The Man who was crucified on Calvary’s tree,
Who died for my sins while I watched Him bleed;
The God who in love, gave up His crown and throne,
So we in His life could live in His home;
The Man who walked among men, in humility,
So we, in His glory, could finally be free;
The God who created the world, and yet dwells in us,
Gave up His power to show us His love;
The Man who did come to this world as a babe,
So we through His humility could be saved;
The God who is now yearning for His own,
Is in heaven for us, preparing our home;
The Man with the name that speaks of His love,
Is still Immanuel: God with us!
– Kari Matthews
This poem was inspired by chapter 1 from the book The Desire of Ages, by Ellen White. Here are the first few paragraphs (but you are encouraged to click on the title of the book and read the whole chapter!):
“His name shall be called Immanuel,…God with us.” “The light of the knowledge of the glory of God” is seen “in the face of Jesus Christ.” From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father; He was “the image of God,” the image of His greatness and majesty, “the outshining of His glory.” It was to manifest this glory that He came to our world. To this sin-darkened earth He came to reveal the light of God’s love,—to be “God with us.” Therefore it was prophesied of Him, “His name shall be called Immanuel.”
By coming to dwell with us, Jesus was to reveal God both to men and to angels. He was the Word of God,—God’s thought made audible. In His prayer for His disciples He says, “I have declared unto them Thy name,”—”merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,”—”that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” But not alone for His earthborn children was this revelation given. Our little world is the lesson book of the universe. God’s wonderful purpose of grace, the mystery of redeeming love, is the theme into which “angels desire to look,” and it will be their study throughout endless ages. Both the redeemed and the unfallen beings will find in the cross of Christ their science and their song. It will be seen that the glory shining in the face of Jesus is the glory of self-sacrificing love. In the light from Calvary it will be seen that the law of self-renouncing love is the law of life for earth and heaven; that the love which “seeketh not her own” has its source in the heart of God; and that in the meek and lowly One is manifested the character of Him who dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto.
