White Elephants - 12/15/07

Matthew 1:23, "The virgin will be pregnant, she will have a son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means, 'God is with us.'" This fulfilled the ancient prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, "The Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be pregnant. She will have a son, and she will name Him Immanuel."

God is with us!
God is with us!
Think about that! Because for a long time, He wasn't. We sinned; our pride rejected Him and stained with our own rebellion, we were cast from His presence.

He returned to get the Israelites out of Egypt - He was with the Ark of the Covenant. But, anyone who came near to the Ark drew close to God's presence and, being stained with sin, risked death. Therefore, the Jews were given laws and rituals for cleanliness; blood sacrifice and atonement for sins.

But that was then. The blood sacrifice in the Old Testament temporarily satisfied God's law so we could in those moments enter into His presence. The willful sacrifice of Christ on the cross forever paid the debt caused by sin - fulfilled the requirements of God's law - and cleansed us permanently.

We no longer have to clean up and atone for our sins every time we want to talk to God because we're under grace, God is with us! We don't have to kill a red heifer to come to God, because He killed His own son so He could come to us. Such powerful, radical love!

And now, He is Immanuel. Immanuel. God is with us - Immanuel!

As soon as we sinned, God had a backup plan, and carried it out when His glory would be greatest, yet early on enough in history so His glory could be spread through generations and continents. Isaiah told us it was going to happen, Matthew told us how it did happen.

So now, during this time of year when we focus so much on worthless, trivial Christmas presents, we forget about God's presence - Immanuel. The greatest gift we've ever been given.
Everything else, from bookmarks to new cars, are the worthless gifts you'd see at a "white elephant" gift exchange compared to Immanuel - our true gift.

God is with us. Even now, while you read, God is with us - a privilege dreamed of by generations of people throughout history.

What are you doing with your life in the presence of Immanuel?