God with us

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us" (Matthew 1:23).

The true meaning of Christmas. Some would say it is love. Some would say it is generosity. Some would say it is peace and fellowship. Christmas is all these things, but it is also something far more. The true meaning of Christmas is Immanuel, which means ‘God with us.’

God designed humanity to be perfect in every way—loving, generous, peaceful. Tragically, we have all listened to the devil’s lies and are tainted by evil; as a result, the world is filled with hate, selfishness and conflict. Our sinful nature makes us the exact opposite of what God intended. God hates sin, and so He ought to hate us.

Amazingly, though, God does not hate us. Despite our flaws, despite our mistakes, God still loves us and wants the best for us. He wants us to be close to Him always, but for that to happen, our sin must be removed. So God sent His one and only Son to deal with sin personally.

God caused Mary to become pregnant and give birth to a very special child. That boy was Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. Jesus lived the kind of life that God expects from each of us, a life uncontaminated by evil. Jesus never disobeyed God in what He thought, said or did. But Jesus did even more than keep God’s Law for us; He also died for us. Sin is punishable by death; the Son of God offered His life in place of our own. On the cross, Jesus suffered all of God’s punishment that we deserve for being sinners. Jesus lived for us, and He died for us.

That’s the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. In Jesus’ birth, we see how much God loves us and how much He hates sin. In Jesus’ time among us, we see how far God was willing to go to rid us of sin so we can be close to Him forever. Christmas is about love, generosity, and peace—these are God’s wonderful gifts to us. But most of all, Christmas is about Immanuel, God coming to be with us. We don’t deserve His presence or His gifts, so let’s be sure to let Him know how grateful we are.

Merry Christmas!