Our God Rescues

Our God rescues

I love rescue movies:

The Martian

Finding Nemo

Everest

Cast Away

But these movies usually have the protagonist rescuing themselves.

The reality is there are situations we find ourselves in where we cannot escape alone.

The immediate context of our story is that our characters need to be rescued from fire.

(v. 16-18) Their declaration of faith of God’s ability to save means so much more. Let me show you what I mean

Storyline of the Bible Object Lesson

People in exile. Is their covenant over?

Consider the context. They were exiled, the temple (the place of God’s presence) was destroyed, they were far from home, everyone was bowing down. Why would they stand? Stress the stakes of the exile and their situation.

Sin and death.

God’s saving act in this story reveals that He has not given up on His people, His heart is to save, and He is still working towards that goal.

Our God… rescues

(Dan. 3:1-3) The image of gold

90 feet by 9 feet.

He calls together all of the governing officials.

Connects to previous chapter, briefly recap

What do you think this reveals about Nebuchanezzar’s character? pride.

(Dan. 3:4-7) Twisted worship

What is worship?

People, nations, languages worship belongs to our God alone.

Twisted worship:

This scene is backwards to how God deals with the world. In God’s kingdom if you worship anything or anyone other than Him then the wages of their sin is death.

I want to challenge you to view the world through a lense of worship. Elaborate.

(Dan. 3:8-15) From accusation to temptation

Accusation, envy, contempt kind of like towards Jesus

Temptation to compromise

It may not be as relatable for you to be placed in a situation where you are threatened with death for your faith, however one thing that might be very relatable is the temptation to compromise.

Everyone was doing it

1 John 2:15-17

Who is the God who will deliver you?

(Dan. 3:16-18) Standing firm, who is your king?

Our God is King

The big theme of the entire book of Daniel is that Our God is King. He created everything, so of course He has the power to save. How was less clear.

Again, let’s frame this situation through the context. They are in exile, is their relationship with God over?

Exodus 20:3-6 This scripture must have been on their minds and in their hearts. This is the first of the Ten Commandments.

If God does not act as they say, then they still affirm their decision to stand still.

Why have such confidence in God?

(Dan. 3:19-27) Jesus saves!

Our God rescues

Furnace heat when glass blowing

Notice the attention to detail about their clothes

The other two men were utterly consumed by the flame but these three men were saved.

People think the fourth man in the fire was a preincarnate appearance of Jesus—a Christophany.

Christophanies throughout the Bible.

Here is what is so cool about this story,

Remember the context

God’s deliverance here shows that He had not given up on His people, their covenant was not over, also their hope for the future to be delivered from sin was not lost

God delivering them from the fire shows that God can deliver them from the exile and ultimately that God is still working towards delivering humanity from sin and death.

Harbor Freight story

Furnace a picture of Hell.

Jesus came down, bore the afflictions of humanity and the punishment we deserved, offers grace to those who would take hold of it.

Jesus is present when God’s people go through trials and Jesus cares.

Hebrews 2:14-18

(Dan. 3:28-30) The Call to Faith in the God Who Rescues

Missing the message

Nebuchadnezzar missed the message and people today can too He witnessed the wonder of God and acknowledges His merits but did not claim Him as His own.

Jesus can to seek and save the lost but this is a gift that needs to be received properly. Salvation needs to be applied.

Setting an example of faith

These three men stood when everyone else kneeled and the result was a very public demonstration of God’s power.

How many Jews were encouraged by them to turn back to God? How many Gentiles began to wonder about the Lord?

Similarly when a Christian stands in faith, shining God’s light for everyone in this dark world to see, it encourages Christians and plants seeds of faith in non-believers.

One thing that no doubt helped was that they had good and godly friends to encourage one another and take comfort in.

Our God, rescues.

What trouble are you in? God cares. Cry out to Him. He loves you, He wants to help you.

Personal story: Clutching the cross, crying out to God every night, He dealt with my sin.

And if you have experienced His deliverence, lead others to find safety and rest in Jesus.