Editor’s Note: It might seem a little weird to talk about Christmas in January. But our busy lives make it easy to forget about the magnitude of Jesus coming to earth as a child as part of God’s redemptive plan to save humanity — even if December 25 was just a week or two ago. So let us linger in the holiday season a little longer with this devotion from SOLA Council Member David Larry Kim.
One of the words that defines Christmas for me is Emmanuel. God with us. That name carries so much significance that my wife and I named our first daughter, “Emmanuelle,” as a reminder that the God who came to be with us at Christmas will always be with us.
At a practical level, what does Emmanuel mean? It means four things to me:
1. Identification: “You understand me.”
We might be tempted to think: “Sure, God gets me but how much could God really get me? Understand me? I mean, He’s God. He’s perfect. He’s in heaven and I’m here in this broken world.
Immanuel tells us that God left heaven and became one of us. Because He did, He gets us. He gets it.
- He knew what it was like to have parents get mad at him for doing God’s work.
- He knew what it was like to have a family scandal for he was born into one.
- He knew what it was like to have siblings who didn’t like him.
- He knew what it was like to lose a father figure.
- He knew what it was like to lose a friend.
- He knew what it was like to cry and weep and grieve and mourn.
- He knew what it was like to be betrayed by a best friend.
- He knew what it was like to be made fun of.
- He knew what it was like to be unjustly accused.
- He knew what it was like to be tired.
- He knew what it was like to be tempted by sin.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with us in our weakness.”
He is our Emmanuel.
2. Representation: “You inspire me.”
Crazy Rich Asians reminded Asian Americans of the power of representation, of being able to see someone “just like me’ on the big screen. Awkwafina and Constance Wu are doing for a generation of Asian-Americans what former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama did for a generation of African-Americans: inspiring them to dream and giving them a picture of what their lives could be.
Emmanuel means that Jesus inspires us towards holiness and life in ways that God in heaven could not. Sure, before Jesus came, people knew they needed to be good, to be loving, to be merciful. It’s one thing to see that in God but it’s wholly another to see it in Emmanuel, Jesus, the perfect God-man. He showed us how to treat people, what to say in certain situations, and how life was meant to be lived.
Sometimes we hesitate from making Jesus an example for us, but that’s part of why He came — so that we might walk in his steps. He’s certainly more than an example, but He’s certainly not less than an example.
Because He came, we can ask, “What would Jesus do?” He is our Emmanuel.
3. Incarnation: “You love me.”
Why are the airports so busy during Christmas and Thanksgiving? Why are flights so expensive? Why not save the time, money, and hassle and just send a card with a gift purchased online? Why not just FaceTime on the holidays? Wouldn’t that be less stressful?
Words are great, and gifts are awesome. But at the end of the day, people want to be with the ones they love. The price they pay and the hassle they go through is part of the gift to say, “This is how much I love you.”
Emmanuel means that God would go to other-worldly lengths in order to be with the ones He loves. In the past, He sent messengers. He sent prophets. But when His people needed to see it the most, and when the time had fully come, He sent His Son because He could not stand to be apart from the objects of His devotion. He is our Emmanuel.
All of this would be a good story. But it’s the fourth part that makes this Good News.
4. Substitution: “You died for me.”
The reason God took on flesh and made His dwelling among us, the reason He was born was to do as a human what Spirit could not do, to do on earth what could not be done in heaven.
He came to the earth as a man to live the perfect life that a holy God demanded of us.
But where we failed, He succeeded.
The wages of sinlessness is life but the wages of sin is death.
But instead of us receiving death and Jesus receiving life, He became our substitute.He took the punishment that we deserved at the cross in order that we might have the life, blessings, future, and hope that He alone deserved.
We are not only forgiven, but we are seen as righteous.
It is not just a movement from infinite debt to no debt but a movement from infinite debt to infinite righteousness!
He became our substitute in every way.
He lived the life we failed to live and then, as the perfect Lamb of God, He died the substitutionary death that we should have died. When we turn our trust away from ourselves and place it onto Him, we can receive the blessings that He alone deserved.
“The Son of God became the Son of Man so the sons of men could become the sons of God.” (CS Lewis)
This is the Good News of Christmas.
He is our Emmanuel.
- God with us.
- God for us.
- God in us.
May reminders of Emmanuel cause your heart to be a place of worship and adoration this new year and forevermore.