Daniel 4:34-35
At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Years ago, when one of our sons was only about 3 years old, he suddenly developed a new wrinkle in his behavior repertoire. Where he had typically been a very compliant child, he began to explore the limits of his autonomy and independence.
We would say, “Time to turn off the T.V.,” and instead of saying, as he usually did, “O.K.” - he would respond, “I don’t want to turn off the T.V.!”
We’d say, “Eat your potatoes,” and he would say, “I don’t want to eat my potatoes!”
We’d say, “It’s not time for a cookie,” and he’s say, “But I want one!”
We were somewhat surprised that the battle of wills came so quickly, but we responded by reintroducing our little son to the fundamental concept of the “Sovereignty of Mom and Dad.” As hard as it was for him to accept, the simple truth was that at that point in his life, his Mom and I made the rules.
Biblical prophecy is best understood, perhaps, not as a blueprint for the future of human civilization, but as a reminder of the sovereignty of God.
In the book of Daniel, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar became proud and exulted in his own greatness. So God first spoke to him through a dream that contained a prophetic warning of what would take place if he continued to exalt himself. But Nebuchadnezzar ignored the dream (Daniel 4) and the word of God. God then humbled him by causing him to become insane for a time. After Nebuchadnezzar repented, and after God had restored him to his right mind, the king responded with a clear testimony to God’s sovereignty.
At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
This is king Nebuchadnezzar’s way of saying, “O.K. God, I get it now! You are God and I am not!”
Nebuchadnezzar had discovered, just as a 5 year old discovers, and just as you and I must discover sooner or later, that God is sovereign.
He alone is the owner of the universe; landlord of planet earth. He makes the rules! From the law of gravity, to the laws of thermodynamics, to the biological laws of life and death, to the moral laws of right and wrong; God makes the rules because he possesses all power and authority. God has authority not only over the entire universe, which he created, but over human history as well. God has authority over nations and rulers as well as over my small, seemingly insignificant life.
Now, to say God is sovereign does not mean God is like a great puppeteer in the sky! He does not control us in that manner for he has given us the gift of free will. While we will never be able to completely fathom the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human free will, the Bible does seem to indicate that human beings can choose to love, serve and obey him; or choose to spit in his face. In his sovereignty God has even chosen to allow Satan limited authority to prowl the earth (Job 1; 1 Peter 5). But we must know, and this is the role of the prophet, that when we choose to disregard his authority; to disregard his word; to disobey him by exalting ourselves – we will sooner or later be confronted by the truth that we are not God! There will be a reckoning, a final accounting of good and evil, and every human being who has ever lived will stand before God for judgment.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books…If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:12-15 (selected)
The “book of life”, of course, is an image that refers to salvation through Jesus Christ. The “lake of fire” is an image that points to judgment of sin and separation from God. Biblical prophecy tells us that every person who ever lived is headed to one of those two eternal destinations. God is sovereign and he will make that final determination based on what we have done with Jesus.
Have you asked Jesus to write your name in the book of life?
His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
This is king Nebuchadnezzar’s way of saying, “O.K. God, I get it now! You are God and I am not!”
Nebuchadnezzar had discovered, just as a 5 year old discovers, and just as you and I must discover sooner or later, that God is sovereign.
He alone is the owner of the universe; landlord of planet earth. He makes the rules! From the law of gravity, to the laws of thermodynamics, to the biological laws of life and death, to the moral laws of right and wrong; God makes the rules because he possesses all power and authority. God has authority not only over the entire universe, which he created, but over human history as well. God has authority over nations and rulers as well as over my small, seemingly insignificant life.
Now, to say God is sovereign does not mean God is like a great puppeteer in the sky! He does not control us in that manner for he has given us the gift of free will. While we will never be able to completely fathom the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human free will, the Bible does seem to indicate that human beings can choose to love, serve and obey him; or choose to spit in his face. In his sovereignty God has even chosen to allow Satan limited authority to prowl the earth (Job 1; 1 Peter 5). But we must know, and this is the role of the prophet, that when we choose to disregard his authority; to disregard his word; to disobey him by exalting ourselves – we will sooner or later be confronted by the truth that we are not God! There will be a reckoning, a final accounting of good and evil, and every human being who has ever lived will stand before God for judgment.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books…If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:12-15 (selected)
The “book of life”, of course, is an image that refers to salvation through Jesus Christ. The “lake of fire” is an image that points to judgment of sin and separation from God. Biblical prophecy tells us that every person who ever lived is headed to one of those two eternal destinations. God is sovereign and he will make that final determination based on what we have done with Jesus.
Have you asked Jesus to write your name in the book of life?
Pastor Brian Coffey
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2 comments:
I love this, particularly "we will sooner or later be confronted by the truth that we are not God!" This is the truth - everyone will learn it at some point in their lives, and unfortunately, only those who know God or come to know God will be spared the despair that can come with that realization. Also, "There will be a reckoning, a final accounting of good and evil, and every human being who has ever lived will stand before God for judgment. " I find this compelling for the simple reason that many who do not know God, or hold him and Christians in contempt, think they get a pass. But the fact is that EVERYONE will bow before the Lord; it's where you go from there that is the question.
Awesome message.
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