“EMMANUEL – OUR GOD IS WITH US”
SELECTED SCRIPTURES

I. Introduction
“Emmanuel – our God is with us!” This is the shout of joy that goes up from every true Christian at this time of the year. It speaks of what is arguably the greatest truth in all of Christianity. Our God is with us in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. “Emmanuel” is anglicized from the Hebrew word “Immanuel” (im-maw-noo-aleʹ), a compound word that translates literally to “with us God.”

This Hebrew word appears only three times in Scripture, yet it carries with it a truth that the Bible teaches again and again. In the OT Isaiah uses the word as we have already heard it this morning: “…a Virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14b).” In Isaiah 8:8 it’s used a second time with regard to Jesus’ ownership of the land of Israel. Then in the NT Matthew 1:23 uses the word for the third and last time in announcing the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy.

That’s it! The word “Emmanuel” is never used again. But, as I said, the truth it conveys is not only one of the great truths of biblical Christianity; it also has much to teach us about Jesus and our relationship to Him.

This morning is kind of a unique service for us. It’s the first Sunday in Advent and it’s also Communion Sunday. So in keeping with both themes, I want us to look at Jesus in two very different and distinct ways.
• In celebrating the Lord’s advent we remember His birth and we see Him with us as Jesus of Nazareth, the Second Person of the Trinity.
• In celebrating Communion we remember His death and see Him in us by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity.

Together they reveal God the Father, the First Person of the Trinity. As we prepare for Christmas we will see the reality of our God with us, our Emmanuel. Then as we prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Supper we will be reminded that He is not only with us, but He is in us as well.
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II. Text
“Emmanuel – our God is with us!” Is that not a great comfort to all of us? Even though we are surrounded by throngs of people, we sometimes feel pretty much alone in this world. So as Christians we want Jesus to be with us. But how often do we think of the fact that He wants to be with us too.

Turn to John 17. Just before Jesus went to the cross, He prayed what has come to be known His high priestly prayer. In it Jesus makes three requests of His Father.
• In the first part, vv. 1-5, Jesus prays for Himself. He knows He has fulfilled God’s will and asks His Father to restore the glory He had before He became a man.
• In the second part, vv. 6-19, Jesus prays for His disciples. He asks God to protect them and empower them so that they may establish and build His church.
• In the third part, vv. 20-26, Jesus prays for us, those who would, through the power of His Word, come to saving faith in Him and populate His church.

It’s that part I want us to look at more closely.
*John 17:24-26
24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me;
26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known; that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

So Jesus wants us to be with Him where He is. Why? In v. 24 He tells us. It is so that we can see Him as He is! “…that they may behold My glory…” In 1 Corinthians 13:12 the Apostle Paul says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face…” And in 1 John 3:2 the Apostle John says, “…we shall see Him just as He is.” Then He will be our Emmanuel in every sense of the word. That will be the ultimate reality of God with us. But, in the meantime, how has the reality of God with us been manifested? We can see it in at least four different ways.

1. The reality of God’s presence with His people was seen in the OT. Here are just some of the more significant “…with you” promises God made in the OT.
Genesis 9:8-9 (to Noah)
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9 “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you…”

Genesis 17:1b-2 (to Abraham)
1b “…I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless.
2 “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you (with you), and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

Genesis 26:2-3 9 (to Isaac)
2 And the LORD appeared to him (Isaac) and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you.
3 “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.”
Genesis 28:15 (to Jacob)
15 “And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

Genesis 39:2-3 (of Joseph)
2 And the LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.

Exodus 3:10-12a (to Moses)
10 “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”
12a And (God) said, “Certainly I will be with you…”

Joshua 1:5b (to Joshua)
5b “Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.”

Psalm 23:4 (David speaking)
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for You are with me.

God also told Gideon, Isaiah, and Jeremiah that He was with them. So in the OT both God’s presence and God’s promises made Emmanuel a clear reality to His people.

2. The reality of God’s presence with His people has been seen in Jesus’ First Coming, His birth, life, death, and resurrection. That takes us back to Isaiah’s prophecy – “…a Virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel,” the pro-phecy’s fulfilment in Matthew’s gospel, and an angel’s message to a young Jewish girl.
*Luke 1:26-28
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth,
27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And coming in, he said to her, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry on earth the John said…
John 1:14
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
During the three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry He said things that made His followers wonder if Emmanuel – our God is with us – was really only a temporary, and a passing thing. They wondered, “Would the day come when He would no longer be ‘with us’?”
John 7:33-34
33 Jesus therefore said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me.
34 “You shall seek Me and shall not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
John 12:35a
35a Jesus therefore said to them, “For a little while longer the light is among you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness may not overtake you…”

But at the close of Jesus’ ministry on earth He said…
Matthew 28:18b-20
18b “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In that statement Jesus’ presence applies directly to us. When He told the disciples that He would only be with them a little while longer, He was speaking only about His physi-cal presence with them. Our Lord was with His people in the OT. He was with His peo-ple when He walked this earth with them. And to us His promise is, “…I am with you always…” That leads us to the third reality of our Lord’s presence with His people.

