Christmas means God came to be with us. What are the implications of God being with us? 1) God’s protection, 2) God’s identification with us, and 3) God’s purpose being fulfilled in us.

Matthew 1:18-25 (Advent #1)

“Immanuel – God with us! “ (12/13/15 The names of God #5)

ATTN: I love this time of the year as I am sure most of you do also. Christmas is in the air, the decorations go up, carols are playing everywhere, kids are getting giddy with anticipation, and you and I are desperately looking for a break from work and school. Now, I have recently discovered a Christian radio station that I used to listened to when I lived in VA 15 years ago. It’s this old traditional radio station that only plays old hymns and bible readings and preachings from dead pastors. And now that it’s December, they play all Christian Christmas music that lift up the name of Christ – so no jingle bells, and sleigh bells or santa clause music – not that they are bad- but they want to stay true to the meaning of Christmas rather than detract from it and make it about something other than itself. C.S. lewis in his book great divorce says, ““There have been men before … who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God himself… as if the good Lord had nothing to do but to exist. There have been some who were so preoccupied with spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ.” And if I may add, “There have been some who were so in love with the Christmas season that they left Christ out of it.”

Christmas is special because it proves that God is with us. One Christmas day 2000 year ago, God became a man and made His dwelling among us. And that was to be the name of Mary’s baby, the name of God, Emmanuel – “God with us!”

But what does that mean? What are the implications of God being with us? How does that benefit us? Three implications: 1) God’s protection, 2) God identifies with us, and 3) His purpose will be fulfilled in us.

1) God’s protection

God with us implies God’s protection. Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” So, since the Lord is our shepherd and he is with us, we will fear no evil. Why? Because he will protect us. His rod and His staff are there to fend off what would be fearful to us so they do not happen.

            [5] Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” [6] So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6

            God says to us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” in other words, “I will always be with you,” So, what should be our response? “I will not fear; what can man do to me?” In other words, because the Lord is with me and He protects me, whom should I fear? I shouldn’t fear the ISIS’s retribution. I shouldn’t fear losing my job for standing up as a Christian at work. I shouldn’t fear losing my friendship by telling my friend what she is about to do is not god-honoring. After all, what can men do to us? Well, they can do a lot actually. They can kill us. We heard yet another news on Wednesday morning a couple open fired on the workers in San Bernardino, killing 14 and injuring 21. I am sure some of them were Christians, and yet they died. And we know in other parts of the world, Christians are targeted intentionally and are killed because of their belief in Jesus Christ by the radical muslims. So, where was God’s protection? And here’s a recent one that hit home with me and my wife. A pastor’s wife was shot dead at home by a couple of teenagers who broke into their home soon after the young pastor left for work. And the pastor’s wife was pregnant with child at the time, and a 1 year old in another room… Where was God’s protection in that family? Weren’t they Christians? Did they have enough faith? What does it mean then that God will protect us and therefore we should not fear when Christians apparently die at the same rate as nonChristians? If not from death, what does God protect us from?

God protects us from the greater evil than death. We only assumed that when God said He will protect us, He will protect us from death because in our minds, death is the worst thing. But death is not the worst thing. Hell is. Death is something we all go through. It’s just a matter of time. If God protected you from dying of a car accident this morning, you will die of something else later. So, God is not protecting us from death necessarily. But God is protecting us from the ultimate evil – the separation from Him – Hell – the eternal death! To back this up: And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matt 10:28

            Yes, even with God’s protection, people can kill us. But they can do no more than kill our body. God will preserve our soul and one day unite that soul with a new body that will never be killed again. As a matter of fact, an early death might be a sign of God’s protection.

Isa 57:1-2 Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. 2 For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die.

– So, “God with us” means God will protect us from the ultimate evil of life without God in hell.

2) God identifies with us.

God, becoming a man, means that He identifies with us. He knows by experience what we go through. He knows our sorrows. He knows our pains and hurts. He knows our sadness and disappointments….

            [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4

He was tempted in every respect as we were. He was a single young adult. That means he knew the sexual temptations. He knew loneliness. He knew fear of doing what He was called to do. Let’s be more specific:

– He knew what it is to grow up in a home where there was no father. The bible scholars say that Joseph, Jesus’ father, passed away when he was still young.

