Jesus was also called Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23). Emmanuel means ‘God with
us.’ This is the great message that comes to us from the first chapter
of the New Testament. God has not remained in heaven. He has come to
earth. Along with the Name, Emmanuel, there is the better - known Name -
Jesus. The Name of Jesus means “He saves” (Matthew 1:21,25). In the two
Names - Emmanuel and Jesus, we have the Good News of our salvation. God
has come to earth - that’s the meaning of the Name, Emmanuel. He has
come to save us - that’s the meaning of the Name, Jesus.
The wise men
did want to worship Jesus (Matthew 2:2). Herod said that he wanted to
worship Jesus (Matthew 2:8). What a difference there is between saying
that we want to worship Jesus and really wanting to worship Him. This
highlights the conflict between false religion and true worship.
Religion may say the right things, but, if we don’t really mean what we
say, our words will not make any difference to the way we live. This
kind of religion is worthless. What does God say to us about this kind
of religion? - “God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod”
(Matthew 2:12). God is still warning His people to steer clear of empty
religion. When we come to the Lord, we must not come with empty words -
words that we don’t really mean. Our worship is to shape our life. How
is our worship to change our way of living? Real worship arises out of
salvation. This is very different from religion. Religion says more
about ourselves than it says than it says about our Saviour. Salvation
is not about us. It’s about Jesus, our Saviour. When He is the focus of
our attention, we will learn to worship Him and live for Him.
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