There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12 NLT
Have you ever met a celebrity? Is there anyone whose name you could drop in a “name-dropping” standoff? We had a couple of friends who could go on for hours, bantering back and forth about famous people they had encountered, people with recognizable names and faces, and for one reason or another they rubbed shoulders with them for a moment. Our young sons loved to hear it and occasionally would throw in a name or two themselves. Because we lived on the back of Firestone Country Club where the Pro-Am Golf tournament was played for many of their growing-up years, they had a stack of celebrity autographs.
But for all of the tales shared, that was as far as any of them got. A few short words of conversation, an autograph, maybe personally inscribed, but that was it. It was simply a name to remember, nothing that ever changed anything in the slightest.
Emmanuel, God with us, is so different – almost indescribably so. His name brings the gift of salvation. He didn’t come to hand out autographs, to inspire, to teach. He came to do something we could never do for ourselves. God through Jesus became one of us to save us. He lived the way we could never live, He died a sacrificial death we could never die to pay a debt we could never pay. He is the ONLY name in all of time and eternity that has the power to save us.
God with us saves us from our sins and from ourselves.
God with us saves us, not just for heaven but for life right now. Eternal life begins the moment we accept His invitation, and we begin to experience God Himself walking with us. It is growing significance and satisfaction.
God with us saves us from aloneness and isolation. Whatever we are facing, He is with us. Salvation is an event, but it also keeps happening. Because He is God with us, we find He is continually saving and delivering us as we become closer and closer to the God who is with us.
And God with us saves us to be the sharers of the Good News and salvation bringers to our world in need. God so loved the WHOLE world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not be separated from God forever but have everlasting life (John 3:16). We are saved to share it! He is with us! It is why we are here.
- Whom do you know who needs God with us? Make a list of two people you will target in love, life, and prayer in 2025.