Immanuel

Isaiah 7:14 “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”

Jesus’ existence makes all the difference to humanity. God’s promise of the birth of Jesus became something that gave meaning to everyone. The challenge most times is that until you personalize and receive Him, your life continues to be meaningless. 

God says your name is written in the palm of His hand. But some say, ‘Out of the billions of people in the world, how can God even see my name?’ God is bigger than our minds can comprehend. So, to make it real to us He used that analogy. If you can write the names of your children on your palm, for you it is personal, and you can never forget. God is saying He can never forget you.

We see the fulfilment of all the prophecies that went forth about Jesus in Luke 2:7 “She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.” Not only was Jesus born, but Jesus is still alive and well. Everyone that is born dies and their graves can be located. We know the grave of Krishna, Buddha, Mohammed, and the grave of Jesus. But the difference is the grave of Jesus is empty. Paul was saying to us in 1 Timothy 3:16 “Without a doubt, the secret mystery of our life of worship is great: Christ came as a human…” (ERV & CEV). That Christ came in the flesh is a mystery, it is the secret of our faith. 

Can you remember your tenth birthday? Everybody came around with gifts and you were the centre of attention and attraction. You wished that the day would just linger on because you were the star girl or star boy. Now that we are celebrating Jesus’ birthday, it means that He is the birthday boy. He is at the centre of it all. So, remember to give Him a gift, even if the gift is you. Gift Him your heart, and your life, and say to Him, ‘Jesus, accept this sacrifice, accept this gift’. To that extent, Jesus is the reason for the season. Without Him, we will not be here today. Without Him, this partying and celebration around the world would not be happening. 

Everybody is celebrating Jesus’ birthday, both those who know Him and those who don’t. And the root is in John 3:16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (emphasis added). In Him two things happen to everyone who believes, they will not perish but have eternal life. That tells us that everyone without Him, without Jesus, will perish and will not have everlasting life. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please accept my heart, my life, my all as Your birthday present this Christmas. May my life always give You a reason to celebrate, in Jesus Name. Amen!