God With Us
Our world is full of prophecy. We love it. It saturates our stories, from fantasy to scifi, even romance. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Dune, all rely heavily on prophecy, but really, any story that talks about destiny or fate or serendipity are about prophecy. We even have a phrase in social/behavioral science, “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Prophecy surrounds us every day, but what is it?
Very simply, prophecy is a prediction, but not just a wide and generic guess. Prophecy is a specific prediction and statement about something that will happen in the future. In the Bible, prophecy takes on a similar, but even more specific meaning. It is speaking the truth of God and proclaiming His will and purpose. Essentially, prophecy is speaking Truth, often, before that truth has occurred or been made known to most.
This Sunday, Dec. 1, is the first Sunday of advent, and as such, the focus is on prophecy. Prophecy is incredibly important to the Christmas story. When Jesus was born, some 2000 years ago, it was not a random event. It did not take place in a vacuum. It had been meticulously planned, every aspect, every detail, every minute of it known from the beginning of time. The baby, born to a virgin, wrapped in swaddling cloths, born in a manger, born in Bethlehem, visited by both shepherds and magi, all of it was prophesied and foretold before it happened. God set the stage for this world changing event so that those who had ears to hear and eyes to see would not be confused or mistaken about who this baby was and what He was to do.
The angels proclaimed truth to the shepherds, to Mary, to Joseph. The wisemen had read prophecies and seen truth in the stars. The truth was ready and available for all.
In Isaiah 7:14 we see, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This is fulfilled, as we see in Matthew 1:23 ““Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).”
This is both a seemingly simple and impossible prophecy and fulfillment. A virgin birth is certainly something that is supernatural and impossible outside of God, but I want to focus more on the name of the child. Immanuel, God with us. From almost the beginning of time there has been a wedge between God and man, a wedge created by sin, but we see very early on that God was not content with letting that wedge remain. His purpose and plan, the Truth, was that He would provide a way to reunify Himself with us. God with us is the truth of God proclaimed throughout eternity.
We separated ourselves from God, but God set in motion a plan to come to us, to be with us, in order that we may forever be with Him.
When we think about Christmas, about all of the prophecies that were proclaimed and fulfilled, remember, God with us. That’s what Christmas is all about. God came to be with us because He loves us and because we need Him.
Merry Christmas!
Very simply, prophecy is a prediction, but not just a wide and generic guess. Prophecy is a specific prediction and statement about something that will happen in the future. In the Bible, prophecy takes on a similar, but even more specific meaning. It is speaking the truth of God and proclaiming His will and purpose. Essentially, prophecy is speaking Truth, often, before that truth has occurred or been made known to most.
This Sunday, Dec. 1, is the first Sunday of advent, and as such, the focus is on prophecy. Prophecy is incredibly important to the Christmas story. When Jesus was born, some 2000 years ago, it was not a random event. It did not take place in a vacuum. It had been meticulously planned, every aspect, every detail, every minute of it known from the beginning of time. The baby, born to a virgin, wrapped in swaddling cloths, born in a manger, born in Bethlehem, visited by both shepherds and magi, all of it was prophesied and foretold before it happened. God set the stage for this world changing event so that those who had ears to hear and eyes to see would not be confused or mistaken about who this baby was and what He was to do.
The angels proclaimed truth to the shepherds, to Mary, to Joseph. The wisemen had read prophecies and seen truth in the stars. The truth was ready and available for all.
In Isaiah 7:14 we see, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This is fulfilled, as we see in Matthew 1:23 ““Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).”
This is both a seemingly simple and impossible prophecy and fulfillment. A virgin birth is certainly something that is supernatural and impossible outside of God, but I want to focus more on the name of the child. Immanuel, God with us. From almost the beginning of time there has been a wedge between God and man, a wedge created by sin, but we see very early on that God was not content with letting that wedge remain. His purpose and plan, the Truth, was that He would provide a way to reunify Himself with us. God with us is the truth of God proclaimed throughout eternity.
We separated ourselves from God, but God set in motion a plan to come to us, to be with us, in order that we may forever be with Him.
When we think about Christmas, about all of the prophecies that were proclaimed and fulfilled, remember, God with us. That’s what Christmas is all about. God came to be with us because He loves us and because we need Him.
Merry Christmas!
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