““Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation* for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), …”. (Luke 1:68-70)
Jesus has been referred to as many things, but a horn? We aren’t talking about him being a part of the Nashville Brass, but rather a horn of protection and strength, as in an oxen’s horn. I had the occasion to live in Texas for nine years and during that time I passed a field as I was driving somewhere. Standing by the fence at the roadside was a huge longhorn steer. He was the largest animal I had ever seen. The span of his horns from tip to tip had to have been 8 feet, if not greater. I wouldn’t have wanted to get him riled up or I might have ended up on the business end of one of those horns. That gives me a point of reference for a horn that protects and provides strength.
Jesus didn’t come into the world to coddle it, but to save it. He came to defeat Satan and pay for our sin debt. He is not to be viewed as the baby in the manger, but the Messiah, the promised deliverer of Israel. God has provided a protector and a weapon to defeat the enemy of our souls in the form of His only begotten Son. This is evidence of God’s great and never-ending love for His creation. He could have left us in our sin, but He chose not to. This reveals to us the proper posture we should be in towards our God; one of worship and praise. If we take the time to reflect on all that He is and all that He has done for us how could be hold our praise and gratitude back.
God redeemed His people through Christ. To redeem is “to do something that compensates for poor past performance or behavior.” It is to “gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment”. Our sin separated us from God. He bought us back. We were made the possession of God again through the birth and subsequent death of the Son of God. We owe Him our eternal praise for such an indescribable gift. No present given on Christmas could ever match the value of our redemption. May we reflect on Jesus, our horn of salvation and not take Him for granted. For without Christ, we are vulnerable to Satan and without hope of forgiveness.
Praise be to the Lord, because He has come to his people …
WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!
* “The kind of horn meant here is not a musical instrument but the deadly weapon of the wild ox.” (e.g., Psalm 92:9-10; Micah 4:13) [ Jesus is the Horn of Salvation; www.desiringgod.org ]
NOTE: “These two things make Christmas good news of great joy to all who believe. 1 John 3:8, The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Hebrews 9:26, Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” [ Jesus is the Horn of Salvation; www.desiringgod.org ]
