Christ, The Exalted Son of Man

Introduction:

In C.S. Lewis’s, “The Last Battle,” we are introduced to Shift, an arrogant old ape, and his ignorant sidekick, a donkey named Puzzle. It becomes immediately clear that Shift utilizes the dimwitted though unwavering faithfulness of Puzzle to benefit himself. To put it simply, this is a one-sided friendship. As we travel through the story, we find that the two of them discover a dead lion and Shift decides that if he had Puzzle wear the lion’s coat, he would be able to pass off as the lion, Aslan himself. And so, Shift sneakily deigns himself to be the spokesperson of Puzzle, or Aslan, and through this becomes to leader of what is a false religion. It is through this discovery of power that the already corrupt Shift exalts himself and preforms horrible atrocities such as persecution, manipulation and even genocide on the people of Narnia for the sake of of money and power. Things aren’t right in Narnia anymore.

C.S. Lewis wasn’t unfamiliar with pain. In his book, “A Grief Observed” he writes, “Cancer, and cancer, and cancer. My mother, my father, my wife. I wonder who is next in the queue.” From a small boy, Lewis was brought to understand the reality that we all, who have had our eyes open for long also understand. Which is that things aren’t right. Families hurt and split, livelihoods are lost, the righteous are hated, children are harmed and abandoned, sickness come, death comes and it leads us, who have our eyes hazed over in agony, to cry out, “Why and how much more!”

We live in a world were atrocities, heartache and injustices abound and societies solution is not to flee to Christ, but rather they invite us into the endless hamster wheel of death scrolling through social media and numbing ourselves with substances to escape these painful realities.

Well, this isn’t just a heartache that we and CS Lewis can sympathize with. As we look in Daniel 7 today, we immediately notice a shift in current events which is that King Belshazzar has ascended the throne in Babylon and it is in that same year that Daniel receives a dream from the Lord. Now, what I want to highlight for us is that Daniel was brought into Babylonian captivity as a teenager and with the ascent of Belshazzar being in focus, this would place us right around 50 years of Daniel’s life that has been spent in bondage. One writer brought out that we must step into the shoes of Daniel here. The old king has died, a new one is rising, and the Lord sends Daniel a vision and certainly for a moment, perhaps, Daniel must’ve found himself filled with excitement that perhaps, just maybe, God is going to deliver us, we are going to go back to Jerusalem and things will finally be the way they should be.

But that isn’t the news that Daniel receives. And as we dive into what he did receive, I want to go ahead and give you point 1 which is:

The Reality of Evil

In the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Eustace Scrubb has been somewhat of a difficult guy to be around. He is entitled, stuck up, rude and self-centered. As the crew lands on an island, Eustace decides he’s going to sneak away to enjoy himself while the others work. On his journey, Eustace stumbles across an empty dragons lair full of gold and while enjoying it, he falls asleep. As he awakes up, he is startled to hear the breathing of a dragon and so, he runs and runs and is terrified to hear the banging, clashing and breathing of the dragon. That is, until he reaches a lake wherein he sees his reflection and realizes that he has become that very creature.

Sin can sneak up on us. Turn us into beasts we never imagined and corrupt men, who were created to glorify God, into self-seeking, God hating monsters.

Well, in verse 2 of Daniels vision, he begins to describe his vision and in it we find descriptions of four beats. Now notice with me the language throughout this passage. Verse 2, there is a tumultuous sea. Verse 3, there are four great beasts. In verse 4 we find that the first one is a hybrid creature of sorts. It’s like a lion, with eagles wings and it has the mind of a man and it walks on two feet. The second beast, in verse 5, is perhaps even scarier! It looks like a bear and it is chomping down a mouth full of ribs and over it is declared, “Devour much flesh!”

In verse 6, we find another beast that seems to be a four headed leopard with wings like a bird on its back and this one is described as having dominion. It is a powerful and disturbing beast. And in verse 7, Daniel tells us of a beast that absolutely terrifies him . He describes it as having massive iron teeth, it has, in verse 8, a head full horns, ten to be exact, and on top is one tiny horn with eyes like a man boasting loudly and this beast is on a rampage of destruction. It is devouring, it is breaking, it is stomping. This is a scene of terror, of carnage, of fear.

Now, as we read this, we need to step back and ask, “What in the world is going on here?” And that’s the same question that Daniel has in verse 16. In verses 17-25 we learn that these aren’t monsters from a science fiction movie, but they are symbolic images describing the terror of four kingdoms that will rise.

Side note: This is what is called “apocalyptic imagery” and I think it would be fitting to add that it is important for us to cultivate a reading diet of more than news articles and non-fiction as the Bible speaks with beautiful and terrifying imagery and if our minds become so black and white that we can’t use our imaginations to add light to these descriptions, then we will miss out on the thrust of them.

Let’s ask ourselves, who are these beasts?

With the first beast, we see that it is a lion with eagles wings. This is similar to the imagery we are given in Daniel 2 where we find Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great statue.

