesus to give you peace, confidence, gratitude, and life. At that time, we were called Immanuel by meeting, but now we are called Immanuel by faith.
I hope that all of you who are preparing while waiting for Christmas will read the Bible, pray, and develop your weak faith so that you will have a Christmas filled with the joy of happiness and salvation by Immanuel.
Second, what should the Immanuelan do?
What happened to those who met Jesus while visiting and met those who had experienced the joy of salvation through the experience of Immanuel? Zacchaeus, given the example above, became a person who enjoys “the joy of sharing.” Because of the joy of owning, he cheated and hurt the hearts of others, but after Emmanuel, he showed the typical figure of a saved person who makes himself and others happy with the joy of sharing. Mary Magdalene, who gave the second example, became a person who enjoys “the joy of service.” An unpredictable bombshell man sold his possessions and lived with the joy of serving Jesus and his disciples.
I would like to give an example from another person's Bible. This is a Samaritan woman who Jesus came to this unfortunate woman who lived with six men from the village due to sexual dissatisfaction and was not only bullied, but also criticized and despised in the neighborhood, and lived in hiding because of herself. This woman believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and was set free from sin and the shame of sin, and immediately after she was saved, she made Jesus known to the locals. A woman who lived in hiding and could not speak a word boldly talked about Jesus and other people came to Jesus and made him Emmanuel. As a result, the Samaritans were saved through Emmanuel.
Saints waiting and preparing for Christmas! Let's be Emmanuel. Saved by Immanuel and happy saints! Let's share, serve and spread. Let's make the other Immanuel.