When Daniel lay on his bed and had that vivid dream – so vivid he wrote it down for us – was it God speaking to him? And if so, what was God saying?

By this time Daniel was in his early 70's. He'd lived most of his life in Babylon, the capital of the greatest empire the world had ever known. Brought there captive, probably as a teen-ager, he'd risen as high as any subject might go. In his capacity as an educated civil servant – a fonctionnaire – he had used that position for God's glory.
But now Daniel was surely aware that the empire was in its last days. It had in fact just ten years left. The future would be critical for God's people – already exiled there for one or two generations. They needed reminding – as we do – that God is Sovereign over all history, and that he had a glorious purpose yet for his people. Yes, I believe God gave Daniel that vision.
The immediate future was not going to be like the past. There would be no going back, say, to the days of David or Solomon, when Israel had a wide dominion, and was respected by the surrounding nations. From now on, although the exile would end – as God had promised – Israel would be small, weak, and dominated by one mighty empire after another.
God's people were going to face hardship, undeserved humiliation and suffering. In fact, the kind of life that the majority of Christians down the ages have had to suffer, if they've been true to their Lord. So what God had to say is relevant to us also.
In his vision Daniel sees God enthroned in awesome majesty – ready to pass judgement on a succession of great beasts. These represent world-empires and their kings (Dan 7:17,24) – present and to come. In judgement they are stripped of their power – and the last beast is destroyed. Then Daniel sees one like a man, ushered into God's presence. And to this man is given power and authority. And his kingdom is to last – not just for a time, like those world-empires – but forever – and every nation and people will serve him.

What did it all mean? Surely it was an answer to Daniel's fears and doubts – and those of his fellow Jews.
(1) God is in control – now. Mighty nations and power struggles may fill the headlines – but God is on the throne, and he judges all men and every nation.
(2) God has the future in his hands. Earth's proud empires will all pass away and be no more. [I'm conscious that 6 have gone in my own lifetime!] But God's kingdom will replace them all and last forever. And it will be utterly different in character. Already God's king had been appointed – and God's people will enter into his kingdom. (Dan 7:27)

At his trial Jesus claimed that the man in that vision was himself. The way he'd referred to himself as the Son of Man had hinted at this all along. Jesus told his Jewish judges that they would know the truth of that when he returned in his Father's glory to judge the world. (Matt 26:64)
That, of course, could have been baseless delusion – if God hadn't raised Jesus from the dead – gloriously alive and changed. Six weeks later the risen Jesus left his disciples quietly and simply on the Mount of Olives. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, said the risen Jesus. So that Christians rightly assert (1) Jesus is in control – now. (2) Jesus has the future in his hands.
This is a message of assurance, comfort and hope to every believer – and especially to those undergoing persecution, as so many are today. It is also a wake-up call to obedience, to reality, and a challenge – to every believer – especially to those like us, who live in affluence and safety, surrounded by a seductive, godless world.
The Risen Jesus is LORD. He shares God's authority and power – that's what it means when the New Testament talks about Jesus being seated at the right hand of God. The future belongs to Jesus, and to his people. He will keep them through every trial, tragedy and hurt – until the hour of his return, when the kingdoms of this world become his – evil is banished, and God's kingdom is established forever.

Why has the man Jesus been made Lord of all? We need be in no doubt! In John's vision in the book of Revelation, he hears this song in honour of the Lamb: With your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation... You are worthy.. to receive power .. and honour and glory and praise.. for ever and ever! (Rev 5:9,12,13)
And in Paul's letter to the Philippians we read: Being in very nature God.. made himself nothing.. being made in human likeness.. he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place.. that every knee should bow.. and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:6-11) Paul's first readers would have understood that he was making a direct comparison between Christ and the emperor! Nero claimed, on his coins, to be Lord of all the world, to whom every knee should bow. But Paul was saying, NO – every knee, including the emperor's, should bow to the Lord Jesus. His authority runs through heaven & hell, as well as all the earth. The emperor's authority was granted by the Senate and people of Rome – but Christ's by God himself.// Now – how are we going to apply this glorious truth to our lives – here and now? If I'm a Christian and Jesus is Lord – what does that mean to you and me? One way we can look at that is to say – He's Lord of my past – of my present – and of my future.

