SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/9/2013 10:50 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Kingdom
of Christ PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Daniel
7:9-14, 27-28
Message of the
verses: Today we begin looking at
the last of the three kingdoms that are described in Daniel chapter seven, and
that is the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Introduction: When we look at the Kingdom of Christ we will see as Dr. Wiersbe points out two aspects of it. First we will see the spiritual reign of Christ over all who belong to Him. He points out two different passages that confirm this, the first is John 3:1-8, “1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ’You must be born again.’ 8 "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’” Next he points out Colossians 1:13, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” The next aspect of the Kingdom of Christ is that which will happen when Christ returns to planet earth to set up His Kingdom for 1000 years. We see this in Matthew 16:28, “"Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.’” We also see it in Matthew 25:34 and 26:29, “"Then the King will say to those on His right, ’Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” “"But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’” And one more passage, Luke 22:29, “and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you.”
As we looked at this seventh chapter of Daniel we have
seen that through Daniel’s vision the kingdom of man, and the kingdom of Satan,
and now we will see the Kingdom of Christ.
One more short note on what perhaps people may believe is a difference
between what Matthew writes when he speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven, and what
others write when they say the Kingdom of God or Christ. Matthew was writing to the Jews and they
would not pronounce God for fear that they would blaspheme the Lord and so they
were familiar with the Kingdom of Heaven.
The heavenly throne of the Father (Daniel 7:9-12): “9 "I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire. 10 “A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened. 11 “Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. 12 “As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.”
It is Dr. Wiersbe’s belief that this section parallels
with Revelations chapters 4-5, and thus it happens before Antichrist is
destroyed. We see in this section the “Ancient
of Days,” and this is a name used for God the Father. This name emphasizes His eternality; “He is the God who had existed
from eternity past, has planned all things, and is working out His plan.” We have spoken in earlier SD’s that the description
of God must not be taken literally, and the reason is that God does not have a
body and does not wear clothes, or grow white hair. These things are symbolic of His nature and
when we look at Revelations 1:12-20 we see a similar description of the risen
Jesus Christ whom John saw and described.
Thus this proves that He is the eternal Son of God.
The vision of God’s throne parallels Ezekiel 1:15-21, 26-27: “15 Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, for each of the four of them. 16 The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if one wheel were within another. 17 Whenever they moved, they moved in any of their four directions without turning as they moved. 18 As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes round about. 19 Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. 20 Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. 21 Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.
“26 Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. 27 Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes the following: “The fire speaks of His holiness and judgment against sin and the wheels symbolize His providential working in the world in ways we can’t understand. ‘Our God is a consuming fire’ (Deut. 4:24; Hebrews 12:29; see Psalm 97:1-4). He is praised by a multitude of saints and angels (Deut. 33:2; Rev. 5:11) as the books are opened and the Lord prepares to judge evil on the earth. No matter what Satan and the Antichrist do on earth, God is still on the throne and He executes judgment.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is a
comfort to me to know that no matter what happens on this earth God is still in
control, and is a part of His plan for me and for the things that will happen
on this earth.
My Steps of Faith for Today: We are learning about the prayers of Paul in
our Wednesday evening prayer services and it is my desire to learn to be a
better prayer warrior.
Memory verses for the
week: Review of 2 Peter 1:1-3
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus
Christ,
To those who have received a faith of the same kind as
ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has
granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “The Holy Spirit fell on all
those who heard the Word” (Acts 10:44).
Today’s Bible Question: “Who buried the body of Jesus?”
Answer in tomorrow’s
SD.
9/9/2013 12:06 PM
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