Imanuel G. Christian
December 2012
“What is in a name?” asked the famed poet Shakespeare. Of course, a lot! Especially when we consider the names of God in the Bible, each is loaded with theological and practical significance. There are more than 100 names and titles used in the Bible for Jesus Christ.
However, as we celebrate Christmas there is no other name that is more significant than the name Immanuel. More than 700 years before Christ’s First Advent, God declared through the prophet Isaiah, “the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). In the New Testament Matthew applied it to Jesus’ birth (Matthew 1:23).
The concept of God in all other religions presents God as someone who, like a watchmaker, creates the world and then stays uninvolved with it. But the God of the Bible desires to fellowship with His people, He is the very present help to His people in their distress. As the prophet Isaiah said, “In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old” (Isaiah 63:9).
God called Moses to lead His people out of the bondage of Egypt and told him, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt, I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land…” (Exodus 3:7-8, with emphasis added). He does not just sit in the heavens above and watch what is going on the earth, especially among His own people, but He gets involved in their affairs and helps them in their trouble.
Similarly, He was with them throughout their journey in the wilderness. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people (Exodus 13:21-22). God instructed Moses to build the Tent of Meeting as God’s dwelling place with His people, “Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God” (Exodus 29:45-46, with emphasis added).
Even during the Babylonian captivity God did not want to leave His people. As His people kept running away from Him, He kept running after them. He appeared to the prophet Ezekiel in a vision and through him told His people in Babylon, He was with them even here. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone” (Ezekiel 11:16).
He says “For a little while I have been a sanctuary for them,” because He is not going to leave His people in captivity forever! They will be there only for a little while. By His grace He will bring them out from there and He says, “I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God and they will be my people” (Ezekiel 37:26-27). And this is the temple that God shows the prophet in his vision and he describes in chapters 40-48, where God reveals His name, Jehovah-Shammah; THE LORD IS THERE, the last words of the prophet Ezekiel.
This was only a vision for the prophet Ezekiel. He lived as a captive among the heathen idol worshippers and died away from home. Just as Moses saw the Promised Land only from distance but could not enter into it (Numbers 27:12-16), for Ezekiel and other Old Testament saints this was in the distant future, beyond his lifetime: “None of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:39-40).
But for us, in one sense this has already been fulfilled. Some 2000 years ago, God came down and dwelt among us and men saw Him with their very eyes, as John writes, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only…” (John 1:14). “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Immanuel. Jehovah-Shammah. God with His people. God with us.
This is the message of Christmas. God desires to dwell with His people. While His people were running away from Him, were separated from Him, He provided the way for them to come into fellowship with Him again so He can be with them forever, be with us forever.
And yet, in other sense it is not yet fulfilled. It is similar to what God said about the people in the captivity: “For a little while I have been a sanctuary for them” (Ezekiel 11:36). The fulfillment of “I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them” (Ezekiel 37:36), is yet to come. John, who wrote “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”, later, like Ezekiel, sees the reality of it in his vision and describes: “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…” (Revelation 21:3-4).
The message of Christmas is not only that He came “for a little while”, but also that He will come and be their sanctuary forever. As His first coming was a historical event that happened just as foretold, His second coming will happen for sure. The message of Christmas is that we not only look back to His first coming, but also that we eagerly look forward to His second coming. Christmas is not just the celebration of His first coming; it is to prepare us for His second coming. As we celebrate Christmas, we not only see the Baby in the manger, but we see the King on His throne. His first coming brought the message of salvation for the whole world, His second coming is only for those who have accepted that message and are living in eager expectation of His second coming.
“I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3). “Behold, I am coming soon. Yes, I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:12, 20). And for those who have known Him from His first coming, their prayer is, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). Immanuel! God is with us, with His people. Forever! “In Thy presence is fullness of joy; In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:11, NASB).
This is Christmas in its truest and fullest sense; Immanuel. God with us, now and forever! Have a Merry Christmas!
