Either for us or against us

 “You're either with us or against us” is a common sentiment that shows up in everything from in pop culture to presidential campaigns. The idea is that if you are not fully supportive of “us”, however you define it, then you are supporting “them”, usually defined as the opposition. It is typically used to try to draw people into greater commitment to a cause by having them think that their greater commitment is the only way to avoid being a part of the opposition.

It is a bit of a false dilemma as situations are often far more complex than we care to acknowledge. In fact, it is most often used a bit unfairly to put someone in a spot where they have to declare allegiance in order to save face, perhaps against their better instincts.

We all like to have people in our corner and to know that we have support in life, arguments, or as sports fans! Having God in our corner is certainly a big deal. When we consider Emmanuel, God with us, there is a shocking element to it all that can be easy to miss.

The real shocker in saying that God is with us and for us is that it happens even as we are against him!

Let’s consider this for a moment. 

In our sin we have marked ourselves as rebels and traitors to the things and causes of God. Our sinfulness stands in direct opposition to God’s good designs for humans. Unlike in many situations where “you’re either for us or against us” is used, there are no neutral parties in God’s righteous battle against unrighteousness! In our sinfulness we clearly stand in opposition to God.

Even when we were most certainly against God, he chose to come and be with us. His love for us was such that he wept over our sin and brokenness rather than drawing up battle lines. His hope for redemption was so unshakeable that he stepped out of heaven in order to be with enemies whom he knew would return to him.

God knew what it would cost to be with us. Jesus Christ entered the world with the Father’s full knowledge that being “with us” would cost Jesus his very life. God was with us, even when we were against him!

The beautiful Christmas declaration that Emmanuel has come to be with us is made all the more unfathomably beautiful when considered alongside the realities of who he was choosing to be “with”.

Jesus came to be with a rebellious and stiff-necked people. He came to be with broken and hurting people. He came to be with people hell-bent on pursuing their own agendas, pleasures, and idols that they defiantly and brazenly turn from Him over and over and over.

I’m not just talking about historic Israel here. I am talking about myself. I have fit into every single one of those categories in the previous paragraph. I was a spiritual corpse, spreading death through my sin…

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…”

Jesus Christ was Emmanuel, God with us, even in our death so that we might be made alive together with Christ.

When we say “God with us” it is important to remember that he is with us to the utmost. He is with us to the end, to the grave. 

This Christmas, remember that God didn’t come to us because we were special or because we had cleaned ourselves up pretty well. He didn’t decide to be with us because we would be a good influence on him or could help him be better. 

We don’t need to polish ourselves up to be with him. He wants to be with us precisely because without him we’ve got nothing. He wants to delight in giving us everything. His greatest gift to us is himself. Take heart in the days ahead by looking at the immense and incomprehensible love of God that cause him to be with us, and to give himself over to us, even when we were still sinners.