I’m going to geek out a little bit here at the very beginning, so hang tight with me if you’re not into science fiction. When it comes to stories—books, TV shows, movies—I really like series. I like things that continue on and tell a story that builds over time.
Sitcoms wrap everything up in 30 minutes. Same people every week, but the story doesn’t really continue. There was a science fiction show I really liked called Stargate Universe. The premise involved a puzzle that the brightest minds couldn’t figure out, a ship traveling through space, and a crew trying to understand how to control it. Little stories happened along the way, but the main thread was always this mystery they were trying to solve.
Then it ended in season two on a massive cliffhanger. And I really hate that, because it never gives you the end of the story. Hollywood does that—if they’re not making money on something, they’re not going to continue it just for the sake of finishing the story. So you’re left with this great narrative that just stops, and you’re stuck with it.
The thing I love about God is that God finishes the story.
As believers, we’ve read the end of the book. We know how it all turns out. But we don’t always follow the story all the way to the end, especially when we talk about the Christmas story. We understand it leads to the resurrection eventually, but it goes beyond that. Today I want to finish the loop and get all the way to the end of what it looks like.
God Sets It Up from the Beginning
God gives us so many examples through the Bible that reveal more and more how He was doing this from the very beginning. He was planning this all out.
In Matthew chapter 1:18-24, we read one of the Christmas stories. It says, “The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way. After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ Now, all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet… which is translated, God is with us. When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him, and he married her.”
We look at this scripture and we see this “God with us,” and this is a big deal. God with us—God came down as a man in Jesus Christ. It’s really phenomenal to think about because Jesus left heaven and all the glory of heaven and all the goodness of heaven and everything that is there to come down as a man.
It tells us that God valued us enough to send His very best. He didn’t send an angel. He didn’t send a prophet. He didn’t send someone from the past. He sends His very best, His very own Son.
It also tells us that God wanted us to be in His presence. God was setting this up all along. In the Old Testament, there was a way that people would come into His presence, and it was only for a select few, or when there was a prophet and God was working through a prophet. But now Jesus comes down—God with us, Emmanuel—and God wants us to be in His presence. When people were with Jesus, they were in the presence of God. God was fully man and fully God.
God was making this way, saying, “Hey, you don’t need to just go to the temple anymore and stand behind a curtain. You don’t need to sacrifice with an animal. No, God is coming down and He cares so much about you that He wants to be right in your presence. He wants to be right where you are. He wants you to be right where He is.” God with us.
The Prophecy of Isaiah and King Ahaz
One of the things we read in Matthew 1,:22, is that this was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. That prophet is Isaiah.
When we look at Isaiah and where this prophecy comes from, there’s some background we need to understand. This specific prophecy was given to King Ahaz of Judah. At this time, Israel had been divided for many years. You had the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel. Sometimes they got along, but a lot of the times they fought, depending on who was king.
King Ahaz of Judah was a very bad king. He was not a good king at all. He did things that were not accepted by God—a lot of bad stuff. But in the time we’re talking about, where this prophecy is given in Isaiah chapter 7, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel were coming against Judah. They decided to partner together and go against Judah, conquer it, get rid of King Ahaz, and put their own puppet king in place so they could control Judah.
King Ahaz was very worried that these two kings were aligning together, coming to fight against him, wanting to conquer his kingdom. That’s the background of what’s happening here. And it’s really important to understand that the Bible just wasn’t all spiritual—things that happen in Scripture happen in the physical too.
So God sends Isaiah to King Ahaz and essentially tells him, “Don’t worry about these two kings.” God uses the imagery of two smoldering sticks—the tail ends of firewood that are just about burned up. He’s saying their threat won’t last. And then God does something remarkable through Isaiah.
God says, “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God. It can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.” But Ahaz, in false piety, says he won’t ask and won’t test the Lord. Isaiah’s response is pointed: “Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God?”
Then comes the prophecy: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.”
Understanding the Bible Prophecy
This prophecy in Isaiah chapter 7 continues, telling us that before this child knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of these two kings that Ahaz dreads will be abandoned. There’s a near fulfillment happening in that moment—before a child born at that time would know right from wrong, these two threatening kings would be gone. It was a sign to Ahaz that he didn’t need to fear.
But Bible prophecy often has layers. There’s the near fulfillment, and then there’s the far fulfillment. The far fulfillment points to Jesus—the ultimate Immanuel, God with us.
In Isaiah 9, we see how it continues to unfold: “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.”
This is pointing to Jesus on the throne. This is showing us what Emmanuel—God with us—will ultimately look like.
The Christmas Story Is Just the Beginning
God spoke this through Isaiah, and we celebrate its fulfillment in the Christmas story. But here’s what we often miss: the Christmas story is like an appetizer. It’s getting us set up. It doesn’t diminish what Jesus did on the cross. It doesn’t diminish His work or anything like that. But the fulfillment of God with us goes far beyond the manger.
Right now, we experience the spiritual “God with us.” When you give your life to Jesus and ask Him to come into your heart, He gives you the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is in you and with you. We experience that reality now.
But one day, we will be face to face.
The Fulfillment of Emmanuel in Revelation
In Revelation 21, we see where this story has been heading all along. John writes, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed. I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: ‘Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist. Grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.'”
When I read this, this is the fulfillment of Emmanuel, God with us—when God declares that His dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
There will be no more threat to the Davidic dynasty. Jesus will take the throne, and He will be on the throne forever. There will be no more threat. There will be no climate of fear. He will wipe away every tear. There will be no death. God won’t have to command “do not fear” because we will be in a situation and an atmosphere of pure joy and pure peace.
God’s miraculous intervention of taking us from this world into the new world will be very, very evident. God will be with us. Emmanuel. Not just a spiritual understanding. Not just a physical presence with the baby Jesus. But a physical reality with God being there, dwelling among us. That is fulfillment. That is what we get to look forward to. That is what we should all long for.
The Story God Is Telling
The Christmas story is just a piece of the larger narrative. It’s when God’s plan started to become evident to people. But God had been setting it up from the very beginning.
One day we will be there in His presence, face to face. We experience the spiritual God with us right now. But as all of history comes to a conclusion, we will be face to face with Him. It will be God with us. We’ll look at each other, we’ll look around, and we’ll say, “God is with us, and we are with God.”
Unlike those Hollywood cliffhangers that never get resolved, God finishes the story. And He’s already shown us how it ends—with us in His presence forever. That’s the fullness of God with us. That’s what Emmanuel has been pointing to all along.
Peace,
Todd