Immanuel Lived With Us!
The Wounds He Suffered Are His Testament to His Love for Us.
Immanuel - God With Us
He came to the earth to die for you and to provide a way for you to be redeemed from your sinful life. Sinless He lived for a while with us and had a ministry where He told us of what God the Father wanted and how we could actually live in a manner to satisfy God. He provided you and I an example of how to live and be in God’s will. He experienced life with us in our world. He is empathetic with our struggles. Living a sinless life, dying for our sins then rising from the dead He changed the world forever. He was God with us!
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
‘That light shines through darkness, and yet the darkness did not over overcome it. He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. He came into his own, and his people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave the right to be the children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the flesh, or the will of man, but of God.
‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, show is Himself God and is at the Father’s side - he has revealed him” John 1:1-5,14,16,18 CSB
The Apostle John has encapsulated the entirety of Jesus and what He represents in the first few paragraphs of his epistle. He says it concretely, Christ is God. Every other verse in scripture is just the details.
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Immanuel, God with us? Let us consider first Isaiah 7:13-14 NKJV “then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! it is a small thing for you to weary men. but will you weary my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and call His name Immanuel.” This was written about 700 years before the birth of Jesus! That was 2,700 years ago. God is not slow. He is in control and works out His plan according to his needs.
Isaiah also penned this at the same time: “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government shall be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 CSB What happened? It all came true.
Immanuel - in Greek it is “theanthropos” - denotes the union of human nature and the divine in Christ (God-Man).
Isaiah the Prophet is described as the literary genius of the Bible. In the Book of Isaiah he describes the life and death of Christ as Savior. It is remarkably accurate. Here are five verses for you to get a quick glimpse of what was offered long, long before Jesus came.
Is 53:2 “For he shall grow up as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” Refer to Psalm 22:6 “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.” this was written long before Isaiah. It is the same Psalm spoken from the cross by Jesus “… why hast thou forsaken me …”
Is 53:3 “He is despised of men and rejected …” Killed for what was called heresy.
Is 53:9 “And he made his grave with the wicked; and with the rich in his death …” Buried in a borrowed tomb.
Is 53:10 “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin …” Christ was beaten so that he did not resemble a man.”
Is 53:12b “… because he hath poured out his soul unto death: he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sins of many; and made intercessions for the transgressors.” He took upon himself the sin of all mankind. Hallelujah!”
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How can we not understand who Christ is after this short visit through scripture? John tells us in clear terms just who Christ is … God. Isaiah prophesies his coming and describes his life. God speaking through his prophets before Christ is here reveals a mystery a virgin birth. Another speaker (who is described as the disciple that Christ loved), John, speaks about the reality of Christ, who was here before creation!
Read this from God to the Israelites; “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” Leviticus 26:12 KJV
He lived as we do in the world, yet without sin. He was both an example of what could be done and was obedient enough to His Father to live a sinless life. He established a truth. A man can live without sin through the Holy Spirit
“He that believeth on the Son of God hath witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” 1 John5:10-11 KJV
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“… he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5 NIV
Their Disobedience Broke the Relationship They Had with God and They Were Expelled
Why did Immanuel Come?
Let me begin by addressing the image above. It was the only one that I could find that seems to approach the mood of being taken out of the Garden of Eden. What do you think? Any representation we could offer you has been made from the imagination of man. No one has told us about the departure other than that they were escorted out and guards were placed at the entrance. No witnesses wrote anything down. Moses recounted the story under God’s inspiration.
In spite of what most images of this event represent, for me they are seem to ignore in clear visual scenes the despair that this artist has captured. If a picture can truly be worth a thousand words, this one has the next chapter after Adam and Eve sinned. They had to leave the presence of God. They had broken a relationship. And almost hidden in the lower left among the rocks and grotesque plants is an animal that is growling at them. And behind the guard is a faint representation of a faded light. Things have changed. For me the color went out of their world, light had darkened. Can you imagine their despair? Can we even begin to understand the gravity of what is shown here? God is sending Adam and Eve out of the garden a place of perfection, and they have been told how they will now live in an imperfect world.
The glory of God remains within the Garden, but this couple are now out of relationship with their Creator. What could that have felt like? In the command to not eat the fruit there is an implied reward. That reward is continued life which stems from them not eating of the fruit, for the eating from it leads to death in their Spirits. She yielded to the lie that no death would ensue. How wrong she was. And Adam took her side. He was not deceived he knew what God had told him and knew that the violation meant death. Yet he yielded too.
And no one had to teach them how to sin. No one has taught you how to sin either. It was in their nature. They came with this fleshly predisposition in them. They yielded to temptation; that is the sin. Yielding caused their spiritual death.
