“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.” – Daniel 2:44
In a single night, God gave the king of Babylon a vision of the next 1000 years of history. A vision that so mystified and overwhelmed the king that only God could explain it, using His faithful servant Daniel. In that vision, God revealed the future of empires: Babylon’s as well as those that would follow it, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Each empire would fall and be replaced by another. Of particular interest is God’s promise of what would replace the divided empire of iron and clay representing Rome.
What did God have planned after Rome? God’s eternal kingdom that can’t be destroyed and will never fall. A kingdom established by God and overcoming the empires that come against it. And so it unfolded… In the moment of Rome’s greatest strength, the eternal Son of God was born into our world. Jesus of Nazareth came proclaiming that God’s Kingdom was present in Him.
Jesus demonstrated that God’s kingdom had been established by reversing the effects and consequences of mankind’s fall into sin. He healed the sick. He cast out demons. He raised the dead. This is the eternal Kingdom that began with a handful of souls in Israel and continues to grow to this day. This is the kingdom that overcomes empires. This is the kingdom that reigns wherever the name of Jesus is praised and He is worshiped as Lord. This is the kingdom where citizenship is granted as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus. This is, we pray, your forever home. This is God’s eternal kingdom, the vision for which He shared with a pagan king some 2600 years ago. #FollowJesus