[1] Lord of my past.
Have you really known his forgiveness for all you've done wrong in the past? He says to you: I will remember your sins no more! (Jer 31:34; Heb 10:17) When Jesus offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.. because by the sacrifice of himself he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy (Heb 9:26; 10:12,14) Jesus sat down because his sacrifice was finished. It's complete – it needs no repetition, and nothing can be added to it!
If you have asked Jesus to be your Saviour – if you have asked God to forgive you for Jesus' sake – then the debt of your past life has been wiped out for ever! The prison doors of condemnation and judgement stand open – you can go free! Have you trusted Christ for forgiveness – but never really walked through those prison doors? Because you've never forgiven yourself, although God has. You go on remembering some action in the past, whose consequences, maybe, still live on, and you still seek to atone for it.
But God has dealt with the offence and hurt it caused him – he removed them as far as the east is from the west (Psa 103:12) and hurled your sins into the deepest sea (Mic 7:19). He says to you: No fishing allowed! – but there are those whose past still haunts them, and regrets still burden them. But it's Satan that whispers in your ear. He hates you having the peace Jesus offers you. Tell him – Jesus shed his blood for you – and that's an end to it!
The knowledge that God loved you so much that he gave his only Son to die for you – should bring you peace. But God's love has done more. Jesus, being raised from the dead and seated at God's right hand, now intercedes for us. (Rom 8:34) What moves you to pray for your family and friends? Isn't it your love for them? That why Jesus prays for you! And because he has lived here in this world, he knows and understands how we feel! (Heb 4:15-16) We are invited to come to him directly with our hurts and troubles – we need no intermediary – he himself is the only priest we need between ourselves and God!
Of course, it's not only our own past sins that can keep us in bondage. We should bring to Jesus those memories of hurtful words and actions of others – including the burdens that others placed upon us in the past. Expectations of parents and teachers – so strongly imprinted on us, we feel forever condemned if we fail to live up to them!
When you were a child, did you persistently hear words like, You make me sick. Can't you ever do anything right? or Why can't you do as well as so-and-so? Perhaps you still suffer from being starved of real love – never really being listened to when you most needed it, or praised and appreciated for what you had actually been able to do. Or, at the opposite extreme, you had maybe a parent that compensated for their own lack of love, by seeking solace from you, distorting the relationship between you.
If you live in the shadow of the past in any of these ways – come into Jesus' presence and ask him to set you free and heal you of these hurts. His love alone can truly satisfy. And if he asks you to forgive those who hurt you, he will give you the strength to do so.

[2] Lord of my present.
Jesus died for my sins to bring me to God. (1 Pet 3:18) I was astray like a lost sheep, estranged like a prodigal son – and he brought me home. I was spiritually dead [as we all are before we become Christians] utterly unable to do anything about it – and God, in his mercy, raised me to new life, in union with Christ. (Eph 2:4,5) Previously I served myself – but now Jesus is my Lord and I am to serve and obey him – with an abandonment of love and gratitude. I am to live for him and become like him.
As Paul expressed it, Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:1-3)
Let me unpack that last statement. When and how did I die? Paul sees that radical break with our past life pictured in baptism: Don't you know, he writes, that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Rom 6:3,4)
Because we are united with Jesus, he has come into our lives by his Spirit, to change us from within. We are precious to him – he's concerned about all we do, all we are. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy.. to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain... holy and blameless. (Eph 5:25-27)
Jesus has given us dignity, purpose and meaning to life. Now I know who I am, and I'm no longer a piece of flotsam floating on the waves of life. Jesus is my Lord, and I will trust him in every circumstance of life.
Are your circumstances about to change? For many the prospect of marriage – or of parenthood – or a new job – or one that takes us to a new country – can bring fears of inadequacy. But Jesus reminds us of the sparrows we hardly notice, or the flowers that will be gone in a week. (Luke 12:6,7; Matt 6:28-34) God our Father cares for them – he cares much more for us.
We can entrust ourselves to Jesus as our Lord, not only when we feel inadequate, but even in desperate situations of tragedy and loss. He has promised, I am with you always. (Matt 28:20b) and therefore it still stands true, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.. they will not sweep over you.. when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. (Isa 43:2)

[3] Lord of my future.
What are your doubts and fears for the future? That you will fail the Lord, and let him down? That the future holds greater pain, greater weakness, greater sorrow than you can bear? Do you fear aging and dying? Do you feel so insignificant, that you can't be sure there's a future for you beyond death?
When you are in the midst of trouble, it's hard to find faith, or hold on by faith. When David Watson, a noted British minister and evangelist, of no great age, was told he had inoperable cancer, he recalled the words of Dostoevsky, It is not as a child that I believe and confess Jesus Christ. My 'hosanna' is born of a furnace of doubt. It was like that for Jesus' disciples in the storm at sea. But Jesus said, Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith – no trust? (Mark 4:40)
God doesn't promise us a trouble-free life. Quite the contrary. Jesus tells us, In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. In me you may have peace. (John 16:33) Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. (Rom 8:35,39)
Jesus is the Lord of our future because we've been united to him. Our future is wrapped up in his future. ..Your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:3) And he is on the throne. And what does the future hold for Jesus – and for us?
When Jesus ascended to the Father, angels spoke to the disciples these words, This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11)
This is just what Jesus himself said at his trial, alluding to Daniel's words, You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven. (Matt 26:64) I've already quoted some words of Paul to the Christians at Colossae. Resuming that quotation and continuing it, .... you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Col 3:4)
If we are Christ's, then we may be assured he will keep us forever, through death, to be with him always. That was the whole purpose of his coming – to redeem a people for God, an everlasting kingdom, drawn from every people and nation, to the praise of his glory. That is why God has highly exalted him and given him all authority in heaven and earth.
What therefore is his last word to us? Go therefore – and make disciples of all nations... And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matt 28:18-20)
Surely that is a call to us as God's people! Have we realised the vast glory of God's plan and purpose for us and all his people? Have we individually begun to be involved in it – by surrendering ourselves now, to Jesus Christ as our Lord, for his service? We are to be his witnesses!
Have we received the great peace that is ours when we do – when we realise all he is for us – Lord of our past – Lord of our present – and Lord of our future? Then may we each know his mighty unfailing love, that endures for ever (Psalms 107; 136) – and we ourselves walk in love and walk in obedience to our Lord's commands. (2 John 6
Amen.