Jesus Our Immanuel

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:21). Jesus Christ is the virgin born Son of God. He is the God-Man, fully God and fully Man. Jesus is our Immanuel, as the full revelation of God with us. 

Jesus is God with us in "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person" (Hebrews 1:3). He is God the Son revealing God the Father. "The express image" means Jesus is the exact likeness of the Father in all his attributes. What is God like? Look to Jesus and find the perfect answer.

Jesus is God with us in grace and truth. "We beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). The glory of God is revealed fully in Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, God revealed his manifest presence to us.

Jesus is God with us now through the Holy Spirit. Jesus says to us, "I am with you always, even to the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). He makes his presence known to us through faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). We are enabled to know God by faith in Christ. We have a living hope in God through Christ. The love of God in Christ fills our hearts. God's full revelation is in Jesus our Immanuel.

Jesus Saves His People

Jesus was born to save His people. He did not come into this world to try to save, hope to save, nor might save. Be sure to know that Jesus saves all who come to God through Him. The truth is this, we cannot save ourselves. We need a Savior, and there is only One. His name is Jesus.

"And she shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). 

When the Son of God was born of flesh to dwell among us, the name given Him was JESUS. That name means "Jehovah is salvation." Jehovah is the covenant name for God. The name tells the story, Jehovah God saves people through His Son. 

Jesus was born to save His people. That is certainly not talking about Jews only. Jesus was born a Jew, but Jesus saves people from every race and nation. He draws people from all nations to Himself (John 12:32). Jesus saves all who repent and come to Him by faith. He is calling people out of all nations (Revelation 5:9).

Jesus was born to save all who believe the gospel. And, what is the gospel? It is clearly defined in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." 

Faith Receives Christ

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "The hand of faith that receives Christ is similar to the children receiving an apple in their hands. You hold the apple out to the child and they must step toward you in order to receive it from you. This is a mixture of faith and receiving on the child's part. It is the same with someone who wants to receive salvation. What the child's hand is to the apple, your faith is to salvation."

"The child's hand does not make the apple, improve the apple, or deserve the apple; he simply takes it. Similarly, faith has been chosen and designed by God to be the hand with which you receive salvation. Your hand neither creates nor helps in salvation, but is content to receive it." 

Faith receives Christ as the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christ is always and only received as the gift of God and never by your works. You receive the finished work of Christ at the cross for sinners, which is confirmed by God through the resurrection of Jesus our Lord (Romans 10:9).

Faith receives Christ through the Spirit of grace. The Holy Spirit convicts us of unbelief toward Christ, as well as the righteousness of Christ (John 16:7-11). The same Holy Spirit regenerates us, giving us new birth, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13).

Christ Revealed to You

Christ is revealed to you in the Bible by the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit opens our eyes of understanding to the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. He guides us into all truth (John 16:13). It is the truth of God in the Bible about Jesus Christ our Lord. He is God incarnate. "The Word became flesh" in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:14).

Christ is revealed in the Bible, that you may know God the Father (John 14:6). Christ is perfect and complete theology. No wonder Jesus said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). Christ is the total and full revelation of God. He is the express image of God (Hebrews 1:1-3).

Christ is revealed to you in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, Christ as Messiah is revealed in prophecy and typology. The first prophecy of Christ coming is found in Genesis 3:15. He is the Seed of the woman. In typology Christ is revealed in signs and symbols, such as the Lamb of God. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is revealed as fulfilling the prophecy and typology of the Old Testament.

Christ is revealed to you as the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). He is the sacrifice for all your sins. Jesus is your risen Lord. Faith in Jesus Christ is the assurance of your salvation. He is the focus of your faith, the hope of your future, and the love of your life. Christ is your all and all, now and forever!

The Holy Spirit in You

Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, "We do not know Christ as our Savior until the Holy Spirit is put within us. Our Lord says, 'He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you' (John 16:14). You never personally know the Lord Jesus, until the Holy Spirit makes him known to you."

God says, "I will put my Spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:27). The Holy Spirit is in all who believe, that you may know the reality of the living Christ. God's Spirit does many things in the lives of believers, but first and foremost, he is in you to know Christ as your Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3).

The Holy Spirit is in you to know Christ as your Savior through the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The message of the gospel is meaningless to those who believe not (1 Corinthians 2:14). But, to all who are taught by the Holy Spirit, the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16; 1 Thess. 1:5).

The same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead is the same Holy Spirit who quickens you to know new life in Christ (Romans 1:4; Ephesians 2:1). He must convict and convince you to believe in Christ as your Savior (John 16:7-11). 

God's Spirit is in you to know Christ as your Savior through the Scripture. That's the reason Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit, saying, "He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." He renews your heart and mind to know the truth of Christ, according to the Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

The Gift of God

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Believers are saved by receiving God's gift in Christ. That means we can never earn nor deserve it. Salvation is the gift of God, and not by our works.

You may hear some people saying, "We are all working to go to the same place." They imply that somehow, if we work enough for God, then we may be assured of heaven. Notice that the Bible clearly teaches the opposite. Salvation is God's gift to you, and not by your works. "It is the gift of God, not of works."

The gift of God is salvation received by faith alone in Christ. Faith can never be the meritorious cause of salvation. Faith is the means of receiving the gift of God in Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the fulness of God's grace incarnate (John 1:14). You are saved by grace, through faith in Christ.

The gift of God is salvation received by trusting and relying upon Christ alone. He died for your sins and was raised for your justification (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 3:24). Understand that faith itself is a gift of God's saving grace. Faith is one of the three abiding gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13).

The gift of God is salvation by grace alone and "not of works." God does something in you, that you could never do for yourself. Salvation is God's gift of grace that changes our hearts, enabling us to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ."It is the gift of God, not of works." 

If Your Faith Abides

If your faith abides, God working in you what is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 13:20-21). God who began the good work in you will complete it (Philippians 1:6). Give the glory to God that He is working in you according to His good pleasure.

If your faith abides, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three (1 Corinthians 13:13). We receive abiding faith from God the Father, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is faith in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and was raised from the dead. The Spirit of grace enables you to believe the gospel of Christ with faith that abides.

If your faith abides, it is not just mental assent nor human effort. The Holy Spirit must bring you to a point of confidence, assurance, and trust in the living Christ. It's abiding faith that the world didn't give you, and the world can't take it away. Faith pleases God, because it is the very gift of faith that He works in you. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).  

If your faith abides, it is one of the three abiding gifts of the Holy Spirit. The grace of God enables you to have faith that abides. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). The Spirit of God, through the word of God, gives you faith that abides (Romans 10:17).