THE INCARNATION AND PRESENCE

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

The virgin birth is the incredible and glorious sign given by the Lord Himself. This also is the prophecy He gave in the garden, promising that the “Seed of the woman” would crush the head of the serpent when His heel was bruised. God Himself would come forth from the birth canal as a babe. The Holy Spirit overshadowed the humble virgin, so the Son was pure, perfect, and without sin. Moreover, His blood was untainted by the corruptions passed on from sinful men, so the Son’s blood was precious when spilt for the pardon of sins. Though He knew what sin was, and knew all men and the sin that was in them (John 2:24-25), He was not intimately acquainted with sin, nor was sin intimately acquainted with Him.

His name, Immanuel, עמנו (immanu, with us) and אל (el, God), means “God with us” (Matt 1:23). The Lord Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Tri-une God, became flesh and did tabernacle among depraved humanity (John 1:14). The incarnation brought God close to men because all men, from the beginning, departed from God. This rift was so distant, that dwelling with mankind was not enough. Immanuel was despised and rejected by men (Isa 53:3) and savagely beaten by them until He was unrecognizable as a human being (Isa 52:14); to the extent that they smote his back and tore His beard completely out from His face (Isa 50:6). He bore our iniquities (Isa 53:11), never once arguing that they were not His sins (Isa 53:7), while God poured out His wrath upon Immanuel according to His holy will (Isa 53:10a). Immanuel was raised from the dead with prolonged days (Isa 53:10b). Yet, because He took the penalty for sin, so that we, being “firm in faith,” may be established (Isa 7:9) with His righteousness accounted to us (2 Cor 5:21), God the Son dwells richly with us who believe. Immanuel, as the precious Treasure of heaven who came to earth, has promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5).

God with us, O excellent thought!
That by His precious life Christ bought
Our souls that we may be with Him,
For His shed blood frees us from sin.

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Today's M'Cheyne Reading Schedule: 5/9 - Num 17-18; Psa 55; Isa 7; Jas 1

If you don’t have one, get a free PDF copy of Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s “Daily Bread” Bible Reading Calendar by Clicking Here.

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