Emmanuel, which means “God with Us”

by Father Matta El Maskeen (Matthew the Poor)

If Christ has become the head and consummation of our faith, then through Him every one of us
now lives and moves and has our being! The instant we accept Him as God and Savior and are
ready to testify to that before all, even though it costs us our live, the true Christian life begins,
with Christ as its head and guarantor. As we resort to Christ before we speak, or talk, or work, or
make a decision, Christ truly lives in us, and we are not the ones who live. By this we enter into
the sphere of the glorious power; tasting, seeing, and feeling God's glory: "The glory which
though has not given me I have given to them" (John 17:22.) If a man stops feeling the warmth
of God's glory that Christ granted him, he may be sure that he has left the sphere of His presence.
If he is honest, then he will stop immediately and not move, speak, plan or walk. If he fails to do
this, the Divine power that works through Christ's presence will cease to function. When this
happens, he will stumble through life like a blind man groping along "and does not know where
he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes" (1 John 2:11.) "He who follows Me will
not walk in darkness" (John 8:12.)

So we realize that Christ's name "Emmanuel" is in itself a proclamation of Christ's work in our
lives as our guide and leader, and we must cling to Him as we cling to life itself. Life without
Emmanuel, meaning without God and His work in us with all His power as guide and leader,
ceases to be a Christian life in the Lord. It has lost its aim, even lost its way completely, like a
ship without a pilot, driven along by the waves.
It is for this reason that Christ said, "I am the way, and the truth and the life" (John 14:6.) Christ
reveals Himself as the one who must always be in us. If He is not, there will be no way, no truth,
and no life. He also says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end"
(Revelation 1:8.) He uses this name, because He knows the importance of His existence in our
lives. Without
Him our days will have no beginning or end, but will be as flat as the floor, unregistered in the
registry of life, like debris, unwritten by God's hand.
This is an alarming consequence and should cause us to review our lives on the basis of Christ's
existence in us and evaluate them according to the extent of His work in us as guide, organizer,
leader and teacher. How many times in the day do we turn to Him? How many times at night do
we seek His counsel? How many times do we cry out when we sense His absence? [1] How
many times do we weep, because He took no notice of us? [2] How many times does the Lord
keep silent and not answer us? [3] As a consequence of this, how many times do we fast for the
Lord to return to the house He prepared to live in through the Holy Spirit?
I was amazed, dear brethren, when I read the story of the Pakistani, Gulshan Esther. When Christ
appeared to her, among the words He said to her were, "I am Emmanuel" and "I am the way, and
the truth, and the life." He says this that we might return from the errant life we live without
Him, for there exists no other way in the world, but Christ; no truth, but Christ; no life, but
Christ! His gospel is our instruction every day and every night, and His name is our praise, our
strength, and our refuge. A cry in the name of Jesus Christ will summon either His instant
presence, an angel to stand and ward off the danger, or a cloud of angels to surround us.
Christ with us makes us stronger than a whole army. Whatever weapon the enemy may brandish
against it will be powerless. Life with Christ is stronger than death; death with Christ is eternal
life! If Emmanuel is with us, then who can stand against us?!

All of this makes us strive to be worthy of the status of Emmanuel, the status of existing with
Christ and Christ existing in us. We plan, keep vigil, pray, fast, and kneel before him day and
night. If we gain Christ, we will have gained life, but if our souls have grown tired and no longer
reach out for Him, then our lives will not be worth the food we eat. If we have angered Christ by
breaking His commandments, the only choice is bitter repentance, along with the confession of
sins in supplication to God through persistent praying, self-abnegation, and continuous mournful
praise, until God, on His mountain, shows mercy and removes His anger.
Christ is a competent intercessor and is able to bear our sins through His cross and his blood. No
sin is too great for Him to hear, for He said that every sin and blasphemy is forgiven except
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

