Psalm 97, p2 of 2

Q: What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

The Bible affirms that God reigns supreme over all creation, as shown in Psalm 97:1, 'The Lord reigneth.' God's sovereignty is a fundamental aspect of His nature, illustrating that He has ultimate control over all things. In Psalm 97, the declaration 'The Lord reigneth' emphasizes His kingship and authority over the universe. Throughout Scripture, we see examples of God's sovereign will being executed, such as in Ephesians 1:11, which affirms that He 'works all things according to the counsel of His will.' This sovereignty assures believers that God orchestrates events for the good of His people, as seen in Romans 8:28.

Q: How do we know Christ's resurrection is true?

Christ's resurrection is confirmed through multiple biblical testimonies and the transformative impact on His followers. The truth of Christ's resurrection is a cornerstone of Christian faith, evidenced by its profound implications and the witness of Scripture. 1 Corinthians 15:17 highlights that if Christ has not been raised, 'your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.' This underscores the resurrection as a pivotal event confirming the effectiveness of Christ's atoning work. Additionally, the radical change in the lives of the apostles, who went from fear to bold proclamation, serves as a powerful testament to the resurrection's reality. Romans 1:4 also states that Jesus was 'declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.'

Q: Why is Christ's righteousness important for Christians?

Christ's righteousness is essential for believers as it is the basis for their justification before God. The righteousness of Christ is crucial for Christians because it is through His obedience and sacrifice that they are justified before God. As stated in Psalm 97:11, 'Light is sown for the righteous,' highlighting that the righteousness attributed to believers comes not from their efforts, but from Christ's completed work. Philippians 3:9 reveals Paul's desire to 'be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.' Thus, believers' acceptance before God rests on the imputed righteousness of Christ, ensuring freedom from condemnation and causing them to rejoice in their salvation.

Q: What does 'rejoicing in the Lord' mean for Christians?

Rejoicing in the Lord signifies a deep, abiding joy rooted in God's sovereignty and salvation. Rejoicing in the Lord is more than surface-level happiness; it reflects a profound joy that stems from understanding God's character and actions. As Psalm 97 encourages, 'Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous,' this command emphasizes the joy that believers find in their relationship with God, grounded in His authoritative reign and redemptive work through Christ. This joy is rooted in thanksgiving and acknowledgment of His holiness, prompting believers to celebrate their identity as the righteous in Christ. Furthermore, this rejoicing serves as a testimony to others of the hope and peace found in the gospel, as 1 Thessalonians 5:16 urges believers to 'rejoice evermore.'

All right, Psalm 97. I want to go ahead and read through this psalm to re-familiarize you with it. I suppose you've probably read it yourself, but I just want to read through it again so that we can take a look at this and try to understand it again from an overview and also what the message of this psalm really is, okay? Psalm 97, verse one says, the Lord reigneth.

Let the earth rejoice. Let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlighten the world. The earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory. Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols. Worship him, all ye gods. Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Lord. For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth. Thou art exalted far above all gods. Ye that love the Lord hate evil. He preserveth the souls of his saints. He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. So just a couple of comments real quickly on those last two verses. Verse 11 says, Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart.

We know that in scripture God tells us that there is none righteous, and that therefore if there is any that the Lord calls righteous, it must not be for their own personal obedience, but for the obedience of their surety. The Lord Jesus Christ, the one who did everything he did for his people, towards God, and so God calls his people righteous because they are in Christ, and this was the desire of the Apostle Paul when he said that he counted everything that he had formerly done before in trying to gain favor and acceptance and blessing from God, he counted it all worthless, repugnant, and as dung. And he desired to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, but the righteousness which is of God in Christ. And so that's what verse 10 is saying here.

Verse 11, light is sown for the righteous. Of course, the light is the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. And in fact, in 2 Corinthians 4, I just want to read these words to you so that you have them from the text of scripture. It says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 3, if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world, that would be Satan, has blinded the minds of them which believe not. So this is clear, those who he's talking about are those who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine to them. So the gospel is the light of the glorious good news of Christ, and it shines to those who believe. And so here in Psalm 97, the light is sown, that would be the gospel, like seed, it's sown. Light is given to the righteous, those who are in Christ, in his righteousness, and gladness for the upright at heart.

