Jesus Christ is Immanuel: God with us. He is the very representation and likeness of God. He was sent to show us the beauty and majesty of the King. Jesus Christ did not make His debut on that first Christmas morning in Bethlehem. He existed before creation “in the beginning.” In fact, it was “through Him” that “all things were made.” (John 1:3) Even when we look back to the book of Genesis, we read that God said, “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26) referencing the presence of Christ.
The Word John speaks of as he opens his Gospel presentation is none other than Jesus Christ. We know this because later, in verse 14, John tells us, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Imagine the depth of that reality. The Word, who is God, came down to dwell among us.
Jesus walked among us. He was flesh, bones, sinew and blood, and yet He was also the perfection of the divine. At one moment He was hungry because He was fully human. The next moment, He miraculously fed 5,000 because He was fully God. He could be thirsty because He was fully human, but He could walk on water because He was fully God. Because Jesus was fully human, He could grow in knowledge, but because He was fully God He also knew what people were thinking. One moment Jesus agonized on a cross and died because He was fully human. Three days later, He rose from the grave because He was fully God.
We read, “God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him.” (Colossians 1:19)
Without Immanuel – Jesus, we would have no chance of fully understanding God. “No one has ever seen God, but the only begotten Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.” (John 1:18)
How does God make Himself known? Through Immanuel: God with us. To understand and know Jesus is to understand and know God.