The Hope of a King

What are advent and Christmas all about? In a word, hope. The coming of Jesus into the world is essentially God’s commitment to set everything right. Jesus is God’s solution to man’s and the world’s problem caused by sin and rebellion. And God’s commitment to set everything right gives the Christian hope. And something to live for. During the month of December we will be looking at this topic of Christmas hope from several different passages of Scripture. This morning we will begin with Psalm 96 and the hope of a King. The sermon will explore the question how do you respond to the hope of a king? And we will answer that question from the psalm in three ways. First, we respond with the awe of glory. The hope of a king propels us to a life of worship declaring the glory of our king. Second, is a life acknowledging the rule of the king. We are to live our lives ascribing to the Lord the glory due his name. And lastly, we are to announce His glory. Verse 10 beings, “Say among the nations, the Lord reigns!” Our lives, in both word and deed are a continual announcement to the hope of a king.

Verses 10-13 of Psalm 96 describe the joy of the entire creation at the coming of the Lord to judge the earth. How does the king judge the earth? How does the king set in motion the plan of God to set the world right? On the cross Jesus Christ takes the ultimate judgment of God upon Himself in His death for our sins. On the cross the justice and wrath of God fall on Him. In His obedience He takes upon Himself the curse of God’s covenant by becoming a curse Himself. Thus securing our forgiveness and justification by His own righteousness, Jesus frees us from fearing the judgment of God to anticipating and looking forward to that coming day when everything will be put right.