Christ is Immanuel: "God with Us”

Matthew 1:18-25

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."

22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.

As in Luke 2:1–7, the account of Jesus the Christ being born of God’s own Spirit through a chosen vessel of a human woman is recorded for us to know how He came to us as promised from the beginning after we fell in the disobedience and disbelief of sin.  Mary was pregnant by God’s work, making the Almighty His father and giver of life as a begotten Son and not created as all humans have been in Adam.  This is a marvelous thing we often gloss over without considering the miraculous aspect of God and man brought together in the divine person of Jesus of Nazareth who came out of Bethlehem to walk among us, Immanuel!  Mary’s husband knew he was not the father but did not comprehend the baby’s conception until God showed the truth to him in a dream to explain and name Him.  The explanation was that the child was God’s and that His name defined His work upon the earth as the Deliverer of God’s called and chosen children.  He would save us from God’s wrath on our inherited sin and bring new life and hope again!  This quoted scripture from Isaiah 7:14 was a reminder of God’s planned sovereign purpose come to fruition in the proper time (Galatians 4:4-5) as designed by Him for this moment to bring salvation.  Surely Joseph must have known this promise and would have been in awe of God’s word and work even if he did not yet understand all the ramifications right away, and he accepted this promise as true and married Mary instead of breaking it off and dishonoring her.  He knew God had a purpose and accepted His plan and his part as her husband and God ad his son’s Father instead of himself.  Later they would have their own fully human children after Jesus, contrary to some teaching to the contrary; God makes that clear here and in other places (Matthew 12:46-47, Mark 6:3).  Until then he waited and they named the boy Jesus as their firstborn son and God’s only Son to save His people from their sin.  What a wonderful and awesome work of God to deliver us and bring us to Himself by coming to take on our just punishment of death to undo the sin of all mankind at Adam’s hand (Genesis 3:17, 19, 22) and its resulting punishment (Romans 6:23)!   As the second Adam (Romans 5:14-15, 17-18, 19) Jesus would turn the disobedience of we sinners into His righteousness through His complete obedience as fully man born of a woman to undo Eve’s sin of disobedience and who only was able to do so because He was also fully God.  Because God was His Father, Jesus was able to undo Adam’s sin of following Eve in disobeying God’s command and passing that as our inheritance as the head of the family to us.  God with Mary undid the damage of disobedience of Adam with Eve because it was God’s work of complete obedience to His own word for us (Romans 5:20-21) that we were unable to work out for our own salvation.  What grace in His work to save us!  Yes, Christ was God with and among us, Immanuel.