O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Last week, I attended Lake Avenue church in SoCal. We celebrated the Advent of Christmas and lit the first candle, the candle of promise. I especially liked the worship song that the praise band led:

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 song reminds me that Jesus came as a fulfillment of a promise, a promise to ransom us from the consequences of our sins and to give us new life.