“The Lord himself will give you a sign. Look a virgin is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” In Luke 1: 34 when Mary receives the Word that she will bear a son she asks, “How can this be since I am a virgin.” The importance of the issue of virginity is important because the father of the Messiah would be God. The word Immanuel is Hebrew/Greek and it means “God with us.” If the Messiah is God in a human being, then God must be the father. In every other religion known to man the gods were always up there, out there somewhere. The gods knew nothing about the human condition. The gods were above humans, they knew neither joy or sorrow, happiness or love. They were disconnected entities whose major function was to disrupt the lives of people. But with the coming of the Messiah, “God with us,” we see a God who cares. A God who is involved with His creation. A God who becomes one of us so He knows, so He experiences all the things that we experience. God can only relate to us if he is “One with us.” A God who gives up the glory and the majesty of heaven to suffer death, even death on the cross. Yes, God is with us. Amen.