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 Now, if you have a Bible, perhaps you can turn back with me to Matthew chapter 1.

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! We're going to think about Jesus, our Emmanuel. What does that mean? Why does that matter? We'll

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! begin with a couple of personal testimonies from very different centuries. We'll begin

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 where I never begin with the story of an American rapper. I'm not really into American rap. But

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 Forrest Frank, Christian rapper, in one of his tracks that I came across this week,

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 he shares his story, I think, really powerfully. He spent one whole year, while he was at university,

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 effectively trying everything, living as wild as he could. In some ways, it sounded a little

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 bit like some of the reflections in the book of Ecclesiastes. So after this year of trying

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 everything he could for happiness, he described the result as a burning emptiness. And that

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 led him to a worship service on campus, where immediately he felt that sense of warmth and

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 peace and community. And very quickly, he came to receive for himself the love of Jesus. Compare

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 that story with St. Augustine, the African theologian of the fourth century. If you've ever read his

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 confessions, then you know he reveals the ancient version of the wild and free life, very similar in

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 many ways to Forrest Frank. And his feeling, after a time, was also of emptiness. You know, he captured it

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 with that idea of the God-shaped hole. Until one day, hearing a voice over a wall saying,

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 pick up and read. He picked up his Bible, and very quickly he came to put his trust in Jesus. And

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 famously, Augustine would say, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they

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 find their rest in you. Divided by hundreds of years, but the same kind of experience, and the same

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 experience of knowing Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus as Emmanuel is the promise of peace,

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 and hope, and hope, and life that nothing else offers. And to flip that around, to think about our own time,

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 Jesus offers what many people around us are seeking. There is an awareness that something is missing,

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 and perhaps they can't quite put their finger on it. You may have had this kind of conversation with a

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 friend or a colleague. You know, the topic of work comes up, or maybe relationships or responsibilities.

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 Maybe it's just a relentless busyness of life, and often you get that sense, or it's said,

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 I would just love to have some peace. There are lots of people, maybe some of us, struggling in a whole variety

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 of ways, caring for elderly relatives with all the complexities that come with that. Maybe it's the

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 pressure of exams and workload. Maybe it's just the challenge of making ends meets. Perhaps it's the

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 overwhelming sense of responsibilities in general. And again, maybe if you're a Christian here tonight,

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 you've had a friend say to you something like, wow, I wish I had some of your hope.

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 Your faith must make such a difference in your life. I imagine some of us have had those conversations.

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 And again, Jesus as Emmanuel, as God with us, is the one we want people to know as a source of true hope

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 and peace and comfort. Because we understand in knowing Jesus that the powerful, present, personal God

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 has come to dwell with us and indeed in us. So as we explore the name Emmanuel together, that's what

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 we're going to do for the next few weeks, is think about some of the names of Jesus that we find in the

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 Old Testament and the New Testament. I hope that for us as Christians, they'll strengthen our faith and

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 our thankfulness in this season. But also whoever we are, why ever we've come here, that they'll show

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 why the birth of Jesus represents good news for each one of us. So we're going to look at this a few

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 different ways. First, we're going to begin with the Emmanuel principle. So there's an Old Testament

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 scholar called O.P. Roberts, and he's got a book called Christ of the Covenants, and he talks about the

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 Emmanuel principle. And he says this is foundational to God's covenant promises. The idea that God has

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 intended to dwell with and among his people. That he wants to share fellowship with his people.

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 That this is actually God's good design for mankind. And so Robertson tells us this is the golden thread

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 that you can trace running right through your Bible. So if you go to the beginning of your Bible,

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 you discover that God creates, and as God creates, he creates a garden. And he places Adam and Eve

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 within the garden, and they are made in God's image. And they live in God's special garden. And the

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 wonderful thing is that God himself, the creator, he comes to be present. He comes to talk with them.

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 There is communion. Life at the beginning was God with us. And of course, the tragedy of the garden

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 is that Adam and Eve chose willfully to reject that communion with God, to reject life in God's kingdom,

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 to pursue life on their own terms. And separation came. But God's promise held true. And so you can

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 trace within all the covenant promises to Abraham and then to the nation of Israel along the lines of

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 hearing God saying, I will be your God and you will be my people. That's foundational and central

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 to God's covenant promises. That's why he calls and speaks to pagan Abraham. Didn't know anything about

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 God, but God spoke to him and made great promises. That's why he rescued Israel when they were slaves,

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 surrounded by false gods, and they didn't really know their God. And so he saved them from slavery

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 so that they might enjoy relationship with God. And so wonderfully, as we read the Bible,

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 we discover that human rebellion and human rejection of God is not the final word. That our God is a God

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 of grace. And he promises to act to graciously restore what we have broken. So that for the family,

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 the nation of Israel, they can hear God with us again. And so that promise is there. And with the

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 coming of Christ Jesus, and Matthew tells us this, this is the climax of the Emmanuel principle.

