Thursday, February 23, 2012

Immanuel


Article #8: Our Christ, Our Savior, Our Lord, Our God
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).” Matt 1:23 (NIV)
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matt 1:23 (KJV)
Immanuel:
 In Hebrew: עִמָּ֫נוּאֵ֫ל (im-maw-noo-ale’)
Immanuel consist of two Hebrew words: אלי (ʾĒl or ʾĒli) which means, God of righteousness. Then עִמָּנוּ (ʻImmānū) which literally means “with us.”
Therefore the word Immanuel used by Matthew in Matt 1:23 is describing Jesus Christ as a God that is with us.
For the past 2000 years a fundamental to our Christian faith has been that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was our Savior, our lord, and most importantly our God; but in the last two centuries this fundamental idea has been challenged by a numerous amount of churches throughout the Christian world. My question is; is a truth that has been preached since the days of the apostles so wrong? Are we to go against the words that have established our church for so long? The answer of course is no. The apostles preached that Jesus is our God, we cannot walk away from the preaching’s of the men inspired by God himself.  If they preached he was Immanuel who are we to say that he is any less. But I tell you, it was not just the apostles that preached that Jesus and God were one. Jesus himself stated “I and the Father are one” Matt 10:23. If we are to call ourselves Christians, shall we go against the very words Christ has preached?
Our God, Our Savior.
*“1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5
*“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Rev 22:13
The Word of God has been with God from the beginning, God literally is the Word, according to John1:1 (“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him”). And the Word became flesh, therefore God became flesh. Jesus was in the world as John says and through him the world was made. As Christians we do not worship a man but Jehovah, the God of the Jews from the Old Testament, the God of the New Testament. We worship the one that is called Immanuel, God on Earth. Our God is the God of three.
As it states in Verse 2 of John 1 he was with God in the beginning. (He of course is referring to Jesus; we know this because the Apostles had a distinct way of writing, where they used he in reference to Jesus.) Jesus has always been here, and as Jesus stated in Revelations, he is “Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end,” Jesus is God-the-Son, the most high God, the God of Three. We must understand this! Jesus was the one spoken by the prophets, song by about in at least 18 Psalms! We was even written about in Genesis:  “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” Gen 1:26, is God talking to himself? He said “Us” who do you think he is talking to? There were no angels at the time, so who then? UMMM JESUS! The man that says he was the beginning and the end? The Alpha, the Omega? Immanuel.  Yeah that seems right.
I honestly don’t want to draw this out any more, because the verses should speak for themselves. But I will ask you this same question that I ask any young believer that has questions; “Do you believe a simple man, man that was born with the seed of sin, could truly heal the entire worlds sin? Why would Jehovah send just a man? Who do think could heal the world, a man or a God?”  Why worship a simple man?  If my God was a man then I would never bow before him, lay my crown at his feet. But the truth is, my savior is no man, he is Immanuel. God who is with us, the God of Three, God the Son.

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