Immanuel, God With Us

Matthew 1:18-25 - "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to her Son, the firstborn; and he called His name Jesus."

In considering the name Immanuel I want to begin with a question that Solomon poses in 2 Chronicles chapter 6. In 2 Chronicles 6 and the surrounding chapters we're told about the construction of the temple that Solomon built for the name of the Lord. And as Solomon gathers the people to dedicate the temple, he poses this question to God in verse 18 - "But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have built." Solomon asks, "Will God really dwell with men on the earth?" Why are we beginning with this question?
Is that really relevant? I mean, we're pulling out a question that was asked by an ancient king in a foreign country some 3000 years ago, could this possible have any significance to the average person living in America today? Will God, or we might say, Has God indeed dwelt with mankind on the earth? Well I don't know if you've noticed, but the world has a problem with Jesus. Have you noticed how much interest there is in "the historical" Jesus, especially during this time of the year? Newspapers will have articles titled "the historical Jesus." And the history channel will put forth a program that sets out to answer the question, who was the baby born in Bethlehem?
There was a book published last month entitled 'Christ Actually, the Son of God for the secular age.' And in this book the Author sets out on "The effort to save Jesus from the distortions of history, even from the gospels themselves."

A recent article in a Pennsylvania newspaper stated, "When Christianity began defining Jesus as God, it detached Jesus from his humanity and from the Jewish faith in which the human Jesus believed." Notice, it was Christians who set out to deceive the world and make Jesus into something that He was not.

In another article this past week entitled, 'The historical Jesus,' the author went to great pains in order to discredit the Biblical account. After concocting several pages of "research" which was comprised of more fiction than fact, the authors great conclusion was, "Jesus paternity will never be known -- and it was probably unknown to Jesus Himself." Essentially saying, "If we can shower some doubt on the birth of Christ, then we can discredit His entire life." And that's really all you need to do. Because if you question the identity of the baby in the manger then everything else that follows is brought into question. We certainly can't have people going around and suggesting that Jesus was God in the flesh, that Jesus was "God with us," so we must discredit the Bible and discredit Christ. Because if we can reject God in the manger at Bethlehem then we can reject Him anywhere. If we can make Him out to be an imposter at His birth then nothing else He did matters. So Solomons question, "Will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth?" is extremely relevant. It sounds like it could have been lifted right out of today's paper.
Throughout the life of the Lord Jesus questions were posed, either directly or indirectly, about His identity. It was essentially Solomon question whether God would really dwell with mankind. Throughout His life people were posing the very questions that they are posing today. I browsed through the gospels this past week, and here are just a few of the questions that were posed about the identity of the Lord Jesus: In Luke 8:25 the Lord is Jesus in a boat with His disciples and He had just calmed the sea and His disciples were in wonder and they said, "Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?" In John 4:29 the woman of Samaria asks the question, "This is not the Christ, is it?" Johns disciples in Luke 7:20 asked the Lord Jesus, "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?" After seeing Christ cast out a demon, the multitudes in Matthew 12:23 began to say, "This cannot be the Son of David, can He?" When the Lord Jesus came to His hometown in Luke 4:22, those who heard His teaching began questioning, "Is this not Josephs son?" And again they asked in Matthew 13:54-56, "Where did this man get this wisdom, and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" In John 6:42 they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, 'I have come down out of heaven'?" In John chapter 8 the crowds asked, "Whom do you make yourself out to be?" to which the Lord responded, "Before Abraham was, I am." And they picked up stones to stone Him for making Himself out to be God. As He forgave sins in Luke 7:49, something that God alone has the power and authority to do, those who were around began to question, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" And in Matthew 21:10 the Lord Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, and there we read, "And when He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?"

People don't really change all that much. All through history the question has remained largely unchanged. Whether we're listening to Solomon praying 3000 years ago at the dedication of the temple, or hearing peoples puzzled questions concerning the identity of Christ as He was walking here on earth, or picking up today's paper, the question remains essentially the same. Is Jesus really God? Will God, has God, does God really dwell with mankind on the earth?

This question is also posed to us in some of the hymns that we sing during this time of year, Right?

What Child is this, who laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?

