O Come, O Come Emmanuel

After the angel spoke to Joseph in a dream assuring him that he could take Mary as his wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit, the text of Matthew 1:22-23 reads, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel – which means, “God with us”.

After the angel spoke to Joseph in a dream assuring him that he could take Mary as his wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit, the text of Matthew 1:22-23 reads, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel – which means, “God with us”.

God with us? This promise is absolutely mind-boggling – the eternal God of the universe present in human form – with us?  Not since walking in the garden before the Fall of man was God present in communion with humans in that way. 500 years or so after the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 it happens.  Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, was born – “God with us.”

Did the shepherds fully comprehend what they saw? How did the wise men who saw His star in the east and traveled that long journey know to worship Him? God told them through a star? A supernatural orchestration of the universe that night was happening. Not even 21st century technology could mimic what the Trinity did that first Christmas.

 Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, came to earth to dwell among humans in order to rescue us from sin’s captivity, and after He returned to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell each believer. He promised to do this while He was still present with the disciples in Acts 1. This phenomenon made “God with us” a reality for everyone who would ever believe in Christ.

Can you imagine what our lives would be like without the Presence of Christ 24/7? Why would you even get up in the morning if you had no hope, no promise that He would never leave you or forsake you? What would it be like for you if He had never come the first time? How would you resource your life without His presence? 

Emmanuel came the first time- God with us. He is present with us now in the person of the Holy Spirit indwelling each believer – God within us.  And, He will come again. Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to those things saying, Yes, I am coming. Amen, Come Lord Jesus.” God with us forever!

This truth is well captured in the ancient hymn dating back to the 9th century. One of the earliest known liturgies, it was originally a Gregorian chant that the monks sang a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment). The English clergyman John Mason Neale translated the hymn into English in 1851.  If you are familiar with “O Come, O Come Emmanuel", you can almost hear the chant as you read the words.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!