His Name Is Emmanuel

 This is a Christmas Advent sermon based on Matthew 1:23 and presents some answers to the question, "What does it mean to say, 'God is with us.'?" The message presents three answers that are explained. The phrase represents God's self-revelation, His abiding presence, and the promise of His Holy Spirit. A video recording of the worship service in which this message was preached can be viewed by clicking here.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

It isn’t very easy to come up with new Christmas messages year after year! As I was looking through some old notes, I felt impressed to rework a sermon I had done years ago in my previous church. As I continued to look, I discovered that I had preached a similar message for my first Christmas here at Wayside in 2009. (Just in case you didn’t remember!) The title of that message was, “Is God Still with Us?” In both of those messages I asked the question, “What does it mean to say, ‘God is with us?’” Eleven years ago I gave four answers to the question by looking at various Scripture passages that included the phrase “God with us” in some form or variation. Today, I want to provide some additional answers to the same question by looking at more passages of Scripture which include some form of the phrase, “God with us.”

I.          “God with Us” refers to His special revelation.

Exodus 3:18 ^(NKJV)  … you shall come, … to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, 'The LORD God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.'

The context of this verse includes Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush. God revealed himself to Moses and revealed his name, “Yahweh.” God tells Moses that He has seen the affliction of the people of Israel and has come to deliver them.

(v. 16) He also tells Moses to go to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt;

So in this passage in Exodus, we read about God revealing Himself to Moses. “I Am Who I Am.” We read about Moses telling the people “God appeared to me.” And, we read what he is instructed to tell Pharaoh, “God has met with us.” All of these aspects together emphasize the fact that God was revealing Himself. When “God is with us,” He is revealing Himself to humanity.

One of the foundational truths of the Bible which I have mentioned many times is this: God is a self-revealing God. He doesn’t leave us to stumble and grope in the dark hoping against hope to discover Him by some random miracle. The Bible repeatedly describes how that God reveals more and more of Himself to humanity.

Hebrews 1:1-2 (NKJV) ¹  God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ²  has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

The writer of Hebrews begins his letter by affirming the process of revelation that has taken place. God spoke by prophets, and finally by His Son whom He sent into the world. The God of the Bible is not like the pagan deities, shrouded in darkness, unknown and unreliable, but He willingly reveals Himself so we can know Him and know His desires for us.

II.        “God with us” refers to His abiding presence.

A. He is present in the journey of life.

Exodus 33:16 (NKJV)  For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth."

This is much later in the Exodus story. God has brought the Israelites out of Egypt and they have been at Mount Sinai to receive the Covenant of Law. The people have sinned by making and worshiping the golden calf. God has told Moses to take the people up to the land He had promised them, but He would not go with them. They are a “stiff-necked” people and the Lord may consume them if He is to come into the midst of them.

But, in verse 15, Moses says to the Lord, “If your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” In v. 16 he continues by asking, “How will anyone know we have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us?”

God had earlier promised He would send an angel with them. But Moses knows that isn’t enough. He insists, if God isn’t with them, they might as well stay where they are. Moses also knows that it is the supernatural presence of God that sets His people apart from everyone else on the face of the earth. Look at the second half of verse 16. “So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth." There is no substitute for the presence of God.

B. He is present in times of battle, and adversity.

Numbers 14:9 (NKJV)  Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them."

The context of this verse includes the sending of the 12 spies into the land of Canaan when the Israelites were ready to enter the land promised to them. 10 spies gave an evil report of gloom and doom, while 2 of them (Caleb and Joshua) gave a good report. This passage in 14:9 is part of the response by Caleb and Joshua as they tried to convince the rest of the people that they should and could conquer the land because God was with them.

It doesn’t matter how big the foe, when God is with us, we are greater than any enemy! It doesn’t matter how bad the circumstance or adversity, if God is with us, we can make it.

Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

There is no substitute for the presence of God when we find ourselves in the middle of adversity, tragedy and even sorrow.

C. He is present when His people obey His commands.

The abiding presence is not just for the children of Israel when they are facing battles with the enemy. His presence is also promised to His people when they obey His commands.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NKJV) ¹⁹  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

How important it is for us to be obedient to the Lord if we truly want His presence to be with us.

III.       “God with us” refers to the promise of the Holy Spirit.

All of the references we have used so far, have been promises and statements made to men long ago in different times and cultures. We certainly have the right to read those promises and apply them to our current circumstances, but there is one promise of God’s presence that specifically includes all of us today. It comes from the words of Jesus, but it refers to a promise He was making for believers of all ages until His return.

John 14:16-17 (NKJV) ¹⁶  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- ¹⁷  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Conclusion:

In the Scripture passages we have looked at today we have learned that the phrase “God with us” speaks about His self-revelation to mankind, and it speaks about His abiding presence in all kinds of circumstances and situations. God has used prophets and scribes to record promise after promise of His abiding presence in all sorts of life’s situations. His presence always included every provision necessary for the fulfillment of God’s purposes in that situation. God also gave His own Son as an additional revelation of Himself in human form in order that we might experience the physical presence and know what it is like to have Him with us. We obviously did not experience that physical human interaction with God in the flesh, but we are living in the era of the Spirit – the One Jesus promised before leaving this earth, who would be “with us and in us.”

If I understand Scripture correctly, we will be facing darker days in the future than we’ve ever faced before. It is comforting to know that GOD IS STILL WITH US!

I want to close with this interesting little story I came across.

Many of you know the name Karl Barth, who was a well-known theologian from Switzerland who lived from 1886 to 1968.

(Today's Best Illustrations – Volumes 1-4) Karl Barth, the famous theologian, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland, where he lectured. A tourist to the city climbed on and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other. "Are you new to the city?" Barth inquired. "Yes," said the tourist. "Is there anything you would particularly like to see in this city?" asked Barth. "Yes," he said, "I'd love to meet the famous theologian Karl Barth. Do you know him?" Barth replied, "Well as a matter of fact, I do. I give him a shave every morning." The tourist got off the streetcar quite delighted. He went back to his hotel saying to himself, "I met Karl Barth's barber today."

The question I ask myself and each of you today is this. Do I know God well enough to recognize His presence in my daily circumstances?

Our closing song today is a very short chorus, but it conveys the message of His name, Emmanuel.

We will sing it twice.

Emmanuel