A senior angel is showing a very young angel around the splendors of the universe. They view whirling galaxies and blazing suns, and then flit across the infinite distances of space until at last they enter one particular galaxy of 500 billion stars.

As the two of them draw near to the star which we call our sun and to its circling planets, the senior angel pointed to a small and rather insignificant sphere turning very slowly on its axis. It looked as dull as a dirty tennis ball to the angel, whose mind was filled with the size and glory of what he had seen.
“I want you to watch that one particularly,” said the senior angel, pointing with his finger.
“Well, it looks very small and rather dirty to me,” said the little angel. “What’s special about that one?”

To the little angel, earth did not seem so impressive. He listened in stunned disbelief as the senior angel told him that this planet, small and insignificant and not overly clean, was the renowned Visited Planet.

“Do you mean that our great and glorious Prince … went down in Person to this fifth-rate little ball? Why should He do a thing like that?” …
The little angel’s face wrinkled in disgust. “Do you mean to tell me,” he said, “that He stooped so low as to become one of those creeping, crawling creatures of that floating ball?”
“I do, and I don’t think He would like you to call them ‘creeping, crawling creatures’ in that tone of voice. For, strange as it may seem to us, He loves them. He went down to visit them to lift them up to become like Him.”
The little angel looked blank. Such a thought was almost beyond his comprehension.[1]

In a minute, we are going to talk about the significance of God dwelling with us, Immanuel. I grew up creating many memories during the Christmas season. I remember the excitement of being off school for two weeks. I remember a few Christmas Eve worship services. Notice I said just a few. I remember many wonderful gatherings at my grandparents’ house. I remember my excitement to go downstairs on Christmas morning to see what “Santa” brought us for Christmas.  I remember a joyful time with family opening Christmas gifts, sometimes with the fireplace lit in the other room. I remember a few family gatherings on Christmas Eve, but I was afraid we were going to be up too late, and Santa was going to pass our house.

Christmas is about God’s presence with us.

You know God lives in us.

Immanuel means God with us.

I want to start by explaining this idea of Emmanuel, but then I intend to talk about God being with us and what significance that has for us today.

1. Jesus will be Immanuel.
   1. Isaiah 7:14 (ESV)
   2. ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
   3. Do you realize that Isaiah was writing about 700 years prior to Christ.
   4. This is being fulfilled in Jesus’ birth. This is from the Lord. This is the prophesy.
   5. Matthew 1:23 (ESV) “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
   6. But now, notice that He, Jesus, is to be called Emmanuel, and this means “God with us.” Think about the awesome ramifications in this passage. God came down to be one of us. I know that we have talked about this for several weeks now, but that is because that is the crux of Christmas, and this is the crux of the Christian life. The creator became part of His creation.
   7. This is what sets us apart as Christ followers! What sets us apart as Christians is that God became one of us, but I would even go further than that. God didn’t only become one of us. God is still one of us and God was not only with us for a time, God is still with us. Do we realize this? Think about it, God is with you. He lives with you. Remember the song we sing at Easter time? “You ask me how I know He lives; He lives within my heart!” God lives with you.
   8. Now, we must all know for certain that this does not mean that you are God. No, God is set apart from His creation, yet He is still with us.
   9. I once heard I heard Pastor Tony Evans share an amazing story about this idea of God with us. You see he was on a cruise ship. It was a cruise for those that listen to his radio program. The cruise was in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Alaska, and the cruise ship ran into some heavy seas. The seas were really rough, 35-40 foot waves. This was really bad. People were vomiting, things were moving around, and so on. After so long a time of dealing with this Pastor Evans’ wife got unhappy about it and decided to call the captain. She was unhappy as the captain knew they were heading into a storm and still decided to do so. He couldn’t stall or reroute as the captain had a schedule to meet. He had to be at a certain dock in order to pick up customers for another cruise. But Pastor Evens’ wife felt somewhat responsible as those on the cruise were there for Pastor Evans’ ministry. So, she calls the captain and the second to the captain calls her back. He says, “The captain wants you to do two things: First, the captain wants you to go to sleep. Second, you can go to sleep because I will be staying awake. I, the captain, will be staying awake to pilot the ship through the storm.” Psalm 121 says that our God never sleeps or slumbers. This passage is saying that God is with us. That is great. Like the captain, He is with us, and He is awake guiding us through the storms of life.
   10. So, do you realize the very special significance of that? Nowhere in the Bible does it say that there will not be any storms in life. But you know what God is with us. God is with us in the storms.
   11. Now, I don’t want to miss the initial importance in this passage, Jesus came and lived a life as God with us. Jesus died for our sins and then rose again. So, Jesus is still alive, and He sent His Holy Spirit to live with us now and that is why He is still with us today.
   12. Close:

Think about these applications:

1. God with us means that He cares about us.
2. God with us means that we are never alone.
3. God with us means that we don’t have to worry about the future, He is with us.
4. God with us means that the creator of all can also be with His creation.
5. God with us means that we have the architect of creation with us.
6. God with us means that if He is with us, He can support and guide us.
7. God with us means that He can and has communicated to us.
8. We must live with an understanding of this awesome Truth that God is with us.
9. We must live with an application of this awesome truth that God is with us.

• We must live, allowing God through Jesus to soothe our needs as He is with us.

So, Jesus came, God came and lived among us, He died for us, in our place, but He rose again, and He is still with us. Praise God.

World War I was characterized by trench warfare. Often the trenches of the two enemies were only a few yards apart.

I read a story in which the officers on both sides in one trench sector agreed that on Christmas Day they would permit the soldiers to come out of the trenches for Christmas fellowship. The troops gladly did so.

After a short time, the officers ordered them back into their trenches. They realized that the soldiers could not fellowship together one day and then suddenly be enemies again.

The story reminded me of some words written many years ago. “Thus we can always know that men could live with goodwill and understanding for each other, because one day in each year the little Divine Prince of Peace still compels them to do it.”^[2]

Are you excited about presents? Here are some gifts that you can give in honor of Jesus:

Let me give you some ideas. Here are thirty-two suggestions; take your choice: Mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion. Write a long overdue love note. Hug someone tightly and whisper, “I love you.” Forgive an enemy. Be gentle and patient with an angry person. Express appreciation. Gladden the heart of a child. Find the time to keep a promise. Make or bake something for someone else—anonymously. Release a grudge. Listen. Speak kindly to a stranger. Enter into another’s sorrow. Smile. Laugh a little. Laugh a little more. Take a walk with a friend. Kneel down and stroke a dog. Read a poem to your mate or friend. Lessen your demands on others. Play some beautiful music during supper. Apologize if you were wrong. Talk together with the television and cell phone off. Treat someone to an ice cream cone (frozen yogurt would be fine). Do the dishes for the family. Pray for someone who helped you when you hurt. Fix breakfast on Saturday morning. Give a soft answer even though you feel strongly. Encourage an older person. Point out one thing you appreciate most about someone you work with or live near. Offer to babysit for a weary mother. Give your teacher a break—be especially cooperative.

Let’s make this season one long, extended gift of ourselves to others. Unselfishly. Without announcement. Or obligation. Or reservation. Or hypocrisy. That is Christianity, isn’t it?[4]

Do you have Jesus’ presence with you?

GOSPEL

God created us to be with Him (Gen. 1-2)

Our sins separate us from God (Gen. 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good works (Gen. 4- Mal. 4)

Paying the price for our sin, Jesus died and rose again (Matthew-Luke)

Everyone who trust in Jesus alone shall inherit eternal life (John- Jude)

Life eternal means being with Jesus forever (Rev. 22:5)

[1] SOURCE: From Phillip Yancey, “The Jesus I Never Knew,” p. 43-44, quoting JB Phillips.

^[2] Herschel H. Hobbs, My Favorite Illustrations (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1990), 48.

^[3] Herschel H. Hobbs, My Favorite Illustrations (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1990), 49–50.

[4] Adapted from Hear Me When I Call. Copyright © 2013 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Worthy Publishing). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.