Now this psalm, if you look at it, talks about gladness. In verse one it says, The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof. In verse In verse six it says, the heavens declare his righteousness, all the people see his glory. And then in verse eight, Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgment, so Lord. And then the last verse, in verse 12, rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

So this is a psalm, obviously inspired by the spirit of God. And therefore, we know it comes to the church, to the Lord's people, by the Spirit of God, by the will of God. It has to come from the throne of God. And that's who is spoken of in verse 1, the Lord reigneth.

And the message of the Spirit of God to the church is, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of isles be glad, and Zion heard and was glad and therefore rejoice in the Lord you righteous give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. So this psalm really is God's testimony to his people about something And the reason that they are to be joyful, to be rejoicing and to be glad. That's what he says in verse one and verse eight and verse 12 here about this joy and rejoicing. God is giving his people a reason for joy.

And verse one really tells us in summary what that reason is. It says, the Lord reigneth. The Lord Jehovah reigneth. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is Jehovah God. He is one with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, but he himself is God. And so we know that God reigns, but specifically God reigns in Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, our mediator. And this is the great news that is the reason why God tells his people to rejoice. And so we wanna look at this psalm a little bit in overview, and then I wanna look at this reason that God has given here in this.

First of all, notice in verses three through six, actually verses two through six, he says, clouds and darkness are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. This throne he's talking about is God's throne. And he says, verse 3, a fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about. So that's destruction. Verse 4, his lightnings enlightened the world. The earth saw and trembled. So that's a terror that comes upon the inhabitants of the world because of God's lightnings.

Then he says in verse 5, the hills melted like wax. At the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth, the kingdoms of the earth compared to hills, they melted because of the intimidation of God's greatness in this way. And then it says, the heavens declare his righteousness and all the people see his glory. So you can see in these, the message here is that because of God's character, His character as seen in the glory of God in the clouds and in the darkness that are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. And these things, the fire that goes before him and burns up the enemies, the lightnings which the earth saw and trembled, the hills that melt like wax, and how the heavens declare his righteousness and all the people see his glory.

These things naturally intimidate us as sinners. And it can't be otherwise, really. And we looked at this last time at Mount Sinai, how God appeared on the mountain in a thick cloud, in darkness, and Moses went up, the people did not go up. And so we see in that account in Exodus that God Only the mediator could go to God, and only in the mediator could the people have any hope of hearing from God, and otherwise they would be consumed by God. It says in Hebrews chapter 12, our God is a consuming fire. So it's natural for us to be intimidated And so as we think about this, we see this in these first few verses in Psalm 97.

And then verse 7, it says, confounded be all they that serve graven images and boast themselves of idols. Worship Him, all you gods. It's clear then that in light of who God is in His righteousness and His judgments, that men should be terrified. These are revelations of His holiness.

If that was all of it, then it wouldn't produce any love to God in us, would it? Because there's only one way that love, that we can experience and know the love of God, and that's if we are, when we learn the love of God towards us in Christ. And how is the love of God towards us made known to us? How does the Bible define God's love to us?

Well, I'll give you a couple of verses. In 1 John chapter 4, in verse 9 and 10, he says in verse 10, herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Okay, so God defines his love towards us and he exhibits that love towards us in that he gave Christ to be the propitiation for our sins. Now, when we look at that then, when we see from verse 8 and following in this psalm, Zion heard and was glad. The daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgment, O Lord.

Now it takes on a different tone. The psalm seems to start out with this intimidation and the darkness, the clouds and darkness round about the Lord, His righteousness, His judgments, the habitation of His throne. Is there any hope? Really, is there any hope? Is there really any need, any motivation to read on? Well, there is, because in verse 8, Zion heard. Zion is the church.

Zion are the people of God, joined to Christ in one body, one temple, and one city, and this is Zion he's speaking about here. He says, the daughters, they were glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Lord. So now this is a different thing. Instead of God's judgments is righteousness and judgments consuming his enemies, and intimidating, making the earth tremble and the hills melting like wax. Now we're seeing the churches rejoicing.

Verse 9, for thou, Lord, art high above all the earth. Thou art exalted far above all gods. You that love the Lord hate evil, and he preserveth the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. So here in verse 10, those who love the Lord were loved by the Lord because we love Him because He first loved us.

