From Emmanuel to Christ in you

“God with us.” 

In Exodus 33:15, Moses said to the Lord, “...If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”

Every prophet of the Old Testament understood that God had to be with them. It was very important, and then the message came about the birth of Jesus. That was the hope of the Old Testament; the hope of Israel. But He came among them and many of them failed to recognize Him; yet, that was Emmanuel!

Thanks be unto God that He’ll come again, and He’ll live among them for one thousand years during His millennial reign! But Christianity, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, isn’t “Emmanuel.” 

As read in our theme verse, Jesus said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter (the Holy Spirit), that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16).

 The Holy Spirit brings the presence of God.

The 17th verse says, “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” 

The phrase “he dwelleth with you” is Emmanuel, and many of them believed in Him as the Messiah, the anointed One.

They understood that God Himself came and dwelt among them in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

 However, the vision was the latter part of that verse: “He shall be in you” not just  “with you.” 

That’s the promise of the Gospel—the transition from Emmanuel to “Christ in you.” Hallelujah!

Christ in you became a vital reality in your life the moment you were born again. From then on, no need to ever “seek God’s face”; He’s in you and you’re in Him—mingled with Him as one divine creation. If the Gospel you’ve preached or received doesn’t include that God Almighty has come to live inside you, it’s time to wake up to this reality.

 This is Christianity. Never make light of it. Praise God!
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