Readings for today: Micah 3, Revelation 10
Yesterday I ran across a quote from an old preacher who said, “The miracle of Christ coming into the world is God’s guarantee that all His promises will be fulfilled.” I thought about that quote this morning as I read these words from the Book of Revelation. “And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” (Revelation 10:5-7)
The image is powerful. A mighty angel standing astride the world. One foot on the sea. One foot on the land. Not one square inch of creation is allowed to stand apart. The ripple effect of what he has to say will impact the world. He opens his mouth and his voice thunders. Seven times the earth shakes at the sound of his words. What does the angel say? What do his words portend? We are not given that knowledge. John is not allowed to even write them down. We only know that the angel who delivered them swore by God’s great name that a day would come when the trumpet would sound and all would be revealed and the mystery of God fulfilled.
So what is the mystery of God? Is it a specific timeline of the last days? Is it the name of the Anti-Christ? Is it a roadmap of the future revealed to those who can string together obscure clues found throughout the Scriptures? Despite all the hype you might hear from different preachers who claim a special knowledge of God’s mystery not available to most people, it’s actually none of those things. How do I know? Because it’s referenced several times throughout the New Testament. In Colossians 2:2, the Apostle Paul is praying for the local church and local believers and he says, I want them to “reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery which is Christ.” In Ephesians 3:6-10, Paul describes the mystery as the “unsearchable riches of Christ” which are now proclaimed to the Gentiles. To the Corinthians, he says, “We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God” which is Christ and Him crucified and he describes himself as a “servant of Christ and steward of the mysteries of God.” Building on Paul’s testimony, the church throughout her history has proclaimed the “central mystery of our faith” in liturgical worship gatherings…“Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”
Friends, the fundamental mystery foretold by the prophets of old, testified to by the apostles of the New Testament, and proclaimed by the church throughout the last two thousand years is Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. Christ has come. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ has ascended. Christ will come again. He is the heart of our faith. He is what makes our faith unique. He is hidden wisdom and knowledge of God. He is the power of God veiled in human flesh for all to see. He is the incarnate deity come to dwell with man. He is both the guarantee and fulfillment of the plan of God. In Christ, all the promises of God are Yes and Amen. This is what we celebrate on Christmas Eve every year. He is not a puzzle to put together. He is not a problem to solve. He is not a philosophy to study and understand. We cannot get our minds around Emmanuel. We can only bow before Him in wonder and awe and worship.
Readings for tomorrow: Micah 4-5, Revelation 11