– He knew what it is to go through struggles with siblings. His own brothers didn’t believe Him until after His resurrection.

– He knew what it is to be nagged by his mother – Jesus tells Mary, “woman, my time is not yet.” When Mary nags him to attend a wedding.

– He knew what it is to be abandoned by friends at the most critical moment. All the disciples left Him when He was arrested.

– And He certainly knew what it feels like to be abandoned by God – because He was forsaken by Him on the cross although we won’t be…

I can’t tell you how comforting it is to know that Jesus knows. When I was feeling lonely, “Lord, you know how this feels. You were single and you felt that no one understood you feeling that intense loneliness…. You know how this feels. You understand…. “

The only difference is that we have given into those temptations and made a mess of ourselves, but Jesus didn’t. Tempted as we are, yet without sin. He was a perfect example. Why would this be good news for us? If Jesus were simply our example, then Him being sinless would be a terrible news for us because none of us can follow his example. But this is good news because Jesus lived his life perfectly and has given us the credit for it! Hallelujah!

3) His purpose will be fulfilled in you.

Lastly, “God with us” means that His purpose for us will be fulfilled eventually. And that purpose is us becoming like His Son, Jesus Christ. If you are a child of God, it is guaranteed that you will become like His Son Jesus Christ. You know how when you spend a lot of time with someone you become like that person? We worry about our teenage children mixing in with the wrong crowd because of the influence they have on them. And so when God is with us, and we are in Him, we cannot help but be changed.

If you are a child of God, which you become by receiving Jesus as our greatest treasure, then God promised that He will make us worthy of being His children. Every one of us! Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

You see, Christian growth is not that God saves us and it is now up to us to improve as Christians by trying to live moral lives. It is God working within us by changing our hearts to want Him more than anything else – sometimes He will do this through disciples and sometimes He will do this through enticing – but eventually changing us from inside out so that in the end, we will resemble Jesus, God’s Son. Is effort on our part necessary? Yes. But it’s not an effort to earn God’s love, but an effort that comes from the desire to know this God who sacrificed so much for us and loved us. It’s not like an effort of a student to get on the good side of the hard teacher even though he hates him, but it’s like an effort of a lover to find out what pleases his beloved and to do it because it pleases him.

So, the change in us is guaranteed for those whom God is with. It is impossible for God to be with us and we not be changed! As we spend time with God in the scriptures and worship and fellowship, we cannot help but be changed. 2 cor 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. This change is a slow process but a sure process. Not all of his work on us will be finished here on earth, but it has to begin. If God is truly with us and our hearts have been changed, then the change in our thinking, in our behaviors, in our giving, in our loving must change. Oh, we will never be perfect, of course. But the demonstration of a changed heart has to be there. And God guarantees that for those whose hearts have been changed, God will make sure that the change will continue until we become like His Son. Phil 1:6, And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

            Here’s one way we know that our hearts are being changed – that God is at work within us. When we sin, it is no longer, “If I keep doing this, I will be punished and so I should stop.” (fear driven) But “how can I hurt Jesus by doing this when he has been so good to me?” (love driven) In the former, you are only thinking about the self. In the latter, we are thinking about Jesus. And we make decisions based upon what will make him look good rather than ourselves. More and more, he takes a bigger portion of our lives, he gets embedded into everything that we do. That’s Christian maturity. You see the world through his eyes. You have the same concern as he does. You value things according to his value system.

So, as God comes to live with us, we become like Him.

CONC: One of my favorite Christmas songs is called “Mary Did You know?” the 2^nd stanza goes like this:

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?


Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

Oh Mary did you know

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb

This precious child, who grew up to be the only sinless man, who healed the blind, became blind himself with blood gushing down his face. He who healed the deaf became deaf with the shouts of the mob yelling, “Crucify Him, crucify him!” He who healed the lame became lame by having a nail go through both his feet. And he who is called the word of life offered up these last words, “my god my god why have you forsaken me” so that you and I would be accepted. That is the God who is with us!