Thursday, July 1, 2010

The vision

As a child, like Paul, I spoke like a child and I had visions of God like a child. I was scared spitless of God.

I thought, with a lot of prompting from various preachers and my mama, that my own inability to stay sinless in thought and deed would leave me sinning at the exact moment that Jesus parted the sky and returned.

Thus: hell was my destination.

Daniel's description of God was somehow my own, weirdly enough.

His vision was this: "Thrones were set in place
and The Old One sat down.
His robes were white as snow,
his hair was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
its wheels blazing.
A river of fire
poured out of the throne.
Thousands upon thousands served him,
tens of thousands attended him.
The courtroom was called to order,
and the books were opened."

Wow. I was destined for judgment that included thrones flaming with fire and a courtroom where I was without question going to be sent in the down elevator.

But somehow the rest of Daniel's vision was never adequately presented to me.

In the 13th verse of Daniel's seventh chapter, someone came on the scene who changed everything.

13-14"I saw a human form, a son of man,
arriving in a whirl of clouds.
He came to The Old One
and was presented to him.
He was given power to rule—all the glory of royalty.
Everyone—race, color, and creed—had to serve him.
His rule would be forever, never ending.
His kingly rule would never be replaced.

Jesus, the son of man, was, is and will always be a game-changer. Jesus, Paul said, "Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving."

Jesus changes those fears into teardrops of grace. The Old One is still on his throne, but the Son of Man makes us able to be seen by Him.

Oh, the beauty of it all. Daniel, who says he was troubled by what he had seen, concludes that in the future, "... the royal rule and the authority and the glory of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the people of the High God. Their royal rule will last forever. All other rulers will serve and obey them."

And the pain of this world will wash away. That's what I call a vision.

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