The purpose of this devotional is to help prepare you for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. You may do this as your own quiet time, but we would encourage you to gather some family or loved ones to go through it together.

Immanuel comes from the Hebrew words IM which means with and EL which means God. Together they mean “With Us Is God”. Why was it necessary for God to become one of us?

1. So that we might know God. There is only so much you can know about a person without actually meeting them. God came to show us exactly who He is and how we are to live. The word became flesh and dwelt among us.

A small voice penetrated the stillness of the night from the bedroom across the hall. "Daddy, I’m scared!" The father responded, "Honey, don’t be afraid, Daddy’s right across the hall." After a very brief pause the little voice spoke again, "I’m still scared." The father thought and again responded, "You don’t need to be afraid. God is with you. God loves you." After a long pause the voice returns, "I don’t care about God, Daddy; I want someone with skin on!" The logic used by the little child is precisely the reason for the Incarnation. After thousands of years of being unsuccessful in being able to convince his people that he really loved them, our Creator realized that the best way to demonstrate his love for us was to send "someone with skin on."

2. So that God might know us.

Joseph Damien was a nineteenth-century missionary who ministered to people with leprosy on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. Those suffering grew to love him and revered the sacrificial life he lived out before them. One morning before Damien was to lead daily worship, he was pouring some hot water into a cup when the water swirled out and fell onto his bare foot. It took him a moment to realize that he had not felt any sensation. Gripped by the sudden fear of what this could mean, he poured more hot water on the same spot. No feeling whatsoever. Damien immediately knew what had happened. As he walked tearfully to deliver his sermon, no one at first noticed the difference in his opening line. He normally began every sermon with, "My fellow believers." But this morning he began with, "My fellow lepers." God came to earth so that he could identify with us!

3. So that we would be saved. Jesus was born with the sole purpose of giving his life for ours. That is why he came to the earth. He became our ticket to heaven by his death on the cross. What an awesome plan that our God had!

Question: Why is it so important that Jesus was fully God and fully man? -Troy Jester, Discipleship Pastor