We also elsewhere, in books like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, find Nebuchadnezzar symbolized as a lion or an eagle. Jeremiah 50:17 “17 “Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones.” and Ezekiel 17:3 “3 say, Thus says the Lord God: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.”

With that said, I believe, that this first beast is the Babylonian kingdom of Daniel’s time. And if that is accurate, which most commentators are agreed on, then we can move forward with history and consider what the next massive world empires were after this. And as we think on that, we will see that the next three kingdoms are the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire and finally the Roman Empire.

The bear with ribs in it’s mouth may be attributed to the Medo-Persian empires military conquests. The leopard with wings is a depiction of Greece detailing their quick campaigns to conquer territory. It was Alexander the Great who invaded Asia Minor in 344 BC and within ten years, he conquered the entire Medo-Persian Empire.

And lastly, the fourth, terrifying beast is Rome describing how violently it dominated the world and how proudly it boasted itself.

This is describing how they will commit horrible atrocities, they will be terrifying kingdoms, they will, as seen in the fourth kingdom, blaspheme and boast themselves against God. And what I believe is being communicated to Daniel here is that though he, as we all are, is tired of the bondage, is tired of the hardships and wrongs experienced in this world, there is more to come. I believe that this is a story of the horrors of sin. It defaces, it distorts, it corrupts. Remember in Genesis’s creation accounts it says God created them according to their likeness, and Daniel’s vision sees the beasts as hybrids. Remember early in Genesis, things are good and there is peace, but here in this text there is destruction and chaos. This is anti-creation, this is anti-God. Patrick Schreiner says, “Apocalyptic literature pulls back the curtain on reality.” In short, we can say, things are not okay when mankind rebels against God.

What do we carry away from this?

And what do we get as we read this? First, I believe we need to be reminded that God is fully aware of what is taking place in His world, both what is happening and what is to come. Beloved, we do not serve a reactionary God. Nothing takes Him by surprise.

Second, I believe we need to be reminded of the corrupting power of sin. Yes, we are aware of the sinfulness of the world, but we must prevent ourselves from thinking of sin as a merely “out there” or “them” problem. In our depravity, we reside happily among the beasts which is why, as one writer put it, “Seeing the stealthiness of sin brings to light the necessity of accountability in the believers life.”

Though this text shows us the reality of sin, it doesn’t end there. The beasts will not always rage. And that leads us to our second point which is

The Exalted Son of Man

The story doesn’t end there thankfully. In verse 9, Daniel tells us that he sees the Ancient of Days seated in a throne and he tells us that God is seen as clothed with white garments, with hair like pure wool, and a throne like a fiery flame. Daniel is depicting God as being pure, wise and gloriously just. In verse 10 we find the phrase, “The court was seated.” So, what we are seeing is a just, wise, and pure Judge is seated and before Him come these evil kingdoms to answer to Him. The books are opened and the meeting begins. In verse 11-12 we see that God delivers forth a death sentence to the little horn of Rome, or an anti-Christ. And, as for the rest of these kingdoms, He strips them of their dominion, but allows them to go on living.

This is detailing that none, no matter the might of the highest, most fearful kingdoms on Earth can stand before God. But in verse 13, Daniel sees another coming before God, Daniel 7:13-14 “13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.” This is One who may stand before God, this is God’s chosen king who is exalted and who will reign forevermore.

But who exactly is this king?

Well, in Mark 2 we find that Jesus looks upon a paralytic and says, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” But the scribes and pharisees present didn’t much like that and so Jesus says, in Mark 2:9-12 “9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!””

So, who is the Son of Man? Well, according to Jesus, it’s Him! And what’s more fascinating is that here we see the differences between Him and the kingdoms in Daniel 7. In Daniel 7, those kingdoms had authority and what did they do? Well, they were seen stomping, destroying, hurting, trampling. But what does Jesus do? He gives grace, He shows compassion and heals this paralytic. But it is this great and compassionate Lord that they crucify, but through His humiliation is brought His exaltation. Look with me in Mark 14. Here we find that Jesus has been betrayed and stands before the Sanhedrin, in verse 61 we read,

Mark 14:61-65 “61 But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. 65 Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.”

Jesus is aware that He is going to die, He’s been telling His followers that for years. And in the face of what is His impending death, He declares that He shall soon triumph over such humiliation and will be highly exalted. When Jesus looks at this counsel and says He is the Son of Man, He isn’t denying that He is the Son of God. Rather, He is declaring that He is the One who will stand before God the Father being fully righteous, having conquered death and will be exalted to rule and reign forever and ever. This is exactly what Psalm 2 is about, let’s read its 12 verses together:

Psalm 2 “1 Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.” 7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ” 10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Psalm 110:1 also says, “1 The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.””

Well, we know what happens following the event with the Sanhedrin. Jesus is brought before Pilate, is declared innocent, but is given up and crucified. But three days later He rises from the dead. But it doesn’t end there, and much of Christianity today speaks as though it does unfortunately. But there’s more! Forty days after Easter is the Ascension of Jesus Christ and, Church, if there is no ascension, there is no assurance or power. In the resurrection, one writer said, Jesus is declared alive forevermore, but in the ascension, Jesus is declared reigning, and that forevermore.

