ABUNDANT LIFE VISION
Love to the world. Matthew 1:18-23
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. [19]Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. [20]As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. [21]And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” [22]All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: [23]“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” NLT.

The aim of the gospel is to reveal God to the world. Prior to the coming of Christ, the people (the chosen nation of Israel) did not fully understand God or know him as they ought to. This made the coming of Jesus significant because he revealed the nature of God to us. Hebrews 1:1-3: Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. [2]And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. [3]The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. NLT. The nature of God was fully revealed through Jesus and anything he did not reveal about God is not a true description of God.

One of the things about God revealed by Jesus is that God is love. John 13:35: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. GW. I have always explained love as giving a face to the invisible God on earth. It is because love reveals God, whenever God’s love is in action, God is revealed to the whole world.

Therefore, when we say love to the world, we are saying; God coming to the world to live with us. The last verse of our text calls Jesus “Immanuel: which means “God is with us:. Immanuel can also be interpreted as “God incarnate”. God incarnate has two major interpretations;

1. God lived with mankind during the time Jesus came to the world. Jesus lived with the people in Israel back then, he ate with them and he worked both physically and spiritually among them before his death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven.

2. God lives in us through his Spirit in this dispensation. Since the fall of man in the garden of Eden, man did not have the luxury of having intimate relationship with God until Jesus repaired the damage sin brought between man and God. As a result, as long as we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is the Lord and saviour, his Spirit lives in us confirming that we belong to God. Romans 8:14-16: For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. NLT.

The love of God to the world is the coming of Jesus who came to reveal the perfect image of God to us and to show us the path to heaven. As a result, if you have not given your life to Jesus, I urge you to do so now by saying this prayer; Dear Jesus, I believe that you died for my sins and you resurrected on the third day by the power of God, please forgive my sins and write my name in the book of life and I will serve you forever. Amen. If you have recited the prayer, I congratulate you and I urge you to join a bible believing church as you start your journey in Christ.

God bless you.