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 Matthew chapter 1 verse 23, we saw that he was given the name. And as we will come to see,

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 he will be God with us in a whole new way.

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 But perhaps we need to ask the question, why did Jesus become God with us? And we can go just a

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 couple of verses earlier to see a different name of Jesus. Verse 21, you are to give him the name

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 Jesus, which means God saves, because he will save his people from their sins. Jesus has become one of

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 us to be God with us in order to save us from sin. That sin that separates, that rebellion that stops us

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 living in communion with God and in his kingdom. Jesus has come to deal with the problem of us

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 dishonoring our God and turning our back on him to live our own way. And so wonderfully, in Jesus coming

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 and in his work of salvation, we think about the cross and the resurrection, it answers the question,

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 how is it possible that the perfectly holy God of the universe, the one who receives all the worship

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 of heaven, how can he dwell with unholy people? And it answers the question, who is it that can repair

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 the relationship that we have ruined with our God?

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 And so the climax of this principle, well, it comes with Jesus, but really that the grand finale,

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 and we find that at the end of the Bible, with the return of Christ and the new creation.

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 Because as we get to the last book of the Bible, we see the Emmanuel principle is still there.

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 The goal of God with us isn't that he would be with us for a moment, but that he would be with his people

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 for all eternity. And when Jesus returns at the end of time to usher in eternity, when all evil is dealt

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 with once and for all, when he establishes his perfect world, then there is a promise.

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 Revelation 21, that God's dwelling place is now among the people and he will dwell with them.

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 They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. The Emmanuel principle,

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 God with us for all eternity. Why do we celebrate Jesus, our Emmanuel? Because he brings that hope.

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 He brings that promise that one day, by faith in him, once again, we will have access to life in God's

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 perfect place, to enjoy life in perfect relationship with him, and we will never lose it, and it will last

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 forever. That's the Emmanuel principle that we find in the Bible. But we also need to see the Emmanuel

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 prophecy. We need to think just for a few minutes about what we read in Isaiah 7, because this name of Jesus,

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 it has a context. And the context for the name of Jesus in Matthew 1 is Isaiah 7. And so we read the story.

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 We read the story of King Ahaz, the king of Judah, and he's faced with a twin threat. There's the king of Aram,

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 and there's the king of Israel, and they have allied together to wage war on Jerusalem. And for King Ahaz,

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 fear has absolutely set in. And so the Lord God sends Isaiah the prophet to try and give him courage,

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 and to invite him to trust God. And so God through Isaiah says, don't fear their threats.

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 And compared to the Almighty God, they are nobodies. You will be delivered. And then to take things

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 further, Ahaz is invited to ask God for a sign. We see that a number of times in the Old Testament.

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 And whenever the people of God, when they ask for the sign, the sign is always given, and their

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 strength is faith, their faith is strengthened. But Ahaz shows his lack of trust. He thinks like

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 he's being sort of pious and religious. I won't ask God for a sign. But if God tells you to do something,

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 you should always do it. And regardless of Ahaz's lack of faith, God through Isaiah gives his sign.

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 And the sign is the child, the child to be called Emmanuel. And so there, 700 years before Jesus came,

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 is the answer to the question, how will God show he is present with and for his people?

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 What will be the sign that God is mighty to save and to deliver his people? It's in a promised child

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 with a wonderful name. Now, when the people heard and reflected on this prophecy of Isaiah,

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 it gave them hope that God would give a Messiah and it would be as if God were fighting on their side.

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 And that, I think, is why when you get to the time of Jesus, the hope of the people of Israel was

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 very much tied to a powerful future military leader. That's what they thought Messiah would be.

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 And truth is, nobody saw the manger coming. Nobody saw it coming that God would keep his promise

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 literally, that God truly would come to be with us. But it's remarkable that for millennia now,

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 Christians have been strengthened by this promise, especially as we see it worked out in the coming

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 of Jesus. Emmanuel, God is with us. I came across, I know some people have been studying this in school,

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 some of you will be very familiar with Harriet Tubman, others may not know her so much. She was

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 a black woman in America in the 19th century who escaped slavery in the South in the mid-1800s.

