Emmanuel - God with us.

What does Christmas mean to you? To some, it means getting gifts, to others it means hard work, or stressful shopping. To some it is a sad memory of the loss of a love one. To others it is party time and plenty of fun. To many people Christmas means nothing. It is just another day in their life.

But to the person who truly knows Christ and has received Him as Saviour and Lord, Christmas means everything. It means God loves us with all His heart and He has given the best gift He could give, His Son, Jesus Christ. What a beautiful assurance as I go through life knowing His eternal presence helping me, guiding me, sustaining me whether I am awake or asleep. He is our Immanuel. This recorded in Isaiah 7: 14 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Immanuel in Hebrew or Emmanuel in Greek means “God with us.”

We have a grandson born on Christmas Day and the parents named him Emmanuel. As his birthday falls on 25^th December friends and relatives tend to forget his birthday because everyone is busy celebrating the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Strictly speaking Jesus Christ was not born on Christmas Day for He is the Eternal God, no beginning or end. He existed before the world was created. December 25^th was chosen by the Christian church to celebrate the Incarnation when God took on human flesh and was born as a Baby in Bethlehem.

We may forget someone’s birthday, but let us not forget the reason for our celebration – Christ’s coming into the world to be our Saviour. He is our Emmanuel – GOD WITH US!