(33.) On Christ as Emmanuel
(33.) On Christ as Emmanuel.
“Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, Son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” (Matthew 1:20-24, and Isaiah 7:14).
Emmanuel (Greek spelling of the Hebrew Immanuel): Emmanu-El; literal meaning in Hebrew is “With us, God;” it is often translated as “With us is God,” “God with us,” or “God is with us.” The name Emmanuel speaks of the eternal reality that our Creator has a strong desire to be in our midst, dwelling with us. Emmanuel is a promise that implies the ongoing, permanent presence of God with us. Miraculously, our heavenly God is with us, His earthly people. God the Father is the first Emmanuel, exiling Himself from the Garden after they sinned against Him. Creator God hasn’t left the side of humanity ever since. God the Son continued the same quality of the Godhead, the next Emmanuel in line, when he took on flesh and became incarnate and was with us through thick and thin, through life and death and then life again. The third and final divine Emmanel is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love shared by the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit was called the “paraclete” by Jesus, that Greek term meaning “called to come alongside” us. Thus, there is this astounding with-ness to the Trinity that assures us of God’s everlasting presence with us. We need never feel alone as we have believers with us who extend God’s presence through their ministries to us.
Hineini, or Hineni: A Hebrew word combining “hineh“, “Behold,” and “ani,” meaning “Here I;” so the literal translation of hineni is “Behold, I am;” it is generally translated in the Hebrew Bible as “Here I am.” Hineni is the declaration of one’s presence and willingness to act. It could be a response to God, to an angel, of a child to a parent, or a servant to a master. The biblical hineni means: Here I am, you have my full attention; I am at your service; I am completely available to you; Whatever you want, I am all in; I am in total readiness to listen to you; I will not hesitate to respond to whatever you might say; I am committed to what you say to me. The willingness of biblical characters to say henini can be seen throughout the Hebrew Bible: Isaiah said it in his famous calling, little boy Samuel said it in the Temple, Moses said it at the burning bush, Jacob said it during one of his night-time visions, and Abraham responded to God with a hearty hineni three separate times. Surprisingly, in Isaiah 58:9, we find that the Lord Yahweh is the one declaring hineni. God in this passage said, “Here I am” to sinful Israel, and by extension to all of us. Amazingly, we find here the Lord of the universe establishing Himself as the one standing at attention, ready to listen, available and at their service. Another aspect of hineni is the implication that the one saying hineni is also suggesting here… Here I am, I’m right here, look at me while I’m looking at you. I am available to you, and I want you to likewise be available to me. So with God’s hineni, we see His Lordship as well as His humility, His authority as well as His presence and availability. There are at least ten other passages in the Hebrew Bible when God declares hineni, saying Behold, here I am, right here with you, including Isaiah 52:6, 58:9, 65:1; Ezekiel 5:7-9 and 6:1-7; Jeremiah 30:18-27 and 33:2-9; Zephaniah 3:17-30; Zechariah 8:7-8).
The Personal Story Behind The Afters’ Song ‘God Is With Us’ | DeWayne Hamby (patheos.com)
Like Father, like Son. When Yahweh speaks in the Hebrew Bible, He is actually putting words into His Son’s mouth. Jesus went on record as saying that He doesn’t do or say anything unless He first sees the Father doing or saying it. Jesus said that the words He speaks have already been spoken by the Father who sent Him. (John 5:19 and 14:24). So when the Father said, “Behold, here I am!” Jesus didn’t hesitate to flesh out those words during His earthly ministry. Because He had such a public ministry, Jesus shouted out “Here I am” by His mere presence. Look here I am, look at me, I am in your midst, I am God with you, Emmanuel. Jesus embodied Yahweh’s declaration of presence by remaining Emmanuel for the world. Wonderfully enough, the last words of Jesus before His Ascension were, “Behold, here I am (adou ego, which is the Greek equivalent to hineni), I am with you every day, always and forever, to the very end of the age. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20).
Isn’t it wonderful that Creator God decided right there in the Garden of Eden that His omnipresence wasn’t enough?
And now for heavenly worship from Nigeria, led by a worship pastor there, Rev. Nathaniel Bassey:
EMMANUEL – NATHANIEL BASSEY Feat. GRACE OMOSEBI & IFIOK EZENWA – YouTube