Could you imagine a worse day. Could anyone not understand the sin they had committed? God is at their back now. No more visiting. No being in one another’s others presence. Look at her, she appears to be weeping. Adam with that furtive glance over his shoulder tells so much. One last look, to firmly empress on his heart what he had wasted. And what stands behind them but an armed guard. The first sinners are beginning their new lives. This image helps me to lay down the base for why Christ had to come to earth as Immanuel; God-man, to save sinners. Sin had entered the world because of Adam, as the corporate head of his family the sins were his. Nothing would be the same for them. And sin remains to this day.
“For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is not other.” Isaiah 45:18 NKJV Inhabited; he created it for man, Gods family. He created Adam, formed a help mate for him and they had a relationship with God. They knew Him and He knew them. They had one rule. Do not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge about good and evil. He told them that if they did eat that they would die. They ate it anyway! They died spiritually but did not understand.
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in that day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:17 God said this to Adam first before He made Eve. Adam knew better than to eat the fruit. Yet Eve had eaten some, and he chose to sin with her. She was deceived, but he was not. Sin entered the world. Then the first blood was spilled when God killed an animal to make coverings for their nakedness. This just kept getting worse. Consider this; “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with thee.” Psalm 5:4 NKJV
He sent them away. They reaped the reward, their wages for disobedience
“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become like one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.” Genesis 3:22-23 NKJV
God Had a Plan
God is never surprised. He had already arranged for what had to be done. Remember what John said about Christ being with God before creation. He was our savior then; it just wasn’t time yet. Let us cut to the heart of the matter with these verses:
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned. In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account, when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a type of the Coming One.
‘But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by one man’s trespass the many died, how much more will the grace of God and the gift which come through the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ overflowed to the many. And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came judgement, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification. Since by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:12-17 CSB It took Immanuel, God living with us, as a sinless man to become the one suitable sacrifice for our sins.
Man sinned and God had a plan for recovery and at the proper time He sent His son to live as Immanuel and to die for our sins. Sin had entered the world by the actions of one man and it took the actions of one man to become the acceptable sacrifice to atone for everyones sin. In scripture there are over 30,000 verses. All of them support this statement: anyone, can be saved, no sin is too vile or horrid to be forgiven. But there are so many who refuse to listen; who reject God and/or Jesus at every turn … what may we do?
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What follows is as lengthy to explain as we choose to make it. Yet we can cover this thoroughly and quickly. Let me share with you some verses that I believe, will be sufficient on their own to help us understand God’s plan of salvation. You will find them after the image below “Which of Them is Lost?” God knew that sin, all sin, required a blood sacrifice and the act of obtaining that sacrificial blood involves the death of an animal. It is foreshadowed by the killing of at least one animal to make covering for Adam and Eve, “The Lord God made clothing from the skins for the man and his wife, and He clothed them.” Genesis 3:21 This is believed to be the first sacrifice for sin. We know that God kicked the couple out of the garden with curses for each. They went out into the world to live.
Sinners Do Not Have Horns or Breathe Fire
Can you decide which of these are lost?
I know, no one can tell if any are lost in this image. They look well-appointed in their business attire. Hair and make-up and all clothing well adjusted. The point is that anyone can be lost and their appearance is not always an indicator of the condition of their soul. It is unwise of us to make quick judgements about where someone is in their relationship with God. Professionals, poor people, the smooth and soft and the rough and burly or whatever race you see could all be lost souls. All people are sinners, but all are not lost. An old, wrinkled man who spits and yells at kids might already be saved but be having a terrible day dealing with his sin nature. We just do not know what we are looking at. In relationships we often have enough experience to make some determinations about the people we are dealing with. At least we think so.
What follows are four verses with what to pray for those we deduce are not saved and living out their salvation. Just remember, we sin too. Pray for others the way you would want them to pray for you. Verses are taken from the Christian Standard Bible.
Acts 26:17b-18, Christ is speaking to Paul; “…I am sending you to them to open their eyes so that they can turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share amongst those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Let their eyes be opened.
John 16:8 “When he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgement…” ask God to have them understand their sinfulness.
John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Ask God to draw them now to Him.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all come to repentance.” Remind God of this, He wants all to repent!
“What I mean by “the crucified life’ is a life wholly given over to the Lord in absolute humility and obedience: a sacrifice pleasing to the Lord. The word “crucified” takes us back to what Christ did on the cross. The Key verse for this is Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ now lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
A. W. Tozer “The Crucified Life” page 15 - 2011
Psalm 45:1-5
To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lillies".” A contemplation of the sons of Korah. A song of Love.
“My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon your lips; Therefore, God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword upon your thigh, O Mighty One, with your glory and Your majesty. And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness: and your right hand shall teach You awesome things. . Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; The people fall under your feet.”
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Christian Success
“Success in the Christian life is not automatic. The soul must be cultivated like a garden and the will mut be sanctified and become Christian through and through. Heavenly treasures must be sought, and we must seek those things that are above and mortify those things that are below. This may not be written about much in the annals of the modern evangelical church, but it is written about in the New Testament.”
A. W. Tozer “The Crucified Life. Pg 36 - 2011