The hymn writers ask the questions too, but unlike the journalists and commentators, they don't given us several possibilities, only to end with the statement, "Frankly, we don't know who He was, and He probably didn't either." No, the hymn writers pose the question, but then they give us the answer. And not only that, but they also tell us the proper response to these truths. 

Question:
What Child is this, who laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?

Answer:
This, this is Christ the King,

Whom Shepherds guard and angels sing:

Response:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud -

The Babe, the Son of Mary.

There is another hymn that we sometimes sing that asks the same question.

Who is He in yonder stall,
At whose feet the shepherds fall?

Answer:

'Tis the Lord! Oh wondrous story!

'Tis the Lord! The King of Glory!

Response:

At His feet we humbly fall,

Crown Him! Crown Him, Lord of all!

This particular song goes on to give us nine more verses, each on asking the question, "Who is this?" It travels through the birth, life, miracles, death, burial, resurrection, and current position of Christ, and in every instance asks "Who is this?" And each time the answer is the same. "Tis the Lord! The King of Glory!" So whatever the answer is to that first question, "Who is He in yonder stall, at whose feet the shepherds fall?" Whatever the answer is to this question is going to be the answer to all the other question. Because He didn't change. Whoever He was at His birth He remained through His life. And this is why the incarnation of Christ becomes the central issue. Because if the baby in the manger was not God then nothing else that He did bears any significance on my life today. If He was just a man then His life is largely inconsequential. The incarnation of Christ is a vitally important and relevant issue.

In his book 'Knowing God' J.I. Packer is talking about the difficulties of Christs life, for instance, the miracles, atonement, resurrection, etcetera, and he writes, "The real difficulty lies, not in the Good Friday message of atonement, nor in the Easter message of resurrection, but in the Christmas message of incarnation. The really staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man… that He took humanity without loss of deity, so that Jesus of Nazareth was as divine as He was human… ‘The Word was made flesh’; God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the incarnation."

Packer goes on to say "It is from misbelief, or at least inadequate belief about the incarnation that difficulties at other points in the gospel story usually spring. But once the incarnation is grasped as a reality, these other difficulties dissolve."

In the book 'Basic Christianity' John Stott says, "The crucial issue is this: was the carpenter of Nazareth the Son of God?...If Jesus Christ can be shown to have been a uniquely divine person, many other problems begin naturally to be solved. The existence of God is proved and the character of God revealed if Jesus was divine. Again questions about man’s duty and destiny, life after death, the purpose and authority of the Old Testament and the meaning of the cross begin to be answered because Jesus taught about these things, and His teaching must be true if His person is divine." 

Think about it, if that little baby in Bethlehem is God then you can easily accept everything else He did throughout His life. It's not beyond reason to think that the Creator of the eye could cause blind men to see. It's not a stretch to say that the Creator of the seas could walk on top of them or that they would obey His voice. It's not strange that the Author of Life would rise from the dead and enable others to do so. Actually, it's far more staggering that the Author of Life would die than that He should rise from the dead. The incarnation is itself an unfathomable mystery, but it makes sense of everything else that the New Testament contains. 

J.I. Packer says again, "The mystery of the incarnation is unfathomable. We cannot explain it; we can only formulate it. Perhaps it has never been formulated better than in the words of the Athanasian Creed. ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God made man;… perfect God, and perfect man:… who although He be God and man: yet He is not two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh: but by taking of the manhood into God.’ Our minds cannot get beyond this. What we see in the manger is, in Charles Wesley’s words, 

Our God contracted to a span;

Incomprehensibly made man.

Incomprehensibly- We shall be wise to remember this, to shun speculation, and contentedly to adore."

So the answer to Solomons question is given in the person of the Lord Jesus. John 1 states - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." This passage is clear, the Word is God and the Word became flesh, meaning that the answer to Solomons question is yes, that the Lord Jesus is Immanuel, He is God with us.

And so, in the remaining time I want to look at the Lord Jesus as Immanuel, God with us. And it's not my purpose to prove that Jesus is in fact God. Rather than focusing on the facts of the incarnation, I want to focus on the wonder of the incarnation. In other words, can we give ample proof of the deity of Christ? Yes, I believe that Scripture leaves us in no doubt to that fact. But rather than simply filling our minds with the facts and going away saying, "Yes, Jesus is God. I already knew that." I want to focus on the wonder of the incarnation, and hopefully help us to respond in the way that many of our hymns compel us to.

