Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.
– Isaiah 7:14
Wow. This is a prophecy in Isaiah that is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus where the New Testament points back to Isaiah 7:14, to describe Jesus as Immanuel, God with us, which is a mind-blowing, mind-boggling reality when you think about it.
Isaiah 7:14 teaches that in Jesus, God has come to the world.
For many of us who are followers of Jesus, when we hear Immanuel, God with us, it almost sounds commonplace to us, which in one sense is glorious that this reality sounds common to us. But just think about what this means. In Jesus, God has come to us to the world. We’re about to pray for the Afar people of Djibouti and Eritrea and Ethiopia.
This is a Muslim people group of almost 3 million men, women, and children who don’t believe this who’ve along with a billion other people in the world who are Muslims, grown up believing that there’s no way God would come to be with us. That Jesus is not God in the flesh, that he’s a prophet, that he’s a good prophet, but he’s not God.
Isaiah 7:14 reminds us Jesus is more than a prophet or teacher, He is the living God.
The glorious reality of Isaiah 7:14 that we see fulfilled in the New Testament is that Jesus is more than just a prophet. He is God with us, God in the flesh. God came to us not just sending this or that prophet, God came to us, to the world, to save us from our sins, and that is mind-boggling and mind-blowing. And then to realize what happened after that, Jesus came to the world, God with us, lived a perfect life of no sin, died on the cross for us.
God in the flesh, giving his life for us, shedding his blood for our sins, and then rising from the dead and then ascending to heaven and sending His Holy Spirit to dwell inside every person who places their faith in Jesus. So as a follower of Jesus today, you are living with God with you. God in you, His spirit in you. Does this not change everything about how you view your life today? Like God is in you, God is with you. Don’t forget this reality. All day long, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
God dwells within you, which means no matter what you’re walking through, no matter how hard it gets, God is with you. No matter what sin you’re tempted with, you have power to overcome that sin. As you have opportunities to share the gospel, you have the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of God in you to help you share the gospel. This changes everything about how we live.
This verse reminds us that Jesus is worthy of all glory in heaven and earth.
So we pray, God, we glorify your name today for the reality of Isaiah 7:14, that you have come to us. Jesus, we praise you as God with us. We praise you as Immanuel. We praise you for coming to us, for living among us, for dying on the cross for us, for rising from the dead. All glory be to your name, Jesus, God in the flesh, fully human, fully divine, the mystery of the incarnation.
There is no one like you and God, no one like you, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, for sending your Holy Spirit to dwell in us so that today we could live in the reality of you with us. God, help us to do so. Help me help every person who’s listening to us today to live in the reality that you are with us.
Prayer for the Afar People
Help us to remember when we face challenges and trials and temptations today, that we are not alone. That You are with us, in us, leading us, guiding us, empowering us. Oh God, we pray that by your power within us, You would help us to share the gospel with boldness today with people around us that we might introduce them to You with them. Oh God, we want all people to experience the joy, the life, the strength, the hope that’s found in You with them. God, we pray this for the Afar people of Djibouti and Eritrea and Ethiopia. God, we pray that the good news of who Jesus is more than just a prophet, but God in the flesh would spread to the Afar people that they might know Jesus as Immanuel, God with them. We pray this for Muslim people, groups all around the world.
Oh God, we pray all of this in light of your Word in Isaiah 7:14, and we praise You for this reality in Isaiah 7:14. Help us even as this reality is common to us, help us never to get over how mind-boggling and mind-blowing it is that You are with us. In Jesus’ name, who makes that possible, Immanuel. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
