“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,”  which is translated, “God with us” (Matthew 1:22-23).

The angel announced that the Savior would be proclaimed to be Immanuel.  By interpretation Immanuel means “God with us.”  The word has three parts in Hebrew.  “Im” means “with.”  “Anu” means “us.”  “El” means “God.”  When the Bible tells us that God is with us, it is often in the context of facing difficulties in our lives.  Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” When we see the meaning of Immanuel as “God with us,” we realize this title is a precious promise that the Lord Jesus will intervene and help us as our Messiah. When problems tumble into our lives as God’s people, Immanuel stands right there with us.  He has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  This faithfulness of the Lord shows He is God-with-us when we feel our burdens are greater than our strength.  When the Lord Jesus was born it was a dark time in Israel.  Herod was a cruel king.  Remember he slaughtered the infants of Bethlehem.  The religious teachers of the day in Israel taught that you had to earn your way to heaven by keeping the rituals in the temple.  They had forgotten that Abraham “believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.”  The Bible plainly teaches that no one can work their way to heaven.  We read in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves.  It is the gift of God.”  The difficulties facing God’s people of the first century were weighty.  The Romans ruled over Israel with rigor and lined roads with crucified Jews.  Add to all of this that the nations throughout the Roman Empire lived in darkness and ignorance of the true and Living God.  Immanuel came to break through all of these obstacles and show Himself to be the Savior of the world.  Truly in perilous times He again showed Himself to be God-with-us, the God of salvation.

To know the friendship of God is one of the greatest privileges in life.  This is to know the “with-ness” of God.  God communes with us as with as our Almighty, heavenly, friend. As one hymn describes God, He is our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.  In our society, more and more Thanksgiving is connected with Christmas by the shopping calendar.  We ought to keep them together in our hearts.  Our greatest thanks ought to be to God for sending His Son to be the Savior.  How can we fully express our thanks to Him for dying on the cross to save all those who will put their trust in Him?  If you have received that forgiveness, then you know the gratitude that says, “We love Him because He first loved us.”  May your Christmas Holiday be one of enjoying God’s presence, for He is still God-with-us, our Immanuel.  Especially in our trials!