Spoken word: God with Us
The people had read of this RESCUE that was coming through the bloodline of Abraham…
They had seen where Micah proclaimed about a RULER to be born in Bethlehem…
Daniel prophesied about the RESTORATION of Jerusalem…
Isaiah’s cry about the Son of God COMING to them…
So for them it was ANTICIPATION…
This GROANING was growing, generation after generation,
Knowing He was HOLY, no matter what the situation,
But they LONGED for Him…
They YEARNED for Him…
They WAITED for Him on the edge of their seat,
On the edge of where EXCITEMENT and containment meet,
They waited…
Like a CHILD watches out the window for their father to return from work.
they waited…
Like a GROOM stares at the double doors at the back of the church
they waited…
And in their waiting, they had HOPE,
Hope that was fully pledged to a God they had not seen,
To a God who had promised a KING,
A King who would REIGN over the enemy,
Over Satan’s tyranny,
They waited…
So it was centuries of EXPECTATIONS, with various combinations of differing schools of thought…
Some people expecting a political king who would rise to the throne through the wars that he fought…
While others expecting a priest who would restore peace through the penetration of the Pharisee’s facade…
Yet a BABY…
100% human, 100% GOD.
So the Word became flesh and was here to DWELL among us.
In His fullness,
grace upon grace,
JESUS.
You see through Him and for Him, all things were created,
And in Him all things are SUSTAINED.
God had made Himself KNOWN for the glory of His name.
And this child would one day rise as KING,
But it would not be by the sword or an insurgent regime,
It would be by His LIFE…
A life that would REVOLUTIONISE everything the world knew.
He would ENDURE temptation and persecution too,
all while staying TRUE.
Humbly HEALING the broken,
the sick and hurting too.
Ministering RECONCILIATION,
turning the old to NEW.
A life that would be the very definition of what life really COSTS.
Saying if you desire LIFE, then your current one must be lost.
And He would portray that with His OWN life as His Father would pour out and exhaust.
And Jesus would be obedient to the point of death, even death upon the CROSS.
So just 33 years after the day that He laid swaddled in the hay…
He hung on a tree,
suffocating, dying in OUR place,
Absorbing wrath that is rightly OURS,
but we could NEVER bear the weight,
So He took that punishment and he put it in the GRAVE.
And He DIED.
And when I say that He DIED, what I mean is that He DIED…
No breath…
no heartbeat…
no sign of life…
God is a God of JUSTICE, and the penalty for our sin equals DEATH.
That’s what Christ DID on that cross.
Then… On the third day…
in accordance with scriptures,
He was RAISED from the grave.
And when I say that He was RAISED, what I mean is that He was RAISED..
Lungs breathing,
heart pumping,
blood pulsing through His veins.
The things that He promised were TRUE,
He is the risen SON OF GOD, offering life to me and you.
Turning our mourning into DANCING,
Our weeping into LAUGHING,
Our sadness into JOY.
By His mercy, we are called His OWN,
By His grace, we will NEVER be left alone,
By His love, He is preparing our HOME,
By His BLOOD, we can sing before His throne.
So now we, as His bride, are the ones WAITING,
Like the saints that came before, we’re ANTICIPATING.
He has shown us that this world is fading,
And He has caused our DESIRE to be for Him.
So church, stay READY,
Keep your heart focused and your eyes steady.
WORSHIP Him freely, never forgetting,
HIS GREAT LOVE FOR YOU
The Immanuel, GOD WITH US
