[Discoveries] 12-14-07 God with us -- Matthew 1:23

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

/*"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they 
will call him Immanuel" -- which means, "God with us." -- Matthew 1:23*/

This is a switch. In Exodus 19, God makes it clear that we are allowed 
only so close. If anybody set foot on the mountain God was visiting, 
they were to be stoned or shot with arrows. But here in Matthew, God 
chooses to do more than just visit. He chooses to move in with us, to 
hang out where we hang out, to live among us common folk.

I had a professor in college who was like that. He brought his wife and 
kids to class one day. Then he invited any of us who wished to come over 
to his house. So I went, along with a few other students. Wow! They were 
nice. They were regular people, so much unlike those who showed up for 
class and then disappeared into that mysterious world of the rest of 
their lives.

Why did God move in with us? The answer is clear. He wanted to be close. 
He didn't want to go on being God at a distance. And so He did what it 
took to shorten the distance between us and Him. He remains God, beyond 
our understanding, beyond us in every category, yet Christ shows up as 
our elder Brother, as Family, as our Friend.

Be encouraged!
Dwight

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