O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Series: Christmas Carols

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Proverbs 13:12; Isaiah 9 

O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

The human experience fluctuates between moments of sadnessand joy, darknessand light.

Lonely Exile

The sadness the world experiences is the result of the presence of sin.

            Sin affects us externally.

            Sin affects us internally.

A life trapped in the cycle of sin leads to despair.   

There is only one comfort for despair—hope: a strong,confidentexpectation in something or someone.

Everybody pins their hopeon something or someone.

Failedhope will always disappoint.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, 

but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

 Proverbs 13:12

Until the Son of God Appears 

            The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.
                  6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.                                                                             Isaiah 9:2, 6

The concept of the Messiahwas a source of hope for the people of Israel.    Many were confused and some even doubted the coming of the Messiah because of the waiting period.    

Our hope is found in the fact that the Messiah has already come.  

Christ will come again to completely alleviate the world from sins’ influence. 

Romans 8

But we live in the tension betweenthe Already and Not Yet.  

The Already gives us the confidence that the Not Yet will come!

Today’s Takeaways

We still live in a world affected by sin.

The presence of darkness is an opportunity to bringGod glory.

Because Christ has come, we have hopethat God will one day deliver us!