3. The reality of Jesus’ presence with us is seen in His indwelling Holy Spirit. Even before Jesus’ death, resurrection, and His promise in the Great Commission, He told His disciples to expect Him to be with them in a new and marvelous way.
*John 14:15-20
15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
16 “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever;
17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
19 “After a little while the world will behold Me no more; but you will behold Me; because I live, you shall live also.
20 “In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”
Wait a minute! Jesus will be in us? We have seen that He will be with us, but now He takes it a step further. Listen Christian, it is in this magnificent truth that you and I find our hope. We don’t wade into the lion’s den alone. Jesus is not only with us, He is in us in the Person of His Holy Spirit.

• Are you afraid of telling others about your Lord and Savior? You’re not alone. But in Acts 18:9-10a the Lord told Paul, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you…”
• Are you having a hard time living the Christian life in this world? Again, you’re not alone. But years after the Lord spoke to Paul in Acts 18, the apostle wrote this to the church at Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 he said, “…do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?”

Not only is the Holy Spirit with us and in us, not only are we indwelt by Him, but we are sealed by Him, we are gifted by Him, and we are filled by Him.

We are sealed by God –
When God saved us, we were permanently sealed by His indwelling Spirit. This sealing conveys the idea of ownership. In this we belong to Him. Furthermore, this sealing is His assurance of our eternal security in Christ. We cannot lose our salvation because it isn’t ours to lose. It is His, and He cannot lose it. In this God does something for us that we cannot do for ourselves.
*Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

We are gifted by God –
When God saved us, we were permanently gifted by His indwelling. Contrary to much popular opinion, Christians do not choose the gift(s) that they will receive. But every Christian has been given at least one spiritual gift (probably more than one). This gifting is not for the benefit of the individual; rather, it is for the benefit of the entire church.
1 Peter 4:10-11
10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

We are filled by God –
Unlike His indwelling, sealing, and gifting, the filling of the Holy Spirit is a work that, while done by Him, is largely dependent upon our willingness to submit our lives to God. Submitting ourselves and being filled with the Spirit of God is not an option. You and I are commanded to do so.
*Ephesians 5:15-21
15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise,
16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

But there’s more. The Spirit also teaches us, leads us, and assures us of our salvation. I believe that the degree to which He does those things is largely determined by the degree of our willingness to submit ourselves to His Spirit within us. That is worth thinking about, isn’t it? So ask yourself…

• How much do you really want to be taught, led, and assured?
• How much do you humble yourself and submit yourself to God?

Now I want us to consider one more thing about the Spirit of God as it relates to our daily lives. And I think it is one of the richest promises in the NT.
*Romans 8:26-27
26 And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Can you let that “soak in” for just a moment? Think of it! Try to imagine a “conversa-tion” going on within the Trinity of God. They are praying for you with thoughts and words that are infinitely beyond anything we know.
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts (higher) than your thoughts.”

So Romans 8 tells us that He is the One who is praying for us. Now take just a moment to ponder these thoughts:

• Could such prayers ever be anything less than perfect?
• Could such prayers ever be discounted and forgotten?
• Could such prayers ever have anything less than your eternal welfare and blessing in them?
• Could one of the three Persons of the Trinity ever be in disagreement with one or both of the other two?

And what do you think is the likelihood that One Person of the Trinity would refuse the request of another? How utterly ludicrous is that?

Praying for us is just one of the things that Emmanuel, our God who is with us and in us, is doing for us. So we’ve looked at the reality of Emmanuel in the OT. We’ve looked at the reality of Emmanuel in the First Coming. We’ve looked at the reality of Emmanuel in our own lives as Christians. But there is another way the reality of Emmanuel will be seen. Or should I say the reality of something we have not yet seen.

4. The reality of Jesus’ presence with us will be seen in His Second Coming. In fact, it is the ultimate and final reality of Emmanuel.
*Revelation 21:1-7
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, (“among” is “metá,” meaning “amid, in the midst of, with” – it implies companionship and fellowship)
4 and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
6 And He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the begin-ning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and He will be My son.”

In the meantime, while we wait for Jesus to come for us, we remember Him.

He told us how, and in that simple act of eating and drinking, we’re reminded that Jesus
is not only with us, He is in us. His instructions in Matthew 26:26-27 were simple and to the point. He said, “Take, eat; this is My body,” and, “Drink from it, all of you…”
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III. Conclusion
Today, as we begin advent, we’re reminded that Christ, our Emmanuel, is with us. He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20b).” And today, as we come to this Communion table, we’re reminded that Christ, our Lord and Savior, is in us. Paul said, “…Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).”

Listen, as a child of God you know that Christ’s presence is real. But do those around you know it? Is it evident to them? What I mean by that is this: Do they see Him when they look at you, or when they hear you, or when they interact with you? Or let me ask it in a different way. If you were accused of being a Christian, would your accusers find enough evidence to convict you?

As you ask God to bring to mind anything you need to confess or set right, as you exam-ine yourself over the next few minutes, think about that. Think about how much you look like, sound like, and act like our Emmanuel, the One who is with you and in you today.