So it's showing us here, and then the last two verses, light is sown for the righteous, gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Now, I would have read this last couple of verses here in the past, and I would have thought at first, I need to be righteous so that I can be glad.

And that's true, but I would have mistakenly thought that that righteousness is my obedience, my conformance to God's requirements. But that's not the way that we become righteous. We know that's true because throughout the New Testament it says that no one is justified by their own obedience to the law of God. The law of God just simply is a way of saying everything God requires of us.

But the gospel is that we're righteous by what God required and provided in the Lord Jesus Christ, our mediator. And so, when we look at this psalm then, we have to understand that God has given a testimony from heaven of how the Lord Jesus Christ reigns, and because he reigns, this is the basis of our rejoicing. This is the reason we're glad.

This is the reason that the light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart. They're upright in heart because the righteousness of Christ has been shown to them and now their hearts are purified by faith. purified, upright, not by becoming better, not by being good people in themselves, but by looking to Christ and finding in Him all of their righteousness. And that makes them upright in heart. There's only one way to be upright in heart, and that's to come to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's by Christ alone, through God's grace alone, and faith in Christ alone that God is glorified. And this is the way that the gospel is designed.

So, Psalm 97 then is showing us the reason for, the God-given reason for us to be glad and to rejoice. It is that the Lord reigns. Now, we can start from there. But we need to back up from there to see how this is the basis of our joy. Why is this the basis of our joy? Well, we could say simply because, first of all, if the Lord Jesus Christ, who is holy, He's the righteous, and He is our Savior, there's every reason to be glad.

But also there's another reason, another basis to look at it, and it's given in this psalm. When we look at it, notice in verse 1, the Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of isles be glad. Again, the isles here represent all of God's elect throughout the world, Jews and Gentiles, especially Gentiles. In verse two, clouds and darkness surround about him, and righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. When it says that righteousness and judgment are the habitation of God's throne, or the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ, because the Lord Jesus Christ is on the throne in this psalm.

But the throne is clearly the throne of God. And so Christ is sitting on the throne of glory. He's sitting on his father's throne. And we know from scripture he's at his father's right hand. At the right hand of God means to be at the place of power, at the place of greatest preeminence, the place of greatest blessing and honor. And all these things are meant by the right hand of God.

Sometimes we think that there's a physical throne, and that there's a physical book and these different things that we read about in scripture. That's because we can't think outside of those physical things, and God speaks about them as physical things, but we need to understand that these are spiritual truths, that God's throne is simply God reigning. And Christ now reigns, and that's the basis, that's the reason God gives for us to rejoice and to be glad because of this.

Now, as I tried to do last week, I began to open from scripture what the clouds and darkness about him are. But notice the second part of that verse, verse two. Clouds and darkness are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

It means that righteousness and judgment are the basis of God's rule. If you could say that word, basis, B-A-S-I-S, the basis of his rule, the ground. God is sovereign, so his righteousness and judgments are simply God being God. But we see him in his righteousness and his judgments in the way that he rules. He doesn't do anything that's not righteous. And he does all of his judgments. He brings righteous judgments upon whatever he oversees, whatever he rules in.

And this is what God is doing here. But he's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't he? The Lord Jesus Christ reigns, therefore the earth and the isles should be glad. Clouds and darkness are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. And now God is giving us two things in verse two.

First of all, he's giving us the glory of God. as I tried to get to last week, in his impenetrable holiness, and therefore his glory, because God's holiness is just God. He is holy. God in all that he is as God is holy, and so his holiness is his glory. It's all of God's perfections as God, his character, his nature, his name, all that he reveals himself to be.

To the natural man, you can't see God's glory. We just can't. To the natural man, we don't see any beauty in God. We see this intimidation and it causes us, we know we're sinners, and it causes, strikes terror in us. And terror doesn't enable us, it prevents us from thinking any good thoughts about God. But that terror is because we're already alienated from God, so it just further alienates us and it produces in us all wrong motives and idolatry, which we've talked about before, that preference of our own will and our own ways and our own works to Christ's will and work and His ways.

But clouds and darkness are about him. Now, as I said last time, in Exodus, we see the clouds and the darkness, and we saw that throughout Scripture, referring to God's impenetrable holiness. We can't see it. Natural man doesn't see it. But here's the thing. He says here that we should rejoice.

