I woke up several times during the night with these two words “with” and “among” going through my mind.
Last night we had been at a game night, and we were among a large group of people but we were sitting with only two of them. We could hear the conversations of those around us but we could personally interact with the two sitting across the table from us.
Do you know where I’m going with this?
“ 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’).” Isaiah 7:14 NLT
God is with us.
For thousands of years, God had been among His people revealing His character and His holiness. The occasions when He was with individuals is noteworthy. He was with the three young men who were thrown into the fiery furnace, He was with Daniel in the lions’ den and He was with David as he faced Goliath. He was with Joseph, Abraham, Noah and others.
And now, according to Isaiah’s prophecy, God was making Himself available to be with us through His Son.
“ All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 ‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.” Matthew 1:22-24 NLT
We have all been given a personal invitation to be with God. He chose us before the foundation of the world. Christ’s mission was to reconcile us with God.
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” Romans 3:23-24 NLT
“Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” Colossians 1:22 NLT
“Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. 18 God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.” II Corinthians 5:17-18 CEV
Our heavenly Father knew that human efforts were not good enough to bring about reconciliation with Him. In His unconditional love for us He sent Jesus to provide the way for restored relationship.
Every day I am thankful for Immanuel – God with us. He will never leave us alone!