“ Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” Isaiah 7:14 NLT
You may be thinking this is a ‘Christmas in July’ devotion, well almost, but not quite. My church is having Vacation Bible School this week with the theme ‘Wonder Junction’ a curriculum from ‘Answers in Genesis’. (1) It’s a week of wondering about Jesus and what better way to start than with His birth. Since we really don’t know exactly when Jesus was born, it could have been in July, so we may not be that far off. The main thing is Jesus did come down from heaven to be born of a virgin. Jesus, Immanuel is God with us.
The birth of Christ doesn’t cover a lot of pages in the Bible. In fact, there are only four chapters in Scripture that tell us the story. They are the first two chapters in each of the New Testaments books of Matthew and Luke. We have many references to Jesus the Messiah coming into the world scattered throughout the Old Testament. Our text verse notes that a virgin will give birth to Him who is called Immanuel, ‘God with us’. Of all the verses the predict Jesus’ birth, the most significant ones are those declaring His deity as God the Son. The prophet Isaiah also wrote this of the coming Messiah, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Is.9:6 nlt)
It is vital for our salvation that Jesus is indeed God the Son. A perfect sacrifice was needed to pay the debt owed to God the Father for our sins. We could never pay it, but Jesus could, because He was the sinless Son of God, perfect in every way and willing to sacrifice His life for our salvation. Yes, let us remember Christmas is all about ‘God with us’ whether we celebrate it in July or on December 25th.
Word for the Soul 
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