It says, In verse 8, Zion heard, was glad the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments. And then in verse 11, light is sown for the righteous. And we read just a minute ago about how the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, shines to his people. So what we learn from the gospel, well, let's go back to Sinai.

Sinai revealed God in his justice and in his righteousness in a manner that was only terrifying. The most terrifying thing that a sinner can know is to stand before God and to face God and have to give an account. We can't answer one thing. We have nothing to pay for all the debt we owe. And so God's payment, the payback, to us, for our debt is eternal death. And so there's nothing more intimidating than that, nothing more terrifying to a sinner than that. There's nothing more of greater trouble, there's no greater trouble than for a sinner to be consigned to the condemnation of God's holiness being brought in judgment upon him.

That separates us from God forever. That's what death is, separation from Him who is life. It's separation from Him who knowing is having eternal life. But that's not what it's talking about here. It's not talking about an eternal separation for the Lord's people because they're to rejoice and be glad. And they do, in fact, in this psalm.

What he's showing us that naturally Apart from Christ, all we know of God is this terror and this intimidation. And so we see that naturally God to sinners is a consuming fire. He causes us to tremble and even the high places on earth melt like wax. The hills, the high thoughts of men and everything about man and his pride and sense of accomplishments or value or worth is just melted before the Lord.

And so it's driving us then to the gospel. It's showing us that only in the Lord Jesus Christ is this thick cloud of God's holiness opened up to us through the bright light of Christ in his righteousness and in his judgments, which it says in verse two, clouds and darkness surround about him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

Now, let's go now to see this in 1 Corinthians 15. I think this to me helps get us to this point. In 1 Corinthians 15, It says, you know, you remember this chapter, it starts by preaching the gospel. And the gospel is the basis for our hope of resurrection. And he goes on in this talking about how the gospel proves the resurrection of Christ.

He says in verse 16 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he says in verse 16, if the dead rise not, then Christ is not raised. So if there's no resurrection, as some in the Corinthian church were saying and believing, then they have to also conclude that Christ is not raised. And then in verse 17, this is the huge conclusion that's drawn here that really is what the gospel is teaching us. He says in verse 17, if Christ be not raised, Your faith is vain. It's not going to do you any good. It's futile. It's worthless. And you are yet in your sins. You see that?

So we know the Lord Jesus bore the sins of his people. Isaiah 53 talks about this. 1 Peter 2.24, He, who is own self, bear our sins in his own body on the cross, or up to the cross, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness, so by whose stripes we are healed. So we know that Christ went to the cross and died for our sins, as it says in 1 Corinthians 15.

Verse three, I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Isaiah 53, for example, or in Genesis chapter, what is it, 18, I think it's... I think it's 18 and verse, maybe it's, I can't remember the reference, but when Isaac asked his father Abraham, here's the wood and here's the fire, but where's the lamb? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself the lamb.

This is Christ in the Old Testament, spoken of in scripture, dying for our sins. And that's what this is talking about. This is the basis of everything. So if Christ did not rise from the dead, according to verse 17 of 1 Corinthians 15. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, what is it saying then? That our sins were not put away. That death remains.

The terror, the worst terror that we can imagine, which is facing God in judgment, God in all of His holiness, in judgment as a sinner, that is terror. That's the very definition of terror, and trembling, and melting, and being consumed by the fire of God's holiness. And that's the darkness that's seen at Sinai because there was nothing else. And at Calvary, as we looked last week, those three hours of darkness from noon till 3 p.m., that was that same impenetrable holiness of God being poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that's what Psalm 97 is talking about here. That's what it means here when it says, if Christ did not rise, you're yet in your sins. Okay, so we understand that if we deny the resurrection, we're denying the resurrection of Christ. And if we deny the resurrection of Christ, then we deny the proof that our sins were put away. Because that's what 1 Corinthians 15, 17 is saying. That because Christ did rise, Because he rose, what is it saying? God accepted the sacrifice. He accepted the sacrifice of Christ, the offering of Christ himself to God for our sins. God accepted it. How do we know God raised him from the dead?