Hail the incarnate Deity,
O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
 
Haste! Haste, to bring Him laud,

At His feet we humbly fall,
Crown Him! Crown Him Lord of all!

Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.

When confronted with the truths of the incarnation these hymn writers were compelled to do more than just satisfy their intellect, but overwhelmed by the wonder of it all they were compelled to fall at Christs feet and worship. The wonder of God becoming man is brought out in this name, Immanuel. So I don't want so much to engage in a study expounding upon all the reason why we know that Jesus was God in the flesh, but rather focus on the mystery and the wonder of God becoming man. "Immanuel, God with us."

Go back with me in your thinking to the book of Genesis, and let's trace the history and progression of God's dwelling with man. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. So keep in mind, this is who we're dealing with, the Almighty God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. Oh, and by the way, "He made the stars also." So, in the beginning the Lord God created man and woman, and desired to have a close and intimate relationship with them. In the early chapters of Genesis we see the closeness of the relationship. In those early chapters the relationship with God is pictured by a walk. God used to walk with man in the garden. But in Genesis chapter 3, right after sin entered the world, we read that Adam and Eve heard that sound of the Lord God walking in the midst of the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. They hid themselves from His presence. Sin caused a separation. By the end of chapter 3 the man and his wife were driven out from the presence of the Lord. No longer could they have that close fellowship for which they were created. Isaiah puts it this way in Isaiah 59:2 - "Your sins have separated you from your God." But the Lord began to enact a plan that would restore our relationship with Him and through which He could dwell with us. Throughout the Old Testament we see that Gods presence is evident in the lives of certain people and in certain places at various times, but it never seems to be a permanent thing. We go a bit further in Genesis and we read of a man by the name of Enoch. "Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took Him." We come to Noah and read that Noah found grace the eyes of the Lord. When we come to Abraham we find God interacting with him quite a bit, and the testimony of those looking on is this, "God is with you."
In Genesis chapter 26 the Lord appears to Issac and says to him, "I will be with you and bless you." And just a few verses later He says to him, "Do not fear, for I am with you." And again, the presence of the Lord in Isaac's life was evident to those looking on, for they said, "We plainly see that the Lord has been with you."
In Genesis 28 the Lord appeared to Jacob in a dream and said to him, "Behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you."

When we come into the later chapters of Genesis we read of Joseph in Egypt, and we read that "The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man." and "his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand." And even after Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into jail, we read, "But the Lord was with Joseph." And "the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper."

Well, by the time we come to the book of Exodus the children of Israel have multiplied exceedingly in Egypt and out of fear the Egyptians forced them into bondage. But the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush in the wilderness and said to him "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land into to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey." and He said to Moses, "Come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" Remember the Lords answer? "Certainly I will be with you."

Until now we do not see God dwelling with people. We don't see God living among them. We saw Him walking with Adam and Eve in the garden before the fall and with Enoch after. We see His special presence with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph. He promises His presence to Moses as He sends him into Egypt to deliver the children of Israel. We see that God seems to be with certain people at certain times, but His presence seems very selective up to this point. It's not until we come to the later chapters of Exodus that He puts His presence, not just with certain individuals, but among the congregation of the descendants of Abraham.
Up to this point God doesn't have a dwelling place. We don't read of Him dwelling with mankind. We read of the calling of God, and the promises of God, and the presence of God, but we have no such thing as God dwelling with Abram or the patriarchs. But now we come to Exodus 25:8, and here we're introduced to a new idea. Gods says, "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it." What a staggering thought. I know, this doesn't seem like such a big deal to us, but put yourself in their shoes. This is a completely new concept. Never before had it been heard of that God Almighty, the Creator God was going to come down and live among His creatures. This was such a foreign concept. The one true God, dwelling with men? How could it be?
In Exodus 29:45-46 He says again - "I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. They shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God."
And so there were careful instructions that they had to give heed to in the building of this tabernacle. "Make sure" He says "That you make it exactly according to the plan that was shown you on the mountain." And there were certain rituals and ceremonies that were surrounding this tabernacle. A sacrificial system was set up. A priesthood was instituted. Everything had to be done to the letter, just as God had said. From the priesthood, to their garments, to the measurements of the tent and furniture, the placement of the furniture, the sacrifices, the materials, everything had to be done in a very intentional way. Because this was going to be the dwelling place of God, and He can't just dwell anywhere. A very important part of the tabernacle, though all of it was vitally important, but one part of it was the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.

