Immanuel...God With Us Have you ever wondered how Mary planned for her baby’s arrival knowing she carried the Son of God in her womb? Did she make special arrangements or envision how God would provide the perfect time and place worthy of Immanuel’s birth? Would it be a quiet place with just her and Joseph or a spectacular event? She probably pictured it a hundred different ways, but most likely never considered a stable so far away from home. Yet, in God’s soverign plan that is exactly how Immanuel came into this world. It was there she laid His tiny, precious body in a straw-filled trough from which animals ate. Not only did God come to man as a baby, but He was born in the most humble circumstances. This birth of the Highest and Holiest in a stable seemed to foretell his life 33 years later when Jesus, sinless Himself, took on the sins of humanity and died on the cross as our sacrifice. That was the purpose of His birth...to save from sin and provide a way for mankind to once again have a personal relationship with God. What purpose...What obedience...What love. "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" – which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:21-23