You see, I mentioned 1 John chapter 4 and verse 10, where it says, let me just read it to you again, in 1 John chapter 4 verse 10. This is very, very important. He says, here in his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us. This takes away the terror, doesn't it? In fact, he says this in verse 17. I'm sorry, verse 18, there's no fear in love because perfect love casts out fear. Because fear has torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. Here in verse 10, what does he say of the same chapter? Here in his love. Now this is the torment removing love of God, isn't it? How does he do that?

Not that we love God. We don't look to our love to God to remove that fear, do we? Now it doesn't come from us, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. So obviously we were sinners when he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

But what is propitiation? Propitiation is what Christ's offering to God did for God. It made In righteousness, it satisfied God's judgments. So the propitiation of Christ, in other words, Christ himself offering himself to God in blood for our sins, is the righteousness and the judgment that is the basis of God's rule over all things. And that righteousness and judgment, which is the basis of God's throne, was satisfied, was fully satisfied because God in Christ poured out all of his wrath against us, all of his judgments that were against us for our sins, that were the worst trouble we could have ever faced, the greatest terror we could have ever faced, that judgment passed upon us in Christ. And Christ offered himself in righteousness and judgment to take away the wrath of God. And God was propitiated in the offering of Christ. OK, we know that that's why God sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

He clearly made propitiation for our sins. That means he's the mercy seat. God looks upon the blood sprinkled there and he is satisfied and he declares his people justified. And what's the proof? What's the receipt of that payment made by Christ to God for our sins? God raised him from the dead. He raised him from the dead. And in raising Christ from the dead, God accepted the sacrifice of Christ. The judgment fully expended. Justice was exhausted towards our sins and the death of God's dear son.

And you see, that is the righteousness of God. That's the basis on which God rules. His righteousness and his judgments will destroy all sinners, all of his enemies. They'll melt like wax. But in the Lord Jesus Christ, we see the love of God giving himself to bring satisfaction to his own holiness, to set forth his own holiness, not in our destruction, but in our salvation. And that's what he's saying here in Psalm 97. And because God accepted the sacrifice, he raised him from the dead.

And because Christ did this in righteousness and in judgment, to make known God's holiness, that impenetrable holiness of God in the light, the glorious light of the gospel, and so magnified God in his law and his righteousness and judgment, God sat him on his throne. He put him on his throne, the highest place of sovereign rule over all things so that God the Father entrusted to the Lord Jesus Christ, his son, everything, his will, his work, his people, his glory, his name, everything. He put everything into his hands. He even put the wicked in his hands to do whatever he wanted with them.

And so in this psalm, we're seeing that the Lord Jesus Christ's rule over all things is a rule that exhibits, it amplifies, it sets forth God's holiness to the highest possible extent in the salvation of his people from their sins against God. And this is God himself glorified on his throne in the person of our Savior. When we talk about sovereign, we're talking about someone who cannot be influenced, someone who does whatever they want to do. They have the power and they do everything within their power, which is sovereign, does all of their will. And when the Lord Jesus Christ did all that he wanted, uninfluenced by us, what did he do?

He who is the glory of heaven became the despised of earth. The one who is the beloved of God the Father became the hated of sinful men. And it was for the sinful men He was sent to save. Those who hated Him, those who despised Him. that he took their sins, and he in righteousness executed all of God's judgment, and he took that judgment into his own self, and he carried our sins in his own body up to the cross, that offering.

He laid down himself on the altar of his divine nature on the cross, and he offered himself to God by the eternal spirit, And having accomplished all of God's righteousness and having fulfilled all of his judgments, he obtained eternal redemption from God for us. And God set him on his throne to administer all things, to give eternal life to as many as God had given him. The father had given him his sheep and he said, now I'll bring them. So he sent his spirit from his throne because of his sovereign rule, having accomplished all righteousness and judgment in his cross for his people, the wrath of God poured out on him being the wrath deserved by them. And it came upon him and them in him. And this is God saying, now you see him ruling over all things. This is God's holiness. His throne is built upon this character of God, which is seen, is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a reason for rejoicing.

The one who was slaughtered is the very shepherd of our souls. which is what 1 Peter 2 goes on to say. Now let me read a couple of scriptures to you that help reinforce this. In Romans chapter one, for example, Romans one, this book opens up, this epistle Paul wrote to the Romans opens this way. He says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. This is the light now. This is the light shown for the righteous.

