One of my favorite Christmas Carols: "O Come O come Emanuel, and ransom captive Israel. That mourns in lonely exile here. Until the Son of God appears." That name. Emanuel. It gives the depth to the Christmas story. God with us. The rescue for sinners. The ransom from heaven. That word. Christmas. More than the single day. I found this wonderful devotional and it focuses in on the verse that I wanted to center our Christmas on-knowing God "face to face" in a way that is very intimate.
"All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Behold! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel (which means 'God is with us')." Isa. 7:14
When the virgin gave birth to this Son, Emmanuel was at last present among us, yet in so many ways he was still hidden from us. Romans 11:33 says, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearachable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways"
Have you ever wondered why God would want to live among us and even within us, when we cannot fully comprehend him?
If you've ever gone to live in a foreign country, you've known the temporary loneliness and frustration of living among people who can't fully understand you. In spite of the hardship, most likely you endured because you knew that one day you would eventually be fully understood.
1 Corinthians 13:12 promises a day when we will no longer see through imperfect eyes: 'now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.'
Could it be that Emmanuel—God With Us—is looking forward to that day just as much as we are, that day when we see him with perfect clarity and know him completely?
-from devotional by Mary Fairchild.
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