Emmanuel

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear aSon, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."Matthew 1:23 (NKJV)

Em means; "into."

Manu, manus in Latin, means; "the hand."

El means; "God" (From Elohim and El Shaddai)– "The Almighty."

Put it all together, and you get: "God in the hand" -- Now, you must ask yourself this question- God in the hands of whom?

US-ME-YOU!

God came and put Himself in our hands, and the celebration of that supernaturally unexpected event is called "Christmas!"

 

Two things emerged about Emmanuel’s name that beckons us to understand.

 

1.     Emmanuel Beckons us to Touch Him:

 

In Genesis 3, we know He Himself walked in the Garden (no reference to spirit, but being), and so perhaps there was contact -- He formed Adam (indicating the use of the hands)and breathed into him the breath of life. But then we fell, and He left, and we didn’t touch Him again. He allowed a few to see but none to touch Him. Even the high priests were tethered and hung bells on the edge of their garments in case they were struck down while in His presence.

This was the norm.

This was the way it was for generations and generations since Genesis 3. The last thing we hear is in Malachi, where He says, "I will turn the hearts of the fathers to their sons and the hearts of the sons to their fathers," with those words, He was silent -- for 400 years. Then something miraculous happened: a child named Emmanuel was born!

The next time we hear the voice of God, it is in the cry of a newborn baby being touched in the arms of a virgin girl. It's like He said, "Here I am," and He placed Himself into Mary's arms and said, "Touch me, embrace me once again."

2. Emmanuel beckons us to say"Yes"!

 

Hebrew to touch or embrace means "to be all-consuming." Jesus had to be all-consuming to embrace His purpose. He had to be willing to embrace the "No" of temptation in the Garden before He could embrace the "Yes" of the cross. "Yes', is an all-consuming answer. It's passionate, desperate, and complete. "Yes" is the essence of the word Emmanuel

 

The whole story of Christmas is about saying "YES"! Think about it - Take the Nativity scene. It is all about folks who said "YES"!

Mary – a teenage virgin, said, "YES"!

Joseph – who initially didn’t believe Mary's pregnancy, said, "YES"!

The Shepherds – were in the field minding their own business when the sky lit up with heavenly hosts singing and inviting them to come, and they said, "YES"!

The Magi's – When they saw the star that matched the prophecies, they packed their bags and camels, left their comfortable, predictable, kingly lifestyles, and said,"YES"!

None of these people were ever the same; the "YES" changed everything for the rest of their lives.

 

Listen to what 2 Corinthians 1:20- 22 (MSG) says, "20 Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident." 21 God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. 22 By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

 

When we embrace"YES" and respond to Him with our whole hearts, we can touch Him, and He will touch us, and our lives will never be the same! His name will be called"Emmanuel," "God with us, revealed through us." But here is what I know: you can be "with" someone and still not be touched by them. I can be in a room "with" people and still not have any intimate fellowship or contact with anyone.

So, what's so significant about Emmanuel's "God with us, revealed through us" is that He made the first move, which beckons a response from us!

 

Emmanuel presented Himself to be touched. To be approached to be responded to. The Lord God came to walk with us again in the cool of the evening. "Wow"! Today, my brothers, will you touch Him by saying yes to His call and responding to His invitation to touch the world through us?

 

And speaking of touching the world, we have this year not only touched hundreds of men across the nation, leading them to freedom in Christ, but we went into prisons and taught lives that others had forgotten. We went to Brazil, Uganda, and Africa, and that’s only the beginning. Next year, we will be heading to Turkey and Liberia, Africa. All this is because of your generous gifts to ministry. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

 

Merry Christmas,

 

PJ