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 And not content with earning her own freedom and risking much to get to Philadelphia,

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 from that position of freedom, Harriet Tubman then led 13 expeditions heading back into slave territory

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 13 times to rescue over 300 slaves, bringing them through the Underground Railroad to freedom.

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 And what was striking, learning about her story and understanding some of the dangers that she faced,

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 is she spoke in her time with absolute confidence that because she was doing God's work,

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 she was not afraid. God is with me, so I will gladly go into enemy territory in order to rescue others.

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 God with us has always been a powerful source of hope and comfort for the people of God.

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 And it is not, because I guess it can sound like, you know, God's with me,

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 can sound to the outsider perhaps as if it's a psychological crutch,

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 well, it's a nice warm blanket kind of feel. It's not wish fulfillment.

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 As a Christian, you know this, it's our lived out experience.

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 It's for us the peace that passes understanding.

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 It's for us the light that shines even surrounded by darkness.

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 It's the hope that is solid and steadfast, even when everything else seems to be falling apart.

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 And as Christians, in different ways, we know this as our testimony.

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 Because it's an invitation into living relationship with the living God.

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 And when we talk about that, when we talk about the reality of a living relationship with the living God,

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 we're inviting people to recognize that there is hope for them too.

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 Showing that the longing of many hearts can be met, can be met in Jesus.

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 Because the Emmanuel prophecy points us towards, thirdly, the Emmanuel person.

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 And this is genuinely the truth that nobody saw coming.

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 That God with us would be the child to be born of Mary.

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 Look at the language that's used in Matthew's gospel.

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 Chapter 1, verse 18.

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 Mary was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

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 And then in verse 20.

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 Here is the angel speaking to Joseph.

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 Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife.

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 Because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

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 The child in the womb of Mary comes through the power of God, the Holy Spirit.

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 Jesus is literally God with us.

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 And all those Old Testament hopes and longings of salvation, of peace, of relationship with God,

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 they narrowed down to a single point.

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 The child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

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 So what are we saying when we say that Jesus is Emmanuel?

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 Well, we are saying Jesus is God.

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 But we're also saying that Jesus is human.

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 And we're saying that Jesus is God with us.

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 We're saying that Jesus is God.

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 Just as was reported in the gospel there and through the angels,

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 that the true Father of Jesus is His Father in heaven.

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 The life in the womb of Mary is a miracle of God the creator.

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 To quote my favorite line of any Christmas hymn from Charles Wesley,

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 Jesus is God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man.

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 The infinite God, the personal God, is the one who is born and wrapped in those swaddling clothes.

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 And it's remarkable that it's the Jewish followers of Jesus

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 that recognize Him as God and as Lord.

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 As they witness His miracles, calming storms, healing sickness, raising the dead.

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 As they hear His claims to forgive sin, to be Lord of the Sabbath,

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 claiming I and the Father in heaven are one,

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 claiming that Jesus would return at the end of time to be the judge of all.

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 That those Jews who are raised to believe that for anyone to even speak the name of God,

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 that was blasphemy.

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 Now to worship?

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 It's a wonderful truth.

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 They never saw coming, but they gladly embraced because they saw with their own eyes Jesus.

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 But it's a reminder to each one of us of the importance of grappling with the claim of Emmanuel.

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 Because either this is totally ludicrous and far-fetched,

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 or it is some wild deception,

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 or it is totally wonderful truth.

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 And if true, we need to respond appropriately to it.

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 Jesus is God.

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 But Emmanuel also reminds us that Jesus is human.

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 And this is a profound and wonderful truth also.

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 Because it tells us that God Himself came to truly identify with us as one of us.

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 That from Jesus' birth,

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 it is evident that He hasn't come to kind of hover six inches above,

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 that He's not come to the palace,

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 but He's come in order to be the humble, suffering servant.

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 He comes to face all the challenges that we do.

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 The Bible tells us He faces all the temptations that we face,

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 yet Jesus never sinned.

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 And in reality,

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 He knows greater agonies

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 and a greater darkness than we will ever endure.

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 Matthew reminds us that Jesus became Emmanuel

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 in order to save us.

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 And it's in Jesus' true humanity

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 that He will live a perfect life of obedience.

