The Hope of the Mystery

We have been saying that two words to think about Advent are remembrance and anticipation. In the Psalm we are looking at this morning, Psalm 96, we have what the second of these words, anticipation, looked like in the worship of an Old Testament believer. For the Psalms are the worship book of the Old Testament. As we have been exploring the unfolding mystery of Christ through the pages of the Old Testament we have seen the beginning of the mystery, the content of the mystery and, this morning, the hope of the mystery. And the hope of the mystery is in a King, the true King, who is Jesus Christ. Through this Psalm we see three things. (1) The Hope of the King’s Glory. The Psalm begins with a call, a summons for the whole earth to sing to the Lord a new song. (2) The Hope of the King’s Rule. The second stanza of the psalm is a summons to ascribe glory to the rule of the king. (3) And finally, we have The Hope of the King’s Judgment. Verses 10-13 give the incredible hope of the king making everything right.

How will everything be put right? How will the King put everything right without destroying us in the process? The answer is provided by the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). What an amazing verse and what an amazing truth it promises through the work of the King, Jesus. Everything is put right because of Jesus taking our place on the cross. In Jesus our judgment has been fulfilled, so that there need be no fear of judgment. Are you in Jesus? Judgment is something to look forward to, not dread, because of the cross and resurrection of the King. This is the hope of the mystery.