Immanuel
by Bernard Kariuki
From Genesis we know that everything in creation came into existence by God’s word. But when God created human beings, He didn’t use words. He used His hands to create Adam and Eve, and even shared His own breath with them. We are all wonderfully and fearfully made in His image, the only creation that has the honour of bearing His image. Connection, intimacy, relationship and fellowship between mankind and God was birthed. Adam and Eve spent time together with God in the cool of the day, as God visited them in the garden.
That beautiful fellowship was broken when Satan tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God’s instructions and eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. At the fall, they were separated from the Giver of life. Sin had disconnected mankind from God for the first time ever.
But it was always God’s desire to have fellowship with mankind and, immediately after the fall, He spoke of His plan for restoring that broken relationship. He said that there would be a descendant coming from the woman who would crush Satan’s head. God had a mission to redeem mankind and restore the fellowship and relationship. He spoke of His plan throughout the generations and Isaiah was told the name of the Redeemer would be ‘Immanuel’ which means God with us And, as a baby in a manger, Immanuel, Jesus, finally arrived in our world. His name was a reminder of God’s heart to be with His people.
Jesus is no longer in a manger, but He is standing right next to you, knocking at the door of your heart. He longs to be with you. He wants to be with you, so that He can be your light, your peace, your healer, your comforter and your ‘all in all’ in this broken world which is full of hatred, conflicts, turmoil, animosity and darkness.
In this world of darkness, we need ‘Immanuel’. ‘Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness’ (Luke 11:35). He desires for us to run to Him and let Him be our refuge. We can hide us under His wings and be protected from the scorching sun by day and moon by night. He is the shade at our right hand.
We know that Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas, so, let us reflect on how we choose to spend this season.
Bernard Kariuki is from Kenya, and married to Yulia from Russia. They met in Ellel Ministries and served together for many years at both Ellel Scotland and Ellel Grange. Bernard has the desire to share the Word of God with young people, for he desires to see young people walking in holy fear of the Lord.
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