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 Where we fail,

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 where we fall short,

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 where we rob God of His glory,

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 where we give in to temptation,

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 where we fail to love God

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 and to love our neighbor,

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 Jesus completes perfectly

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 the law of God

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 on our behalf.

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 And He will then die

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 in our place

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 as our representative,

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 as if He was the worst sinner

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 who ever lived,

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 the only one who never sinned.

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 because as the angels of heaven

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 sing in revelation,

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 He is the Lamb of God.

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 And that speaks the language of sacrifice,

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 came to take away the sin of the world,

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 came to bear our guilt,

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 our shame,

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 our shortcoming,

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 coming to satisfy the demands of God's justice.

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 giving hope to all who believe,

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 giving hope to all who believe,

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 giving hope to people like us

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 who have broken relationship with God,

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 at people who in our lives have said no to His rule,

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 that we might,

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 by God's grace,

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 dwell with Him

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 because of His great love.

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 So we've said that Jesus is God.

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 We've said that Jesus is human.

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 But we also need to remember

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 that Jesus is God with us.

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 And this takes us, I think,

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 to the Emmanuel promise.

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 I'm going to consider three ways

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 that this speaks promise to us.

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 And hopefully we can take these with us

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 into the Advent season.

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 I think it speaks to us

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 of the miracle of Christmas.

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 Now, we are used to a plethora

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 of really cheesy Christmas movies,

00:22:49.460 --> 00:22:50.740
 and it sounds like, you know,

00:22:50.779 --> 00:22:52.319
 kind of some sort of sugar sweet

00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:53.799
 Christmas holiday movie,

00:22:53.899 --> 00:22:54.899
 that the miracle of Christmas.

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:56.279
 But the miracle of Christmas

00:22:56.279 --> 00:23:00.079
 is this, J.I. Packer puts it so well.

00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:04.240
 The babyhood of the Son of God

00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:06.119
 was a reality.

00:23:07.619 --> 00:23:10.839
 Nothing in fiction is so fantastic

00:23:10.839 --> 00:23:15.019
 as this truth of the incarnation.

00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:18.559
 And it's so important for us

00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:21.220
 to recognize that this is not

00:23:21.220 --> 00:23:22.940
 just some nice story

00:23:22.940 --> 00:23:24.579
 that, you know, kids dress up

00:23:24.579 --> 00:23:25.500
 and do nativities.

00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:29.000
 If we embrace this truth,

00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:31.779
 the one that nobody saw coming,

00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.379
 the one that is truly too shocking

00:23:34.379 --> 00:23:37.160
 for any Jew ever to make up,

00:23:37.879 --> 00:23:39.539
 if we wrestle with it

00:23:39.539 --> 00:23:42.680
 and accept that the child to be born

00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:44.920
 was none other than the Son of God

00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:46.339
 who took on full humanity,

00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:48.680
 then that makes everything else

00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:51.660
 in his life so much easier to accept.

00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:54.180
 You know, if there is a God,

00:23:54.180 --> 00:23:56.820
 and if this God became human,

00:23:57.820 --> 00:23:59.340
 then why couldn't he do miracles?

00:24:00.539 --> 00:24:01.980
 Why couldn't he forgive sin?

00:24:02.820 --> 00:24:04.660
 Why couldn't he rise from the dead?

00:24:09.140 --> 00:24:10.600
 Here's a second way

00:24:10.600 --> 00:24:12.200
 that this speaks promise to us.

00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:15.779
 It's in the comfort of Christmas.

00:24:15.779 --> 00:24:20.200
 So I say that we're kind of jumping into Advent

00:24:20.200 --> 00:24:21.099
 a little bit early

00:24:21.099 --> 00:24:23.139
 because I guess many of us know

00:24:23.139 --> 00:24:25.339
 I wasn't supposed to be preaching this sermon.

00:24:25.879 --> 00:24:27.899
 Bob was supposed to be preaching it next week.

00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:30.019
 But then over in the States,

00:24:30.099 --> 00:24:31.759
 he had a really bad arm break

00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:33.180
 and a couple of surgeries,

00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.460
 and his recovery process will be slow.

00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:40.000
 And thinking of Bob in the hospital,

00:24:40.840 --> 00:24:42.100
 and then through the surgery,

00:24:42.220 --> 00:24:43.259
 and while he recovers,

00:24:43.380 --> 00:24:44.980
 while he is far from us,

00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:47.700
 then I was thinking about the comfort of Emmanuel.

