Exclusive: Greg Laurie stresses, 'We must always remember that God is with us, Immanuel'
We can get so worked up about the celebration of Christmas, hoping that we give the perfect gift to someone – or that someone gives us what we actually wanted. We can put so much emphasis on gifts that it takes all the fun out of it.
I think we need to put things into perspective. What I've discovered about Christmas is that it's not so much the main event but those in-between moments that are the most precious of all, those times that I enjoy with family and friends.
It's important that we understand what the essential message of Christmas really is. To do that, we need to go back further than the arrival of Jesus on that first Christmas in Bethlehem. We need to go back to a young woman named Mary, who lived in a wicked little city called Nazareth.
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Mary lived a godly life in an ungodly place, and God hand selected her to be the very mother of the Messiah. One day the angel Gabriel came to her and said, "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28 NLT).
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The Bible tells us that when Mary heard this, she was "confused and disturbed" and "tried to think what the angel could mean" (verse 29 NLT). Gabriel went on to reveal that she would be the mother of the Messiah, who would be supernaturally conceived within her womb. And Mary was willing to do what God wanted.
However, there was one problem: her husband-to-be, Joseph. He didn't know any of this, and she had to reveal to him that she was pregnant. Imagine trying to explain that. She had to tell him that it had happened supernaturally. And Joseph wasn't buying it.
Can you imagine if you knew a teenage girl who said, "I'm pregnant, but it isn't what it looks like. This was something that the Holy Spirit did supernaturally"? You would think she was crazy.
And that essentially was Joseph's reaction. It would have been pretty hard to believe. Joseph loved Mary, but his heart was broken. He felt that she had betrayed him. In first-century Israel, a betrothal was different than what we call an engagement today. It was almost like being married. Although a betrothed couple did not consummate their relationship until their wedding day, they were treated as though they were husband and wife.
Therefore, to be promiscuous during the time of betrothal would be the equivalent of committing adultery. Imagine Mary, supernaturally touched by God with the Messiah in her womb, having to reveal this to Joseph. He didn't know what to do, but he didn't want to go on with the marriage at that point. So, God intervened.
We read about it in Matthew 1: "Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. 'Joseph, son of David,' the angel said, 'do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit'" (verses 19–21 NLT).
Joseph was a righteous man, and he wanted to do the right thing. He basically had two options on the table: One was to publicly tell everyone about Mary's condition and run the risk of her being executed because of the serious sin she supposedly committed. The other was to put her away privately and terminate the relationship.
Joseph had chosen to do the latter. But God had different plans. The angel went on to tell Joseph that the child who had been conceived in Mary's womb was the Messiah.
The angel was saying, "Joseph, not only has Mary not been unfaithful to you like you thought, but she is the virgin whom the prophet Isaiah spoke of: 'Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us'" (verse 23 NLT).
This prophecy, which God gave to Isaiah 750 years earlier, would be fulfilled in Mary. The child she was carrying was Immanuel, God is with us.
What a staggering thought that is. This really is the essence of Christianity. If you were to compare the Christian faith to all other religious worldviews, this would be a clear distinction: Christianity is God with us.
Christianity is not about trying to somehow please God or earn his approval by being good and diligent. Rather, the Christian faith teaches that it is God with us, living inside us, helping us to be the people he has called us to be. Christianity says we are never alone again. God will walk with us through life.
Jesus echoed this thought when he said, "And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20 NLT) and "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you" (Hebrews 13:5 NLT).
Maybe you're feeling alone. God is with you. Maybe your marriage is hanging by a thread. God is with you. Maybe you're estranged from your children. God is with you. Maybe someone close to you has let you down or disappointed you. God is with you.
The message of Christmas that we must always remember is God is with us, Immanuel.
What is your state before God today? Is God with you? Or, are you without God and without hope? Those are the only two options.
If I didn't have Jesus Christ living in me, I wouldn't have any hope right now. As we look at this world and the state it is in, it's hopeless without God. But when Jesus Christ enters the picture, everything changes.
Jesus Christ can come in and turn your life around. He can put things back together that you never thought could be put back together. But for that to happen, you must invite him in.
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