December 3, 2006, First Sunday of Advent

Lesson: Matthew 1:18-23

Sermon: Immanuel, God with Us

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. What if George Bailey had not been born.

    1. George Bailey, What does he have to do with this sermon?

    2. Well, you remember George Bailey, don't you?

    3. He is the man who contemplates suicide.

    4. Clarence saves him.

    5. George Bailey had opportunity to see what life in Porterville, not Bedford Falls, would have been like if he had never been born.

      1. Clarence remarks "You've been given a great gift, George: a chance to see what the world would be like without you."

      2. It is a callous, cruel, and cold place in which to live.

        1. In a horrific series of events, George shakes off Clarence and discovers the changed Bedford Falls----now called Pottersville.

        2. The main street has been transformed into a gaudy cavalcade of jitterbug dance halls, strip clubs, and taverns.

        3. George sees the Building & Loan has been replaced by a dance hall, while a pawn broker now serves the people of Pottersville.

        4. Violet Bick is now a prostitute facing arrest.

        5. Ernie and Bert are now callous and suspicious of everyone.

        6. The old house at 320 Sycamore is as dilapidated as ever, since George never lived there.

    6. Fortunately, George comes to himself, the crisis are averted and he discovers, It's a Wonderful Life.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. There is a parallel question: "What if Jesus had not been born?"

    1. What if anything might have changed?

    2. Would the world look like Potterville?

      1. The world does look like Potterville.

      2. But now we have an alternative.

      3. We have a world within a world.

  2. Jesus is born.

    1. Jesus birth is a natural birth and more.

      1. We know that he was the child of Mary.

      2. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

      3. Joseph is his stepfather.

    2. The child born to Mary will be called Jesus.

    3. Jesus will have a number of names applied to him which describe his life and mission.

    4. One of the most important is IMMANUEL

  3. Perhaps we could spend some time exploring the background of Immanuel as the Isaiah passage is quoted in Matthew 1.22-23

    1. Matthew will apply the name Immanuel and link it with Isaiah 7.14

10Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying, 11Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. 12But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test. 13Then Isaiah said: "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. 15He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. 17The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah--the king of Assyria," (Isaiah 7:10-17, NRSVA).

    1. In this passage from Isaiah, the prophet is directing King Ahaz to ask for a sign to strengthen his faith about what to do about his kingdom being threatened by invaders.

      1. Ahaz, however, refuses to ask God what to do, following in the tradition of other Israelite kings who were often more infatuated with their own names than with God's brand stamp.

      2. But Isaiah tells Ahaz that God will provide a sign anyway (7:14), "Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel."

    2. Biblical names are never accidents.

      1. You don't see Abraham and Sarah, for example, sitting around looking at Canaanite baby name books before naming Isaac.

      2. Every name is descriptive of its holder.

      3. Names are unique and not easily changed except by a higher authority.

      4. God changes Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, just to name a few.

      5. Even God's name, YHWH, had a powerfully descriptive quality in its declaration--"I am who I am."

    3. In Isaiah's time, God does the naming of the child who will represent his message of hope to people through a dark time in their history.

      1. The boy named "Immanuel," who the context suggests may have even been Isaiah's own son (8:3).

      2. The child is God's logo of love--a sign that God will not leave them to fend for themselves.

    4. If there was ever a time when Ahaz needed a clear sign that God was with him, it was at that particular moment in Judah's history.

      1. The country is in decline and besieged from without.

      2. They are only 25--30 years from political extinction, although Ahaz couldn't have known that.

    5. Ahaz needed to know that God was with him, but, incredibly, he didn't want to know!

      1. Not unlike many of us who, in our hour of trial, rebel rather than repent.

      2. We prefer to push ahead to our own destruction rather than kneel down for our own salvation.

    6. God has a sign for us at Advent, and the sign is a Son, and the name of the Son is Immanuel. It means, "God with us."

      1. We can cherish the sign, embrace the name, and know that, whatever our sorrow, or whatever our circumstance, God is with us, or we can respond with the Ahaz answer: "I will not ask."

