The Meaning of Immauel
Probably the most wonderful promise God made in the bible is that God will be with his people on this earth and save them from the slavery of death. The Book of Isaiah prophesied that God would be with his people.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
This was the prophecy of God coming as son of man (or simply, as man in the flesh) and God would be with his people dwelling among them. And this prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus Christ coming down to this earth as man in the flesh even though he was God himself. (Matthew 1:22)
About the meaning of Immanuel (“God with us”), Apostle John gives a further explanation in the Book of John.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning……14 The Word (God) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John says that the Word (that is, God) “became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” It means God himself came as man in the flesh and put his dwelling among his people.
The Dwelling of God
As we already know this is a description about the birth of Jesus Christ. Even though he was God, he came as man and dwelt among his people to save them from their sin. (Jesus means “The LORD saves”. So if we put the two words “Jesus and Immanuel” together, it means God is with his people and saves them from their sins.)
John parallels God’s coming as man in the flesh to God’s putting his dwelling among his people. Through this we can see the physical body of man is compared to the dwelling of God. This can be confirmed by the words of Jesus too. In the Old Testament, the dwelling of God was the temple of God where God put His Spirit to dwell among his people. (Act 7:46, Exodus 15:17, 1 Kings 8:13)
However, Jesus declared that the temple of God is his own body because God put His Spirit in the body of Jesus Christ.
John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
In one of the famous scenes in the bible, Jesus teaches a Samaritan woman that the true temple of God is not in the city of Jerusalem anymore. (John 4:21) It means that he is the reality of the temple (God coming as man in the flesh). Since the reality had appeared, it was not necessary anymore to worship God in the physical temple.
The Prophecy of God’s Dwelling
Holy City New Jerusalem, the Dwelling of God
In this sense, we can know that the true temple or the dwelling of God is the Christ, God coming as man in the flesh. The body of Christ is the reality of the temple of God.
This is very important because God is going to come down as man in the flesh again. The Book of Revelation teaches that God will come down from heaven and put the dwelling of God among his people in the last days.
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Heavenly Jerusalem, God the Mother
In this vision, John saw Heavenly New Jerusalem is coming down from heaven. And this heavenly Jerusalem is the dwelling God establishes for His people in the last days. Then what is the meaning of this prophecy?
As we have already seen in Jesus Christ, this temple does not mean the physical temple in Jerusalem, but the spiritual temple God would establish on this earth to dwell among his people. In this sense we can understand that God is coming down in the flesh in the last day and put the Spirit of God in the physical body of Christ. In this way, God will be with His people and save them from their sins.
Then who is the Heavenly New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven to this earth as the dwelling of God? In the Book of Galatians, Apostle Paul testifies about the meaning of the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
Conclusion
The Heavenly Jerusalem signifies God the Mother. Therefore, the phrase “the Heavenly Jerusalem comes down and makes the dwelling of God among His people” means God the Mother coming down from heaven in the flesh and dwell among Her people to save them.
This prophecy was already fulfilled by God the Mother coming down from heaven to this earth in the flesh. Now She is dwelling among Her people to redeem them from their sins and iniquities. She is God who even the highest heaven cannot contain. But She humbled herself and came down to this earth in flesh to fulfill the prophecies of the bible and to save us.
Let us give all thanks and praise to God Elohim, Christ Ahnsahnghong and Heavenly Mother New Jerusalem for coming to us in the flesh and dwelling among us. Truly, God is with us and saves us!
