Immanuel (God with us) is not just a Christmas theme, it’s at the core of Scripture/heart of God. He desires to be with His people, and came to live with us so that we could live with Him. How do we take that concept out of the Christmas story and see it developed in the day-to-day? We have been invited into life WITH GOD. You are not meant to do life without Him or apart from Him. Outside of Him, everything is subject to distortion.
↠One of the most powerful themes in scripture is what many call the “Immanuel Principle.” Immanuel simply means “God with us.”
↠Incarnation/It’s more than just a Christmas-time “concept”
↠”God with us” is at the core of the heart of God
↠Matt. 1:23/Isa. 7:14, God has always desired to be with His people
↠“God with us” is the embodiment of all of God’s promises to Israel and to all who will trust in Him
↠Through sacrifice and mercy God makes a way to be with His people through the Old and New Testament
↠Understanding His heart for us
↠Genesis 3:8 sneak peek: the walking with God in the cool of the day, walks are personal, a desire to spend time (In the Garden song, captures concept)
↠The walks stopped (sin), rest of OT His getting us back to Him, points to NT
↠In captivity (Egypt), God delivers them (Ex. 6:7- “As My own people…”)
↠Promised divine fellowship (Lev 26:11–12)
↠Divine fellowship, closeness, through the Old Testament tabernacle
↠”Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them (Ex. 25:8)”
↠Was to be a sanctuary/place where God could dwell among His people
↠Moses face to face as a friend, Joshua lingers in divine encounter (Ex. 33:11)
↠We see the draw to communion- We see the Immanuel Principal being developed more and more and now it's not just God’s heart but we see the heart of a few also turning toward their God (Song of Sol. 3:3)
↠Type/Shadow of Jesus- “Made His dwelling among us (John 1:14)”
↠Christ was born and came to “tabernacle” (dwell) with us, to deliver us from sin, enslavement, and live at the center of our own lives, but not in a tent or tabernacle made by human hands (Ez. 36:27 prophecy/1 Cor. 3:16)
↠From slavery/oppression to communion AND guidance
↠His presence/dwelling guided the Israelites (Ex. 40:36-38)
↠The people of God, once stuck in Egypt making bricks without straw, oppressed, now living with God at the center, and following His guidance, leadership, following the Presence to their promised land. We also begin as slaves, oppressed, but we come to Him, He redeems, and makes His dwelling in us, and desires to lead us, guide us- into the life that He has for us, Him at the center, God with us! (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
RESPOND THIS WEEK: Meditate on these verses & see His desire to be with you. Where do you need to simplify? Ask Holy Spirit for the grace & desire to have a Joshua presence longing. As you see His desire, make the daily, communion investment to see your desire for Him kindled deeply…
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