This is a Christmas carol that contains the essence of the yearning of a people for a savior.  “O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel”

Hold on, wait!  Ransom…?

Yes, Ransom. Israel was in slavery to sin; so are we.  Being held captive to sin, living in rebellion against God because of sin… yes, “ransom” is exactly the right word.

Jesus came to this earth to pay the ransom for our release from this bondage, and He did so by giving His life for us.  By giving His life for us, He paid the price for our redemption, and by doing this, He took away sin.  Yes, I know that this is a familiar story, but it isn’t the whole story…

In a nutshell, we were living in rebellion against God from the time of the fall of Adam.  All of the rest of the Old Testament tells the story of God working to rebuild the relationship that was lost, and progress was made, but fellowship was never restored between man and God until Jesus paid the ransom for our sins.  This is the indispensable act that makes the resumption of fellowship between man and God possible.

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel has come to thee O Israel!

This is the third Christmas Lesson.