The golden rule in dealing with Christ and His Spirit is to strictly observe everything that has to
do with His commandments. To break any commandment means we have turned our backs on
Christ
and have become dumb, not hallowing His name, resulting in the grieving of the Holy Spirit:
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 4:30.) For the Holy Spirit will not work or
answer cries or lamentations unless we purify ourselves through penitent worship, true
repentance and patience.
Those who have abandoned devotion for other activities, whatever they may be, will not savor
Christ. It is difficult for the Holy Spirit to inhabit an arrogant soul or for Christ to accept it. A
return to the nature of a child, in purity, gentleness, and meekness prepares us for the Holy
Spirit's abidance and Christ's coming to us. The nature of a child exists in every man, hidden in
the innermost part of his soul, but covered over by other natures through their deceitfulness. If a
man revives his childlike nature, it will and flourish at the voice of Christ and the works of the
Word. This was the basis for Christ's golden commandment: "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn
and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3.) This is
the only nature in man's life that is appropriate to the Kingdom's glory and its Inhabitant. It is
without treachery, lies, deceit, cunning, pride, and blemish; rather, it is with love, simplicity,
gentleness and meekness, confidence, hope, and faith. If not for the fact that all of us have this
nature dormant within us, Christ would not have persistently called us all, without exception, to
return to this nature--one that is in accord with Christ and God. "Let the children come to Me,
and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:14.) "See that
you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always
behold the face of my Father Who is in heaven" (Matthew 18:10.)

I was astonished when I read in Phoebe Abd El-Messih's account of meeting Christ, how Christ
said to her, "Look at Me. What do you see?" and she answered, "A child's face." I froze, and for
the first time, realized in faith and in fact that Divinity's greatness and glory is manifested in
childhood. This is a wonder, a complete wonder! Isn't His Name wonderful?! If the face of the
Lord of the Kingdom had not been that of a child, then He would not have been able to restrict
entry into the Kingdom to children. The spirit of childhood is in us. Its innocence and purity is
what qualifies us to have Christ come into our hearts and to have the presence of the Holy Spirit
in us.

What a joy to mankind that on Christmas day Divinity should come to us in the form of a child.
The childlike nature is established in our new creation as a divine living treasure, a qualification
for Christ to enter in us. By it, we will be worthy of our communion with the Father and Christ,
in preparation for a permanent life with Christ and God the Father. In His Eternal Kingdom, in
love, we will be saints without blame before the Father, praising the glory of the grace which He
bestowed on us through His beloved! This is like an angelic chorus before me, as the stature of
childhood is higher than that of angels. Christ begged the Father for this to become reality: "I
made known to them Thy Name, and I will make it known, that the love with which Thou hast
loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:26.) Can the Father's love overflow in us
unless we have the nature of a child by which we can cry out, "Abba, Father?" With this divine,
fatherly love working in us, Christ gave us the commandment to love our enemies! Without the
action of God's love in us, it is impossible for us to love even our brothers, let alone our enemies!
Love for one's enemies is the work of God alone. It is the love that filled the Father's heart
toward the world, the object of God's wrath, when He sent His Son to be a sacrifice on the cross,
"that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16.) Christ, on the
cross, became our connection with Divine love, and this seed, the seed of Divine love, enters the
world through faith in Him who was crucified. Thus Christ's requirement was fulfilled, that the
Father's love, with which the Father loved Christ the Son, should exist in us. Through this love
we were made alive and were loved as the new creation and given the grace to freely love both
those who love us and those who hate us.

How wonderful was the birth of the one who was named "Wonderful." This is what the Spirit
named Him through Isaiah's words: "Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and
shall call his name Emmanuel" (Isaiah 7:14) and "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
And his name will be called 'Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace'" (Isaiah 9:6.) Today, that which you have heard has been fulfilled!
Father Matta El Maskeen
The Eve of the Feast of the Nativity - January 6, 2000

Footnotes
1. Maybe through a lie we uttered carelessly, thinking it did not matter.
2. Maybe due to anger, envy, spirt, betrayal, or too much self-confidence that took hold of us,
because we considered it necessary to prove ourselves.
3. Because we continued to live on in terrible sin, the worst being impurity.