00:24:49.600 --> 00:24:51.400
 Because Bob knows God with him,

00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:54.100
 where he is as he convalesces,

00:24:54.180 --> 00:24:55.579
 as he recovers with his sister.

00:24:55.579 --> 00:24:58.379
 And that's true for all of us

00:24:58.379 --> 00:25:00.500
 in the struggles and the situations

00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:02.379
 that we go through.

00:25:03.179 --> 00:25:04.879
 And we were talking about it this morning

00:25:04.879 --> 00:25:06.019
 at our breakfast table.

00:25:06.399 --> 00:25:08.480
 That sense of comfort as we,

00:25:08.639 --> 00:25:10.559
 you know, a house move is a,

00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:11.799
 some ways it's got a small thing,

00:25:11.859 --> 00:25:13.279
 but it's kind of a big thing at the same time.

00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:17.559
 There is comfort to know that God is with us.

00:25:19.579 --> 00:25:21.199
 The reality of Emmanuel

00:25:21.199 --> 00:25:24.139
 has the capacity to bring great comfort.

00:25:25.579 --> 00:25:29.279
 Because as one of us,

00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:32.139
 Jesus has walked in our shoes,

00:25:32.919 --> 00:25:36.539
 and Jesus himself has suffered.

00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:40.819
 Jesus lived a life of poverty.

00:25:41.859 --> 00:25:44.619
 Jesus experienced times of loneliness and betrayal.

00:25:45.639 --> 00:25:47.299
 Jesus was falsely accused.

00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:51.519
 He faced hatred and rejection and pain.

00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:54.980
 But that was nothing compared

00:25:54.980 --> 00:25:56.620
 to what happened on the cross.

00:25:57.579 --> 00:25:59.559
 As the world conspired to say,

00:25:59.559 --> 00:26:02.440
 we don't want God with us,

00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:04.380
 away with that man.

00:26:05.960 --> 00:26:07.400
 And as Jesus hung on the cross

00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:09.400
 and the sky turned black,

00:26:10.519 --> 00:26:14.240
 as God's judgment was felt and experienced,

00:26:14.660 --> 00:26:15.740
 and Jesus, the son,

00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:18.559
 lost that sense of the father's presence,

00:26:18.660 --> 00:26:19.500
 and he cried out,

00:26:19.620 --> 00:26:20.839
 my God, my God,

00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:22.559
 why have you forsaken me?

00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:25.099
 As Jesus dies,

00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:28.259
 bearing the infinite agony of God's wrath

00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:29.779
 poured out on him,

00:26:29.819 --> 00:26:30.619
 we ask ourselves,

00:26:30.779 --> 00:26:31.059
 why?

00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:36.519
 And the answer is so that whoever we are,

00:26:38.099 --> 00:26:39.819
 and whatever we face,

00:26:41.259 --> 00:26:42.519
 if we trust in Jesus,

00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:43.440
 we know

00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:45.700
 the infinite

00:26:45.700 --> 00:26:47.799
 and the personal God,

00:26:48.380 --> 00:26:49.880
 is with us.

00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:52.360
 And one day,

00:26:52.900 --> 00:26:55.420
 we will have the comfort and joy of life forever

00:26:55.420 --> 00:26:57.680
 in his presence.

00:26:58.340 --> 00:26:59.559
 And that takes us,

00:26:59.960 --> 00:27:00.220
 finally,

00:27:00.380 --> 00:27:01.140
 to the hope

00:27:01.140 --> 00:27:03.059
 of Christmas.

00:27:03.059 --> 00:27:05.200
 I mentioned

00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:07.419
 Harriet Tubman's story

00:27:07.419 --> 00:27:08.379
 earlier.

00:27:08.539 --> 00:27:10.299
 Just think of that journey.

00:27:10.460 --> 00:27:11.419
 Here is a woman

00:27:11.419 --> 00:27:12.259
 who risked so much

00:27:12.259 --> 00:27:13.639
 to secure her own freedom.

00:27:14.179 --> 00:27:15.419
 In 1849,

00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:16.639
 by 1850,

00:27:17.179 --> 00:27:19.099
 the US government

00:27:19.099 --> 00:27:20.599
 had changed

00:27:20.599 --> 00:27:21.679
 the legal system

00:27:21.679 --> 00:27:22.740
 to make it even more

00:27:22.740 --> 00:27:23.759
 dangerous.

