In
Matthew 1:23 the angel says to Joseph that Mary will have a son and the baby is
from God and they are to call His name Immanuel. Immanuel means God with us.
Jesus
didn’t come just to secure our salvation; He also came to show us God and to
show us what God will do.
What
does it mean that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us?
In
Hebrews 13:5 we are told that Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you.
This
promise means that we will never face anything alone. That whatever we face,
Jesus will face it with us and He is greater than whatever we face.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that every day Jesus will be with
us as His followers.
1
John 3:16 says that by this we know love, that He laid down His life for us,
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Jesus
loves us and laid down His life for our sins. The love that Jesus has for us is
not just an emotional love or a theological love. It is a love that is action.
He loved us and showed it by giving His life for us.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing the love of Jesus in our lives
in the everyday things of life.
In
1 John 4:18 it says that there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out
fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected
in love.
Jesus
with us means that not only does He love us but that His love is so strong that
we can have confidence no matter the circumstances.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is, that by experiencing the love of Jesus, it
removes any fear we have of anything in our lives.
Jesus
being Immanuel, God with us means that Jesus will always be with us and that He
will always love us and that His love will remove fear from our lives.
But
we as followers of Jesus also have the Holy Spirit who indwells us.
In
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Paul says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
for you were brought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.”
We
have the Holy Spirit who:
Reveals
truth to us
Enlightens
us
Empowers
us
Seals
us
Guides
us
The
Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.
The
Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Advocate, our Comforter.
According
to Romans 8:9 He is the Spirit of Christ and His presence in our lives verifies
that we belong to Jesus.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is having the Holy Spirit filling and
indwelling our lives.
Just
as Jesus was God with us, He was God in the flesh, and He came to walk among us
as humans and show us God. He showed us what God would do in the daily circumstances
of life and how God relates to people in real life.
Just
as Jesus was with the people in first century Israel, so through the Holy
Spirit Jesus is with us today. We as His followers are the hands and feet of
Jesus and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what Jesus did.
With
Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,
Joe