      2. God says to him: "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights" (7:11 NIV).

        1. And Ahaz says, "Nope, not gonna do it."

        2. What was he thinking?

    7. Immanuel. The name stuck and had new life breathed into it later when Matthew would pick up on Isaiah's prophetic theme and name image in his birth narrative of Jesus.

      1. Jesus, too, would be an "Immanuel," but even more so--not simply a representative of God, but God himself come in the flesh among the people to rescue them from despair--Immanuel in the fullest sense of the name: a unique, one--of--a--kind, powerful, and memorable name.

    8. But why should we?

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  1. Laying in bed and thinking about the word Immanuel.

    1. God with us.

      1. He came to show us God

      2. He came to demonstrate the nature of God

      3. He came to enlighten us to the desires of God.

    2. He did this because the people then and now lived in spiritual darkness

      1. Isaiah wrote many years before of the spiritual darkness of his people

2The people who walked in darkness
   have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
    on them light has shined, (Isaiah 9:2, NRSVA).

      1. In Matthew 4.12 12Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.

13He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15"Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
    on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--
16the people who sat in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
    light has dawned."
17From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near," (Matthew 4:12 through Matthew 4:17, NRSVA).

    1. In the words & music of Philip P. Bliss

The Light of the World Is Jesus

The whole world was lost
In the darkness of sin,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Like sunshine at noonday,
His glory shone in.
The Light of the world is Jesus!

No darkness have we
Who in Jesus abide;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
We walk in the light
When we follow our Guide!
The Light of the world is Jesus!

Ye dwellers in darkness
With sin blinded eyes,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Go, wash, at His bidding,
And light will arise.
The Light of the world is Jesus!

No need of the sunlight
In Heaven we're told;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
The Lamb is the Light
In the city of gold,
The Light of the world is Jesus!

Refrain

Come to the light, 'tis shining for thee;
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me.
Once I was blind, but now I can see:
The Light of the world is Jesus!

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CONCLUSION:

  1. Charles Swindoll in His Name is Wonderful quotes a story by Elmer Towns. (1)

"'The spectacular carvings were veiled in darkness.' (2) That's what author Elmer Towns disappointedly discovered late one evening on a visit to the Mount Rushmore National Monument in South Dakota. The floodlights that illuminated the colossal faces of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt had been turned off just minutes before he arrived. And, 'as a result of an imminent storm,' he recalled, 'there wasn't even any moonlight.' (3)

"'But what I thought was a barrier became a blessing. Flashes of lightning accompanied the thunderstorm, and with each flash I got a quick glance at the great sculptures. I had certain preconceived images in mind from photographs, and I strained to compare each statue with the likeness in my mind's eye. The more I watched, the more I realized that I was appreciating their magnificence and grandeur even more than I would have if the storm had not forced me to view them more intensely.

"'In the same way, we struggle to understand God. We know He is there, but in the darkness of this life, we cannot see Him. Then come flashes of light that reveal Him--the creation . . . the miracles . . .the Ten Commandments . . . His presence in our conscience.

"'But there is another flash of illumination that is often overlooked. We can come to know God through His names. The many descriptive titles and names given in Scripture are like lightening flashes in a summer night, revealing his nature and works.'" (4)

  1. Immanuel, God with us is opportunity to learn to know God through Jesus!

    1. Advent is a time to prepare so that we know who is coming.

    2. Advent is a time to prepare so that we know why he is coming.

    3. Advent is a time to prepare so that we know what we are being offered.

  2. Immanuel, God with us.

    1. This is the greatest of all gifts.

    2. Who could ask for anything more.

Amen!

1. Charles R. Swindoll, His Name Is Wonderful: Bible Study Guide (Plano, Texas. Insight for Living, 1992) pp. 1-2

2. Elmer L. Towns, My Father's Names (Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books, 1991), p. 12.

3. Towns, My Father's Names, p. 12.

4. Towns, My Father's Names, pp. 12-13

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