The Bible says in Isaiah 7:14, that the Savior would be called “Immanuel.” Matthew 1:23 gives us the divine explanation of this title of Christ. He is “God with Us.” We see a constant theme throughout the Bible that God dwells with His people. In Genesis, He walked with Adam in the Garden (Genesis 3:8). God led the Israelites to Canaan by way of the pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). His presence was manifested in the Tabernacle and in the Temple. Christ was also present with His people in the symbol of the Rock, once struck that they might have the water of the grace of God (1 Corinthians 10:4).
Not every man has the presence of God in his life. The fellowship of God’s presence has been severed because of our sin. Isaiah 59:2 says “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Since all have sinned (Romans 3:23), all are in a desperate situation. We are separated from God, and under the condemnation of eternity in hell (Romans 6:23). The Bible describes man as “enemies of God” and “alienated” from God (Colossians 1:21), “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3), and “children of the devil” (1 John 3:10). Born into this world as a sinner, guilty and condemned before God, the curse of sin upon us has placed us in a situation that we cannot remedy. The call that comes down from heaven to every man, woman and child, “I am indeed against you, says the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 13:8).
Jesus came as our “God with Us” to die for us so that we could have the peace of fellowship and harmony with God. Colossians 1:20 “By Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Jesus is the “God with Us” that is man’s only hope of forgiveness, reconciliation, and salvation. By faith in His finished work, God is not only with us, but is no longer against us. He is “for us.” Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