In Ancient monarchies, monarchs would be seated up on throne that would be lifted up as a means to enhance their image before men. Around them would be glorious multitudes praising them, lodding them, playing music for them, and as you’d make your way before their throne, you’d have to lift your head to even look upon them. Far more glorious than the seated monarchs of these wicked empires ascends this One who walks before God and who is exalted on a throne higher than all heavens, who is surrounded by multitudes innumerable, who is heard to be seated amidst songs so glorious that the ears of the Revelator remark it as being akin to nothing but thunder. This is the glory of the ascended Son of Man. He is seated above all, He is more glorious than all others. See Him high and lifted up and behold His glory!

I want to ask you to turn with me to Acts and that is where we will spend our last few minutes together as we consider our third point which is,

The Ascension and our Empowerment

In Acts 1, Jesus has already risen from the dead and He spends the next 40 days teaching and fellowshipping with His followers. Now we reach Acts 1:9 which reads, “9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.”

We often read right over that, as though it’s only one verse so it couldn’t be extremely important. But what occurs in the Ascension is what is detailed in places like Psalm 2, Psalm 110, and Daniel 7. But I have one more thing I want to show you tonight before I apply this text.

In Acts 1:11 Luke records the phrase, “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into Heaven...” And what He is doing here is expecting us to draw a connection back to another story in the Old Testament. In 2 Kings 2:11 we read “11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” And then something impressive happens in verse 15. It says, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.”

Well, what is promised in Acts 1? Acts 1:4-8 “4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””

What I am suggesting is that here we find that Jesus is the greater Elijah, who ascends into Heaven and who reigns forevermore. But also, we, the Church are the similarly the final Elisha. It is upon us that, not the spirit of Elijah, but the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit rests and because of that, we are now empowered as His people who are made a nation of kings and priests unto God.

Now, what I find perhaps most sweetly encouraging in this vein is the story of Stephen the Martyr. In Acts 6 we find that Stephen has been selected as a deacon of the Church and is a man full of the Spirit and as he preaches to the Jews Acts 6:10 “10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.” And so, the Jews are cut to the heart, they are full of rage and hatred for Stephen and his gospel And in Acts 7:55-56 we read,“55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

What is so encouraging about that? Well, that Spirit that Jesus sent forth when He ascended to reign on high is the same Spirit that empowered Stephen to preach the message that would get him killed. But in those dying moments, Stephen lifts his eyes and sees that Christ, the greater prophet, the one true king, the great high priest is standing at the right hand of the Father. No doubt to intercede as the great High Priest that Stephen might be strengthened in his inner man unto death, but also I believe Christ is standing to receive unto Himself His most faithful servant Stephen. Psalm 116:15 says, “15 Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.”

Beloved, what we see in these passages is that Christ did not ascend to do nothing. In Heaven, Christ is governing the universe as King, He is presiding over His church as Prophet and He is interceding for us His people as Priest.

Another thing we see is that Christ is seated on high and though there is much wickedness that abounds in this world, He reigns supreme. He is not shocked, surprised or caught off guard. But He is in absolute control and even in the hardest of moments, He prays for us, He is faithful to us. And even in our dying moments, He stands ready to receive us unto Himself. He is our most glorious and loving Lord.

Lessons:

Concerning the sinfulness of man

In these passages we find healthy reminders concerning the horribleness of sin. That it corrupts those created in the image of God and brings them to act in horrifying ways. But lest we find ourselves looking outward, let these stories draw us to look inward to consider how vile we are, but for grace.

Concerning the reign of Christ, who is worthy of praise.

In Daniel 7 we found that around the throne of the Son of Man stand peoples of all nations and languages to serve Him and that His kingdom will never pass away or be destroyed.

We may feel overwhelmed with worry as election season is beginning to spark up once more, but we may rest easily knowing that we belong to another kingdom. One who’s King shall never let us down and who’s kingdom will never end. And one day, when He makes all things new, we will enjoy Him and serve Him faithfully forever and ever.

Concerning our Christian duty.

Robert Murray McCheyne said, “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million of enemies. Yet the distance makes no difference; He is praying for me.”

Beloved, we are empowered by the Spirit of God and we sit under the command of a King who is waging a war He will not lose. We are to be encouraged today knowing that He sees us, He prays for us, and He will one day make all things new for us. Daniel 7:27 “27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’”

Concerning Heartache and Happiness

Since sins consequences have so ravaged the world, and since we have seen Christ, the Son of Man, suffering before His exaltation; we, who trust in Him and long to be like Him may face adversity in this life knowing, as Paul said, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.

Likewise, seeing that He has ascended and does even now reign as king, we may rejoice in the good pleasures of this life knowing, as James puts it, “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”

Conclusion:

So, Church, I know you are tired. I know it is wearying living in such a broken world. But, in Isaiah 52:7 “7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!””

Yes, it is dark. But in the message that Christ reigns, we find light for our path and a pillow for our wearied heads.