00:27:23.879 --> 00:27:24.119
 Basically,

00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:25.119
 to be a black person

00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:26.159
 was to run the risk

00:27:26.159 --> 00:27:26.899
 of being kidnapped

00:27:26.899 --> 00:27:27.799
 and taken back

00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:28.399
 to the South.

00:27:28.519 --> 00:27:29.339
 There were professional

00:27:29.339 --> 00:27:30.579
 bounty hunters

00:27:30.579 --> 00:27:32.059
 and professional

00:27:32.059 --> 00:27:33.319
 slave catchers,

00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:35.059
 and yet she headed back

00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:36.279
 into slave territory

00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:39.059
 to rescue.

00:27:39.960 --> 00:27:40.519
 One time,

00:27:40.599 --> 00:27:41.079
 she went back

00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:42.399
 to rescue her niece.

00:27:44.099 --> 00:27:44.779
 Her husband,

00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:47.079
 the niece's husband,

00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:48.319
 in desperation,

00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:49.019
 got in touch

00:27:49.019 --> 00:27:49.500
 and said,

00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:51.099
 she's going to be sold.

00:27:51.399 --> 00:27:52.299
 Can you do anything?

00:27:54.779 --> 00:27:55.960
 And so Harriet made

00:27:55.960 --> 00:27:57.579
 another one of those journeys

00:27:57.579 --> 00:27:59.220
 to secure

00:27:59.220 --> 00:28:00.379
 her freedom.

00:28:00.579 --> 00:28:01.619
 and life

00:28:01.619 --> 00:28:02.299
 in the family.

00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:05.039
 In Jesus,

00:28:05.240 --> 00:28:06.240
 our Emmanuel,

00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:08.740
 we understand

00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:09.439
 that in a far

00:28:09.439 --> 00:28:10.460
 greater way,

00:28:11.639 --> 00:28:12.419
 God in Jesus

00:28:12.419 --> 00:28:13.299
 has made that kind

00:28:13.299 --> 00:28:13.799
 of journey.

00:28:15.159 --> 00:28:15.899
 Jesus has come

00:28:15.899 --> 00:28:17.339
 into slave territory.

00:28:18.819 --> 00:28:19.720
 Without Jesus,

00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:20.419
 we're all bound

00:28:20.419 --> 00:28:21.500
 in the chains of sin.

00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:23.419
 And he has come

00:28:23.419 --> 00:28:24.699
 into the heart

00:28:24.699 --> 00:28:25.559
 of our world

00:28:25.559 --> 00:28:28.000
 in order to set us free

00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:29.939
 by his own death.

00:28:30.579 --> 00:28:32.460
 to bring freedom

00:28:32.460 --> 00:28:33.240
 to us.

00:28:34.019 --> 00:28:35.039
 Freedom that we might

00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:36.220
 live in a new family,

00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:37.599
 in the family of God.

00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:41.519
 And having died,

00:28:42.139 --> 00:28:43.199
 Jesus rose again.

00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:45.019
 And in the victory

00:28:45.019 --> 00:28:46.220
 of his resurrection,

00:28:46.220 --> 00:28:49.180
 we're invited to recognize

00:28:49.180 --> 00:28:50.299
 that there is life,

00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:51.160
 there is love

00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:52.039
 after death.

00:28:52.740 --> 00:28:53.819
 That there is one

00:28:53.819 --> 00:28:54.940
 who is strong enough

00:28:54.940 --> 00:28:55.500
 and capable

00:28:55.500 --> 00:28:56.779
 to deal with the sin,

00:28:57.200 --> 00:28:57.680
 the evil,

00:28:57.819 --> 00:28:58.259
 the death

00:28:58.259 --> 00:28:58.880
 that we see

00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:00.220
 all around us

00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:01.100
 and to give us

00:29:01.100 --> 00:29:01.579
 the promise

00:29:01.579 --> 00:29:02.420
 of a better world

00:29:02.420 --> 00:29:02.920
 to come

00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:06.259
 so we can draw near

00:29:06.259 --> 00:29:07.460
 in faith

00:29:07.460 --> 00:29:09.779
 to the God

00:29:09.779 --> 00:29:10.900
 who in Jesus

00:29:10.900 --> 00:29:12.180
 draws near

00:29:12.180 --> 00:29:13.160
 to us.

00:29:13.660 --> 00:29:39.100
 do you

00:29:39.100 --> 00:29:39.100


00:29:39.100 --> 00:29:39.100