REJOICE!

“O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appears
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.”
– O Come, O Come Emmanuel

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” 1 Timothy 5:7

The lyrics in this hymn are some of the most powerful and beautiful things I have ever heard. You can see that the overwhelming theme in this song is freedom. It is strange to associate freedom with the Christmas season, but the reality is that is why Christ came – to free us.

Christ was born to bring us victory over death and over Satan. It is only through Christ that we will have victory over the grave. Death’s dark shadows and misery are gone! He fills the world and us with His light. Until we accept Christ as our Savior, death still holds us prisoner.There will be no freedom.

The hymn says to come and “ransom captive Israel”. We are Israel. We can be held captive by so many different things: our sin, temptations, addictions, flaws, and death. Jesus came to ransom captive Israel – to ransom you and I. Without Jesus we would be held captive to law, death, and darkness. He came to give us freedom from all the darkness that can hold us and keep us captive. Victory can only come through believing in Christ,

REJOICE! He is born to set us free! Rejoice in your salvation!

“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” Psalm 13:5

PRAYER

Lord, thank You for sending Your son to save me from my captivity. Help me remember that I have victory over the grave and have freedom from anything trying to hold me captive in this world. Lord, I rejoice in You! Amen.