Jesus is King, no matter how things look!
“He was given authority, glory and sovereign power.” (Daniel 7:14a)
Have you ever looked at things going on in our world and wondered or even said out loud to someone “What is going on?” or “Who is in control?”
Look at these few headlines from the last week: “Another mall shooting – this time in Alabama on Thanksgiving Day”, “A 13 year old girl shot while sitting in her own home in Milwaukee” and “More found dead and more homes destroyed in the California wildfires.”
It is very tempting, even for Christians to look at those headlines and other things going on in our world or perhaps in your life and to question if God is indeed working and in charge of things in our world.
Because of such concerns and doubts the Bible gives us glimpses, such as our verse for this week, which remind us that no matter what is going on in our world, Jesus is King and he is in control of all things.
The book of Daniel is primarily the record of a series of vision which God gave to Daniel to tell him so that in turn Daniel could tell the Israelite exiles living in Babylon what would occur in the future. Our verse is part of a vision where Daniel sees four beasts which are meant to symbolize the rise and fall of nations of the world. In this vision Jesus, the Son of Man, comes into the presence of God the Father, the Ancient of Days and “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power.”
Ascended back into heaven, Jesus is not just lounging or recovering from his time on earth in the presence of his Father – God wants Daniel to relate to the exiles and he wants us to know that our Ascended Savior as King has authority, glory and sovereign power.
There you see Christ the King. Not some wimpy ruler who has just taken the power handed down to him by his Father. Jesus is actively in control of everything in the world.
Let’s now try to take all of this and make it a little practical for each one of us.
Think again of the man who had this vision, Daniel. You very likely remember his story of being thrown into a den of lions for refusing to bow down and worship the king. Daniel trusted in God and saw firsthand the work of Christ the King that he took care of Daniel when he trusted in him.
Maybe we will never be asked to bow down and worship an earthly ruler, but if we are honest don’t we sometimes do that without even realizing it? We put our trust in our government, military and others and maybe we fail to put our ultimate trust in God when things don’t seem to be working out so well.
As we see the things going on in our world today, do we ever doubt or worry that things are going to turn out okay? If so, we have lost sight of the reign of Christ our King.
That is precisely why over and over the Bible reminds us that no matter what, Christ is King and he is in control!
Let us live each day secure in the knowledge that Christ is our King.
Here is a favorite hymn verse of mine which sums up all of this very well:
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.