NOTE: Apologies for missing last week. It seems that my mail server was down for Y2K maintenance and prevention. God bless you! - MM -------------------------------------------------------------------- Christmas Day - December 25, 1988 Matthew 1:18-25 Matthew 1:23 Behold the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which translated means, "God with us." GOD WITH US The Naming of Jesus Introduction: The naming of Jesus was of utmost importance. This wonderful assignment was given in trust to Joseph. "Jesus" is the same name as the Old Testament "Joshua." (Joshua was the leader who picked up where Moses the Lawgiver left off, and brought his people into their full inheritance in the Promised Land.) Perhaps it looks as though Jesus was named after Joshua. Actually it was the other way around: Joshua anticipated the great Savior that would one day come! Names are always interesting. Names do not always have great significance, at least in our culture. But Bible names are often very significant. Certainly the names of God are always of utmost importance. The names of God as given in Scripture are representative of His greatness and of His workings toward us. We love the names of God: JEHOVAH-JIREH- "the Lord will provide;" JEHOVAH-NISSI- "the Lord my banner;" JEHOVAH-SHALOM- "the Lord my peace;" JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH-"the Lord is there;" JEHOVAH- TSIDKENU- "the Lord our righteousness." Reverently we say the name EL SHADDAI "nourisher, comforter;" we bow before the name "ELOHIM," which means "power." But we have come to love one name of God above all others, because it unlocks to us all the others. And that is the name which Joseph gave to his beautiful wife's firstborn Son, the name of JESUS. Jesus, John declared, was God's Word. The same Word that had spoken into existence everything that ever was. And yet we could understand what Jesus said to us: Jesus declared Himself to be Bread to eat, and Light in which to walk. Jesus told us that He is the Door to all good things, and that He is the Good Shepherd to lead us, and to seek us when we go astray. He said that He is the Vine in which all life resides, and that we are branches that need to abide in Him for that life. He said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And He said that even though we mortals are appointed for death and the judgment, that He is the Resurrection and the Life, and that the person that believes in Him, though he were dead, yet shall he live and never die. The "Christmas name" of Jesus: But in this passage that deals with the actual 'naming' of Jesus, there are TWO names. Matthew reminds us of Isaiah's prophecy of Messiah, that He would be one among us. Perhaps Isaiah's is more a title than a name. But both are associated with the Son of Mary, the Babe Joseph was to call "Jesus." And this prophetic name or title that goes along with Jesus is the Christmas name Immanuel, which means "God with us!" (Say it with me: "Immanuel means, 'God With Us.'" ) Immanuel means 'God with Us,' and "Jesus" means "Salvation!" "Savior!" [What IS this great God like, whom Jesus comes to reveal?] I. THIS BABE IS GOD ALMIGHTY, GOD REVEALING HIMSELF TO US A. God is SPIRIT (John 4:24) To the one woman at the well of Sychar Jesus spoke this profound truth. In it He affirms the personality of God, and the common ground on which God and humankind meet. WE, TOO, ARE SPIRIT, MADE IN GOD'S LIKENESS. B. God as Spirit is LIFE (John 5:26) THE FATHER HATH LIFE IN HIMSELF; SO ALSO HATH HE GIVEN TO THE SON TO HAVE LIFE IN HIMSELF. (John 14:6) I am the way, the truth, and the LIFE. As Wiley says, "the fullness of truth, order, proportion, harmony and beauty" reside in this Life. Life is that which relates to its surrounding reality. We are "dead" to whatever we cannot respond to. So people are spiritually "dead" unless and until they can respond to God, through His grace. Jesus came to make that response possible. C. God as Spirit is LIGHT (I John 1:5) GOD IS LIGHT, AND IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL. (John 8:12) I am the light of the world: he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life. Moral depravity is the absence of light, and finally results because people prefer not to come into the light. Satan blinds people's eyes (II Corinthians 4:4) "the god of this world blinds the eyes of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of God should shine unto them." If we will, we may respond to the Light which is God (I John 1:7,9) If we walk in the light . . . the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanseth us from all sin. D. God as Spirit is LOVE (I John 4:8) GOD IS LOVE. GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. Now THAT is our Christmas Gift for all time! Summary, "I.": This, then, is something of what Jesus came to reveal: JESUS REVEALED GOD AS SPIRIT, AND AS SPIRIT, LIFE AND LIGHT AND LOVE. [We have come to see GOD in Jesus ... we have come to understand that Jesus, Himself, IS GOD. But then, through the Gift of the Holy Spirit, we come to understand the "Immanuel" truth:] II. THIS GREAT GOD IS FOREVER WITH US For it is the BEST part of the name Immanuel, this dawning of the reality that in Jesus, the Babe of Bethlehem, God has actually come near, has come to where we are. Immanuel means 'God with us!' God is with His people ... FOREVER!! I don't know any better Christmas message. It is what Christmas is all about! Conclusion: Every Christmas I ask the three rhetorical questions that are answered by the statement: "Immanuel means 'GOD WITH US!' [Say it: "Immanuel means 'God With Us!'] WHO is with us? Immanuel means 'GOD with us!' This great God, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain ... who the great philiosophers of the world can never understand, let alone explain ... the Creator, the Sustainer, the Savior, the Holy One -- it is HE who is with us! WHERE is God in Christ? Immanuel means 'God WITH US!' With WHOM is God in Christ? Immanuel means 'God with US!' And that is what Bethlehem and Calvary and Eternal Life are all about! That is the true "meaning of Christmas!" Immanuel MEANS GOD WITH US! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Permission to reprint or publish this material is GRANTED as long as | | the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit. You can access more | | of Dr. Metcalfe's sermons at his scripturally indexed sermon archives | | web site, which is generously hosted by Eastern Nazarene College. | | | | http://www.enc.edu/org/wollynaz/rmetcalfe/sermons.html | | | | Dr. Russell Metcalfe is Pastor Emeritus of the Wollaston Church of | | of the Nazarene. You can reach Dr. Metcalfe at eflactem@aol.com. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------