God Got Involved

When Mary came to Joseph to announce her pregnancy, Joseph was ready to break off their betrothal. Mary, it seemed, had been unfaithful. He knew it was not his child. But an angel of the Lord got involved.

The angel came to Joseph in a dream and said:

Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. —Matthew 1:20–21

Commenting on it, the Apostle and former taxman Matthew says:

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. —Matthew 1:22

And he quotes Isaiah 9:6

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” — Matthew 1:23

“Which,” Matthew translates, “means God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

God with us.

And the name Jesus means “YHWH saves,” YHWH being the personal, covenant name of the God of Israel.

YHWH saves by coming to be with us.

Put another way, God got involved. The Creator stepped into Creation to save his people from their sins. The Author didn’t stay on the outside but wrote Himself into the story, changing the narrative dramatically.

God got involved.

And He is still involved. He gives new birth to sinners and growth in spiritual maturity to His people through His Spirit.

We praise God because He’s a God who gets involved. Christmas—the Incarnation—is the ultimate display of the reality that our God gets involved. Hallelujah. Praise God.

How have you been changed by God’s involvement in your life?

May we at South Durham Church be a family who, when we see people in need—whether physically, spiritually, emotionally, or otherwise—get involved.

Let’s be the kind of people who get involved with the needs of others since God got involved with our greatest need: to be reconciled to Him.

I invite you to come get involved with needy people this Sunday at South Durham Church. We are all in need of grace and truth and love.

On Sunday, we’ll talk more about God with us from Colossians 1:15-20. Read through it a couple of times in advance to prepare your heart to hear from God.

And if you want to get involved in serving others this Christmas season, we have two opportunities for you to serve the homeless next week: serve a meal or help assemble care packages.

-Adam