The gospel of God, which he promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, what is it about? Verse three, concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and notice these words, and declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

And then he goes on in verse 5, so you can see that Christ's resurrection was God saying, this was His holiness. Raising Christ from the dead exhibited His holiness. Therefore the sins had to be put away in a way that was full answer, a full honor to God in all of his holiness. Verse five goes on, he says, by whom? By Christ. We have received from the sovereign, the one who sits on the throne, having been raised by the spirit of holiness, we have received what? Grace and apostleship. for obedience to the faith, the faith of the gospel among all nations for his name. So this corresponds to everything Jesus said.

I, other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice. And there shall be one fold and one shepherd and no one can take them from my hand. No one can take them from my hand. My Father which is greater than all, we're both on the throne. And no one can take them from my Father's hand.

Okay, so we see this in Romans chapter one. Look at Colossians chapter one. The same thing is done there. God is always doing this in scripture. He's always taking, or giving a description of the Lord Jesus Christ in the epitome of his glory. out of his redeeming work. Look at Colossians one. Notice I'm going to read to you from verse 15.

Through verse 20, he says, who being the image of the invisible God, this is speaking of Jesus, the firstborn of every creation, not first in time, but first in in preeminence. He says, for by Him, He obviously created everything, that's why He speaks about it this way, the firstborn of creation. For by Him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things, notice, were created by Him, Christ, and for Him, Christ. He's before all things. By Him all things consist. He's eternal. He is the creator, the uncreated creator, the sustainer of all things in providence. Notice what he says. He, he, he, the creator, the sustainer is the head of the church. But look back at verse 13 or verse 12. Yeah. Verse 13. He says, God the Father has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. He took us out of the reign and rule of darkness and he places under the reign and rule of the son of his love in his kingdom. He put Christ over his entire kingdom and he put his people under Christ to rule over them. The sovereign shepherd. who gave his life for them.

Notice verse 14, in whom the son of his love, the one who rules over us, the sovereign of the universe. Notice verse 14, in whom we have what? Redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins. This is the one who is the creator, the sustainer, and the head of the church, who has all this preeminence, the one who redeemed us to God by his own blood. That's what Psalm 97 is talking about.

So whether it be Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 15, Colossians 1, or Hebrews 1, remember Hebrews 1? When he had by himself purged our sins, what happened? When he did that, having completely cleansed us of our sins, then he sat down on the right hand of God. So what is his place then? His session at God's right hand saying is God's announcement, his proclamation to the church, rejoice, be glad.

You have every reason your sins are and your righteousness is established. Your sins are removed. Your righteousness is established. The debt has been blotted out. Your sins have been blotted out. God sees no sins. A full remission has been made. Forgiveness has been granted. Life has been given. Christ is alive and you are alive in him. He's seated. Your life is hid with Christ in God. There's no one can assault you. You're established on the eternal rock of ages.

And God's holiness is the basis of this because Christ in all of the holiness of God fulfilled righteousness and executed judgment. The wrath of God against us was removed and Christ propitiated God. And and notice there's a there's a double thing going on here, something that we need to see. Christ offering of himself propitiated God. So he answered God's justice with his own blood on our behalf as the surety he presented himself in blood to God. to make us sure, to make our lives sure and to obtain our liberty. And what did God answer in reply? This was Christ's answer to God. How do we know God was propitiated?

He exalted his son to the throne of glory. God's answer to being propitiated in the blood of his son, his answer to his people is rejoice, Christ reigns. You see, this is phenomenal. I think this is phenomenal. In Psalm 97, he ends this way. He says, rejoice in the Lord. you righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ, give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.

And what do we remember when we remember His holiness? We remember the cross. We remember Christ crucified. We remember God's holiness that raised Him from the dead. We remember God's holiness that sat Him at His own right hand far above all principalities and powers and every name that can be named. in order to bring about His will in the eternal salvation of His people. Jesus said in John 6, this is the will of Him that sent me, that of all that He hath given me, I should lose none, but should raise it up again at the last day. That's what He's talking about here.

