“The virgin…shall give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means, “God with us.”

Not being a coffee drinker like my wife, I miss out on some things: like burning my lips on hot mugs, caffeine drops and the ensuing headaches, and spending big bucks in overpriced, over-stimulating and over-decorated coffee shops like Starbuck’s.  Seriously though, there is one thing that she has down to a science as a coffee drinker that I never quite had in the same way, and that was a “visit.”  She would frequently say, “I’m going over to my parents’ for a visit.”  That was code for “down some coffee.”  But there was really more to it than that.  Sure, they all imbibed of the evil brew and I don’t.  They would really “visit” — spend some time catching up, sharing stories, doing the small talk thing.  On rare occasions I’d find myself there.  And each one was a pleasant time.  Somehow the coffee made it just a bit sweeter somehow — for them.  Never could figure that out.

Toward the end of each year we celebrate the birthday of Jesus, when the incomparable God became the incarnate God, when the Son left the Father’s right hand and came to us right here.  We all know that December 25^th is not the day Jesus was born.  The Roman Catholic Church chose to move Christmas to the winter solstice in an attempt to redeem or Christianize the festival of lights, better known back then as Saturnalia.  In any event, we celebrate Christmas because our God wanted to visit us, with or without coffee.  Our God became Immanuel: God with us.

When we consider that three-word definition, we must focus on what could have taken the place of the preposition with.  If we put a blank there — God ___________ us — think of the words that could fill it in.  How about, “God condemns us.”  That would be true if God held us personally accountable for paying for our own sins.  We’d never make it to heaven! What if it were, “God hates us” or “God resists us”?  That’s a stopper.  The only one who can help us is the one who hates or resists us.  No way out of that!  What if it read, “God ignores us”?  Again, no wiggle room here with the Almighty.

No, when God came to visit, his name not only was Immanuel, it also was Jesus (verse 21).  Notice that it wasn’t up to either Joseph or Mary to name this baby.  He was already Jesus, or in the Hebrew Kenosha/Joshua, long before his birth, literally meaning “God who saves.”  The impact of this ought to be crystal clear.  When God came to visit, it was for saving purposes: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:17).  Jesus himself said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

More evidence of this is found in Luke 7 when Jesus approached the little town of Nain (7:11-16).  A young man had died, and he was the only son of a widow.  Thus her present, represented by the husband, and her future, represented by her son, were both gone.  Jesus stopped the son’s funeral procession as it exited the town to bury him, and he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise” (v. 14).  No power can resist when the Son speaks, so we expect to see the young man arise, which he did.  But is what the crowd said that attracts our attention here: “God has visited his people!” (v. 16).  And when he visited, he saved.

We see this even in the context of his second coming, an event full of tones of judgment in 2 Peter 3 (see verses 7, 10-12).  Despite this reality, we still see that God’s purposes are salvation: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise [of judgment at his return], as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (verse 9).  A bit later, after describing the complete disintegration of the universe (vs. 10-12), Peter writes, “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things [the new heavens and a new earth — v. 13], be diligent to be found by him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is…”  What do you think is the next word?  “Salvation.”  God has neither forgotten nor grown slack about his promise, his seeming delay to return and punish evildoers is another evident proof of his gracious character and earnest desire to see people come to faith.

God with us is indeed a wonderful thing.  Can people see him when you’re with them?