Is God With Us? And why? - Part 1

This is a two part meditation on the topic of God being with us.  It is split up into two parts due to its length; but in order to get the full impact of the message, please take the time to read both parts.  Blessings!

A Christmas Meditation

This morning I was thinking about Jesus coming to earth.  It’s an incredible thought, really. God coming to His earth that He created and becoming one of us.  Then again, there are some people who don't believe God even exists, let alone is here amongst us.  After all, the world is indeed in such a mess that many people have chosen to believe a good God couldn't possibly exist! But this is where faith comes in, and reading and accepting God's Word.  Let's assume we all believe that God exists and He is who He says He is in His Word.  Why, I’ve often wondered, would He subject Himself to His own flawed creatures?  After all, in our raw, unsaved, sinful state, we are untrustworthy enemies of God.  But, the more I thought about it, the more it became clear that this is something God really wanted to do.  Then my thoughts went a step further, which is the main focus of this meditation. 

 Did you know that one of Jesus’ names is Emmanuel?  It is found in Scripture:

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.  Matthew 1:23

We sing about Emmanuel which means God with us. But do we really think about the great significance of what that means? I believe to go deeper with this, that it means God wants to be with us, not just God is with us, and we say it casually or as a matter of fact without realizing the full impact of what it really means.  He wants to be with you! He wants to be with me!  There’s a big difference here: instead of just assuming the existence of God and that we’re in His presence, and that He’s with us, as we get to know Him, we actually come to realize that He truly WANTS to be with us. Think about it!  Why would He want to be with us in the first place?

 I think of Jesus and the way He first approached me when I was a mixed up kid at Bible School.  He talked to me as a friend, and so my first introduction to Jesus on a personal level was that over time, I came to realize that He was my friend and He cared about me, and I could trust Him with my innermost feelings and thoughts!  And He wanted to be with me and talk to me as a friend to friend.  It blew me away! I discovered that Jesus wasn’t about religion, He is about relationship.  To this day, I still marvel that He puts people over politics, policy or papacy (rank of office).

 And so, I was thinking about friends and how do you make a friend?  You usually make a friend by giving something of yourself, a gift or being kind, amicable and generous.  You make that person feel loved, accepted and needed. You have things in common. You spend time with them.  I want you to put God in this place of a friend.  The Bible says in Proverbs 18:24, “There’s a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”  To me, that friend being referred to is Jesus. Jesus sticks with us; He doesn’t leave when the going gets tough.  

Thinking back, there have been times in my life that I felt alone and friendships seemed illusive.  Before I was married I was alone for twelve years and it felt at times, more like twenty years.  When you feel alone, a moment is like an eternity.  But I can tell you, Jesus was always there for me when I needed Him and when I reached out to Him, which was quite often, daily as a matter of fact.  He was always the first cheerleader in my life, cheering me on, picking me up every time I fell, and nursing my wounds when I’d inevitably get hurt.  I learned the world can be a pretty cruel place when you mingle with people who truly do not know God’s love.  With all my scrapes, scars, bruises and inner wounds, I can attest that He has brought welcome healing to my body and soul many a time.  Yes, Jesus indeed has consistently been a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

 Maybe some of us aren’t close to our family.  I know I am, but I know there’s people that aren’t because they don’t feel accepted as they are.  And Christmas will usually highlight these painful relationships when the family all gets together.  Some families, especially if they don’t know the Lord, can make you feel that they don’t really want you around unless you play things their way. But Jesus is everything that we look for in a friend, and so much more.  When all else fails, and our friends may reject us, Jesus never will.  He comes bearing gifts, He loves us unconditionally, and He wants to be with us.  When I was an older teen, Jesus love changed my life and turned my life around.  I could hardly fathom why God went out of His way to want to be with me, especially after all I had done as a teen, living a backslidden life!  My life was like the Prodigal Son and I always knew how undeserving I was of anything good that might come my way.  I deserved nothing and could only hope that God would spare my unruly and ungodly life and let me live.  As a young woman, I was lost and had no purpose or future.  All in good time, Jesus gave me hope and a future.  I ended up in Bible School, the best place I could ever be, and learned all about this incredible God who loves me so much!  If you are a parent or a grandparent, never give up praying for your wayward children and grandchildren. Jesus cares, He really does.  I am alive today because of my mother’s persistent prayers for me. She went to battle in prayer hour upon hour, and I’m sure was sleep deprived all throughout my teen years.

 God is with us.  This is the one and only God we’re talking about, not just anybody.  This is Almighty God.  The great Creator of all things; the mighty God who could wipe us out it with a mere breath, and deservedly so.  For we have all turned away from God. There is none that doeth good, no not one.  So what do we know about God? We know what He says about Himself and His Word. Let’s think about the magnitude of our God – He has always been and He will always be.  He has no beginning and no end.  He’s the Alpha and Omega, the bright morning star, the Creator of all things, Father to His own children.  There is no one beside Him; there is no one greater than Him and He inhabits all things.  He is omnipresent and omniscient; He knows all things and nothing can be hidden from Him.  The essence or spirit of God is a fire and if you were to look at the essence of God, well, you couldn’t.  It would destroy your frail human body. Moses couldn’t look at God because of the brightness and the intense heat that came from the presence of God.

There’s many many things that we don’t know about God, but we will learn about God over eternity if we know him as our Lord and Saviour.  But, even in an eternity we will never know all there is to know about God. Now you tell me if this is not an awesome God?  And that word “awesome” belongs to God and God alone, because it means “full of awe,” as in so awesome you would bow down and worship Him if you could stand at all in His glorious magnificent presence. There is so much to unpack when we’re talking about God – our God is also a God of mercy, a God of grace, He forgives; He doesn’t hold our sins against us; He is a Counsellor, a Healer, a Friend, and a Brother, and much more.   

Please stay tuned for Part 2 of this meditation.