Emmanuel God with Us?

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel," which translated means, "God with us." -Matthew 1:23

Did you ever think about what it means for God to be with us? The one who mixed the stars with His fingers, who called light into shining. The God who with a word separated the oceans from the land. This God comes to earth, and He doesn't ride down on a falling star, He is born. Its hard to think about, i think because it seems so vast and bigger than anything we see in our daily lives. (little tangent.)

Anyway, this God wants us to call Him "God with us." Take a second and think, how do you respond to a God that wants to be with you? Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine God with you.

We know how the world responded to Jesus or Emmanuel when He was born.
Take your pick, no room at the inn, or Herod killing all the baby boys under two years old. Not a very welcoming environment for the Creator of all. It's almost like the world is saying, "God go away, we don't want you, we don't need you, leave us alone, or we will kill you!"

How arrogant does that sound? Why would we react this way to a Holy God?
I think it has to do with the fall in the garden, and our sin that separates us from God. We get used to being separated from Him, then when He shows up its kinda awkward.
Ever see someone when you were on bad terms, or you make that eye contact from a far. We try to avoid that don't we, because its awkward.

What does that mean for our worship, this Christmas?
God came to us, to bring us back to Him, and to conquer death! Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies, He didn't come just to save us, He came to take back all that belongs to Him. We like to think His only purpose was to save us, but God was writing the end of the story. When Jesus conquers death at Easter, all of creation and the keys of death are His. Those keys he uses to unlock our hearts, He send the spirit to be with us, and gives us HOPE.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
And i heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold the tabernacle of God is among men, and He weill dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain, the first things have passed away."
-Revelation 21:1-3

Hope, Hope is born