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God with us. English Standard Version of the Bible used here.
(Mark all the correct answers.)

Isaiah 7:14… (ESV) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

— Rightfully much emphasis is given to the sign of a virgin giving birth to the Messiah, and we see the fact of such an impossibility as testimony to God’s hand in the birth of Jesus as the promised Savior of mankind.

— Sometimes the even greater sign of Immanuel (God with us) is neglected in our contemplations.

I ask you to think about our first question;

— Q1. Which is more important in time and eternity… (Number your answer, #1 or #2)

O – A virgin giving birth to a child.     O – God Himself coming to live as a man, and die for our sins.

We need to be careful to keep our thoughts of Christmas on that fact of God with us (Immanuel), for our thinking may easily be diverted to focussing on Mary, and other factors of this festive season.

I see that in many countries processions focused on carrying the figure of the Virgin Mary through the streets to celebrate Christmas, and I wonder who is central to their heart’s praise.

— God speaks to us from Isaiah 55:8-11… For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  (9)  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  (10)  “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,  (11)  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

— Q2. What do you think God is telling us in these verses? (Vs.8-9)

O – We had not yet attained an equal intelligence and understanding of God.

O – God’s understanding is and will always be superior to our own.

— Q3. What is THE POINT of God’s statement found in Vs.10-11?

O – God controls the weather.     O – God’s Words do not fail.     O – God takes care to make plants grow.

Digging further into God’s purpose found in Matthew 1:18-23… Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  (19)  And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.  (20)  But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  (21)  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  (22)  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:  (23)  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

— Q3. Whose seed is Mary giving birth to? (Vs.18)

O – Joseph’s.     O – Some unnamed lover’s.     O – God’s own given through His Holy Spirit.

— Q4. Speaking of earthly wisdom, whose seed did Joseph FIRST THINK she was carrying? (Vs.19)

O – His own.     O – Some unnamed lover’s.     O – God’s own given through His Holy Spirit.

— Q5. Does God leave Joseph sinking in his earthly anxieties? (Vs.20)

O – No, he sends an angel to comfort him.     O – God didn’t worry about Joseph he just expected obedience.

— Q6. What purpose of God is revealed to Joseph (and now to us) in Matthew 1:18-23?

O – God defending Isaiah’s reputation.     O – A display of God being able to give a virgin her own baby.

O – God giving His own Son to save all of mankind (For the sensitive, also womankind) from our sins.

I pray we all can see that God sending His Son, a very part of Himself, to come and live with all our sufferings in a human body, and to become our payment for sin, is the point and purpose of the Christmas account.

— I don’t like to say Christmas story, because this is not a story, it is the truth and the only hope for mankind.

— That fact excites me and makes me want to wish everyone everywhere, a VERY MERRY, AND MEANINGFUL CHRISTMAS. …(KK)

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