When Corrie ten Boom was a little girl, her father used
to tuck her into bed at night. He talked and prayed with her, then
gently laid his big hand on her little face. Later, when Corrie was
imprisoned in a brutal concentration camp, she would ask God to tuck her
in and lay His hand on her face. “That would bring me peace, and I
would be able to sleep,” Corrie wrote in her book, Each
New Day (as quoted
in
www.preaching.com).
The angel of the Lord told Joseph that the child that was
conceived in Mary’s womb was from the Holy Spirit. This was in
fulfillment of a prophecy by Isaiah given hundreds of years prior:
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall
call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us” (Matthew
1:23; Isaiah 7:14).
Our God has
not remained remote and unapproachable; He has come to us in person. He
did not just write us a letter. He did not just send us a
representative. He did not just speak His laws from a mountain. He
came to us as one of us. The Infinite became an infant. It is called
the “Incarnation.”
Immanuel,
God with us, informs us:
Jesus came to
reveal God to us.
“No one has seen
God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He
has explained Him” (John 1:18 NASB). “For in Christ all the fullness of
the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians
2:9 NIV84). Jesus said to Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the
Father” (John 14:9).
Jesus came to
reveal God’s love for us.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV).
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His
Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10 NIV84).
Jesus came
to save us.
The angel of the Lord informed Joseph about the Child that would be born
to Mary: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name
JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
In order to
accomplish our salvation, Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins
(Romans 5:8) as our perfect Representative (Hebrews 2:17-18). Through
Jesus, we can be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21) and become
heirs of eternal life (Romans 8:16-17).
God will save
and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus
(Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31),
confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed)
into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue
to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word
(1 John 1:7-9).
When Jesus
was born into the world, He was Immanuel, God with us. It
was as if God was gently placing His hand on us with the assurance of
His presence and His plan to save us. The knowledge of what His
incarnation and crucifixion mean for us enables us to have peace and to
rest in His loving care.
Won’t YOU
accept His offer of salvation and eternal life?
-- David A. Sargent
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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