Yes, God was going to dwell above the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place. And that room was to be set apart, separated by a veil. Though Gods presence dwelt in the midst of His people, there was still a separation. God was not approachable. He cannot have anything to do with sinners, and so that veil always said "Stay back!" Only the high priest could enter through that veil and only once a year on the day of Atonement, and only after spilling the blood of an animal to pay for his own sins.

Nevertheless, in the tabernacle we begin to see Gods plan to dwell with mankind being worked out. God, however unapproachable, is, in the tabernacle, dwelling in the midst of His people, and we continue to see this expounded throughout the books of the law.
As we continue on in history we come to a man named David, a man after Gods own heart. And David had the desire to build a house for God. For several hundred years now God has been dwelling in a tent, and David desires to build for Him a more permanent structure. But in 2 Samuel chapter 7 the Lord sends Nathan the prophet to David to tell him, essentially, "You're not going to build Me a house. I've given that task to your son who will come after you." He says in verses 12-13 - "When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." Yes, He was speaking of Solomon, but He was looking past Solomon to a greater than Solomon. One whose throne would be established forever. One who would be there very Son of God, for God says "I will be a Father to Him, and He shall be a Son to Me." This is a verse that is used in the book of Hebrews to refer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

So David proceeded to make preparations for the building of the temple, but it was Solomon, his son, who would actually carry out the work of building a house for God. In the early chapters of 2 Chronicles we're given the account of the building of the temple and when we come to the end of chapter 5 the temple is completed and the glory of the Lord fills it to such an extent that the priests could not even stand to minister because the glory of the Lord was filling the house. In chapter 6 Solomon stands on a platform in the midst of the congregation of Israel, he gets down on his knees, spreading his hands toward heaven, and he begins to talk to God.

As he prays the wonder begins to fill Solomon, and the question comes to his mind in verse 18 - "But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven, and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have built?" Can you hear the wonder in Solomons voice? This is the Almighty God. This is the One who created the materials I have used to build this house. He made the stone that this temple is resting on. This is the One who created the trees that make up the structure and the gold that covers it. He's the One who created all these things. This is the God who flung the stars into space and knows them. This is the God who is enthroned on high, heaven cannot even contain Him. This is the One who humbles Himself to even behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth. This is the God who created each person standing here in the midst of the congregation. The God who knit each one of us together in our mothers wombs and has marked out the days of our lives. And Solomon is overwhelmed. "Is this God really going to dwell with mankind on the earth?"

Can you catch the wonder of this? Can you hear the astonishment and awe in Solomons voice as he asks this question? Don't miss this.

I think sometimes we can become so familiar with the accounts of Scripture that they become ordinary to us. The thought of God dwelling with His creatures, the thought of "Immanuel, God with us" is so common to us that it's easy for us to throw around these phrases and actually miss the wonder of God dwelling among us. Approach these truths as if you've never heard them before. Sometimes I think we lose the wonder due to familiarity. The reality of God with us has become commonplace. But think about what this truth meant to Solomon and those standing there. It wasn't until some 300 years later that Isaiah would prophesy of one who would be the answer to Solomons question. "Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." If heaven itself cannot contain God then how can this temple? Answer, it can't. But the wonder of the incarnation is that what man could not do through Solomons temple, God Himself did through the wonder of the incarnation. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." God became Immanuel. Colossians 2:9 tells us that in Jesus all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form.

