Message Details

Passage: Daniel 7

What do we believe about God’s Kingdom?

We are troubled or overwhelmed by the kingdoms of the earth. We think God is disconnected. We don’t trust his sovereignty in history. We want God to be subject to history, not the other way around.

MP1: The Kingdom is established upon God’s justice.
MP2: The Kingdom is ruled by God’s King.
MP3: The Kingdom benefits God’s people.

Daniel 7 has been the ground upon which many exegetical battles have been fought. The chapter details four beasts that rise out of the sea, all of them grotesque in some way. Who are they? What do they want? When will they occur? Many have projected them into the distant future. While the details of these beast-nations are relevant, they most certainly existed in the past and were directly relevant to Daniel and the people of Israel. Are they relevant to us today? Not so much. There is, however, another kingdom in Daniel 7 that is entirely relevant to us. God has set up his kingdom, placing the “Son of Man” over it with all authority and dominion. Jesus Christ has earned a kingdom through his finished work on earth. Now, rather than sit back as spectators, we actually participate in Jesus’ expansion of the kingdom. He has shared his rulership with us! This means we seek consistent and faithful ways to participate in seeing the kingdom grow as we wait for the full realization of the kingdom in the New Heavens and New Earth.