There are many times when God promises to be with His people. In Genesis 28:15, God promises Jacob, who is fleeing from his brother Esau, that He will be with him wherever he goes. He tells Joshua to be “strong and courageous” and that He will be with him wherever he goes (Joshua 1:1-9). Numerous examples could be cited giving such promises. The fact is, God has always been with His people.
However, when Jesus was born, he was called Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” For the very first time, God would take on human existence and live among us. What love that God would take on flesh in order to die in our stead and satisfy divine justice by making atonement for sin. The God who knows everything and can do anything humbles Himself to serve us. How amazing is that! Jesus walked the path we walked, faced the temptations we face, and was fully human, but He was also God, and this is the sticking point. This is a concept that is incredibly difficult for us to even begin to understand. Actually, it defies logic! It was difficult for people to understand when Jesus walked the earth, too, and has been since He died and was resurrected. The Pharisees reacted in outrage when Jesus plainly stated“I and My Father are One” (John 10:31-32), the Gnostics attacked the early Christians with claims that Jesus could not have been God in the flesh, and the battle continues to this day. In our day and age, there are those who claim that God cannot die; therefore, Jesus could not have been God. Others, like the members of the “Jesus Seminar,” want to make Him little more than a good teacher, refusing to accept any part of Scripture that claims Him as God. This leaves us with a choice—was He a man? Was He God? Was He both? Was He something in between? Let us see what Jesus Himself says as we ponder the mystery of Immanuel—God With Us. Hebrews 1:3a tells us that he is the “radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.”