So we come to Matthew 1 and we read that the baby in the manger is "Immanuel" which translated means, "God with us." So why is this different? How is this different than Gods presence with the patriarchs? How is this different from the Lords presence in the Tabernacle or the Temple? In the incarnation God became what He had never been before. Throughout Biblical history we see that God has a desire to dwell amongst His people. With the temple and the tabernacle it was a place for the Lords name to dwell, A place for the Lord to dwell in the midst of His people, but in both cases God is unapproachable. In both the tabernacle and the temple man is separated from God and we are unable to come into His presence. By the end of the Old Testament that veil is stilling saying "stay back!" The sacrifices are still needed. The priesthood is still in place. Because none of these things were able to deal with the problem of mans sin or bring us into the presence of God. Even in the temple Gods presence wasn't able to abide. Ezekiel tells us that the sin of Israel became so great and they began to even defile Gods house and make it into a place for worshiping false gods. And Ezekiel see the Lords presence physically leaving the house of God. He couldn't stay there, even behind the veil.
This is why we can't take the Old Testament apart from the New Testament or the New Testament apart from the Old. It takes a whole Bible to make a whole Christian. In speaking of the Old Testament W.H. Griffith Thomas says, "It is a book of unfulfilled prophecies, unexplained ceremonies, and unsatisfied longings.  All of which are resolved in the New Testaments focus on Jesus Christ, who fulfills in His life the prophecies, explains in His death the ceremonies, and satisfies in His resurrection the longings." The Bible is a book about Jesus. and in the Lord Jesus God Himself came in human flesh as Gods answer to the Old Testament.
The Bible begins in Genesis chapter 3 with separation. After man sinned he was separated from the presence of God. Even when the Lords presence came down to dwell among the people in the tabernacle in the wilderness, there was always a veil that said, "stay back!" There was that constant reminder of separation. You cannot come near to God, you cannot approach Him. It was the same in the temple. Yes, Gods shekina glory is dwelling in the midst of His people, but you can't go into His presence "lest you die." From the time that sin entered the world separation took place. The old covenant was unable to bring us close to God or bring God close to us. As long as that veil remained there was a constant reminder of separation. But when we come to the New Testament we read of a different veil, the Word became flesh. As the hymn writer puts it,

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

Hail the incarnate Deity,

Pleased as man with men to dwell,

Jesus our Emmanuel.

The Lord Jesus, God veiled in human flesh. As Christ was dying on the cross we read that the veil of the temple was torn in two, symbolizing that the way into the presence of God was open, not by our doing, but because God made the way. It was in the tearing of the veil, namely, the flesh of Christ, that the way into Gods presence was opened. Yes, He was veiled in flesh, but that flesh was torn. And in Hebrews chapter 10 we read - "Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."Christ fulfilled the Old Testament sacrifices and prophecies in His death. He has made it possible for us to enter the presence of God, and in His resurrection He is our Great High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us.

Immanuel. God with us. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. In the Person of Immanuel we have Gods presence dwelling among us. The gospel of Matthew is book-ended with the presence of God. We begin in Matthew chapter 1 with "Immanuel, God with us." And we end in Matthew chapter 28 with the statement of Immanuel, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." How can it be? The reason for the incarnation was the atonement. "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich." The Bible begins, as I said, with separation, we were driven out from the presence of God. But the Bible draws to a conclusion in Revelation 21:3 with God dwelling among men. "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. "

In the words of Romans 8, "If God is for us, who can be against." Amazing truth, that God is for us. But even more amazing, God is not only for us, but He is with us. If we got what we deserved we would read nothing of God with us. Instead we would read of God against us. But in the Lord Jesus Christ God is not only for us, but He is Immanuel, God with us.

Isaiah 57:15 says - "For thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."" Isaiah 66:1-2 says - "Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word."" Yes, the Lord dwells on high, yes, heaven itself cannot contain Him. "But," He says, "I will dwell with the humble, the lowly, those who are low." God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. I love reading about the thief on the cross. Hanging there in open shame, getting the punishment that he deserves and without hope. He cries out, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And how did Christ respond? "Today you will be with Me in paradise." Where? "With Me." You mean God takes people like that? Sinners who are without hope? Yes. And He leaves pharisees behind. God dwells on high, and also with those who are contrite, and lowly of spirit. And though He dwells on high and humbles Himself even to behold things in heaven and earth, He humbled Himself far beyond that. "who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Veiled in flesh the God-head see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell,

Jesus, our Emmanuel. 

O holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us we pray;

Cast out our sin, and enter in; Be born in us today,

We hear the heavenly angels The great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel.