The Messiah is Immanuel, ‘God with us.’ The filling of the Tabernacle with the glory of God, and later the Temple, were events foreshadowing the coming of the Messiah, who, after providing the way of salvation through his sacrifice, has ushered in God’s presence, not in a tabernacle, but in our hearts, by the Spirit as a foretaste and security deposit, until we see Him face to face. He is ‘God with us.‘ “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” –which means, “God with us.” (Matt 1:23) “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Rev 21:3) In this present age, God is with us, as Jesus himself promised: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), as well as our Father’s assurance, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10). The larger narrative of the filling of the Tabernacle, and in fact, of the whole Bible, is that God himself came, in the person of Jesus, to rescue us and be with us forever. God has come to dwell with us, by faith.
All of this looks forward to something, the home Jesus promised to prepare for us, the home we’ve been longing for all our lives, the home where he is present, not by faith, but by sight. We long for everything to be made right. Jesus called this the regeneration, and the same power that brings about the regeneration is in the gospel through which we receive life.
Regular & Late Start Plan
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