Shining through the Resurrection

As a follower of Christ, my greatest struggle I face daily is my fidelity towards the Lord. Am I faithful to the one who loves me? Am I doing my best to live by faith and not by sight? I imagine many of us ask ourselves those questions from time to time.

If the prophet Daniel were standing next to me, I would know what his answer would be. He would declare that he has fought the fight and ran his race with endurance until the end. You see, Daniel and his three friends are atypical followers of God.

They went through all kinds of suffering and persecution while living in a nation that was hostile to their faith. They abstained from delicious foods for a while, ate only vegetables, and drank water. Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael never bowed down to Nebuchadnezzar's golden idol, and for their disobedience was thrown into a fiery fierce. Daniel was cast into a pit for praying to the Lord. At the end of all those stories, God shows up. God is good and delivers all of them from their troubles. In the end, Daniel and the three friends never lose faith in God.

The most frustrating thing about living in the United States is our nation is swinging the pendulum closer to humanistic secularism. We are drifting away from our love of God towards the love of idols of individualism. We value our needs and wants over the Kingdom of God and making disciples.

For this reason, it isn't easy to express our faith in public. Christianity and living a life of faithfulness to God is not normal anymore. It's radical to attend church every Sunday, to give generously, to pray daily, and worry about the kingdom of God.

But God wants to remind us that this type of faithfulness will be all worth it in the end.

Your struggle to be faithful to God is expected, especially since we have a world of distractions and worries knocking on our door. But in the final chapter of Daniel, we get a reminder that this world and its struggles are only temporary.

In the opening chapter of Daniel 12, we see Daniel's final vision continue. There shall be a time of trouble! Yet, God delivers his people, just as God did for Daniel and his three friends. But notice, who is being delivered? It's those whose names are written in the book—people who are marked out by God - according to their faithfulness towards him in an unfaithful world. Those are the individuals who are being saved. One's with genuine faith and love for him.

Then Daniel's vision continues with an extraordinary event of the resurrection from the dead. Bodies being reanimated from dirt. Then once the bodies and souls are joined together and recreated, God will place them either into paradise or hell itself. In this vision, God gives us a taste of what life after death will be like for everyone!

This resurrection text reminded me of this past week when Sarah and I watched a Netflix documentary called Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb. After digging tirelessly, a group of Egyptian archeologists discovering a tomb that was untouched for 4,400 years. Once inside, they found statues, hieroglyphics, and skeletons buried deep beneath the tomb.

The team discovered that the tomb belonged to a man named Wahtye, who was an Egyptian priest to the king. But what was surprising was intershell of the grave did not represent Wahtye's life, but what the life he expected after his resurrection from the dead. All the grand statues and writings on the wall concerned his life to come.

In the documentary, Wahhtye and his family were buried together with his wife, mother, and children. His hope wasn't found in this life, but life after death. The only sad part about Wahhye's story is that his body was not resurrected from his tomb but was lifted out by archeologists one bone at a time.

However, his hope is still alive; Wahhtye will one day be raised to life. The only question we ask, did he die in the Lord with his name written in the book?

Because one day in God's appointed time, we will all experience the resurrection from the dead, unless Jesus comes back earlier. Jesus says, "Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." (John 5:28-29)

Two paths are given to everyone to shine like the stars in heaven or be tossed into the everlasting lake of fire. God's decision is just and perfect. The result is everything will be restored before sin and death entered the world.

I think about the after-effects of the resurrection; why would we shine? Jesus says, according to the days he comes back to make everything new, "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear." (Matthew 13:41-43)

We shine bright because we reflect God (Shining the Imago Dei), Mirror Christ, to a faithless world. You and I will shine bright in heaven because we are reflecting God's glory. Think about the solar system planets; they have no light, but the sun shines on them, so they illuminate in the darkness. The plant's light can be seen from billions of light-years away. This is possible because of the one who shines on them in the first place.

After Daniel is told about the future, the angel commands him to shut up the scroll. Then the vision is over, and Daniel witnesses multiple people. One on each side of the river and then man clothed in linen above the waters.

The angel desires to know when the resurrection and day of judgment will take place. But God tells him it will be in his timing essentially. Daniel was told, "Go your way." Continue life even amid trials and difficulties. The world will have some who will purify themselves; others will continue to plot out evil. You will receive your reward. Live as you are resurrected.

So what is Daniel's final chapter saying to the 21st-century church?

First, we are to reflect God's glory by pointing our lives to the resurrected king. We do this by living for the kingdom. We are to mirror Jesus in everything we're doing. See people as not scenery, but the Imago Dei. Overlook our differences and love, serve, and build relationships with people.

Secondly, “Go our way” b y making a difference now. helping them break away from evil and turn many to righteousness. Sharing our faith, changing the community for Jesus.

Thirdly, we hold onto the hope that is coming soon. Practicing our faith daily.

Resurrect your life by shining for Jesus.