SCRIPTURE: Matthew 1
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
(Read my reflection from 2008)
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). [Matthew 1:22-23, Isaiah 7:14]
Ever since humanity rebelled against God, we have lost our ‘face to face’ fellowship with God; we can no longer walk with Him in the garden [Genesis 3:7].
Sin, like an affair in a marriage, estranges a couple and makes harmony and intimacy next to impossible, without major healing and mercy.
We are born estranged from God, disconnected from His presence, tossed on the stormy seas of life without a sail or rudder or anchor.
But for centuries God has been moving closer to us, taking steps to restore our close relationship with Him – the major healing and mercy mentioned above!

Through Jesus, through His life, death and resurrection, all the barriers that stand between us and God have been removed.
Through Jesus, humanity and divinity are once again in harmony and intimacy.
This is why He is called Immanuel, ‘God with us’!
Through Jesus, God has once again walked in the (weed-infested) garden, and has done what is needed to restore Eden.

Life without God unravels, slowly but surely.
Life without God is barren, shallow, dysfunctional, empty.
What humans crave most deeply, whether they recognize it or not, is harmony and intimacy with God first of all.
All other relationships – with ourselves, with others, with the world around us – depend on this core relationship.
Centered in God, we have everything we need to live joyful, fulfilled lives with ourselves, others and the world.

Jesus Christ is God as a human, living among us; the Holy Spirit is His personal presence and power, in us.
Because of Jesus, God is over us (the Father), with us (the Son) and in us (the Spirit).
We are covered, surrounded and filled, and our lives are slowly coming back together.
The genealogy of the world, like the genealogy of Jesus Christ, is a mixed bag of good and bad and ugly, but through it all Jesus (God) comes back to us, to once again live in and with us in this world.
It’s a joy to celebrate Christ’s birth in the world, but it’s most critical that we accept Christ’s birth in our hearts, because only then can we experience His presence with us.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. [Matthew 28:20]

PRAYER:
Lord, I do not only want to know about You, I want to live in close fellowship with You. Thank You for Your presence in the world, but especially for Your presence in me!