Rejoice, you righteous. And we know that our righteousness is only in the Lord Jesus. He's the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Don't begin to even think that there's a righteousness that's in addition to, or a subsequent to, or a completion of the obedience of Christ in his sufferings and in his death. He finished the work and it's done.

And God's proof is His resurrection and God's declaration to His people, the sovereign announcement from heaven itself is that the one who was given as a propitiation for your sins, the one who was given for you to live now lives eternally in heaven and your life is in Him. God has received you as his children. You're the heirs of God. You're the joint heirs with Christ.

And if God so delivered up his son and did not spare him, but delivered him up for us, then he shall without a doubt give us all things freely with him. That's what Romans 8, 32, 33, 34 are arguing here, is that on the basis of God giving Christ, then he's gonna give all things with Christ to those for whom he gave his son. And because God justified, no one can charge us. And because Christ died, no one, nothing can condemn us.

Let me read this one of my favorites. Three Mormons came to the door, I think it was last Thursday night, just before the Bible study. I had to shoo them away without being able to talk to them. One of the things they asked me was, what's your favorite verse? I said, Romans 8, 34. And here, let me read it to you.

It says, he that spared not his own son, Actually, verse 31, what shall we then say to these things? The fact that God has, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, and those he predestinated, he called, he predestinated them to be conformed to the image of his son. He called them, he justified them, he glorified them. He says, what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, if God be for us, He says, who can be against us?

A lot of people want to make salvation a universal act of God. Well, God, the Lord Jesus died for everyone. God loves everyone. Not according to this text of scripture. Because if God be for us, then who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not? with him also freely give us all things. It has to be. God will not give his son up for us and not give us, because everything is in his son. Christ is all. If he gave Christ, he gave all.

He emptied heaven. He says this in verse 33, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? We tremble, we fear, our hearts melt because we consider ourselves in the equation. God doesn't. He put us in Christ. He hid. Our life is hid with Christ in God. So he says, who can charge God's elect? None. God justified them. God in all of his holiness. He's not going to compromise his holiness.

He justified his people. Verse 34, my favorite verse. Who is he that condemneth? When you stand before God in judgment, If you were to be required, if you were required to give an answer, you could not answer one thing. But notice, here's the answer for God's people.

God has given it. He gave it at the cross. Christ gave it in holiness and in righteousness. Therefore, you righteous be glad and rejoice. He says, who is he that condemn it? It is Christ that died. That's enough. He rather that is risen again. God has given us proof.

Openly manifest to all of creation, the onlooking universe, he has justified his people in the blood of his son. That's what he's saying here, who is even at the right hand of God. He rules over all things. God has exalted him because he exalted he manifested God's glory. He honored God's holiness. And this is the humility that God exalts. He says, who is even at the right hand of God, who also advocates, pleads God's cause for our salvation in his own blood.

He intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Nothing. Nothing can do that. That's what Psalm 97 is telling us. The basis of all the removal of all terror and trouble, the basis of not only the negation of terror and trouble, but positive joy and gladness and rejoicing and thanksgiving is that Christ rules because Christ was raised according to the answer of God to his propitiating blood for the sins of his people and they are raised with him.

That's God's assuring us in the gospel, the glorious light, the darkness and the clouds that were over the cross have past for the Lord's people. Christ himself has borne all of the judgment. Our sins have been taken away. We've been crucified with him and we're now justified from all things, which the law could not justify us. Let's pray.

Lord, thank you so much for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's even seen in the Psalms, according to the Scriptures, as the New Testament tells us, that the Lord Jesus Christ came in our nature and he is God over all, the Son of God. And he was declared to be the Son of God with great power at the resurrection when he fulfilled all righteousness and judgment to the honor and glory of God. And here we have this psalm given to us to rejoice in Him. What a blessing it is.

Thank you for such positive joy that you've given to us through the gospel. Truly, there is peace and joy in believing and there is no joy and no peace except what we find in Christ and His shed blood accepted by God and us with Him. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Psalm 97, p2 of 2

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know Christ's resurrection is true?

Why is Christ's righteousness important for Christians?

What does 'rejoicing in the Lord' mean for Christians?

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About Rick Warta

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Psalm 97, p2 of 2

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know Christ's resurrection is true?

Why is Christ's righteousness important for Christians?

What does 'rejoicing in the Lord' mean for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Rick Warta

Comments

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